Board Of Regents Meeting
Dillon, Montana

March 25-26, 2004

Dawson Community College
President Terry Hetrick

         In terms of the new Performing Arts and Physical Education Centers, the DCC Board of Trustees recently charged the architect to modify the blueprints and related documents to facilitate bidding by both metal and wood building manufacturers. The changes necessary for this conversion will require a few months. Upon completion of the revised blueprints and related documents, the project will once again be submitted for bids. This phase of the project was necessitated by a rejection of the first bids, the lowest of which was $800,000 above the architect's estimated cost.

         The College is currently completing preparations for its upcoming, comprehensive on-site evaluation by the Northwest Association of Colleges and Universities. The on-site visit has been scheduled for April 19-21, 2004. For over two years, considerable work has been undertaken in preparation for this important process. The self-study report has been completed and forwarded to the Northwest Association. Immediately upon completion of this evaluation, the College will report the visiting team's findings to the Board of Trustees and the Commissioner of Higher Education.

         The DCC Men's Basketball team, under the direction of Coach Don Mast, has achieved an impressive record this year. As a result, the team has been declared the Mon-Dak Region Champions and the North Region IX Champions. Region IX includes two-year colleges in Colorado, Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming. The team will participate in the Region IX Tournament at Casper College in early March.

         Resident student enrollment is currently at its highest point in the last five years, and the number of completed applications for next year is currently double that of last year at this same time.

         The College is currently making preparations to conduct a fundraising telethon on KXGN which is scheduled for Saturday, May 1, 2004. This telethon, among other means, will assist the institution to raise the remaining amount of funds needed for the construction of new campus facilities.

Flathead Valley Community College
President Jane Karas

         Flathead Valley Community College has experienced record enrollment this spring semester. At the Kalispell campus, enrollment was 1369 FTE with a headcount of 2,171, while the Libby campus headcount totaled 50 students and 150.33 FTE, for a total headcount of 2,421, an 11.3 percent increase from last spring, and a total FTE of 1519.33, up 16.9 percent from last spring. Annual FTE for FY04 is 1468.94 at the Kalispell campus (a 16.1 percent increase from FY03), while the annual FTE at the Libby campus is 168.17 (up 13.1 percent). The total FVCC FY04 annual FTE is 1637.10, a 15.8 percent increase from FY03.

         Flathead Valley Community College launched its first ever New Student Spring Orientation on January 16. About 40 invited incoming students attended the session which gave them the opportunity to learn about student support services including advising, career counseling and tutors, business services including payment options and drop/add class policies and student electronic tools including student e-mail accounts. Students were also given a campus tour and the opportunity to register online for classes.

         Flathead Valley Community College President Jane Karas was presented the Michael P. Malone 2003 Educator of the Year award by the Montana Ambassadors on February 12. Karas received the award for her outstanding accomplishment, excellence and leadership in the field of education in the State of Montana through entrepreneurial vision and courage.

         Troy High School graduate, Tim Lindsey, has established the T & D Lindsey Scholarship Fund at Flathead Valley Community College. This significant scholarship fund will benefit graduates of Troy High School who attend FVCC's Kalispell or Lincoln County Campus. Two scholarship awards of $1,000 each will be made beginning Fall 2004 at FVCC. The scholarships will be renewable in the amount of $500 for the recipients second year at Flathead Valley Community College provided the recipient maintains a 3.0 G.P.A.

         Rebecca Hefty of Somers has been awarded a $675 NorthWestern Energy Scholarship from Flathead Valley Community College. Hefty is a sophomore at FVCC, pursuing an Associate of Arts transfer degree in English with a minor in History. She is an excellent student, maintaining a 4.0 G.P.A. After completing her studies at FVCC, Rebecca plans to transfer to the University of Montana to earn a Masters degree.

