This week's Hotline! includes the following articles:

• Employee Recognition Dinner to be held May 9
• Faculty Excellence Awards presented
• Student art exhibition reception to be held Thursday
• Orthman places in top 20% at International DECA
• STEM Education Center presents workshops
• Looking for an Ally? Workshops to be held May 15 and 16
• Viking sports update
• What’s happening at VCSU and around Valley City…

The VCSU Hotline! online newsletter is published every Monday. Deadline to submit articles (photos encouraged) is 3 p.m. the Friday before publication.

Employee Recognition Dinner to be held May 9

VCSU will recognize employees for honors and years of service to our campus at the Employee Recognition Dinner to be held Thursday evening, May 9. A social hour will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 p.m. The evening will culminate with recognition of the 2019 retirees.

Employees should stop in the Business Office or the Student Center Information Desk to pick up a free ticket by Wednesday, May 1. Additional tickets are available for purchase. Those being recognized at the dinner are being contacted by the event coordinator for their tickets.

Below is a complete list of those to be recognized.

“The Difference Maker” Award
Mike Nix, Director for Technology Services Desk
Loree Morehouse, Foundation Data Processing and Research Coordinator
Erik Kringlie, Technology Services Director of Data Centers and Virtualization
Lonny Scheer, Technology Services Systems Administrator
Margaret Dahlberg, Interim President/Vice President for Academic Affairs
Kari Stricklin, Director for Student Center/Student Activities
Jerilyn Beckman, Digital Content Specialist
William Blunck, Technology Services Network Administrator
Keith Biggers, Facilities Services Maintenance

VCSU Staff Employee of the Quarter Award
Brian Bakke, Facilities Building Operations Manager
Ben Ferguson, Library Systems Specialist
Tyler Tufte, Technology Services Applications Developer
Rick Clark, Facilities Building Services

Facilities’ Services Anchor Award Recipients
Ryan Ellis
Tilmer Gienger
Becky Heise
Darryl Heiser
Kevin Knight
Jamie Thebo

Completion of Degrees and Professional Certification
Dr. Amber Aberle, Instructor for School of Education and Graduate Studies (doctorate)
Debra Dramstad, Technology Services IT Support Specialist (Comp TIA, A+)
Steve Rindfleisch, Assistant Volleyball Coach (masters)

Faculty Awarded Promotion for 2019-20 Academic Year (current rank listed)
Dr. Amber Aberle, Instructor for School of Education and Graduate Studies
Dr. Emily Fenster, Assistant Professor for Social Science
Rachelle Hunt, Assistant Professor for Kinesiology and Human Performance
Sarah Milner, Assistant Professor for Kinesiology and Human Performance
Brenda Tyre, Assistant Professor for Business
Dr. Jonna Ziniel, Assistant Professor for Communication Arts

Faculty Awarded Tenure for 2019-20 Academic Year
Dr. Amber Aberle, Instructor for School of Education and Graduate Studies
Dr. Emily Fenster, Assistant Professor for Social Science
Rachelle Hunt, Assistant Professor for Kinesiology and Human Performance
Brenda Tyre, Assistant Professor of Business

Student Advocate 2019
Jackie Owen, Learning Services Coordinator/Disabilities Support Services
Tammy Peterson, Sodexo Food Service Director

Teacher of the Year 2019
Dr. Emily Fenster, Assistant Professor for Social Science

Years of Service

Five Years
Scott Anderson
Brian Bakke
Megan Banderet
Sharon Bratrud
Brock Drenth
Luis daVinha
Aleisha Kiser
Nicole Kneeland
Kevin Knight
Jason Kremer
Adam Longmore
Russell Marker
Amber Olson
Steve Rindfleisch
Jody Schnaidt
Lynette Stephens
Rebecca Sundstrom
Linda Trzpuc
Angela Williams

Ten Years
Richard Clark
Rachelle Hunt
Jackie Owen
Jenni Lou Russi
Jodi Shorma

Fifteen Years
Louis Wieland

Twenty Years
Jill DeVries
CJ Kotta
Brad Mills
Patti Rickford
Charlene Stenson
Kari Stricklin
Shannon Van Horn

Twenty-Five Years
Preston Bush
Jane Hammer
Gregg Horner
Dennis McCulloch

Faculty Excellence Awards 2019

2019 Adjunct Special Appointment
Robin Allebach, Instructor for Music

2019 Junior Faculty
Kevin Murphy, Assistant Professor for Science

2019 Senior Faculty
Dr. Joan Aus, Associate Professor for the School of Education and Graduate Studies

Retirements
Pat Egeberg, Director for Student Health Services/Worksite Wellness Coordinator
Tilmer Gienger, Facilities Building Security
Jane Hammer, Assistant Professor for Computer Systems and Software Engineering
Ronald Holton, Associate Professor for Technology
Gilbert Kuipers, Associate Professor for Science
Dennis Triebold, Heat Plant Operator

Faculty Excellence Awards presented

Last week, President LaFave and Vice President Dahlberg presented the Faculty Excellence Awards to three VCSU faculty members.

