Hotline // July 10, 2024
This week’s Hotline includes the following articles:
- Work begins to transform McCarthy Hall into the future VCSU School of Education
- President’s Column: Student success and leadership transition
- VCSU Launches Accelerated Program for Sport Leadership and Management
- Jenrich named Difference Maker
- Erin Klingenberg retirement social
- What’s happening at VCSU and around Valley City…
Work begins to transform McCarthy Hall into the future VCSU School of Education
VCSU leaders, faculty, staff and community members mark the occasion with official groundbreaking event
Valley City, ND – Valley City State University (VCSU) hosted a groundbreaking event this morning outside of McCarthy Hall to officially mark the start of transformational work on the historic building.
McCarthy Hall will become the new home for VCSU’s nationally-recognized School of Education and Technology and STEM Education. VCSU faculty, staff, community members and leaders in education attended the event. Work began today on the building and the space is anticipated to be ready for students by the fall of 2025.
“I’m happy that we’re able to preserve this historic facility and renovate it to its grandeur. This will modernize McCarthy Hall to serve as the destination school of education for our state and region for the next 50 years. This will have an incredible positive impact for our community, the teacher workforce in North Dakota, and for the incredible cutting-edge educational experiences that our faculty will provide to students,” President Alan LaFave said during the event.
Valley City Mayor Dave Carlsrud said “VCSU and the Valley City Public School System are important components of the community, and VCSU is the “face of education in North Dakota.” “We have something over 1,500 alumni represented serving schools throughout North Dakota, and (VCSU) graduates more people in education than any other school in the state,” Carlsrud said. “That’s significant and you can be proud of that.”
“K-12 education and higher education are facing an unprecedented shortage of teachers across the state of North Dakota,” Valley City Public School System Superintendent Josh Johnson said. “Valley City State has been at the forefront of helping to address this issue. I think this project speaks again to that effort and will further help address the crisis that we are facing. Thank you President LaFave, Dr. Burgad and all the faculty and staff of VCSU for your leadership in education in North Dakota.”
“The modernized renovations of McCarthy Hall will extend 21st-century learning opportunities for current and future educators,” Dean of the VCSU School of Education Allen Burgad said. “We are very excited about the state of our technology literacy and STEM classrooms along with the new Children’s Literacy Lab. These learning centers will provide tremendous learning opportunities and prepare our next generation of educators.”
McCarthy Hall was built in the early 1930s and was used as a training school for prospective teachers attending VCSU. When the training school was closed, the building housed a wide variety of VCSU courses including technology education, art and psychology. The renovation of McCarthy Hall is a part of the first-ever capital campaign project at VCSU.
The $13.5 million project is made possible through the generous support of donors, VCSU funds and $11.5 million allocated by the North Dakota Legislature and approved by Gov. Doug Burgum.
President's Column: Student success and leadership transition
The university experience for a student is formed by experience in and out of the classroom. In fact, more than 75% of a student’s time is spent outside the classroom. Consequently, the quality of those experiences contributes significantly to the success of each student.
July 15, 2024, will mark the end of an era at VCSU with the retirement of Dr. Erin Klingenberg, vice president for student affairs. Erin began her career here in 1990 as an instructor in the Health and Physical Education (HPE) department and coach for volleyball and softball. In 1991 she accepted the counseling position and began service as the Coordinator of Student Activities and Counseling. Subsequent roles in retention and human resources led to her serving as a faculty member in Psychology. After earning her doctoral degree in Human Development (Counselor Education and Supervision), she taught psychology and served as the director of counseling until she accepted the role as Dean of Student Affairs in March 2021 and became Vice President for Student Affairs in March 2022. Dr. Klingenberg contributes to her position through continued service as a supervisor for new counselors across North Dakota as they earn their licensure.