         Flathead Valley Community College kicked off its 10th annual Senior Institute program February 6. The program offers a series of credit classes just for senior citizens ages 62 and older. Some of the classes offered include Drawing and the Art of Colored Pencils, Eastern European Perspectives, and two new classesAmerican Government for Seniors, and Understanding Africa Today. More than 110individuals are attending this springs institute.

         Five Flathead Valley Community College students were named the spring 2004 recipients of the Community Pride Scholarship sponsored by the Whitefish Credit Union. Amy Elletson, Jesse Mahugh and Brian Rogers from Kalispell, Dixie Linnell from Eureka and Angela Polotto from Hungry Horse, received scholarship awards totaling $1,300. This is the ninth consecutive year Community Pride Scholarships have been awarded to permanent residents of Flathead, Lake and Lincoln Counties. Throughout the nine years of this successful program, Whitefish Credit Union has awarded $40,330 in scholarships to 132 students enrolled at FVCC.

         FVCC Computer Application and Business Instructor Bonnie Sheets has been named to the eighth edition of Who's Who Among America's Teachers. This is the second time Sheets has been recognized in the publication which honors the country's top teachers. Sheets began teaching at the college spring semester of 1989. She received a Master of Arts and Teaching at the University of Great Falls and a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from Northern Illinois University.

         FVCC is pleased to welcome four new faculty members this spring 2004 semester. Linda Hunt, Ph.D., has joined the college as the new Director of Project THEO (Training in Health and Education Opportunities). Dr. Hunt will direct the project for the next two years and also serves as an adjunct faculty member. Jim Neal, Coordinator of the Paramedicine Program and ParamedicineInstructor, served as an adjunct faculty member last semester teaching the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course. Neal brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the classroom as a retired Captain of the Kalispell Fire Department. Sandy Smith, Surgical Technology Instructor, comes to the college with a vast amount of work experience as a former technician in the Operating Room at Kalispell Regional Medical Center. Finally, Len Moyer has joined the college as a temporary full-time Computer Science Instructor. Retired from a computer science career, he brings a great deal of knowledge to the classroom.

         Flathead Valley Community College's 2004 Honors Symposium begins March 2 and will feature experts of various backgrounds to lecture on topics relating to this year's theme: The Peril and Promise of Progress: DNA and the Human Genome. The series will consist of eight lectures covering topics from human cloning to genetic basis of human diseases.

Miles Community College
President Darrel L. Hammon

         In December, the Auto Technician Program students offered a free winterizations day for volunteers from Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP). Over thirty people took advantage of the free service day and had their cars checked.

         Rob Bishop, Miles Community College Baseball Coach, was recently honored as the NJCAA Division II Region IX Coach of the Year. The American Baseball Coaches Association makes these awards on an annual basis. Three years ago, Coach Bishop started Pioneer baseball at Miles Community College and has compiled a record 99-39 while going 41- 7 in the MonDak Conference.

         Larry Torstenbo, long-time Miles Community College Library Director and Rodeo Coach, is retiring this year. Wally Badgett, long-time assistant coach, has been named the new Miles Community College Rodeo Coach

         David Braulick, a member of the Facilities Management team, received the Blue and Sliver Award for the 2004 Spring Semester. The Blue and Silver Award honors a member of the faculty or staff who demonstrates outstanding service to the College.

         The Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), sponsored by Miles Community College, opened new projects in Lame Deer in December and Ashland opened in February.

         In January, RSVP volunteers Julian and Ellen Terrett were awarded the Volunteer of the Year award at the annual Miles City Area Chamber banquet.

         The Raising Our Community Kids Safely (ROCKS) after school program sponsored by Miles Community College will be one of the three after school programs highlighted at the Governor's Extra Learning Opportunities (ELO) Summit on March 24-26, 2004 in Helena. Sponsored by the Governors Office, OPI, and the Montana Child Care Resource and Referral Network, the ELO Summit brings together, legislators, superintendents, principals, school boards, other elected officials, businesses, charitable organizations, licensed child care programs, 21st Century Learning Centers, and youth development programs give guidance to the state government for future support and development of Montana after school programming. Joyce Vera, ROCKS program coordinator, will give the presentation.

