Hotline // April 1, 2026

President's Column: Recruitment – An Ongoing Team Effort

By Dr. Allen Burgad, Interim President

At VCSU, we have established a strategic goal of becoming an Institution of Choice. Achieving this goal requires all of us to share our story as a reputable and preferred institution. Telling that story clearly and consistently to prospective students and their families matters.

Our enrollment has grown steadily over the past several years, driven by increases in online enrollment, dual credit, and graduate programs. We are proud of this progress, and it reflects the collective efforts of Enrollment Services, Marketing, and our academic departments. I would also be remiss not to acknowledge the role that every faculty and staff member already plays. For many, this includes meeting with students, sharing information about their academic programs, and discussing engagement opportunities available on campus. For others, it is the simple, yet meaningful interactions that define who we are as a campus. I have witnessed firsthand the welcoming environment our faculty and staff create for visiting students and their families through simple statements of “hello” and “welcome to VCSU,” which leave a lasting impression.

Through our strategic planning, we identified a goal to increase face-to-face enrollment. In doing so, we reaffirmed the important role that online learning, dual credit, and graduate programs play in VCSU’s overall vitality. At the same time, we recognized that strong face-to-face enrollment is essential to the campus experience, the vitality of our community, and the long-term success of our institution.

These conversations led us to reflect on how we share our story and how we align our recruitment and marketing efforts with research and evidence-based practices. As we reviewed our work, we found that many of the strategies already in place at VCSU align well with practices shown to be effective across higher education, including:

• Student and alumni involvement
• Clear program messaging and career pathways
• Meaningful faculty engagement and follow-up
• Clear communication of affordability and value
• Strong digital presence
• Engaging campus experiences during visits
• Timely and personalized communication

Following collaborative conversations with Enrollment Services, Marketing, and our academic departments, it became clear that we are already doing many things well. We also extended this work through intentional discussion and planning with our department chairs, creating an opportunity to learn from one another, identify strategies that are working, and surface areas for continued growth. These conversations have provided affirmation of our work and helped us identify opportunities to be more intentional and aligned moving forward.

As we continue this work, our focus will be on building a clear and coordinated VCSU recruitment and marketing approach that supports our students, reflects our values, and strengthens our ability to serve both our campus and the broader community. Critical to this effort is our ability to share our story, clearly, consistently, and with purpose. At VCSU, our strength has always been our people, and it is often not what we say, but the time we take to say it that leaves a lasting impact on those we serve.

Two VCSU Speech Competitors Qualify for National AFA Tournament

Hornung and Weber travel to Portland April 3 for competition

Valley City State University students Grady Hornung and Anastasia Weber have qualified for the national collegiate speech tournament and will travel to Portland, Oregon, for the competition on April 3.

Hornung, a senior from Walhalla, N.D., will compete in Dramatic Interpretation and Prose at the American Forensic Association (AFA) National Tournament. This is his second year on the VCSU speech team. He also qualified for the national competition last spring. Hornung is a music education major and active on campus in Residence Life.

“I enjoy the opportunities speech and debate gives students to use their voice and advocate for something they feel is important,” he said.

Weber, a sophomore from Jamestown, N.D., will compete in Persuasive Speaking at nationals. This is her first year competing with the VCSU team. Weber is an English major and a part of the award-winning Forge publication.

“Speech allows me to share about things important to me,” she said. “It pushes me out of my comfort zone and offers opportunities to meet many awesome people. These are lifelong skills essential to the workforce.”

During the 2025-2026 school year, 11 VCSU speech team members competed in 11 tournaments in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. After a near 20-year hiatus, the speech team returned to campus last year and saw significant growth in the team this season.

“Competitive speech is one of the most workforce-driven extracurricular events offered for college students. Speech is a critical communication skill that our students get to hone as a strength through practice, competition and camaraderie,” said Tammy Jo A. Taft, assistant professor of Communication Arts and VCSU speech team coach. “VCSU students have done an amazing job this year preparing materials and bringing their competitive edge to the region. They have represented our school well with talent, commitment and enthusiasm.”

Other students competing and participating in VCSU Speech this year include Madi Klabo, Eric Leik, Anna Erickson, Kristyn Bauer, Lallie RedHorn, Luke Wilman, Trista Weigelt, Sydnie Diffely, Sabrina Haas and Nyssa Haslerud.

Tournament competition includes 11 different events for individuals or partners. A variety of interpretive events like prose, poetry and drama are included. Other categories include original content created by the competitor. These include impromptu speaking, extemporaneous speaking, after dinner speaking, informative and persuasive speaking.

For more information about VCSU Speech contact the VCSU Department of Communication Arts or coach Tammy Jo Taft at tammyjo.taft@vcsu.edu.

VCSU Wellness Fair Scheduled for April 15

Valley City State University Student Health Services will host the annual Wellness Fair on Wednesday, April 15, from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. in the VCSU Student Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Attendees can expect exciting door prizes, hands-on activities and wellness information from more than 25 different campus, local, and state entities. Sponsored by Essentia Health, Sanford Health, and CHI Mercy Health, the VCSU Wellness Fair offers attendees the opportunity to discover resources to develop healthy habits that can have a positive impact on their physical and mental health.

“I would like to thank CHI Mercy Health, Sanford Health, and Essentia Health for sponsoring this year’s Wellness Fair again,” said Betty Tykwinski, RN, VCSU’s Director for Health and Wellness. “Their generosity and continued support of the Wellness Fair is greatly appreciated and makes it possible for us to provide some amazing door prizes.”

The ND Department of Health and Human Services will be returning this year to provide free, confidential HIV testing for students, employees and members of the community. Participants who get tested will receive a coupon for a free beverage at Viking Grounds.

