Dakota State University

Jan Brue Enright

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DSU Library Director Jan Brue Enright has been named South Dakota Library Association (SDLA) Librarian of the Year for 2021.

“It means a lot to me because it's a recognition from my colleagues and peers,” Enright said. “I think that's what makes it extra meaningful for me, and it feels like it's a recognition for a 25-year career.”

According to SDLA, the award was created in 1972 to recognize librarians who have made significant contributions to effective and improved library service in South Dakota.

From her beginnings as an assistant to her current role as library director, Enright has been working in the library industry since 1995 at university libraries. In her time at DSU as library director, Enright helped the Karl E. Mundt Library celebrate 50 years with a year of programming and special events. While COVID-19 limited what could be offered at the library the last year and a half, she’s been busy working on events and programming for the fall and spring.

Enright was celebrated with a small event where she learned of and received her award at the end of September.

During the award presentation, Enright was described as a mentor, “the recipient has worked with many young librarians and helped guide them through what it means to be a librarian – all with a welcoming smile.”

Beyond offering mentorship, her ability to overcome budget cuts and staff shortages during a global COVID pandemic, while maintaining and emphasizing the importance of services to her campus and her community, was also highlighted.

Her nominator shared that “one of the problems I faced when putting together this nomination was narrowing down who I should request letters of nomination from.”

Whether Enright is recommending a book to patrons or justifying the budget to stakeholders, she is invested in the Karl Mundt Library and the broader community.

Karl Mundt Library

Alumni Randy (’84) and Theresa (’89) Schaefer

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Randy and Theresa Schaefer know Dakota State University well.

Both are alumni – Randy graduating in 1984 with a degree in Physical Education, and history and health minors; Theresa with an applications programming degree in 1989.

They have spent the majority of their married life living and working in Madison, attending Dakota State events, and supporting the university in a number of ways.

“I credit DSU with all the good things that have happened to me, including, finding and marrying my wife,” Randy said.

Professionally, “It’s fair to say that our experiences at DSU opened up doors,” Randy said. For Theresa, her Dakota State degree provided the pathway to work at East River for 19 years; since 2014 she has been Director of Human Resources at Heartland Consumers Power District. Randy taught for a couple of years, then worked at a trucking company in Madison for 11 years; he has been a State Farm Insurance agent since 1999.

He also served 12 years on the state Board of Regents. He was honored in 2021 for his work, including two years as board president.

Serving as a regent was more than he had envisioned, “more reading, more studying, more thoughtful

mental engagement than I ever could have expected.”

He said, “I feel like I was challenged and grew as a person while I served on the board, and I’m thankful to have had that experience.”

Theresa said he met and worked with a lot of people through that experience, people at the university campuses, the board office, and in the private sector. They were “the best people our state has to offer,” Randy said.

“What I found is that the talent we have in our state doesn’t take a back seat to anybody. It’s as good or better than talent in any other state.”

Theresa said that during the two years he was president, the extra work was “nonstop,” but it was all for the greater good. “I could see how challenged and engaged he was, and how important it was, as he was accountable to the whole state,” she said. “That’s why he was so driven to work so hard and make those decisions because at the end of the day he would answer to the people.”

Both are excited by Dakota State’s trajectory for the future. Theresa said, “One of the largest issues in the whole world is security, and DSU is at the heart of those solutions.”

Randy said that what’s happening here and now is going to secure DSU’s place within our public university systems, and in the state and in the country. For example, changes to the athletics facilities are beginning to move forward. “If we’re going to be a viable university, these are new facilities we must-have for recruiting,” he said.

While DSU hasn’t done anything like this before, “we are about to make these changes, and that’s what excites me,” Randy said.

From education to research to athletics, Randy said, “DSU has a secure place in the nation, and is now being recognized for the work they’re doing. It’s the likes we’ve never seen before, and we can’t grasp what it will look like in 10 years.”

Dawn Bonham '92

Elementary Education (BSE)

Dawn Bonham has come full circle.

This is her 30^th year in teaching, but she has started a new position in a new school with a new group of students.

“Many people who are 30 years into their career want to stay where they are, but now I’m learning all brand-new curriculum, and that’s ok,” she said. “I keep learning that way.”

Learning new things is what she’s been doing for the last three decades.

