Black Hills State University Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2000

• BHSU sees record enrollment
• All-school reunion set 
• Students assist professors with technology
• Regents CFO is vice president for finance at BHSU
• Durben finds Olympic coaching and college teaching have a lot in common

BHSU sees record enrollment - Top

This is the first time in the university's 117-year history the combined enrollments at the Spearfish and Ellsworth Air Force Base campuses passed the 4,000 student plateau. In fact, the Spearfish campus alone exceeded 3,000 students for another first with 3,133 students enrolled. These enrollment figures continue to solidify BHSU's position as the third largest university in the state system.

"These significant growth numbers reflect the fact that we provide a quality educational program to the patrons of western South Dakota, particularly Rapid City and Ellsworth Air Force Base and the surrounding areas," said President Thomas Flickema. "It really represents a total effort from our faculty and staff, all pulling together to make our offerings attractive and 

The BH president cited the recruiting efforts of the enrollment center, new course offerings, an expanded curriculum, and the dedication of the faculty who are meeting the challenge of incorporating the latest technology in their teaching methods as reasons for positive growth.
Last fall the Spearfish campus supported an enrollment of 2,928. The fall's numbers reflect a 7 percent increase at 3,133. During the past two years BHSU has witnessed a whopping 13.08 percent increase in students attending the Spearfish campus, an increase of 410 students.
Not only have the numbers of students increased, but the quality has improved too. 

Steve Ochsner, dean of the enrollment center, said, "We welcomed approximately 700 new freshmen to campus this fall following two straight years of steady growth. Two hundred of these students are on four-year academic scholarships, and as a group, this year's freshman class averages higher grades and higher ACT scores than ever before."

All-school reunion set - Top

Registration forms will be mailed to alumni in January. Alumni can also register online.

Students assist professors with technology - Top

The South Dakota Board of Regents initiated the technology fellows program this fall with an award from the 2000 Legislature. Students selected as technology fellows receive the cost of all tuition and fees during participation in the program. They are responsible for providing 10 hours a week of support time to faculty and instructional support staff. In addition, they spend one hour a week in training to improve their skills.

In a press release following the regents' June meeting, board president Harvey Jewett said, "It's about learning and earning. …This technology fellowship funding will allow the campuses to provide additional support and training to faculty in an area that is constantly changing. Additionally, this will provide student fellows with real life experiences in utilizing the technology and assisting others to make the technology work for us. The ultimate beneficiaries will be the students who are taking courses from these faculty."

Dr. Dorothy Fuller, instructional designer who directs the BHSU fellowship program, says faculty and students are benefiting from the exchange of ideas. The program is working very well and she expects it to continue well into the future. 

In selecting student fellows, "we tried to achieve a balance of technology skills and people skills," she said. "All of our fellows have good people skills and the ability to show and teach without intimidating."

Students entered the fellowship program with varying technology backgrounds. Some were quite advanced and others were at a more basic level. All of them were required to set up a learning contract with Fuller defining their expectations and what they wanted to accomplish.

During the first semester of operation three fellows were assigned to the College of 

Education, three to the College of Business and Technology, and five to specific faculty members who were working on particular projects. The other six fellows are assigned as needed to various short-term projects.

Fellows are converting music to digitalized formats, developing video clips to menu driven CDs, designing web pages, and giving technology demonstrations. Some are working on long-term research projects with faculty in specialized fields. 

Aaron Bach, a Black Hills State University senior from Rapid City, and math professor Curtis Card, are working together programming an Apache web server to more fully utilize Front Page 2000 web-design capabilities. Bach is one of 17 student technology fellows at BHSU earning his tuition by working with and assisting faculty and instructional staff with technology projects.

As more faculty members are becoming aware of the fellows program, more of them are seeking help.

Aaron Bach, a junior from Rapid City, is working with Dr. Curtis Card, associate professor of math. They are currently working together using Unix and Linux (PC version) program languages to configure an Apache server so they can use Front Page 2000 for web design.

