Strategic Plan keys on place and diversity 

Bemidji State University this month began implementation of a new five-year strategic plan developed over the past year with input from university employees, students and community partners.

Titled “Inspired by Place, Enriched by Diversity,” the plan for 2018-2023 puts emphasis on both understanding and leveraging Bemidji State’s distinctive sense of place – its location, strengths and culture — and increasing its diversity through enrollment of more American Indian students, other students of color and international students.

“It provides the strategies that will help ensure that we’re focused very specifically on enrollment and financial stability,” President Faith Hensrud said, “while also looking at how we can create a more inclusive culture and a truly diverse atmosphere for our students and their future life’s work.”

Goals supporting these priorities include a reassessment of the university’s brand identity, expanding experiential learning opportunities in tribal communities, increasing student participation in campus activities, providing more ways for faculty and staff to engage with students outside the classroom, achieving specific targets for growth in diverse student populations and establishing a new Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Hobson Memorial Union.

An 18-member Strategic Planning Committee of administrators, bargaining unit representatives, faculty, staff and students completed the plan under Dr. Hensrud’s direction. They were guided by input shared at six community listening sessions on key academic subject areas, two all-campus meetings and two online campus surveys. View the plan on the Office of the President’s website.

Enrollment continues growth in grad and undergrad ranks

Bolstered by a third consecutive year of enrollment growth, Bemidji State enrolment is at one of its highest points in decades.

Total headcount for the Fall 2017 semester was 5,198, an increase of 78 students, or 1.5 percent. That is the university’s highest fall total since 2011 and its third highest in the past 25 years.

BSU saw increases in both undergraduate and graduate enrollment. The numbers include 4,833 undergraduates — an increase of 38 students from a year ago and the seventh-highest fall total ever recorded at BSU. It also includes 365 graduate students, up 40 from a year ago.

U.S. News ranks BSU among best in Midwest for 10th straight year

U.S. News and World Report magazine again named Bemidji State one of the best colleges and universities in the Midwest region in its 2018 rankings, extending a 10-year run.

In its annual review of America’s Best Colleges, released in September, the magazine placed BSU in a tie for 32nd among public institutions in the Midwest region — its highest ranking since 2014. The university tied with seven other institutions for 109th among all colleges and universities, public and private, in the 12-state region — up six places from a year ago.

BSU and Anoka Tech implement new direct-transfer agreement

Through a series of agreements signed Oct. 10, students who complete associate’s degrees in one of 15 programs offered by Anoka Technical College will have a direct path to a bachelor’s degree from Bemidji State. The agreements are in effect until July 2022.

Students who fulfill Anoka Tech’s graduation requirements for the participating 72-credit programs will transfer directly into three different programs in BSU’s School of Technology, Art & Design — the online or on-campus applied engineering or applied management programs or the on-campus bachelor of science in project management program.

Madrigal Dinners find success with new venue at Concordia Village

For the first time in its 49-year history, Bemidji State’s Madrigal Dinners show moved out of the Beaux Arts Ballroom and into Salolampi, the Finnish language camp at Concordia Language Villages near Turtle River.

The move, which included limited shuttle service to the venue, was an apparent hit. All four evening shows and a Sunday matinee sold out during the Nov. 30-Dec. 3 run.

This year’s shows used a script penned by Madrigal Dinners founder Dr. Paul Brandvik, BSU professor emeritus of music, entitled “The Truth Fairy.” With the help of the audience, the titular Truth Fairy helped feature performers Lancealot and Lancealittle determine the difference between truth and falsehood.

Bemidji-based Neilson Foundation continues support for internships

A $187,500 grant awarded in November by the George W. Neilson Foundation will continue Bemidji State’s Neilson Foundation Internship Program through summer 2022.

Beginning this year, the grant will provide $37,500 a year to support 15 paid internships each summer for BSU students in the Bemidji region. The funding will cover 50 percent of a paid intern’s salary, up to $2,500, with a participating employer contributing the remaining salary paid.

Since 2012, the program has funded more than 110 internships, and the program’s 88 participating employers have paid more than $482,000 in salaries to their interns. To learn more, call Molly Aitken-Julin at (218) 755-2038.

Bemidji’s new Watermark Art Center includes BSU Harlow | Kleven Gallery

Thanks to a gift from the Lueken Family Foundation, Bemidji State is a partner in the Watermark Art Center, a museum and educational facility in what once was the original Lueken’s supermarket in downtown Bemidji.

The 10,000-square-foot building’s stunning renovation includes the BSU Harlow | Kleven Gallery, which will feature two university collections, as well as work by faculty and others.

The Margaret H. Harlow Ceramics Teaching Collection has more than 400 pieces by professional ceramics artists from all eras. The Lillie M. Kleven Print Collection has more than 800 pieces, including works by Toulouse-Lautrec and other renowned printmakers.

Speaking at the Watermark grand opening on Dec. 2, President Faith Hensrud said the center reflects the university’s commitment “to sharing the joy of artistic expression with our students and the entire community.”

