Celebrating the Class of 2016

• Commencement Brunch photos
• Celebrating with #BeaverGrads on social media
• Cap decorations seen at the ceremony
• Social media feature of students who graduated with jobs or grad school plans
• Shelby Edberg: Beaver for a Day

Hensrud visits campus as president-elect

Dr. Faith Hensrud was presented as the president-elect of Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College to faculty, staff, students, administrators and members of the Bemidji community at an April 25 open forum in the Beaux Arts Ballroom.

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Chancellor Steven A. Rosenstone and MnSCU Trustee Elise Bourdeau spoke at the presentation. Hensrud was recommended to the MnSCU Board of Trustees by Rosenstone, and that recommendation was approved in a unanimous vote of the board on April 20.

Faculty and Staff News for May

Cory Renbarger, assistant professor of music, performed the title role in Gianni Schicchi with the Fargo-Moorhead Opera, April 8 and 10. His performance headlines this month's Faculty and Staff News.

University hits first target for reduced greenhouse gas emissions

Wide-ranging efforts to improve energy efficiency have enabled Bemidji State to exceed the first objective in its 60-year commitment to combat global climate change, reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 3 percent since 2010. Having surpassed the initial reduction target of 2 percent, BSU will now aim for a 10 percent net reduction by 2020 and zero net emissions of carbon dioxide by 2050. 

Efforts so far include new energy-efficient LED lighting across campus, installation of a solar-powered air collector on the Lower Hobson Union in 2013, reduction in building space through demolition of Sanford and Maple halls and energy-efficient design and materials in the renovation of Memorial Hall. President Jon Quistgaard signed the American Colleges & University Presidents Climate Commitment in 2008.

New college and department names coming this summer

The College of Business, Technology and Communication, the Department of Technology, Art & Design and the Department of Accounting will all have new names beginning this summer.

The College of Business, Technology, and Communication will become the College of Business in a change suggested by the college’s executive advisory board and voted on and approved by all departments in the college. The College of Business name appropriately covers the vast majority of the college’s programs, will reflect the college in the future regardless of its departmental makeup, and has better utility from a branding perspective. 

The Department of Technology, Art & Design will become the School of Technology, Art & Design, also to be known as the TAD School. The school designation recognizes the national impact of the department’s academic programs and will also give identity to art and design programs that might not as readily identify with the College of Business name.

The Department of Accounting will become the Department of Accountancy. Accounting refers to the process of keeping or maintaining financial records, while accountancy refers to the duties or profession of an accountant. Accountancy is considered to be a more appropriate term for the profession.

New mass communications facilities on target for fall completion

Infusion of $250,000 from an unrestricted gift to the Imagine Tomorrow campaign is taking new facilities for the Department of Mass Communications from Chevrolet to Cadillac.

Combining those funds with $750,000 from the university will enable creation of a fully integrated multimedia learning environment on the second floor of Deputy Hall, transforming the student experience.

Work is scheduled for completion this fall on the new space that combines a former student production space with studios vacated last year by Lakeland Public Television, said department chair Dr. Virgil Bakken.

“It’s an integrated multimedia space for students in radio, print and TV all in the same area, sharing electronic resources and working together,” Bakken said. “It’s a big deal.”

Two new interactive classrooms will greatly expand multimedia learning, and new technology will facilitate broadcast of BSU events from the Sanford Center and campus locations, he said.

Guidance on the project and curriculum came from Dr. Michael Bugeja of Iowa State University’s Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.