"I'm expanding my knowledge and also learning programs (Unix and Linux) that aren't available in the classroom," said Bach. 

Card said the programming process is very time consuming. "We are in the training phase now and Aaron will soon be able to take over and do the maintenance on the server." According to the BH professor "most students wouldn't have the opportunity to be involved with server administration" without a technology fellows program.

Fuller says she will be using student fellow expertise to create on-line workshops for faculty development. It is a way to provide training in a more expeditious manner and less demanding on her time and equipment. She expects to get that project underway next semester.

The fellows program director says she sees significant applications that relate directly to the workforce. Students will need these skills when they enter the job market such as team-building skills, communications skills, and problem solving skills.

Regents CFO is vice president for finance at BHSU - Top

Following a national search, Johnson was selected to fill the VP's position at BHSU vacated this spring by Tom Anderson. He accepted a position as associate dean for administrative affairs at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich. Johnson officially assumed her duties at the Spearfish campus during the first week in November.

As a result of her position at the BOR, Johnson has worked with the BHSU staff over the past several years and is familiar with the campus and its progression.

"Black Hills State has a vision for the future that is exciting," she said. "It was appealing to think of becoming a part of that. … I'm looking forward to working with the administration, faculty and students in a new capacity." 

President Thomas Flickema said, "I'm absolutely delighted to have a person with Kathy's qualifications join our administrative team. She brings tremendous knowledge and experience to the vice president's position. Since 1996 she has been in charge of overseeing fiscal and administrative affairs for all six regental institutions including budgets, facilities, and personnel."

As the regent's chief financial officer, Johnson served as a senior-level advisor to the executive director and was responsible for reporting to the board and Legislature on a $319 million budget. She had direct control of $20 million for allocating and expending.

Johnson's other major responsibilities included serving as legislative, executive and regental liaison to the state's universities, directing the regents committee on budget and finance, and developing system policies and procedures. She 

It is her experience at the state level, working with the entire higher education system, which gave Johnson the edge in her pursuit of the vice presidency. That job she says, "presents a great opportunity for me to become more active in the university community."

Johnson describes her management style as based on communication and vision.
"If those around you know and believe in your goals, an incredible synergy will be achieved that will make success imminent."

She began her professional career in 1992 as a fiscal analyst for the board of regents. In 1994, Johnson was appointed budget officer in charge of the regents' financial information system committee. She prepared annual budget procedures, maintained accounting systems for capital improvement projects, and directed federal grants administered by the board. She also provided analysis on the regents' operating budget and developed the system tuition and fee pool tracking and allocation process.

She was named to her previous position as director of administrative affairs to the board of regents in 1996. 

The new vice president said, "My family and I are very excited about becoming a part of the Black Hills State University and Spearfish communities. Everyone we've met has gone out of their way to make us feel welcome."

Johnson earned a bachelor's degree in commercial economics with a minor in computer science from South Dakota State University in 1991. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in business administration from the University of South Dakota.

Durben finds Olympic coaching and college teaching have a lot in common  - Top

Durben, 41, first became interested in shooting while growing up in St. Paul, Minn. He was involved in shooting clubs through his freshman year in college at the University of Minnesota. 
Durben said, "I couldn't afford to go to school - but there were other schools we were competing against that offered athletic scholarships in shooting. I ended up transferring down to Eastern Kentucky University and basically walked onto their team [where] I ended up getting three-and-a-half years of a full-ride scholarship, which really helped." 

He used his skills as a rifle shooter and worked his way up through national championships, national record holding, world championships and a lot of international medals. He competed in the 1988 Olympics where he finished 13th.
The young shooting champion earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, 1982, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Arizona State University in Tempe, 1993.

Durben began coaching when he was still in college and made good contacts early. He said, "I was able to coach at a high level early. I was able to coach state junior camps up to the national level and junior camps at the state training school even back when I was in school. I've been working with the top junior shooters in the country for quite a few years." 

