casnewsletterspring2020

IT HAS BEEN a very productive year for the College of Arts and Sciences! The college launched a number of initiatives based on a two-year strategic blueprint adopted last fall. Those efforts have focused on staffing, curriculum and professional development designed to bolster student, faculty and staff success, as well as the college’s contribution to the university and the local and regional community. Departments, programs and individuals in the college have also continued to make notable achievements in teaching, research and service. This newsletter can only highlight a small sample of those accomplishments, but the college and university are moving full speed ahead in our continuing pursuit of excellence! Dear Friends of NSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, NORTHERN STATE UNIVERSITY | SPRING 2020 SUMMER STEM CAMPS AND WORKSHOPS Funded by grants from 3M and South Dakota EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research), faculty in the Department of Science and Mathematics will be facilitating several teacher workshops and camps for middle schoolers during summer 2020. These camps are free, and any student who will be in grades 6–8 in fall 2020 is eligible to participate. General topics include biotechnology, plants and animals, and scientific imagery. For further information, watch the NSU College of Arts and Sciences website, as well as Facebook and Twitter feeds. DEAN Joshua Hagen JEWETT SCIENCE CENTER AUSTIN LEUNING, a junior majoring in human performance and fitness (pre-med), said, “I believe that our new biomedical labs are truly some of the best in the state. With the new science building, Northern has truly stepped up in the science field. With new equipment and laboratories, the Jewett Science Center truly is one of the best around.” Robert Vomacka, a junior majoring in biology (pre-med), concurred: “The building is a beautiful place on the outside, and an even better place to study on the inside. The biomedical laboratory has everything we could ask for as students. It is a great place to do research and study.” The JSC also meant big changes for science faculty and staff. After moving from Mewaldt-Jensen, assistant professor of biology Amy Dolan noted, “The impact of the new science building on my teaching, research and interactions with students has been so positive! The facilities and technology included in the building are cutting-edge, and the layout has many common spaces that foster interactions both among students and between students and professors.” The JSC is also poised to contribute to the community, region and state by hosting the annual meeting of the South Dakota Academy of Science in April and a series of STEM camps and workshops for middle school teachers and students during the summer. As Kelsey Fliehs, a junior majoring in biology (pre- nursing), explained, “It’s amazing how Northern advances over the years to better serve our community and contribute to continuing education. The laboratories only advance the experience that Northern has to offer.” The Harvey C. Jewett IV Regional Science Education Center is still in its first year, but it is already fulfilling its promise to the university, region and state. The Harvey C. Jewett IV Regional Science Education Center (JSC) has had an immediate impact since its opening last August. Students have benefitted from modern classrooms, laboratories and study spaces. SMALL WORLD INITIATIVE is a collaborative, crowd-sourced research project that immerses students in experiments to battle the global antibiotic resistance crisis. Since its inception in the 2012-13 academic year and a pilot program at Yale University, the initiative has grown to include more than 300 undergraduate institutions and high schools throughout the U.S. and 14 other countries. More than 10,000 students have benefitted from the program. In July 2019, Dr. Andrew Russell, assistant professor of biology, attended a week-long training workshop to bring this research program to the NSU biology department. Starting in the fall semester of 2020, Dr. Russell will be implementing this initiative into NSU’s BIOL 151 labs as a high-impact practice to improve retention of biology majors, enhance their overall experience and encourage students to pursue careers in science. SMALL WORLD INITIATIVE Workshop