The Faculty Excellence Awards are presented annually to VCSU faculty who show exceptional dedication and commitment to students and VCSU through outstanding teaching, scholarly activities and university service.

Nominations are reviewed by a faculty nominating committee comprised of award winners from three previous years. That committee submits recommendation to the president, and the president reviews and selects the award recipients.

This year’s awards were presented as follows:
• Senior faculty (associate or full professor) — Joan Aus, education
• Junior faculty (instructor or assistant professor) — Kevin Murphy, science
• Adjunct or special appointment — Robin Allebach, music

Congratulations, Joan, Kevin, and Robin for your teaching contributions to VCSU!

Scholar Symposium to be held Tuesday

The 2019 VCSU Scholar Symposium will be held Tuesday, April 30, from 11 a.m. to noon in the Skoal Room and Upper Lounge of the Student Center. Please attend to visit with the student participants about their scholarly work and vote for your favorite for Viewer’s Choice!

Thank you to all of the staff and faculty who have encouraged students to participate or are serving as judges for the event. We appreciate your support!

Opera Ensemble to present “Broadway Bound” on Tuesday

The VCSU Opera Ensemble will present “Broadway Bound: A Musical Theater Showcase” on Tuesday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Froemke Auditorium in Foss Hall. The event is open to the public free of charge.

A talented cast of singers will perform a host of musical favorites, including selections from “Rent,” “Anastasia,” “Hairspray,” “My Fair Lady,” “Spamalot,” “Cinderella,” “Porgy and Bess,” “The Secret Garden,” “Music Man,” “The Sound of Music,” “Les Misérables,” “Avenue Q,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Wicked,” “Hamilton,” “She Loves Me” and “Newsies.”

The singers (listed with their hometowns) include Cheyenne Claeys (Oakes), William Egan (Enderlin), Rebekah Jordan (Valley City), Kimberly McLagan (Fargo), Abigail Ingstad (Valley City), Mikey Meester (Valley City), Joseph Munowenyu (Valley City), Catherine Murphy (Grand Forks), Devin Poitra (Rolla), Rydel Samuelson (Mandan) and Makayla Woitzel (Fargo).

The performance, directed by Robin Allebach, also features Farren Rowan, piano, along with special guests Christopher Redfearn of the music faculty and Angelana Quanbeck, violin.

Student art exhibition reception to be held Thursday

The VCSU student art exhibition, “Kaleidoscopic Mixtape,” is on display in McCarthy Gallery through May 3.

A closing reception will be held May 2 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the gallery. The exhibition and reception are open to the public free of charge.

Orthman places in top 20% at International DECA

Denise Orthman, a VCSU business student, competed in the 2019 International Career and Development Conference Competition (ICDC) held in Orlando, Fla., April 12-17.

Orthman competed in a hospitality event which included two parts, an exam and a case study. The national exam is 100 questions specific to the industry, and participants are given an hour to complete. The case-study portion of the event challenges students with a real-life scenario, and students have an hour to analyze the case and the challenge. Competitors have 20 minutes to present their case and allow for judge’s questions.

DECA’s exams and events are broken into five industry areas: finance, business management administration, entrepreneurship, marketing, and hospitality, with exam questions and case studies aligning with industry standards.In addition to competition, students participate and complete workforce-ready training workshops throughout the conference. Judges and workshop presenters are national leaders in their fields who volunteer in partnership with DECA.

At ICDC, the top 12-15 competitors are called for final rounds in which students compete in a new role-play case study to determine the top 3 winners. Competing against more than 100 participants from the United States and Canada, Orthman earned the Award of Excellence in her event, given to the top 20% of the event competitors based on scores on the exam and case study. She also earned a certificate of achievement for completing all aspects of the workshop and professional development training.

Amber Aberle, Ph.D., attended ICDC as adviser of the DECA program; she also took part in the professional development training.

STEM Education Center presents workshops

Personnel from the Great Plains STEM Education Center recently presented two workshops.

Jamie Wirth, director, taught at STEM Day at Circle of Nations School in Wahpeton on Thursday, April 18. There students in grades 3-5 worked with LEGO WeDo 2.0 and those in grades 6-8 did LEGO EV3 Mindstorms.

On the VCSU campus on Tuesday, April 23, Wirth and Gary Ketterling, education coordinator, taught sessions with Jamestown 5th graders working in LEGO WeDo 2.0.

“The students were very engaged in both the engineering design and coding of the robots,” said Wirth.

Looking for an Ally? Workshops to be held May 15 and 16

All of us need an ally at some point. When it comes to document design, our colleagues at BlackBoard have provided us with an Ally. Ally is an accessibility tool which works within BlackBoard to help us make our documents universally accessible.

Keep in mind that students often learn more efficiently and effectively by accessing materials in a variety of formats. Universal access is not about accommodations; it’s about providing access to all students in the formats that are most conducive to their learning.

Ally can be “turned on” in any course at the instructor’s request. The instructor will see “dials” that indicate the degree to which the document is accessible, and Ally will provide suggestions for how to improve the accessibility of the documents.