He stayed involved, and when he stopped competing, he was named an assistant national team coach. As assistant, he was taking the top juniors in the country to world cups and other competitions. When the opening came up for Olympic coach, Durben was right there, and as in all his other endeavors to date, was successful
He took a three-year leave of absence from Black Hills State as a science teacher to coach the U.S. Olympic rifle shooting team. This fall he returned to the chemistry classroom. Durben said there are parallels between coaching and teaching. 

"They both involve working with people and developing their skills. You get to watch people grow and learn, explore and discover. That's very much the same," he said.

"One of the frustrations I see is in a lot of cases practice doesn't count, it's what you do in the competitions. And in school where you see that, in a lot of cases, it's really not the homework that counts: But can you produce on the tests? Can you produce at the interview for the job? There are certain critical situations where it's like a competition for an athlete; you have to be able to produce in those situations. That's a real challenge for some people, both on the athletic side and the academic side. On both sides you see very talented, very skilled people, but can they do it when it really counts. It's one of the challenges of both teaching and coaching to help the athlete and the student to be able to perform up to their abilities, or to maximize their potential. In both 

Members of the U.S. Olympic rifle shooting team at the Minnesota Shooting Sports Education Center in Grand Rapids, Minn., are, left, Ken Johnson, Nancy Johnson (standing, gold medallist), Thrine Kane, Glenn Dubis, Tom Tamas, Mike Anti, Jayme Dickman, Jason Parker, Melissa Mulloy, Jean Foster, and Coach Dan Durben.

teaching and coaching you see the frustrations that both the students and the athletes go through in the learning process. In both of them I think you have to struggle to learn properly." 

Durben commented that struggle is what makes the student and athlete stronger. "When they're trying to tackle a difficult subject - it's not like just sitting down to read a book - you have to really work with it and struggle with it; and you'll have some disappointments along the way. If the student really sticks with that it pays off down the road just like with the athlete."

Durben feels that as a teacher, like being a coach, he individualizes his style of teaching. Some students need more nurturing, or encouragement than others, and there are some who need the toughness to get them going. He said that the goal is to get them to do it without assistance. 

"By the time they're a senior and getting ready for a job or grad school, I'd like to see them developed to where they know how to learn on their own and don't have to rely on the teacher."

The BH chemistry professor feels that teaching sometimes requires a lot of administrative work, which takes away from time to give to students and research. 

"Like in coaching, other things have to be done," Durben said. "It's not the most fun part of the job, but there are administrative duties."

Durben says his future plans are to help build and improve the physical science program at Black Hills State. 

"I think we've got the opportunity to be a top-flight science program. [I want to help] give our Black Hills State students an excellent education in the sciences and prepare them to be competitive with anybody in any university in the country as far as getting good jobs or going to good graduate schools, and producing top-flight science educators. One of the exciting things here is excellent faculty and good students coming in."

As far as coaching Olympic teams, Durben says he will be satisfied with helping out part-time once in a while, but plans to focus his attention on being science professor at BH.

Stanelle makes plans for career services center - Top

He reports to the vice president for student affairs and will be responsible for directing the Center for Career Planning and Placement, the Student Assistance Center, Student Support Services and Upward Bound.

"The emphasis here will be to develop a technological resource for students," said Stanelle. "We want to bring students up-to-date and bring them into the new century by greatly increasing contact with employers."

He plans to develop a six-station computer lab connected to the Internet to assist students with career planning and the job search. He believes students should have access to the computer system 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.
Seminars, workshops and orientations related to career planning will be developed to supplement the expanded technology base. He plans to investigate and select software programs this fall with implementation by next spring. By then the bugs should be worked out of the system so the program can be fully operational by the fall of 2001. He wants to focus on resume writing, interviewing skills, and the job search. He believes employers want students competent in oral and written communications skills as well as demonstrating proficiency in the use of technology.

"With the (program) additions and (computer) technology, we can open the world to students by giving them more chances to be successful," said Stanelle. "I want to get people thinking about national as well as international opportunities."

