Greetings from Valley City State University!It’s no surprise that VCSU has a long and storied tradition of providing education to the citizens of North Dakota. A significant and founding principle of that long-standing tradition is in preparing the next generation of teachers for our state and beyond. I was proud to report — and brag a bit — to the House and Senate appropriations committees that more than 1,400 teachers and school administrators in North Dakota are graduates of VCSU! It’s paramount for us to not lose sight of our traditional purpose and mission while pursuing growth and change. Staying on the leading edge of innovative programs will position us well as we enter our next chapter as a university. Lately I’ve fielded many questions regarding progress on our new $32 million arts and communication building on campus. Here is a progress report as of this writing:
- A campus committee comprising students, faculty, and staff has been formed to meet with the architects and design team.
- The committee has met several times with the architects to make important decisions on space needs and design, keeping in mind the future needs of the art, communication, and music programs to allow and encourage enrollment growth.
- A construction manager will be selected in the next month.
- Site preparation work, including soil survey samples, will begin this fall.
- Ground breaking will take place in the spring of 2020.