Currently, 18 VCSU faculty members are engaged in a pilot study to determine the user-friendliness of Ally. So far, the comments from faculty are positive. Ally is not intrusive, but it does provide valuable information to the instructor, and as universal access is required by policy and federal law, Ally comes to us at an opportune time.

Our local Ally coordinator and BlackBoard expert, Anthony Wendel, academic systems administrator, will be conducting workshops May 15 and 16, 2019, to assist faculty with universal access and course design. Join us and get a jumpstart on your fall courses.

Save the date: either May 15 or May 16. One of these half-day workshops will help you on the road to course improvement, higher learner retention, and higher learner success rates. Stipends will be available in the fall for completed courses.

To sign-up, please email Anthony Wendel (and copy Julee Russell) indicating the date you will attend and the course you will be revising.

Viking sports update

Softball
Tuesday: VCSU 7, Mayville 1; VCSU 1, Mayville 0
Wednesday: VCSU 4, Mayville 2; VCSU 5, Mayville 0
Friday: VCSU 8, Presentation College 0; VCSU 14, Presentation College 1
Saturday: VCSU 9, Presentation College 9; VCSU 20, Presentation College 1
The Viking softball team went 8-0 this week as they clinched the NSAA Regular Season Conference Championship. VCSU finishes the regular season with a 46-3 overall record and a 26-2 mark in conference play. The Vikings are the top seed for the NSAA conference tournament starting Thursday in Valley City.

Baseball
Wednesday: Mayville 4, VCSU 3; Mayville 4, VCSU 3
Friday: VCSU 8, Presentation College 5
Saturday: VCSU 13, Presentation College 2; Presentation College 5, VCSU 0
The Viking baseball team locked up the No. 3 seed for the NSAA conference tournament running May 3-6 in Valley City. VCSU is now 18-21 overall and 12-11 in conference play. The Vikings host Mayville for a non-conference game Tuesday before starting the NSAA tournament Friday in Valley City.

Track & Field
The VCSU track and field team competed Saturday at the MSU-Moorhead Ron Masanz Classic. Complete results from the meet can be found at: www.herostiminglive.com/results/display.html?event_id=365

Golf
The VCSU golf teams are in Bellevue, Neb., for the NSAA Golf Conference Championship on Monday and Tuesday. The 36-hole tournament is being played at Platteview Golf Club. The individual champions and team champions will advance to the NAIA Golf National Championship.

Upcoming Events
April 29-30: Golf @ NSAA Championships (Bellevue, Neb.)
April 30: Baseball vs. Mayville State, 4 p.m.
May 1: Track & Field @ SMSU Mustang Twilight Meet (Marshall, Minn.)
May 2-5: Softball - NSAA Conference Championship (Valley City)
May 3-6: Baseball - NSAA Conference Championship (Valley City)
May 3-4: Track & Field @ Howard Wood Dakota Relays (Sioux Falls, S.D.)

What's happening at VCSU and around Valley City ...

Monday, April 29
Viking golf @ NSAA Championships, Bellevue, Neb.
7:30 p.m. Composition Recital, Froemke Auditorium

Tuesday, April 30
Payday
Viking golf @ NSAA Championships, Bellevue, Neb.
11 a.m. General Student Recital, Froemke Auditorium
12:05 p.m. Rotary, Student Center Student Senate Room
4 p.m. Viking baseball vs. Mayville State, Charlie Brown Field, Valley City

Wednesday, May 1
Viking track and field @ SMSU Mustang Twilight Meet, Marshall, Minn.
noon Kiwanis, Valley City Town & Country Club

Thursday, May 2
Viking softball NSAA Conference Championship, VCSU softball complex (May 2–5)
7 a.m. Optimists, Vicky’s Viking Room
8:30–10:30 p.m. Vikings for Christ, Student Center Skoal Room

Friday, May 3
Viking baseball NSAA Conference Championship, Charlie Brown Field, Valley City (May 3–6)
Viking track and field @ Howard Wood Dakota Relays, Sioux Falls, S.D. (May 3–4)
7:30 p.m. Choral Concert, Vangstad Auditorium

Saturday, May 4

Sunday, May 5
Cinco de Mayo
Ramadan begins at sundown
10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Sodexo Sunday brunch, Student Center Cafeteria

Monday, May 6
VCSU Finals Week

Tuesday, May 7
12:05 p.m. Rotary, Student Center Student Senate Room

Wednesday, May 8
noon Kiwanis, Valley City Town & Country Club

Thursday, May 9
7 a.m. Optimists, Vicky’s Viking Room
5:30 p.m. VCSU Employee Recognition Social and Dinner, Student Center Cafeteria

Friday, May 10
noon Senior Honors Luncheon, Student Center Cafeteria

Saturday, May 11
10 a.m. VCSU Commencement, W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse

Sunday, May 12
Mother’s Day

Go to https://www.valleycitynd.org/calendar.php to see more events happening in and around Valley City.