         In recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, community partners Miles Community College, AmeriCorps, MCC Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), MCC Multicultural Club, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), Custer County Food Bank, Star Printing & Supply Company, and Wal-Mart worked together to collect over 1000 personal care products for those less fortunate. Jerica-Lee Bell, AmeriCorps Volunteer and nursing student, coordinated the event.

         Dually enrolled Miles Community College/Custer County District High School Junior, Sarah Barth, was among Montana's Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) State Officers to meet with Governor Judy Martz in Helena, January 12th. Each of the CTSOs did a presentation for Governor Martz describing their organizations' purposes, benefits and activities. Sarah Barth is also State Reporter/Historian for Montana HOSA.

         Miles Community College has agreed to be a bioterrorism education training location for professional and volunteer first responders across Montana and Northern Wyoming in support of a federal grant awarded to St. Vincent Healthcare Foundation. Participants will learn basic strategies in bioterrorism preparedness, correct use of bioterrorism equipment, and how to cope and be effective in the event of bioterrorism or a natural disaster. 

         On Friday, February 14, 2004, Miles Community College held the "Buckaroo Bash," the rodeo team's annual fundraiser. Approximately 360 people attended and help raise approximately $20,000 for rodeo scholarships and rodeo team support.

Montana State University-Billings
Chancellor Ronald P. Sexton, Ph.D

        Dr. David Karnos, Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences, recently published a book chapter, "There Is Always Another Island", in Encounters with Alphonso Lingis, ed. by Alexander E. Hooke and Wolfgang W. Fuchs, (Lexington Book, 2003). The book is a collection of essays done in tribute and evaluation of the writings of the American Philosopher Alphonso Lingis.

        The College of Professional Studies and Lifelong Learning has completed the first phase of a statewide-customized contract-training program for Teller and Teller Supervisor Retention and Development for Wells Fargo Bank.

        Dr. Patricia Vettel-Becker, Art, College of Arts and Sciences, recently published an article, "Destruction and Delight: World War II Combat Photography and the Aesthetic Inscription of Masculine Identity." Men and Masculinities 5:1 (July 2002).

        Under the leadership of Professor Tami Haaland, English and Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences, a group of creative writing students formed the MSU-Billings Writers' Guild. Their motto is "Words in Progress."

        Ms. Nell Eby, Project Coordinator, Montana Center on Disabilities, presented to the tribal Chemical Dependency Program Directors. Ms. Eby gave an overview of the state Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Planning Grant accomplishments and announced the state award of the three-year TBI Implementation Grant.

        Dr. Deborah Schaffer, English and Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences, presented a talk entitled "Teaching the Literature of Tolerance" at the annual MEA/MFT Conference in Billings.

        The College of Professional Studies and Lifelong Learning, MSU-Billings Online University continues to expand with student enrollments reaching 2400 students for the Fall 2003 semester and over 2600 students currently enrolled for the Spring 2004 semester.

        The Center for Applied Economic Research held its quarterly steering meeting on January 20, 2004.  Dr. Scott Rickard, Center Director, shared that progress was achieved in all areas of research, including housing, energy and economic indicators. 

        The College of Business through the Center for Business Enterprise is hosting a symposium scheduled for February 20, 2004. Senator Max Baucus and Representative Denny Rehberg will be addressing global trade issues.  This symposium is an extension of the trade trip that Senator Baucus and Representative Rehberg conducted in Cuba in September 2003. 

        Professor Farzad Farsio, College of Business, had two undergraduate students who had papers accepted at National Economic Conferences.  This is significant in that as a primary undergraduate teaching university, undergraduate research is not a normal focus of pedagogic development.

