MSU President's Newspaper Column
December 10, 2022
Members of the Mayville State family make an impact both near and far
One doesn’t have to look very far to see example after example of members of the Mayville State University family making an impact for others. I am continually reminded of the great things our faculty, staff, and students are doing.
Students enrolled in two Mayville State Seminar On Success (SOS) classes volunteered their time at the Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) MobilePack event held at the Mayville Armory last week. The students were accompanied by their faculty advisors and mentors Dr. Bob Miess and Fred Strand.
The Seminar On Success class is designed to help freshmen get off to a great start in college. The class gives students the opportunity to connect with other students who are new to Mayville State University and helps them become acclimated to the campus and community.
At the event, the Mayville State group engaged in a meal-packing experience. The meals packed that day will be distributed to malnourished children around the world, feeding them and improving their lives.
Mayville State Associate Professor of Education Dr. Kelli Odden recently represented Mayville State on the national stage when she served as master of ceremonies for the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE) conference in Washington, D.C. Kelli is a vice president of the organization, and in that role, has helped to plan the conference over the last year.
Not only is Kelli doing amazing work with her students day in and day out as she teaches her courses in early childhood, she is having an impact across the nation and world-wide through her involvement as an advocate for improvements in early childhood teacher education.
I recently learned that Mayville State Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Michael Kjelland and one of his student researchers, Brooke Roeges, will be presenting their human cancer research findings in Hawaii in 2023. Kjelland’s research team won the Best Poster Presentation Award for the Materials Design Pillar North Dakota EPSCoR ND-ACES 2022 state conference held in Fargo last April. The undergraduate group from Mayville State was up against graduate students from other North Dakota University System institutions in the competition.
The Fall Semester of 2022 is winding down quickly. That means a number of students will be leaving campus and moving on because they have completed the requirements for graduation. Others will be heading off for student teaching and internship destinations. We are always sad to see them go, but we are also excited for the opportunities that lie before them.
To send our newest graduates off on a happy note, our Student Affairs staff hosted a graduation fair on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Refreshments were served and students were able to get help with any questions they may have had as they are about to close this chapter in their lives. We hope to see those who officially graduate after the fall semester join the Spring Semester of 2023 graduates for our commencement ceremony planned for May 13, 2023, where we’ll have a grand celebration of their accomplishments.
I am very proud to recognize the many Mayville State students who are making an impact in workforce needs for our area, region, state, nation, and world. I hope you’ve had an opportunity to visit with our students who are working in the area restaurants and bars, retail establishments, medical facilities, and the local elementary school. Other students who may not have interaction with the public are working at places like American Crystal Sugar and SRS Commodities, as well as for area farmers. Not only are these individuals making a difference once they have earned their degrees and head into their high-demand careers, they are also making a difference while they are pursuing their educational goals. That’s a win-win!
Mayville State University is a hub where lives are being changed both directly and indirectly. It makes me Comet Proud to know the positive impact that ripples from our campus and into the community, region, state, nation, and world.