Dr. Klingenberg has provided consistent, reliable, professional, empathetic, and calm leadership in her role. The increasing demand for mental health programming led to an expansion in counseling services beginning in 2019. Her leadership resulted in the addition of 2 full-time equivalents in this area, which has provided an important service for our students and their success. She encourages and guides each director under her supervision to be the best in their respective areas. She supports and advocates for all the student affairs employees so all know they belong and are valued. Her leadership has provided awareness for the value of student affairs and the programs under her supervision.
Some of the notable achievements in Student Affairs during her tenure include:
- Leading efforts to develop the “stay-n-save” program which guarantees that students will never pay an increase in housing rates should they continue to reside in residence halls all four years.
- Improvements to the university apartments and grounds – with painting, signage, updates and fencing making the apartments pet friendly.
- Taught Mental Health First Aid for the North Dakota University System campuses and brought this internationally recognized program to the campus and community.
- Updated the student center with new ceiling tiles and improved and renovated the student lounge areas.
- Led efforts for window replacement in McCoy Hall (residence hall).
As we celebrate the achievements and career of Dr. Erin Klingenberg we recognize her contributions to our campus and community are significant and one article simply can’t capture the extensive and positive impact she has had here. We celebrate her career achievements and wish her the very best for a long, healthy, and happy retirement with her family and friends.
We will miss you, Erin! Go Vikings!
VCSU Launches Accelerated Program for Sport Leadership and Management
Students can earn bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years
Valley City, ND –Valley City State University (VCSU) today announced an accelerated program for students pursuing a Sport Leadership and Management undergraduate and graduate degree.
The program includes three years of courses on the VCSU campus to earn an undergraduate degree and two years of courses at North Dakota State University to earn a master’s degree.
“Sport Leadership and Management is an increasingly popular career path for many students as they seek to work in a wide range of athletic professions within the sports industry and related fields and make a positive impact on their community,” VCSU professor Dr. Rachelle Hunt said. “Students can work in a variety of areas with this undergraduate degree, and pairing a master’s with it from NDSU makes their resumes even stronger.”
Individuals with a degree in Sport Leadership and Management can work in various fields including as an athletic director, sports facility/league/event manager, sport marketing specialist, public relations, social media manager, athletic coach, sport performance coach, sport business analyst, sport equipment sales/marketing, sports entrepreneur, sport broadcaster/announcer, sport journalist/writer, sport analyst, sport lawyer or sport agent. Market data suggests the job market in this field is increasing in the Midwest and nationwide.
“Partnering to offer a clear and accelerated path to a bachelor’s and master’s degree is a great example of how North Dakota University System schools can partner to create more opportunities for our students,” Vice President for Academic Affairs Larry Brooks said. “Our work is to offer educational experiences like this to ensure students have a strong understanding, background and even stronger resume when they enter the workforce.”
VCSU also offers numerous certificates and minors that help students reach their career goals including in athletic coaching, strength and conditioning, sports marketing, marketing, and digital marketing.
For more information about the accelerated program or to schedule an interview please contact Tammy Jo A. Taft, director of marketing and communication, by emailing tammyjo.taft@vcsu.edu or calling (701) 845-7227.
Jenrich named Difference Maker
Haley Jo Jenrich, controller, was selected as the recipient of the Difference Maker Award for July. She was nominated by Student Affairs and Housing. Her nomination read, “Our favorite thing about Haley is that whenever she comes across a question that she doesn’t know the answer to, she replies with “I’m going to add that to my list of things to learn about.” It’s more than just finding you the answer to the question, she seeks to understand the entire situation. She also approaches sensitive conversations with positivity and understanding, and without placing blame. She wants others to learn and grow through what they don’t yet know as well. We all enjoy getting to work with Haley and think she is a great leader on our campus!”
Congratulations, Haley!
Erin Klingenberg retirement social
The Student Affairs & President’s offices will host a retirement social for Erin Klingenberg, Vice President for Student Affairs, on July 15.
The social will take place in the VCSU Student Center from 10 a.m. – noon.