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North Dakota State College of Science students, faculty and staff will celebrate Agawasie Day on Thursday, May 3. Events on the College’s Wahpeton campus will begin at 1:00 p.m., with competitions, inflatables, music, food and numerous attractions taking place throughout the afternoon and evening. The day-long celebration will close with an outdoor street dance for students from 9:00 p.m. until midnight in the parking lot north of Old Main, with music provided by a disc jockey.

The public is invited to participate in the Agawasie Day Car Show, which will take place from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Registration for the car show is free for all participants, including students, faculty, staff and the public. Trophies will be awarded for Best in Show and President’s Choice, as well as 1st and 2nd place Car, Truck and Motorcycle. Additional information and registration is available online at ndscs.edu/agawasie or by calling 701-671-2401.

In 1914, the College published its first yearbook called the Agawasie. The arrival of the annual became a day for celebration, hence the start of the annual Agawasie Day Picnic. While publishing an annual yearbook was discontinued in 2004, the day for celebration still lives on as Agawasie Day and is celebrated every year right before the start of finals.

North Dakota State College of Science will hold its commencement ceremony on Friday, May 11 at 3 p.m. in the Ed Werre Arena located in the Clair T. Blikre Activities Center in Wahpeton, N.D. Six hundred ninety students from the Wahpeton campus, NDSCS-Fargo location and online are scheduled to graduate. Two hundred eight of these graduates will be recognized with a Scholastic Achievement Award.

Faculty Senate President Barry Frank will serve as the Grand Marshal, Vice President for Academic Affairs Harvey Link will preside as the Master of Ceremonies and NDSCS President John Richman will give remarks and recognitions as well as the presentation of degrees, diplomas and certificates. Addison Helgaas, Student Senate President, will share his remarks. The NDSCS Performing Arts department will also perform musical selections.

North Dakota State College of Science honored numerous employees at the annual Employee Recognition Program on April 27, 2018. Faculty and staff members were named recipients of the College’s Excellence in Teaching Award and Excellence in Service Award as well as the College’s annual LIFE and Steeple awards for the 2017-2018 academic year.

The Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes instructors who, among other outstanding characteristics, demonstrate competence and sincere interest in their subjects, present material in a suitable, well-integrated fashion and encourage participation from students. Selection criteria include student evaluations, feedback and deliberations by a selection committee comprised of faculty members and students. This year’s recipients were chosen from a group of more than 40 nominees. The honorees are:

• Larissa Gilbertson: Associate Professor, Academic Services Center
• Char Schuler: Assistant Professor, Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Jane Krump: Professor/Department Chair, Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Jeri Christiansen: Associate Professor, Nursing

The Excellence in Service Award recognizes employees who consistently go above and beyond every day and exemplify the College’s values of learning, integrity, flexibility and excellence. Nominations are open to those serving in the professional, office support, technical, paraprofessional, trades and service positions that are not on probationary status with recipients chosen by the President and Vice Presidents. The honorees are:

• Billie Jo Hendrickson: Building Services Supervisor, Facilities Management
• John Lesch: ITS Service Desk Specialist, Information Technology Services
• Shannon Dyrness: Administrative Secretary, Distance Education
• Vince Plummer: Personal Counselor, Student Health and Counseling Services

This year’s LIFE award recognized Network and Information Technology Security Coordinator Chris Kelsen. The award is presented to an individual, employee group or committee for developing and implementing an action plan for Strategic Planning or Academic Quality Improvement Project goals. Kelsen was recognized for his work in a number of important Information Technology Services efforts that have significantly improved the technology services that support the success of NDSCS students and employees. Chris led an extensive upgrade of the College's data network, including upgrading network hardware and implementing network routing. This was completed on a live network and Kelsen handled unexpected challenges with flexibility, professionalism and creative thinking.

This year’s Steeple award was presented to the NSF ATE North Dakota Weld Grant. The recipients included Welding Technology faculty Clint Gilbertson, Joel Johnson, Vance Harthun, Lee Larson and Mitch Van Vleet. The Steeple award stands for “Climbing New Heights” and is presented to an individual, employee group or committee for new and innovative methods to accomplish their role on campus. With the grant, NDSCS will prepare pathways for North Dakota secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) schools to articulate Welding education at NDSCS, and ultimately increase the number of skilled welding employees in the industry. NDSCS will develop common curriculum, teacher training, assessment and industry credentials for participating North Dakota CTE welding programs.