This week's Hotline! includes the following articles…

• President’s column: Finishing strong and moving forward
• Virtual Commencement to be held May 16, Senior Honors on May 14
• Faculty Excellence Awards announced
• Student Senate recognizes King and Tykwinski with 2020 awards
• Anderson joins VCSU Foundation staff
• Allebach serves on jury for ENKOR voice competition
• Students, faculty, staff participate in digital art exhibition
• Johnny Plastini artist talk available online
• Stay home, stay healthy, stay connected

The VCSU Hotline! online newsletter is typically published weekly during the school year. During the coronavirus response, we’ve been publishing every two weeks. Deadline to submit articles (photos encouraged) is 3 p.m. Friday.

President’s column: Finishing strong and moving forward

Greetings from Valley City State University!

As we near the end of the academic semester, preparations are underway for online celebrations of academic and athletic achievements. Our virtual commencement ceremony will be broadcast on the university’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/VCSUVikings on Saturday morning, May 16, at 10 a.m. I invite you to join us as we celebrate our 2020 graduates.

As you know, all courses at VCSU have been delivered online since spring break. Despite the challenges, the feedback has been largely positive, and our faculty and student success team have been hard at work helping students through this unanticipated twist to the semester.

Although the move to online delivery has been adopted by almost all colleges and universities across the country, VCSU enjoys a unique position that allows us to provide exceptional online instruction. As a laptop university, all of our students have an exceptional computer with tremendous (and similar if not uniform) software platforms in their hands. Coupling that with strong technology support infrastructure and personnel, along with talented and skilled faculty and staff, provides us with distinct advantages in navigating the switch to online with strength and confidence. And let’s not forget our experience with the 2009 flood, when all courses went online after Easter break. We know how to do this well.

Our continued focus on the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff has resulted in a few schedule changes for our campus. All summer events and camps, including the STEM Middle School Academy and our athletic camps, have been postponed until at least July 1. In addition, our first session summer school courses will be delivered online.

I’m very pleased to announce our intention to return to an open campus with face-to-face instruction in the fall, moving toward normal operations as much as possible. Our Cabinet and the other members of our Emergency Management Team will be working diligently as we plan for a restart that places the safety of our community members as our top priority. We realize things may change in the months ahead, but we’ll continue to plan carefully and pragmatically as we move forward.

I wish to thank the entire Valley City community for the support, cooperation and collaboration we continue to enjoy. We’re in this together, and I know that we all look forward to the positive energy and excitement that our students will bring back to our beautiful campus and this tremendous city.

Go Vikings!

Virtual Commencement to be held May 16, Senior Honors on May 14

To honor our graduating class of 2020, VCSU will hold a virtual commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16, starting at 10 a.m.

Our virtual ceremony will be played on the university’s YouTube channel, VCSUVikings (www.youtube.com/user/VCSUVikings). The event will appear on the YouTube channel that Saturday morning.

(Note that all Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 graduates have been invited to participate in one of our next in-person commencement ceremonies in December 2020 or May 2021.)

The annual Senior Awards Program will be a live streaming event through Microsoft Teams on Thursday, May 14, at 7 p.m. During the Senior Awards Program, each of the VCSU academic departments will recognize their outstanding seniors with award presentations. All seniors graduating with honors will also be recognized.

Read more at www.vcsu.edu/news/virtual-commencement-2020.

Faculty Excellence Awards announced

President LaFave has announced the VCSU Faculty Excellence Awards for 2019–20. Recipients are Lee Kruger, Senior Faculty (associate or full professor) award; Angela Mircsov, Junior Faculty (instructor or assistant professor) award; and David Hanson, Adjunct/Special Appointment award.

The awards recognize “exceptional dedication and commitment to students and the university by outstanding teaching, scholarly activities, or university service.”

Read more at www.vcsu.edu/news/10843/vcsu-faculty-excellence-awards-announced.

Student Senate recognizes King and Tykwinski with 2020 awards

The Student Senate of Valley City State University has announced its 2020 awards. Steven King, professor of social science, was named Teacher of the Year, and Betty Tykwinski, director for health services and worksite wellness coordinator, was named Student Advocate of the Year.

Read more at www.vcsu.edu/news/10849/student-senate-recognizes-king-and-tykwinski-with-2020-awards.

Anderson joins VCSU Foundation staff

Cory Anderson ’89 of Jamestown, N.D., has been named director of development and major gifts in the VCSU Foundation, according to an announcement made by Larry Robinson, foundation executive director. Anderson will begin his work at VCSU on June 15.

“We’re very excited to have Cory return to VCSU,” said Robinson. “He brings a wealth of valuable experience and connections to the foundation, and he’s a Viking through and through.”

Anderson currently serves as commissioner of the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA), the conference in which the VCSU Vikings compete.

Read more at www.vcsu.edu/news/10851/anderson-joins-vcsu-foundation-staff.

Allebach serves on jury for ENKOR voice competition

Robin Allebach, assistant professor of music, recently served as a judge on the jury board for the voice division of ENKOR International Music Competition.

With jury board members from 70 countries on 6 continents, ENKOR provides global competition in voice, piano, violin, strings, winds and percussion, and chamber music. Voice competition includes solo singers in opera, art song, and musical theater, along with vocal ensembles and choirs.

The ENKOR competition provides a unique opportunity for young musicians to be heard and recognized by major artists, teachers, and influential people in the music industry.

Students, faculty, staff participate in digital art exhibition

Students, faculty, and staff were encouraged by the VCSU Art Department to create during this time and submit work or work in progress for a digital art exhibition. Creations include drawing, painting, crochet, photography, baking, crafting and more. The exhibit can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VCSUArtDept and Instagram at www.instagram.com/vcsuartdepartment or by searching #vcsucreates.

Johnny Plastini artist talk available online

Johnny Plastini, visiting artist, gave an artist talk, via Zoom meeting, for his show “Parallax Errors from the Polytemporal Pluriverse.” A replay of his talk can be viewed here online youtu.be/3EW_HYFQcdo. Additionally, a walkthrough of Plastini’s show on the VCSU campus can be found online at https://youtu.be/ggnFMmxjM8g.

Stay home, stay healthy, stay connected

Although some restrictions regarding COVID-19 have been eased effective May 1, Governor Doug Burgum, in his weekly newsletter, reminds us that every North Dakotan has a role to play in protecting their fellow citizens.

Individuals can help protect themselves from COVID-19 by practicing everyday preventative behaviors. Stay home, avoid non-essential trips, cover coughs and sneezes, frequently wash hands with soap and water and clean frequently touched surfaces.

For the most updated and timely information and updates related to COVID-19, visit the NDDoH website, follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and visit the CDC website.

The governor’s weekly newsletter can be found online at www.governor.nd.gov/weekly-newsletter.