        The College of Technology held a Nursing Pinning Ceremony for graduating nursing students (17) with Dean Cech presenting the Welcome Address.  Under the direction of the nursing and health occupations faculty and students, the event hosted approximately 300 people and provided music, tributes, a poem, and graduation certificates.

        The Fulbright Scholar Program 2004 has selected Dr. Matthew J. Benaquista, College of Arts and Sciences and Dr. Ernesto A. Randolfi, College of Education and Human Services, to join the list of distinguished scholars who have shared their expertise internationally. Dr. Beneaquista will travel to University of Trento, Trento, Italy, to expand his research on, "Detecting Gravitational Radiation from Neutron Stars in Low Mass X-ray Binaries with VIRGO." Dr. Randolfi will lecture at the Kenthea Center for Education regarding Drugs and Treatment of Drug Addicted Persons in Nicosia, Cyprus, speaking on "Maximizing the Effectiveness of Health Promotion and Drug Abuse Prevention Programs: What Works in Research Based Interventions."

Montana Tech of The University of Montana
Chancellor W. Franklin Gilmore

         On February 11, Mike Stickney, MBMG, gave an invited talk at the 2004 Governor's Conference on Disaster Preparedness held in Billings. The talk described recent discoveries in Yellowstone Lake and potential geologic hazards they present.

         Mathematical Sciences students Steve Walsh, Theron Wilson, and Michelle Johnson competed in the 2004 COMAP Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling held February 5-9. This contest was sponsored by the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications. Montana Tech's modeling team was advised by Dr. Richard J. Rossi, Head of Mathematical Sciences.

         The Hantavirus Research Team (Lonner, Douglass and Hughes) had a paper, "Invertebrate Abundance and Biomass Distribution Patterns in Western and Central Montana," published in the Intermountain Journal of Sciences.

         In January Dr. Rick Douglass, Biological Sciences, collaborated in Panama with the University of Next Mexico, Texas Tech University and the Gorgas Institute of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene on hantavirus projects.

         Dr. Amy Kuenzi, Biological Sciences, has been appointed to the position of Associate Editor for the Journal of Wildlife Management.

         There are approximately 60 students involved in the Helena Business & Information Technology program.

         The 39th Symposium on Engineering Geology and Geotechnical Engineering will be on the Montana Tech campus in May. This is the first time the symposia has been held in Montana and Tech was voted to host because of the strong participation of Tech faculty and students at the symposia in recent years.

         Pat Munday, Professional & Technical Communication, and Andrea Stierle in a Montana Tech partnership with the Anaconda School District and Utah State University, submitted a proposal for $6 million to the NSF Math Science Partnership program.

         Montana Tech hosted the 21st annual Expanding Your Horizons conference.

         Dr. Neil Wahl, General Engineering, recently received a citation for co-authoring the outstanding wind energy journal article for the 2003 ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering.  The article is entitled "New fatigue data for wind turbine blade materials."  The award was conferred at the 42nd American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit held on January 5-8, 2004, in Reno, Nevada.

         Dr. John Morrison, General Engineering, was honored at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory's 8th Annual Inventors' Recognition Banquet on January 30, 2004.  Dr. Morrison has received four patents related to his work at and with INEEL.

         Mike Stickney, MBMG, will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate from MSU-Bozeman this spring.

         In January, Willis Weight, Geological Engineering, attended the North American Environmental Field Conference and Exposition in Tampa, Florida.  All presenters were invited only, so it was an honor for Montana Tech to be represented at this conference.  He gave a presentation entitled Integrating Site Characterization Data Into a Numerical System: A Case Study from Northern Montana and taught a 2-hour short course Field Performance and Errors in the Analysis of Slug Tests.

         Kelly Amtmann, Health Sciences, and John Amtmann, Safety, Health & I.H. co-authored Strength Training for the Nurse Professional for The Pulse, a peer-reviewed publication of the Montana Nurses Association. It is in the Spring 2004 issue.

