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North Dakota State College of Science honored two employee teams with the College’s annual LIFE and Steeple awards on October 25, 2017. This year’s LIFE award was presented to the HVAC-R Trane Lab, while the Steeple award was presented to the Building Success at Science Initiative.

This year’s LIFE award recognized the HVAC-R Trane Lab. The recipients included Jeff Kukert, Mark Wood, Leslie Shirek, Tana Erbes, Barbara Bang, Dallas Fossum, Darrell Schreiber, David Cooper, Mark Eklund and Jodi Ost. The LIFE Award stands for “Bringing LIFE to NDSCS” and recognizes collaborative efforts that support the LIFE values of the College. The award is presented to an individual, employee group or committee for developing and implementing an action plan for Strategic Planning or Academic Quality Improvement Project goals.

In June 2016 NDSCS obtained a partnership with the Trane company. This partnership included funding for state-of-the art commercial air conditioning equipment for the lab, advanced digital building control systems and software as well as the Variable Air Volume boxes to control airflow with the controllers. In October 2016 grant funding was awarded to renovate the existing lab and classroom. Additional funding was donated by industry and alumni. These funding sources converted the two spaces in the Mechanical Systems building into a state-of-the-art commercial controls and equipment learning center. Students will receive training and certification, which is only available in a few select colleges in the country. NDSCS can now host NC3 certifications for the existing workforce in the region as well. A secondary impact of the partnership announcement as well as the renovation is an increase in first-year student enrollment. Fall 2017 brought the department beyond its capacity and some students were placed on a waiting list.

This year’s Steeple award was presented to the Building Success at Science Initiative. The recipients included Clinton Gilbertson, Barbara Spaeth-Baum, Kyle Armitage, Justin Grams, Kari Hasbargen, Maria Kaduc, Joe Schreiner, Dr. William Shay and Randy Stach. The Steeple award stands for “Climbing New Heights” and is presented to an individual, employee group or committee for new and innovative methods to accomplish their role on campus. Criteria for the award include taking a risk, thinking outside the box, just-in-time delivery and how that addresses immediate needs, shared innovation, impact on student learning and development, and documented results.

To enhance student success, the College plans to work together to build an effective academic and non-academic program review process entitled “Building Success @ Science.” This action project encompasses the first phase of the process, establishing the leadership and communication channels to provide input and explain the initiative. The team that was nominated by their peers and undertook this project was exemplary.  They went above and beyond the task at hand and made a much larger impact by developing a transparent and open communication process that could be used for all College initiatives. The communication process that was the product of this group is now fully implemented and is positively impacting the transparency and communication of the College community. The NDSCS Management Team adopted this process and it is now an expectation of all major College initiatives. This group exemplified each aspect of the NDSCS Quality Standards – especially customer experience, communication and teamwork.

North Dakota State College of Science announced a partnership with SITECH Dakotas, a division of Butler Machinery, to provide state-of-the-art equipment for the College’s Land Surveying and Civil Engineering Technology department. Each academic year, SITECH Dakotas will provide NDSCS with the latest equipment to be used at no cost. SITECH Dakotas will also provide training and technical support for faculty to effectively operate the equipment. The equipment will be returned at the end of each academic year, to be replaced with updated equipment the following year.

SITECH Dakotas has currently entrusted NDSCS with the following equipment, valued at approximately $35,000: Trimble GPS Base, Trimble GPS R10 Receiver and Trimble Data Collector.

“This partnership allows our program to be more efficient,” said Jeff Jelinek, NDSCS Land Surveying and Civil Engineering Technology Program Coordinator. “We are able to have more students working hands-on with equipment at the same time.”

In spring 2018, SITECH Dakotas will provide two additional GPS receivers, a machine display and mounting brackets to NDSCS, adding $60,000 to the value of entrusted equipment for the 2017-2018 academic year.

“We are excited for the machine control equipment we will be able to utilize this spring,” said Jelinek. “Our partnership with SITECH Dakotas will bring hands-on training to our machine control and project layout curriculum. This is an area that many students are interested in, and they will be better prepared for the workforce by having operated this high-tech equipment.”

“This partnership supports our focus on communication throughout the industry,” said Chris Giese, SITECH Dakotas General Manager. “Students will be better prepared to work for SITECH Dakotas and our customers, saving training time. Everyone will benefit from this partnership.”

Graduates from the NDSCS Land Surveying and Civil Engineering Technology program in 2016 had a 100% placement rate. Individuals interested in the program can learn more online at ndscs.edu/surveying.

The North Dakota State College of Science Performing Arts Department will present its fall play, The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townwomen’s Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery, November 16-18 in the Bremer Bank Theatre in the Harry Stern and Ella Stern Cultural Center. The performances will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. General Admission tickets are $5 for adults and $1 for students.

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townwomen’s Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery is a comedy by David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin, Jr., presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

The NDSCS Performing Arts Department will present its holiday concert on December 5, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. in the Bremer Bank Theatre in the Harry Stern and Ella Stern Cultural Center. Free will donations will be accepted and there will be a reception following the concert.

The concert will feature the NDSCS Concert Band under the direction of Dr. Adam Hollingsworth and the Concert Choir under the direction of Bryan Poyzer. This will be the final concert of the semester and will feature a variety of music, including three pieces by the newly formed NDSCS Voice Ensemble. There will also be a jazz piano tribute to Vince Guaraldi, the composer behind A Charlie Brown Christmas, by second year students Wayne Doe and Ben Schuler. The concert will conclude with a few sing-along carols.

The NDSCS Choir students will also perform at West Acres Mall in Fargo, N.D. on Friday, December 1 at 12:00 p.m.