Welcome to Black Hills State
University - top
- Juan Perez, custodial worker, Facilities Services
President Flickema announces
retirement - top
Dr. Thomas O. Flickema, president of
BHSU (speaking), just announced that he plans to retire at the end of
this fiscal year (July 1, 2006). Flickema made the announcement at the
annual State of the University Address during faculty in-service Tuesday. Several people from the
Board of Regents office, including (left to
right) Regent Randall Morris; Dr. Tad Perry, executive director of the
Board of Regents; and Regent James Hansen (right), attended the meeting on
the BHSU campus.
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Dr. Thomas Flickema, president of Black Hills State
University, announced his impending retirement during the annual state
of the university address this week.
Flickema, who has served as BHSU president since 1994,
plans to retire July 1, 2006. According to the Board of Regents
President Harvey C. Jewett, the board will announce a presidential
search process and timeline. Jewett praised Flickema for his work as the
eighth president at BHSU.
“Under Tom Flickema’s leadership, Black Hills State
University has established itself as the third largest university in
South Dakota and a leader in liberal arts education,” Jewett said. “He
will be remembered for many things, but especially his efforts to
improve student retention and to raise the profile of undergraduate
research on this campus.”
Flickema came to BHSU in August 1994 when he was
appointed to serve as interim president. He was named to the post
permanently in February 1995 following a nationwide search. His 22-year
career in the South Dakota public higher education system also includes
serving as vice president for academic affairs at Northern State
University from 1983 to 1994. Flickema is BHSU’s eighth president.
Board of Regents members Randall Morris and Jim Hansen
as well as Dr. Tad Perry, executive director of the board of regents
were on campus when Flickema announced his forthcoming retirement.
In making the announcement, Flickema highlighted the
progress BHSU has made in the last decade and noted that he believes the
university is ready for the future.
“What this campus has already accomplished is a sound
foundation for going into the future,” Flickema said. “This is not a
time to pause. All entities must continue to move into the future.”
“It has been a tremendous experience and privilege for
me to be the president of Black Hills State University. I thank the
Board of Regents for this privilege,” Flickema said.
He also praised the faculty and staff at BHSU.
“Over the past decade I have cherished the opportunity
to work with you, a stimulating group of talented, dedicated, and
creative people. Because of our limited finances, people often get the
job done with extra effort and creative thinking—something that happens
every day across this campus. The Black Hills State University faculty
and staff provide the best possible education and services to our
students and to the community beyond the campus. These years have been
the most satisfying and fulfilling professional experience in my life
and I value the rich associations I have had with all of you and thank
you for all that you have contributed.”
At BHSU, Flickema will be remembered for his many
accomplishments as he led the university through a number of changes and
enhancements. Among his many achievements has been his leadership in
establishing BHSU as the third largest university in the state and his
far-reaching vision for the university. The ACT scores of incoming
freshmen has risen as well. Under Flickema’s directives, BHSU has placed
an increased emphasis on retention which has shown positive results.
Under Flickema’s leadership the last decade, BHSU has
seen many changes and improvements. Perhaps the most noticeable is the
transformation of the campus with ongoing landscaping and building
improvements, most recently with the addition of Clare and Josef Meier
Hall, a magnificent music and classroom building which is located in the
center of campus.
Flickema’s vision for BHSU included expanding the
reach of the university by increasing the number and types of courses
offered in the surrounding area. BHSU now offers classes at several
sites in the Rapid City region and also makes classes available at other
locations and through distance learning options. BHSU now has a
full-time presence in Rapid City at the Higher Education Center – West
River to assist residents in that area with higher educational needs and
goals.
Flickema led the university through a successful
national accreditation visit from the Higher Learning Commission in 2002
as well as receiving positive accreditation approvals from several
discipline-specific organizations.
During Flickema’s tenure, the university also greatly
enhanced outreach activities through the addition of several centers
including the Center for the Advancement of Math and Science Education,
the Center for Tourism Research, the Center for the Conservation of
Biological Resources, the Center for Business and Entrepreneurship and
the Center for Indian Studies. These centers provide a link to the
community with services, assistance and development.