American Indian students begin journey in initiative to boost nursing

Students in Bemidji State’s new program to help develop more American Indian nurses met for the first time on Nov. 16, gathering for a conversation with faculty and indigenous leaders at the American Indian Resource Center.

Participants in the Niganawenimaanaanig Program — named for an Ojibwe word meaning “we take care of them”— receive scholarships up to $4,000 and monthly stipends of up to $500 for meeting specific program requirements. They are required to attend weekly meetings and goal-setting sessions with a faculty mentor, participate in scheduled activities and attend assigned tutoring or study sessions.

The program began in July with funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Nursing Workforce Diversity program, expected to total $2 million over four years.

Design and tech students move ahead with project to build and sell tiny house

Students in Bemidji State’s School of Technology, Art & Design are collaborating to design, build and sell a  “tiny house.”

A final design concept was chosen in October from among competing student proposals. With support from several sponsors, including Marvin Windows and Doors, the house will be assembled on campus, marketed by students and auctioned in conjunction with the Fourth Annual TAD Talks event on April 26.

For information about the home and its sale, call Mike Mulry at (218) 755-2122.

‘Northscape’ sculptures dedicated on lawn in front of Memorial Hall

Bemidji State dedicated “Northscape,” an installation of five sculptures by Mahtomedi sculptor Jon Kamrath on the lawn between Birchmont Drive and Memorial Hall, with a Dec. 1 ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The “Northscape” works are aluminum and steel structures, described by Kamrath as “three-dimensional line art,” which are inspired by nature and designed to work in harmony with one another.

Each piece has a line or design element that guides visitors to other parts of the space, he said. His inspiration came from birds over water, cairns used for wayfinding, butterflies, moose and fish.

“Works of art like Jon Kamrath’s ‘Northscape’ sculptures play an essential and profound role on our campus and in other public spaces,” President Faith Hensrud said. “Art of all kinds has the power to spark our imaginations and fire our spirits, to invite us to a new dimension of feeling and thought. Jon’s work does all of that.”

Education websites recognize BSU for quality and affordability

Bemidji State and a number of its academic programs have won recognition from education websites this fall for quality and affordability:

• Zippia ranked BSU ninth among the 10 best colleges for business majors in Minnesota.
• Nonprofit Colleges Online ranked Bemidji State 23rd in the nation among the colleges and universities offering the best scholarship support for online students.
• The website StudentLoans.net ranked Bemidji State 117th among the 200 four-year public institutions that make best use of federal work-study funds to support their students.
• College Choice ranked BSU’s online bachelor’s degree program in accounting 19th on its “35 Best Online Bachelor’s in Accounting Degrees, 2017” list.
• College Choice also ranked Bemidji State eighth on its list, “30 Best Online Bachelors in Social Work Degrees.”
• The website Early Childhood Education Degrees ranked BSU’s online bachelor’s degree programs in education sixth in its rankings of the nation’s 10 most-affordable programs.

Hagg-Sauer replacement project now first on system’s priority list

Bemidji State is again looking to the Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton for support of its plan to replace Hagg-Sauer Hall with a new state-of-the-art academic learning center and renovate other buildings for new faculty offices.

After failing to be included in the legislature’s 2018 bonding bill, the $22.5 million project is now No. 1 on the Minnesota State college and university system’s list for state bond funding. While not a guarantee, BSU officials are hopeful the long-awaited project could soon move ahead and be completed by fall 2020.

$1.61 million federal grant will extend McNair Scholars program

Bemidji State in October received a $1.61 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to continue its McNair Scholars program through the 2021-22 academic year.

The program encourages undergraduate students from underserved populations in fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to pursue doctoral degrees.

Named for astronaut Ronald McNair, among those killed in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, the program provides participants with direct involvement in research or other scholarly activities.

Since BSU’s McNair program began in 2012, 19 participants in the program have gone on to attend graduate school.

Blackwell Jr. Wins 2017 Distinguished Diversity Leadership Award 

Bill Blackwell Jr., executive director of Bemidji State’s American Indian Resource Center, on Oct. 16 received the Distinguished Diversity Leadership Award from the Minnesota State colleges and universities Academic and Student Affairs division.

“I’m humbled,” Blackwell said. “I like to think more in terms of what the American Indian Resource Center is doing rather than what I’m doing. But it’s humbling to be recognized system-wide for the work we’re doing here at BSU.”

He was honored during the system office’s 2017 Academic and Student Affairs Fall Leadership Conference, in Breezy Point.

Blackwell, a member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, was named AIRC executive director in June 2015. He has developed a broad range of programming and support services that have helped increase BSU’s retention of first-year American Indian students to nearly 84 percent.

With Blackwell’s involvement, Bemidji State has developed an unprecedented series of dual-enrollment agreements with Fond du Lac, Leech Lake, Red Lake and White Earth tribal colleges, granting students at those four colleges automatic admission into BSU after meeting certain requirements.