She started college at SDSU, an early childhood education major; she was also part of the co-op education program and earned her elementary education degree at Dakota State. “DSU gave me the foundation to teach students,” she said. Dwayne Pecks, the student-teacher director at the time, emphasized the importance of teaching the student, not the material.

This idea that “people matter most” is the concept they instill in the students at her new school, Jefferson High School in Sioux Falls (SD), where she is the Applied Arts Department Chair.

“I’m so fortunate to have the opportunity to come here [to Jefferson],” she said, where she will teach five classes, and oversee the applied arts department, which includes a number of elective subjects -- computers, Family and Consumer Sciences, business, woodworking, auto, welding, and ROTC.

Bonham said, “there is such a wide variety in applied arts, but we welcome the chance to pull together as one. I’m so excited for the opportunities we have here, to teach what I teach and have the leadership role that I have.”

Her journey to this place in her career began at Bonesteel Fairfax (SD) Elementary after graduating from Dakota State in 1992. When former Governor Bill Janklow brought a Technology Teaching and Learning (TTL) Academy to South Dakota schools in the early 2000s, she took the basic and advanced TTL.

Bonham calls this “a pivotal point” in her career, and she credits Dakota State with making it possible.

The leading-edge technology classes she took at DSU provided an “awesome foundation” for the TTL classes. In turn, “TTL opened the door for opportunities in what I could do,” including teaching technology and serving as a technology coordinator throughout her career.

After 10 years teaching elementary school in her hometown of Pierre, SD, she was ready for a change. “I was looking for more,” she said, and her technology experience provided that new opportunity, a position in the Sioux Falls School District teaching career and technical education (CTE).

“It was probably the change I needed to keep me in education.”

She moved to Sioux Falls, taught CTE for 11 years at Patrick Henry Middle School, and loved it, but when the applied arts chair position presented itself at Jefferson, she took it. “It should be a fun year,” she stated.

Her advice for students is to “believe in yourself, it makes all the difference,” she said.

“I’ll try anything once,” she said, and wants to let students know “there’s a lot of opportunities out there, and you don’t know what you can do until you try.”

For her new students at Jefferson, “I hope the students appreciate the new school and take advantage of their opportunities.”

Elementary Education (BSE)

Natalie Van Wyhe '20

Exercise Science (BS)

A lifelong long dream of becoming a firefighter has come true for Natalie Van Wyhe. A May 2020 graduate, Van Wyhe was inspired by her father, who served as a volunteer fireman in her hometown of Canton, SD.

“When I walked into Dakota State, I told them right away what my plans were and they were very helpful getting me there,” Van Wyhe said.

She completed her exercise science degree in just three years so she could get on the 2020 hiring schedule for firefighters in Sioux Falls, SD.

Van Wyhe appreciated the small program size, which allowed her to form close relationships with her professors. Exercise Science faculty members Kari Hall and Dr. Scott Staiger both had a positive impact on Van Wyhe.

Hall helps students pair up with tutors if they’re struggling with science classes, and encourages students to find what they are good at and capitalize that throughout the program, Van Wyhe explained.

Staiger helped her get an internship at the Madison Community Center, where she worked as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor.

Hall and Staiger also let Van Wyhe build assignments and projects around her goal of becoming a firefighter. This let her have a more individualized plan, while many of her classmates focused on athletic training and physical therapy career goals.

“Both of the professors have been good about checking in on me and where I’m at with my dream,” she said.

Additionally, Career and Professional Development assisted her with building her résumé and creating cover letters.

“Dakota State has been a huge asset in getting me hired and feeling more comfortable even just with interviews,” she shared. Her education at DSU prepared her for the process of becoming a firefighter.

The application process for firefighters opened in July 2020, followed by a civil service exam. After Van Wyhe passed the exam, she moved on to the interviewing process, followed by the physical ability test, which is done to make sure that the applicant is physically ready for the demands of the job. Next, she had to complete drug testing, a background check, and a medical exam. Finally, Van Wyhe got the offer in November 2020 and attended a 16-week training academy.

In mid-May, she graduated from the program and immediately began working – taking medical calls, fire calls, whatever comes in.

In addition to her job as a firefighter, Van Wyhe coaches cross country for Canton High School and has a personal training business, Tenacious Training. Her degree and internship helped prepare her to run her own business and work with clients.

