Grateful for another successful year; looking forward to an exciting 2024

The time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is typically a time for gathering with family and friends, reflecting on the events of the past year, and looking with anticipation to the future. However, the transition from 2023 to 2024 this year was punctuated with an unanticipated ice storm resulting in dangerous travel conditions and many folks dealing with extended power outages and upended travel plans. These outages were especially challenging for our farmers and ranchers who have livestock that need constant attention. We owe a sincere debt of gratitude to the city, county, state workers, and electrical crews who worked around the clock to keep our streets and roadways safe, clean up downed trees and other structural damage, and restore power to those in need. Thank you to all!

I’d like to reflect on just a few of the positive accomplishments of the past year. For the first time ever, VCSU eclipsed the 1,750 threshold in fall semester student enrollment. We celebrate this outstanding achievement with thanks for and recognition of the focused efforts of our entire faculty, staff, and community. Through continued effort, VCSU continues to be a great place for students to earn an affordable, high-quality degree.

We are proud of the continued accreditation and Frank L. Murray Leadership Award recognition for our School of Education by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). Twenty-one university teacher education programs nationwide were recipients of this award. The work of preparing future teachers this year has been critical for our state and region as teachers are in need across the Upper Midwest. In addition to offering scholarships for substitute teachers and paraprofessionals to earn their degree and become full-time teachers, faculty in the School for Education have prepared another large group of excited teacher candidates to head into school environments for student teaching experiences this spring.

Additionally, campus-wide recognitions and achievements were abundant this fall. We were once again recognized this fall by U.S. News and World Report as the top regional public college in North Dakota. We were honored as one of the Best Colleges in America by Money.com and given multiple awards for having high-quality, affordable degree programs.

Continuing our work last year to offer high-quality educational opportunities is one of the most important things we do here at VCSU. Last year our faculty led the way by completing training to enrich their courses and ensure they lead to student success. Our campus approved a new strategic plan and began implementing the plan immediately. Most importantly, we continued our work to help students develop into exceptional citizens, members of the workforce and proud VCSU alumni.

Here’s to another year of success and moving forward together. Go Vikings!