President Donald Trump signed the 2020 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, Dec. 20, with a historic provision that will provide full funding to support American Indian students seeking the benefits of higher education at land-grant universities, which include tribal colleges. The bill passed both the House and the Senate prior to Trump signing.
J. Scott Angle, director of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, announced today that Barry Dunn, president of South Dakota State University, was selected to deliver the 2019 William H. Hatch Memorial Lecture Sunday in San Diego at the annual meeting of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
South Dakota State University has been named to the inaugural Forbes list of America’s Best-in-State Employers. South Dakota State University was ranked No. 2 in the state. The ranking included companies that employ at least 500 people in their U.S. operations.
South Dakota State University was listed as one of the top-performing institutions in terms of exceeding expected six-year graduation rates, according to analysis of 368 colleges and universities done by The New York Times and the Urban Institute’s Center on Education Data and Policy.
Theater students can put on a first-class/world-class production thanks to the recent addition to the Performing Arts Center. After the addition was completed, it was renamed to the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center. Students now perform in the new, state-of-the-art proscenium theater, which seats about 850 people.
South Dakota State University faculty and staff will develop a series of professional development opportunities to gain a broader understanding of American Indian history, culture and current issues. As part of the university’s Wokini Initiative, the professional development series will help foster a culturally responsive and supportive campus environment for American Indian students to support the goal of their increasing retention and graduation rates.
Avera Health and South Dakota State University are partnering on a scholarship program for undergraduate American Indian students at SDSU. The Avera Wokini Scholarship is part of a broader Wokini Initiative at the university that offers programming and support to enrolled members of the nine tribal nations in South Dakota interested in gaining access to educational and advancement opportunities.