Exercise Science (BS)

Matthew Ingram

Assistant Professor of Communication Studies

As an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Matthew Ingram is dedicated to helping students gain professional communication skills they can use throughout their lives.

His dedication to teaching is bolstered by his own desire to learn and improve through professional development. Over the past year, Ingram completed the Association of College and University Educator’s (ACUE) Effective Practice Framework certificate, a series of four courses, each six-eight weeks long.

“I was able to engage with a community of faculty-learners from all over the globe, try out new teaching practices backed by current pedagogical research, and embrace online learning and teaching with enthusiasm,” he shared.

The four courses from Effective Practice Framework are: Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Online Learning Environment; Promoting Active Learning Online; Inspiring Inquiry and Preparing Lifelong Learners in Your Online Course; and Designing Student-Centered Courses Online. The completion of these courses earned Ingram a Certificate in Effective College Instruction.

He described the process as “one of the most valuable pedagogical experiences I’ve had this past year.”

The courses had two tracks – one for face-to-face instruction and another for online learning. Ingram chose online due to the impact of COVID-19.

“One of the most important things I learned from ACUE across the courses is really building a connection with students, talking with them, and having more collaboration,” he said.

Throughout the courses, Ingram was able to try out different techniques in his classes. An example of something he will be implementing in his future courses is micro-lectures of seven minutes or less. He described this as especially beneficial for online students with varying schedules.

He will also be focusing on transparency in the classroom, so students know how assignments will be graded, what students can take away from the assignment, and how it relates to the entire course.

Additionally, he will be focusing on making sure every student takes something away from the class, no matter their background.

For example, with the general education course requirement “Fundamentals of Speech,” every student will come in at different levels of preparation. Over the summer, he had adult learners, traditional college students, and high school students in the course.

“We all communicate at a basic level, but we’re really working on the art of communication and being more effective,” Ingram explained.

The variety of backgrounds of his students this summer encouraged him to design assignments that allow for opportunities and options. For instance, Ingram allows students to select speeches that reflect their interests and passions. And for online discussion forums, he offers multiple discussion prompts to pick from when engaging in online conversations. Giving students the ability to make choices and have a say in the types of assignments and ways they engage in the course aims to help students persist in online learning by feeling inspired and motivated.

“ACUE helped me navigate one of the most challenging academic years for students and faculty as we’ve worked hard to help students adapt to new forms of learning (hybrid, online, co-modal), fostered flexibility and understanding, and helped work with our campus community to help students persist in their education,” - Matthew Ingram

The training is already paying off with positive student feedback from his recent courses. Students shared appreciation for how knowledgeable and responsive Ingram was throughout his courses, the inclusive, kind, and safe environment he maintained, and the timely constructive feedback he provided. One student added that the course helped them see the type of teacher they want to be.

Ingram will be sharing what he learned from the ACUE courses through a Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) workshop session and a session through the College of Arts & Sciences at DSU this fall.

In addition to the four courses, Ingram is completing a course on inclusive teaching for equitable learning through ACUE.

BUSINESS: MARKETING (BBA)

Alexis Kulm '23

Cyber Operations (BS)

DSU’s GenCyber camp piqued Alexis Kulm’s interest in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) so much so that she decided to attend Dakota State University and major in cyber operations. In the future, she hopes to work in digital forensics at a private company.

Kulm, a junior from Sioux Falls, SD, chose cyber operations because the major sounded the most interesting. “I was excited to learn all things ‘cyber.’”

The professors at DSU have made learning all things cyber enjoyable for Kulm. The small campus environment and helpful faculty have made a difference for her. This has also taught her to always ask for help.

She is particularly thankful for her relationship with Dr. Ashley Podhradsky, who has made quite the impact.

“She has been a wonderful mentor and is always willing to do everything she can to help,” she said.

Outside of the classroom, Kulm recommends students get involved with clubs and organizations on campus. Each year Student Affairs sponsors an activity fair, where clubs can introduce themselves to students.

“Being involved can give you a sense of community and involvement with the campus, and you can make new friends,” she said.

She is a member of CybHER, which is dedicated to empowering, motivating, educating, and changing the perception of girls and women in cybersecurity.

Other advice Kulm has for current and future students is to go to campus-held events, which are free and fun.

“If you’re an incoming freshman keep your door open the first couple of days,” she added. “It’s a good way to meet people since they can introduce themselves to you and get conversations started.”

Cyber Operations (BS)