Attendees can also try a variety of health screenings and fitness testing, earning them the chance at winning door prizes such as an espresso maker, pizza oven, Owala water bottles and gift cards. See the complete list of door prizes below.

VCSU employees who attend the Wellness Fair and participate in the Dakota Wellness Program will receive a voucher for a one-day event.

For more information about this event, contact Betty Tykwinski at betty.j.tykwinski@vcsu.edu or call 701-845-7305.

Find the full list of exhibitors and a prize list here.

Wicktor Receives Joseph A. Westby Leadership Award

Emily D. Wicktor, Ph.D., associate professor for language and literature, is the recipient of the North Dakota United Foundation Joseph A. Westby Leadership Award for her work as program coordinator for the Minnesota Writing and English organization and annual conference. MnWE’s official mission is “to help transform writing and English into teaching and learning experiences using practical methodologies that serve students best, and to do this with equity, increasingly, whenever, and wherever possible. Our vision is to bring scholarly ideas, pedagogy, and equity together to help create the future of our disciplines.” This award recognizes and supports Wicktor’s volunteer leadership work with this regional organization and annual conference deeply invested in fostering productive, innovative, and collaborative conversations related to literature and writing studies.

Language and Literature Faculty Present at Minnesota Writing and English Conference

J. Gregory Brister, Ph.D., professor for language and literature, and Emily D. Wicktor, Ph.D., associate professor for language and literature, presented at the 2026 Minnesota Writing and English Conference at Winona State University, in Winona, Minn. on March 27-28.

Brister presented his paper, “Reconsidering Bizzell’s ‘Contact Zones and English Studies’: AI as a ‘Contact Zone,’” as part of the “Conceptualizing AI: Contact Zones and Science Fiction” panel.  In his paper, Brister argues that AI represents a new form of ethnography and its attendant ideology of colonization, and that AI should be considered in writing courses to give students “the power to interpret what is going on” by contrasting their own personal narratives with AI-rendered models as a way to interrogate the seeming inevitability of LLMs appropriating human-produced writing.

Wicktor presented her paper, “George Saunders’ ‘The Braindead Megaphone’ Revisited: Rhetorical Agility as Antidote to the Digital Menace,” as part of the “Rhetoric, Authenticity, and Critical Consciousness” panel. In her paper, Wicktor contemplates the value of this near 20-year-old essay and how its message alarmingly resonates in 2026.  The essay’s imperative to revive “the curious part” of critical reading practices reads as more vital today, highlighting the need for near instantaneous rhetorical agility in the face of digital menaces at every turn. As such, Wicktor posits that Saunders’ essay serves as an essential framework for first-year writing and research courses designed to foster rhetorical agility, to build critical understanding of rhetoric on demand, and to devise more meaningful inquiry and curiosity as an antidote to the omnipresent digital menacing too loudly, stupidly, and dangerously barked through the contemporary braindead megaphone.

VCSU Macroinvertebrate Lab Receives ND EPSCoR funding for Macrophotography Equipment

Andre DeLorme, Ph.D., professor emeritus and director of the VCSU Macroinvertebrate Lab, was awarded a STEM Equipment (Research and Education) Grant from the North Dakota Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ND EPSCoR). This equipment grant will provide the VCSU Macroinvertebrate Lab (VCSU Mac Lab) with a high-quality imaging system for documenting aquatic organisms from North Dakota waters. These photos will be used as part of a digitization process of a large collection of macroinvertebrate organisms, mainly freshwater mussels and aquatic insects, housed in the VCSU Mac Lab.

The ND EPSCoR State Office helps institutions of higher education across the state increase STEM research capacity and competitiveness; works to build a stronger STEM pathway that produces our next generation of workforce, educators, and researchers; and informs North Dakotans about developments in the state’s STEM ecosystem and economy.

Viking Sports Update

SOFTBALL
The Viking Softball team hosted Dakota State this weekend for a four-game Frontier Conference series. The Vikings had a great weekend taking all four games. VCSU swept the Trojans on Saturday 4-0 and 5-4. Then swept again on Sunday 8-0 and 14-6. Valley City State will be at Bismarck State on Monday, April 6 and Wednesday, April 8. These games were scheduled for Thursday and Friday this week. For their tremendous efforts this weekend, Pitcher Maddy Hazelton and Infielder Kylee Banerd earned Pitcher and Player of the Week honors in the Frontier Conference.

BASEBALL
The Vikings hit the road this past weekend to take on the #4 ranked (now #3 in the latest poll) Bellevue Bruins. The Bruins swept the four-game series with the Vikings. Bellevue took both games on Saturday, and followed that up with a pair of wins on Sunday. Valley City State was scheduled to host Dakota State Friday and Saturday in conference action, but those games have been postponed.

TRACK AND FIELD
The Viking Track and Field teams were in Minnesota at the St. John’s Optimistic Invitational. Valley City State was scheduled for a couple of meets this weekend in Vermillion, South Dakota and Bismarck, but Mother Nature had other plans. Those meets have been canceled. Next on the schedule for the Vikings is the Bison Spring Invitational in Fargo on Saturday, April 10.

FOOTBALL
Viking football had a good week as well. Viking Signing Day saw 24 student-athletes sign letters of intent to play football at VCSU in 2026. The 2026 Football season begins with Spring Practice beginning on Monday, April 6.

What's happening at VCSU and around Valley City...

March 30 – April 10
Bloom, Jora Leeseberg senior art show, Larry J. Robinson Center for the Arts Gallery

Friday, April 3
VCSU offices closed

Monday, April 6
New Student Orientation

Wednesday, April 8
VCSU Math Competition

Find out what’s happening at VCSU: https://www.vcsu.edu/news-events/

Find out what’s happening in the community: https://www.valleycitycalendar.com/