         William Spath, John Amtmann, and Steve Berry's research paper Effects of a Beginning Judo Class on Heart Rate has been accepted by the Intermountain Journal of Sciences. 

The University of Montana
President G. M. Dennison

         The University of Montana once again has shattered all spring semester enrollment records with a 2.9 percent increase in the number of students attending the Missoula campus for the second half of the 2003-04 academic year. A total of 12,998 students are enrolled in classes, an increase of 372 over the 2003 spring semester headcount of 12,626.

         The University of Montana's Ecologists, Educators and Schools (ECOS) program recently received a National Science Foundation grant worth nearly $2 million. Carol Brewer, a University of Montana associate professor of biological sciences and the director of ECOS, said the NSF grant will be used to send teams of University of Montana graduate and undergraduate students into area schools to help teachers with schoolyard ecology lessons.

         University of Montana senior Jessie Childress recently won fourth place in the national Hearst Journalism Awards contest for opinion writing. Childress won for a column she wrote last winter about the Montana Legislature attempting to divert funding from The University of Montana's Environmental Studies Program. She will receive a $750 scholarship.

         The Peace Corps has released its 2004 list of "Top Producing Colleges and Universities," and The University of Montana-Missoula once again made the top 10 in the category for medium-sized institutions. This year's ranking puts The University of Montana ahead of institutions such as Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard.

         The University of Montana-Missoula has received a $5,000 Humanities Preservation and Access Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The funds will provide seed money to establish a preservation program for all collections at The University of Montana's Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library.

         Students in The University of Montana's Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) have earned top status among programs at American colleges. The University of Montana program was ranked ninth out of the 271 ROTC programs in the nation.

         Statewide demand and a 100 percent job-placement rate has pushed The University of Montana College of Technology's Surgical Technology Program to expand to satellite campuses in Butte and Billings.

         The University of Montana's Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group will produce software for the NASA's Hydrosphere State Mission. Steve Running, NTSG Director, said the mission's HYDROS satellite will study the Earth's freeze-thaw transition and soil moisture on a daily basis. The University of Montana should receive about $5 million for this work during the lifetime of the mission from 2004 to 2012. The HYDROS satellite is tentatively set to launch in 2009.

         The Montana World Trade Center at The University of Montana has organized a trade mission to Australia and New Zealand for March 26 - April 4, 2004. Up to 10 companies from a wide range of industries, will participate. Two recent MWTC missions resulted in more than $5 million in sales so far.

         Gerry Brenner, a retired University of Montana English Professor, was named the 2003 Montana Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the National Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. This is the fourth year running that a University of Montana faculty member has won the prestigious honor.

         The University of Montana College of Technology received corporate contributions for two programs in the industrial technology department. The recreational power equipment program received a 2003 Yamaha Mountain Viper snowmobile from Yamaha.

         A University of Montana student, Danielle Cross, a senior in Radio/Television, earned sixth-place in the November portion of the national Hearst Journalism Awards Program.

         University of Montana student-athletes excelled in academic achievement as well as sports during Fall Semester 2003. The student-athlete cumulative grade-point average was 2.92, and almost half of the students received a 3.0 GPA or higher. Thirty-nine of The University of Montana's 325 student athletes made the Dean's List, which requires at least a 3.5 GPA, and 23 earned a perfect 4.0.

         John Belz, a University of Montana Physics and Astronomy Professor, will join colleagues at the Universities of Utah and New Mexico and at several Japanese universities to study the source of high-energy cosmic rays. The collective research effort will be funded by a $12 million grant from the Japanese government and another $5 million to $6 million in U.S. federal grants.

         University of Montana senior, Michael Marie Munson is the recipient of the Spring 2003 Outstanding Student Leader Award, which recognizes a student for exhibiting ethical, creative leadership that builds a positive campus climate while remaining in good standing academically. Michael has committed herself to promoting Indian education issues in the School of Education, as well as the greater campus.