Under Flickema’s watch, outside funding for the
university has grown exponentially. A total of 35 grant proposals were
approved this past year totaling just under $4 million. Many of these
grants have provided much needed equipment for teaching and training.
The university has placed a growing emphasis on research and development
and faculty are committed to providing opportunities for undergraduate
research. Flickema has also encouraged the university to develop
partnerships with other universities and agencies as well as industries
and businesses in the region.
The BHSU Foundation and the Yellow Jacket Foundation
have seen huge increases in the last decade. The assets of the
foundations now total more than $7.2 million. The scholarship programs
administered by the BHSU Foundations has grown dramatically and BHSU was
able to award more than $662,000 in scholarships last year compared to
$150,000 when Flickema arrived at BHSU.
Flickema has always maintained that the cornerstone of
academic achievement rests upon the strength of the faculty and the
diversity of the curriculum, and he has worked to ensure that BHSU has
the best of both. Through the years the number of faculty members with
the highest available degrees in their fields has increased from 53
percent to more than 77 percent.
“The driving force in an academic institution is the
faculty, and Black Hills State is fortunate in that its faculty are
extremely talented, dedicated and hardworking,” Flickema says. Faculty
research and publications as well as performance activities have
increased dramatically in the last 10 years. Flickema noted that faculty
use of technology has also seen major changes and improvements in that
time period.
A Michigan native, Flickema received a Ph.D. (1966)
from Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich., in history with a
political science minor. He earned a master’s degree in history at WSU
in 1962. His undergraduate degree in history and education was acquired
at Hope College, Holland, Mich., in 1960.
After completing a teaching assistantship and his
master’s degree in history, Flickema began his professional career in
1962 as a history instructor at Henry Ford Community College in
Dearborn, Mich. The following year he moved to Wayne State College in
Wayne, Neb., as an assistant professor of history. Moving the West Coast
in 1977, he accepted a history professorship at California State
University-Fullerton. There he served as director of summer sessions in
Mexico and Guatemala and ultimately as director of Latin American
studies from 1973 to 1975. From 1975 to 1979 he was chairman of the
history department at the Fullerton campus.
Flickema was appointed dean of graduate studies at the
University of Nebraska at Kearney in 1979. He served as dean until 1983
when he was appointed vice president for academic affairs at Northern
State University in Aberdeen.
The president and his wife, Judy, have three grown
children, Patricia, Todd and Jan, and six grandchildren.
Technological changes at the
library lead the way to new developments -
top
Rajeev Bukralia, systems
librarian at the Black Hills State University library, demonstrates
recent technology changes that will provide enhanced services for
students, faculty and staff and open the way for future developments at
the library.
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Recent technological changes at the Black Hills State
University library have set the stage for the university to provide
enhanced services for students as well as faculty and staff.
According to Rajeev Bukralia, systems librarian, the
library recently made several significant innovative technology changes
that will open the way for future developments as well.
Bukralia recently announced two major technology
advances that the library staff has instituted and noted that they are
continually looking for ways to incorporate technology into the library
operations.
“We are always looking for new trends for libraries
and then work to make those services available to our students,”
Bukralia says.
Just recently the staff made it possible for scholarly
search conducted by Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) to search
the holdings at the BHSU library. Bukralia explained that the well-known
and popular Google search engine recently instituted a search option for
scholarly materials and noted that this is becoming a popular feature
for students and faculty. The search is targeted for higher education.
“If you know how to Google, you can now search
scholarly journals as well and be directed to the nearest library that
has the material,” Bukralia explains. “We wanted to tap into this latest
trend. This search gives power to users to find the resources. Now the
ordinary user is empowered to find scholarly information in other
libraries and makes our resources known to anyone conducting this type
of search.”
Bukralia explained that the BHSU library holdings are
already entered into an international bibliographic data base known as
Online Computer Library Center “WorldCat.”
“The Google search provides another layer of access
for our patrons and it’s a great promotional tool worldwide for our
library,” Bukralia says. “We were the first library in South Dakota to
offer this service.”
