This years Alumni Scholarship Winners are:

(Front Row)
Ashley Weinheimer, Jenna Frankino,
Samm Schermerle, Sandi Bitterman

(Back Row)
Alyssa Manion, Cade Blanchard,
Stetson Koffman and Thomas Kain

A group of education professionals from across the state and representatives from the Office of Public Instruction were on campus this spring to review our Education programs and make recommendations on how we can improve those programs. This visit was a technical visit and will provide us with valuable recommendations for the official accreditation visit which is scheduled for November.

 

This spring the campus gave Sue Swan and Jan Wiberg a retirement party. Together they have over 50 years of service to MSU-Northern. Jan was be the Faculty Marshal for this year’s Commencement Ceremonies

MSU-Northern hosted the first annual TekNoXPo, that's short for Technology-Knowledge-Exposition Participants. Students enjoyed hands-on demonstrations from the various programs from Northern's College of Technical Sciences. They will also have an industry supported equipment rodeo where potential students will compete in timed events on skid steers, backhoes and excavator simulators!

This event was designed to expose students to Northern's diesel, automotive, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, drafting, engineering, agriculture, business, and computer programs. All students who attended had a great time!

 

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer recently gave MSU-Northern and our Bio-Energy Innovation and Testing Center an award to recognize and commend MSU-Northern for our commitment to make clean, green energy and conservation in the state of Montana. Greg Kegel, MSU-Northern’s Dean of the College of Technical Sciences, was on hand to accept the award at the Harvesting Green Energy Conference held in Billings, MT. Approximately six hundred attended the conference that is annually held in the Pacific Northwest.

The campuses of MSU-Northern, MSU-Great Falls, MSU-Billings COT, Montana Tech COT, and MSU’s Wind Application Center have been awarded a US Department of Labor Community Based Jobs Training Grant to develop Wind Energy Technology and Industrial Technology programs. The grant is $1.97 million dollars over three years. While that sounds like a lot of money, this project is a true collaboration and much of the money will go to our partner campuses. This will be a joint effort to create Montana curricula in these areas that can be delivered across the University System. In addition, Northern plans to develop a four-year Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Technology for the graduates of the two-year Wind Energy programs from the partnering schools.

Twenty of Havre High's best and brightest juniors descended on Northern's campus to celebrate the completion of Leadership High School with a luncheon and awards ceremony. Interim Chancellor Rolf Groseth presented each participant with a $1,000 scholarship. This is the 9th year of the program which runs from October to March.

Each year our Golden Grads return to campus for their Golden Anniversary Reunion. This year the reunion was held May 8th & 9th to celebrate their 50 year Reunion. They are:

(back row L-R)
Lorna Bowen Tanberg, Sheila Hubbard McClintock, Beverly Moser Townsend, Allan Roush, and Larry Williams.

(front row L-R)
Sharon Tasa Krogedal, Orville Hoover, Kaylee Heck Nussbaum, and Judy Bricker, Director of Alumni Affairs.

 

The old snack bar area off the SUB Ballroom was renovated into The New Student Health Service and Employee Wellness offices. This is an excellent location for students needing medical attention.

This year the Energy Day was held Monday, April 20th in the MSU-Northern SUB. There were several presentations by some leading experts and a panel discussion on how to take advantage of some of the new energy opportunities. Jim Rowlett talked about ground source heating systems and Scott Plenninger from Windterra System Inc. also be returned to make some presentations on how wind can be used to generate electricity.

Northern's Energy Use and Conservation Committee worked with the Focus the Nation organization, Campus Chillout organization, the National Wildlife Federation, and the National Teach-In organization to develop informative resources and activities for this event and to develop an awareness on campus and encourage student involvement in energy issues. This year students have been actively involved in contacting their legislative representative to encourage them to be more supportive of Alternate energy issues.

Cheryl Ulmer, Great Falls Field Director from Senator Jon Testor's office presented a letter from Senator Jon Testor with an update on what they are doing at the federal level to develop renewable energy for Montana. Also the Hill County Commissioners Mike Wendland and Kathy Bessette were on hand to be a part of the panel discussion.

Six Montana State University-Northern PAS (Postsecondary Agriculture Students) Club members and advisor Tom Welch recently attended the National PAS Conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Jeff Habets of Conrad, Jennie Huffman of Raymond and Jay Blunt of Malta placed fifth in the Beef Livestock Specialist team contest. Derek Sande from Geraldine and Chad Forest of Peerless placed fifth in the Soil Specialist contest. Five of the students, including team captain Tracy Kaldenberg of Malta participated in the agriculture knowledge quiz bowl and several students served as Montana’s state delegates.

MSU-N Biology majors Jessica Sorensen and Jason Wall participated at the Poster Session at the Capitol Rotunda in Helena last April during the 2009 legislative session. Participants included students from different campuses within the Montana University System. Jessica and Jason were also among the 200 students who presented at the MSU Student Research Celebration at MSU-Bozeman the following week.

Both Jessica and Jason are working as Research Students at the Bio-Energy Innovation and Testing Center under the supervision of Dr. Jon Soriano, the Research Scientist at the Center. The students presented their work entitled “Crystallization behavior of biodiesel and biodiesel blends”. Their research primary objective is to understand the cold-flow properties of biodiesel derived from Montana produced vegetable oils.

The Technical Writing Essentials for Math and Science (TWEMS) facilitators met on MSU-Northern’s campus this spring. TWEMS is a professional development project for regional middle school and high school math and science teachers to incorporate writing strategies as a means of improving learning of math and science. This project is a collaborative effort between the Golden Triangle Cooperative, Northern Rockies Educational Services and Montana State University – Northern College of Education, Arts & Sciences and Nursing.

Graphics Design Faculty member Norton Pease won a silver ADDY award at the District 11 level (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana) for his website www.wesmell.com, and Graphic Arts Student Lindsey Krause also won a silver ADDY award for her website www.ipaintgood.com.