The University of Montana - Western
Interim Chancellor Karl Ulrich

Faculty Accomplishments

        Professor Alan Weltzien participated in the annual Western Literature Association (WLA) conference, this year held in Houston, Texas. Dr. Weltzien has just completed a four-year term on the WLA Executive Committee. In addition, he presented a paper as part of a TexMex/borderlands music panel entitled "Lyrical Borderlands." The paper examined the dual identity of "conjunto" accordionist Flaco Jimenez.

        Professor Gary Lundy's book, "to each other water cool and pure" has been published by Blue Malady Press.

        Physics Professor Craig Zaspel participated in the International Conference on Functional Materials in Partenit, Crimea on the Black Sea. At the conference he chaired a session, "Microwave Materials", and gave an invited talk "Normal Modes for Vortex-State Magnetic Dots".

        Professor Zaspel also has had his article "Incommensurate and Inhomogeneous States Induced by a Strong Magnetic Field in Low-Dimensional Antiferromagnets" accepted for publication in the "Physical Review". Coauthors are B. A. Ivanov and A. Yu. Merkolov from the Institute of Magnetism, National Academy of Science of Ukraine.

        This research has investigated how a magnetic field will affect the magnetization of small particles that can be used in magnetic information storage. Support in the US has come from a National Science Foundation Grant, and the work in Ukraine has been supported by a Volkswagen Grant.

        Professor Zaspel's manuscript "Gyrotropic mode frequency of vortex-state permalloy disks has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Applied Physics: Dr. Boris Ivanov from the Institute of Magnetism in the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was coauthor of the paper. This work has potential applications in the area of high density magnetic information storage.

        Dr. Mike Morrow had a paper, Dependence of endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation (ERAD) on the peptide binding domain and concentration of BiP published in Molecular Biology of the Cell, Aug 2003, 14: 3437- 3448

        Also, an abstract of Dr. Morrow's was accepted for a poster presentation The cloning and initial characterization of the Candida albicans KAR2 and SEC61 genes at the annual American Society for Cell Biology meeting in San Francisco in December.  One of the authors is a Western student, Kyle Lund, who did research with Dr. Morrow over the summer.

        Western biology Professor Jack Kirkley presented two papers at the recent Raptor Research Foundation meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. The title of the first paper was Nest Habitat Features of Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) in Southwestern Montana. Coauthor of the paper was Dr. Eric Dyreson of Western's Mathematics Department. The second paper was titled Fidelity to Overwintering and Breeding Areas, Habitat Use and Mortality in Radio-tagged Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) in Southwestern Montana with Dr. Kirkley as the sole author.

        Dr. Rita Moore has received news that the publisher has released her new book. The title of the book is "Action Research for Teachers." The publisher is Christopher Gordon of Norwood, MA.

Montana Youth ChalleNGe

        The ninth ChalleNGe class with 69 graduates went through commencement exercises on December 20, 2003. Commissioner Sheila Stearns, who was instrumental in the start-up of the ChalleNGe program was the keynote speaker at the event.

Experience One

        Work has continued on-schedule for a phased implementation of Experience One scheduling, including the offering of a complete general education program to all incoming baccalaureate-seeking freshman students during academic year 2004-5. This will be followed by a full implementation during academic year 2005-6.

Montana State University-Northern
Chancellor Alex Capdeville

        NAIA National wrestling tournament - On February 27 & 28, MSU-Northern hosted the 2004 NAIA National Wrestling Tournament, it was Northern'sthird consecutive  year as host. Approximately 25 NAIA teams and 200 student-athletes attended this tourney held at the Swarthout Fieldhouse in Great Falls.