Now other state higher educational institutions are
using the advancements developed by Bukralia to incorporate this service
as well. The scholarly research option began with the 10 large
university libraries across the country but is now being developed by
other libraries as well. Because the library staff had already converted
the library website to XML the data was readily available.
“That’s why we showed up first,” according to
Bukralia.
Ed Erickson, director of the E.Y. Berry Library
Learning Center, praised Bukralia for his efforts and noted that his
foresight in developing technology has positioned the library to utilize
new technology and has established itself as a regional leader in
library technology.
Due to the many changes and advances, Bukralia has
been called upon to make presentations at regional library meetings. He
noted that many libraries have requested the code he has developed.
“We work in a collaborative environment,” Rajeev says.
“Libraries are all about helping people out and we are glad to help
other libraries when we can.”
Bukralia notes that many students rely on Hotmail or
Yahoo to access their email. Tapping into this trend, the BHSU library
has developed a myYahoo site on the library website. This link provides
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to students with news from the
BHSU library.
“RSS is becoming very popular with students,” Bukralia
says. “We are looking for trends and finding ways to communicate more
effectively to meet the needs of our students.”
Currently to search the online library catalog there
are several steps. Bukralia is working on ways to reduce those steps.
One way to do that has been to offer a direct link for people who are
using a Firefox browser users can search library catalog without going
to the library website. Now other state higher educational institutions
are using the advancements developed by Bukralia to incorporate this
service as well.
Bukralia notes that the recent changes reflect an
ongoing trend of incorporating technology in a variety of ways in the
everyday operation of the library. BHSU’s library was the first to
implement an fully automated library card system in South Dakota. The
system, implemented at BHSU in 1986, was later adopted by the South
Dakota Library Network and is used by nearly 65 libraries in the state.
The statewide SDLN office is located on campus in the lower level of the
library.
Bukralia is already looking to the future and is
making plans for future advances including instituting pod-casting which
will offer reference service through i-pods, a popular audio player
device. Bukralia is also investigating the possibility of instituting an
audio coding system for books and materials.
New faculty members join
BHSU staff - top
 A
group of new faculty members recently joined the staff at Black Hills
State University. New faculty members include: front row, left to right,
Millie Halsey, adjunct art instructor; Laura Colmenero-Chilberg,
assistant sociology professor; Alicia Caldanaro, reference
librarian/instructor; Annette Reyerson, assistant marketing professor:
Abigail Semple, geology instructor; Sasha Pursley, assistant history
professor; Nancy Hall, dean of the College of Education; and Mato
Standing High, American Indian studies instructor. Back row, left to
right, are: Sandra Marker, sociology instructor; Barbara (Bobbi) Looney,
humanities; Judith Neighbours, assistant psychology professor; Pat
Simpson, director of the Rural Site-Bound Paraeducator Program; Robert
Campbell, assistant history professor; Christian Nsiah, assistant
economics professor; Steve Smiley, assistant men’s basketball coach; and
Mary Husemann, assistant English professor. Faculty are preparing for
the fall 2005 semester which begins Tuesday, Aug. 30.
More than 200 attend annual
faculty/staff picnic - top
 Dr.
Thomas Flickema (right) prepares to draw the final door prize winner at the
annual faculty/staff picnic which was held Tuesday evening at the
Spearfish City Park. More than 210 people attended the picnic this year.
The gathering, which was hosted by Arnie Hemmingson (left), chief information
officer, and staff members from Information and Instructional Services,
is a part of the annual in-service events. Fred Nelson (center) and Terry Hupp
served as emcees. The BHSU Alumni Association provided door prizes.
Golden age activity
tickets are available - top
Golden age activity tickets for senior citizens who wish to attend
Black Hills State University activities are once again available for
$10.
The golden age activity pass admits senior citizens to all regular
athletic, theatre, and music events at the university. Special athletic
events such as tournaments or playoff games are not included.
Tickets are available to anyone 65 years of age or older through the
president’s office in Woodburn Hall room 201.
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