18 Student Affairs Strategic Plan 65. With partners, create a Town-Gown Council utilizing best practices from the International Town-Gown Association.7 66. With Instructional Technology and the Provost’s Office, implement training and support to increase the overall average accessibility score for Northern’s D2L courses to 85% by the end of Spring 2026 (as evaluated by Panorama). 67. With Instructional Technology and the Provost’s Office, increase the overall average accessibility score for Northern’s D2L courses to 90% by the end of Fall 2026 (as evaluated by Panorama). 68. With Instructional Technology, implement training for all administrators and staff to create accessible Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. 69. Create a student activities and Intramurals participation league (i.e. “Pack Points”) with cumulative points for participation in activities such as leagues, fitness classes, programming, clubs and fairs, or workshops, where students earn points for participation and engagement, redeemable for exclusive prizes or gear. 70. With Facilities Management, create, identify, andpublicize one gender-neutral/family restroom in each building on campus. 71. Collaborate with First-Year Seminars to increase student awareness and understanding of Student Accessibility Services by presenting to at least half of all fall FYS sections. 72. Develop programming and awareness for National Disability Awareness Month in March of 2026. 73. Collaborate with Academic Affairs to deliver annual training sessions for faculty and staff on Student Accessibility Services, reasonable accommodations, and utilization of ACCESS Northern. 74. With partners, celebrate the 125th Anniversary of Northern State University during the 2026-2027 academic year. 75. Install and publicize Aunt Flow’s (or similar) free vending menstrual product dispensers in the women’s restrooms of the Student Center. 76. Add a lactation room (with water) to the Student Center to increase support for pregnant and parenting students, staff, and faculty. 77. Create and publicize a Parenting Students/Staff/Faculty website to better communicate support to parenting members of the community include lactation room(s), baby changing stations, family restrooms, FMLA, etc. 78. Create and publicize an Equal Opportunity and Compliance website to better communicate Northern and SDBOR policies, procedures, and resources to ensure opportunities for all members of the community to succeed. 79. Assess, add as necessary, and publish the locations of baby changing stations in bathrooms across campus. 80. With Technology Services, purchase ReadSpeaker to add a text-reading capability for students testing in lockdown browsers. 81. Modernize the SDBOR Disability Services ADA Syllabi Statement to be more student-friendly and to encourage students to access support. 82. Continue to celebrate Northern’s Homecoming as Homecoming. 83. Working with the Campus Archivist and any living relatives, identify and celebrate Northern’s first African American student. 84. Replace the Meditation Room to provide a quiet sanctuary for students, staff, and faculty to manage stress, reflect, and find balance. This will also accommodate religious or spiritual practices to support diverse faith traditions on campus. 85. Streamline and implement a student‑centric meal plan accommodation and exemption process in collaboration with Student Accessibility Services, Residence Life, and Dining Services. Business as usual ceases to exist, and yesterday’s status quo isn’t likely to return, so we must adjust our actions and processes accordingly. Nathan Lukkes SDBOR Executive Director & CEO 7See: https://www.itga.org/
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