        VICA - Northern will be hosting the 2004 Montana Vocational Industrial Clubs of America State Leadership and Skills Conference on April 5, 6 & 7th. MSU-Northern has proudly hosted the Montana VICA Conference since its inception in 1971. Competitions are held in areas such as architectural drafting, welding, diesel technology, automotive technology, public speaking, and technical computing. Northern's faculty and staff serve as contest chairpersons and take this opportunity to present educational opportunities and answer questions about our campus.

        Labor/Management Committee - MSU-Northern recently formed a campus Labor/ Management Committee. Members from classified union and management attended a two-day training session offered by a Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The purpose of the committee is to work in partnership to foster strong communication and to develop and recommend solutions intended to benefit labor/management relations and the work environment.

        Applied Technology Center - The ATC Project is progressing and we plan to have a ground-breaking ceremony while the Board of Regents meet in Havre this May.

        75th Anniversary celebration Bevents are being planned for the upcoming 75th anniversary of MSU-Northern. The year-long celebration will begin with a kick-off event in September. As events are more concrete we will be sending information to campuses and Regents and inviting everyone to attend.

Montana State University- Great Falls College of Technology
Dean Mary Sheehy Moe

  • Student Receives Phi Theta Kappa Award:  Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society of the 2 year college, has selected MSU Great Falls College of Technology student, Mark Olszewski, as Montana's 2004 New Century Scholar. Olszewski will be honored at the 2004 American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Selection as a New Century Scholar is based on scores earned in the All-USA Academic Team competition sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa and USA Today News. The highest scoring student in each state is named a New Century Scholar and will receive a $2,000 stipend funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation and the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. New Century Scholars will be featured in the AACC's College Times and Phi Theta Kappa's Golden Key newsletter.

  • Martin Luther King Day & Celebration of Diversity:  On January 20th MSU B Great Falls College of Technology hosted a Martin Luther King Day Presentation & Discussion by Rev. Robert Payne, Jr. The focus of the presentation was to establish an understanding of the relevance of Dr. King's dream today. During his presentation, Rev. Payne asked questions of the audience that provoked and stimulated discussion.

  • Accreditation of Health Sciences Programs:  Programs in two-year colleges must meet stringent requirements from state and national governing bodies. As part of the program accreditation process, extensive materials including curriculum and outcomes data are submitted prior to site visits by the accrediting agency. Karalea Fisher, lead instructor for the Health Information Coding Specialist program is in the initial steps of program accreditation. This new accreditation for Coding Specialist programs has recently been made available by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)

  • The Dental Hygiene program will be hosting a site visit on March 25-26. The accreditation team will represent  the Commission on Dental Accreditation through the American Dental Association and will determine compliance with national standards prior to granting initial accreditation status.

  • The Practical Nurse program will host representatives from the Montana Board of Nursing on the Great Falls Campus on April 8-9.  The team will examine the program and determine the program's compliance with Montana's standards of nursing education, for continued accreditation of this program.

  • Regional Growth Alliance Formed:  The mission of the newly organized RGA is to provide a forum for regional businesses, community and government leaders to identify and address emergency issues of significance to the economy of the Great Falls region. Dean Mary Moe and University of Great Falls President Eugene McAllister presented their vision for higher education in the community at the monthly RGA meeting on March 5.

  • Off-Campus Opportunity:  Due to enrollment growth, classroom and office space on the MSU-Great Falls Campus has become an issue. Opportunities for off-campus growth are being explored by the Facilities Task Force. Among the options being considered by the Task Force, Dean Moe, the City of Great Falls and the Macerich Company is space at the Holiday Village Mall.

  • Great Falls High School Photography Reception and Gallery.  Fo-to-syn-the-sis, a photography installation by the Great Falls High studio in Photography class was on display on the MSU-Great Falls Campus.  Instructor Lisa Easton and her students held a public reception on Friday evening, February 20 to introduce the exhibit.

  • Leadership High School Graduation:  Joe Schaffer, Director of Outreach and Continuing Education, has been invited to speak to the graduates of the 2003-04 Leadership High School Class on March 9th.