The new development director is aware how fast technology is changing the way corporations do business. It used to be corporations sent out pamphlets and brochures as well as recruiters to visit the campus. Today, he said 94 percent of  companies use the Internet for recruiting. In fact, 

Stanelle, 57, will be using a technology model he developed at Tulane University, New Orleans, La., where he worked as director of the career services center from 1997 to 1999. He managed the design and creation of an extensive Internet web site and in-house computer lab. He hired and trained the staff and introduced computer resources to students, faculty, employers and alumni.

Stanelle describes his management style as "demanding laissez faire. I expect a lot if they know what needs to be done," he said. "I don't look over an employee's shoulder. Most people take pride in their work if you let them do the job."

From 1993 until 1997, he was a graduate assistant in the career services area at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn., while working on his doctorate. He worked as a career development counselor to the Lady Vols from 1994 to 1995. He also counseled undergraduates regarding degree choices and academic requirements, and counseled master's degree students regarding career options, resume preparation, and interviewing skills.

Although he has spent half of his life in the North and the other half in the South, it was the Black Hills location that caught his attention. He likes to hike and the Hills afford a great opportunity for him to pursue that interest. As for other interests, he says he grew up in Wisconsin and is a Green Bay Packer fan; he basically enjoys all types of football and basketball events.

Stanelle, the father of two grown children, earned his bachelor's degree at Ball State University, Muncie, Ind., and his master's degree at the University of Tennessee. He has completed all of his doctoral requirements except the dissertation.

Career services director Larson retires early - Top

Larson plans to do some career service consulting work at the state level and then leave her options open for other opportunities.

"I'm calling this my employment sabbatical," she said. "I've thought about this for some time and decided to follow the advice I've given others to look beyond their current responsibilities to seek new avenues."

Her association with the university began in 1979 when she went to work for the academic vice president as an administrative assistant. She coordinated campus and satellite class enrollments, prepared reports for the regents' office, developed and carried out faculty evaluations and generated presentation and information materials for the president and vice president.

In 1986 President Clifford Trump appointed her as the first full-time director of career services.
"Seeing students progress from the academic world to successful employment is gratifying," she said. "It is also rewarding to be able to promote the university through career services to outside entities."

The most significant changes in the office since she arrived in the mid 80s are more students, more alumni, more employers and more outside groups using the services of the office. The use of technology has also increased office productivity and the availability of services.

Larson feels her strengths as director centered around creating an effective career services office focused on team building, seeking a diversity of ideas, getting the university's name out to employers, and providing for the nontraditional and location-bound studentes.

"It was rewarding to be able to help students and alumni build their self esteem," said Larson. "It's still important they stay competitive by preparing professional resumes and by presenting a positive self image."

Her work experience at BHSU includes presenting numerous career workshops, organizing job and information fairs, and serving on various state and local committees. She often partnered with university faculty and students on special assignments, devised graduate follow-up procedures, and collaborated with university faculty to strengthen internships and employment opportunities.

The BH career director was active in the South Dakota Teacher Placement Advisory Board, a cofounder of South Dakota BIG (Business-Industry-Government) Job Fair, and a charter member of the South Dakota Career Planning and Placement Association where she served as president. She completed the National Association of Colleges and Employers Leadership training for Career Professionals at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.

On the local level, the BHSU career services director was very active in community affairs serving on many committees and by holding office as president of the city council and as president of the South Dakota Municipal League. She was also the Spearfish representative to the Black Hills Council of Local Governments and served on the board of directors for Northern Hills Community Development. It was through these positions she was able to meet employers from all over the state and enhance the image of Black Hills State University.

Larson began her professional career as a teacher at a private high school and later served as a business instructor at Mitchell Technical Institute.

"Looking back," said Larson, "One job builds on another and this is a stepping stone to the next."

Shop BH online - Top

The Black Hills State University bookstore is available online. To access the bookstore go to the BHSU homepage at <www.bhsu.edu> and choose Student Life then choose Bookstore.