MSUM played a major role in fighting the historic record-breaking flood on the Red River, reaching 40.82 feet on March 28, 2009, topping the previous mark of 40.1 feet set in 1897. During the whole flood emergency, more than 20,000 individuals were registered at Nemzek for volunteer work. In addition, Holmquist Hall housed people from the National Guard, Civil Air Patrol, public health agencies and law enforcement; the Emergency Operations Call Center for Moorhead and Clay County operated from MSUM; food service produced 7,500 meals a day for flood volunteers; and six MnSCU campuses answered our requests for assistance. We join the community in thanking all of the students from area colleges and schools in helping to protect our community. (Read more)
MSUM’s 2008 Combined Charities Campaign exceeded its goal with contributions to this year’s campaign totaling $61,318. Two hundred sixty-three employees donated to this year's campaign, including 67 new contributors, for a total of $2,186.21 pledged per pay period, the most of any of the MnSCU State Universities.
As part of a North Dakota Council on the Arts apprenticeship, Lila Hauge-Stoffel, Art, and Mary O’Reilly Seim, Economics and Political Science, conducted a textile-dying demonstration at Fargo’s Pioneer House, an assisted living facility. Participants in the nine-month research project took part in 35 activities, ranging from storytelling to quilting to painting, providing residents the opportunity to express their creative side and connect with each other. Positive results included the elderly participants saying they felt significantly less bored, less lonely and less helpless. They also reported expanded concentration and a renewed sense of dignity. The project led to the creation of the Art for Life project, which now serves as a model for similar programs across the country and was featured in a 2006 issue of Aging.
Students in the elementary education and early childhood education program’s Reading and Language Arts course worked with St. John’s Episcopal Church to create opportunities for Sudanese children to address literacy skills through a community-based reading clinic. The after school reading clinic is funded through a two-year, $60,000 grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation.
MSUM is a major partner with the Minnesota Office of Enterprise Technology, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, Minnesota State Community and Technical Colleges, the City of Moorhead and Moorhead Public Service in providing fiber connections to various locations in Moorhead. MSUM also supports fiber optics connections for the Higher Education Center, Concordia College, North Dakota State University, the City of Moorhead, Clay County and the City of Fargo. MSUM Is the hub for fiber connections between Moorhead public agencies and the State of Minnesota network. By combining resources we are able to reduce the cost of network connections for all agencies involved.
The MSUM Library promotes its mission of encouraging reading and life-long learning through the Comstock Reading Aloud Initiative. The program increases the number of adults who read to children on a daily basis and aims to instill in children a love for books and reading. An awards program, launched in 2004, recognizes the best picture books of the year to read aloud to children. Two awards are given annually, the “Comstock Book Award” for books for children eight to 12 years old, and the “Wanda Gág Award” for books aimed at younger children. Each year, the Library staff asks publishers to send MSUM copies of picture books published in the previous year that they’d like to nominate for the awards. This year, they received about 500 titles, which a committee first screened, and then selected 315 to be field tested. Twenty regional teachers and librarians, along with about 180 MSUM elementary and early childhood education majors, read these books aloud to nearly 21,300 children this past year. To determine the winners and honor books, the Read Aloud committee examined feedback from each reader and the responses of the children.
Students in a Principles of Persuasion class have worked with community organizations, such as March of Dimes, Lake Agassiz Regional Library, Meritcare Volunteer Services and others, to create persuasive messages. The students gathered formative research and quantitative data to create messages aimed at the audience using at least two channels. Finally, the students assessed the effectiveness of their messages and presented the finished product to the organizations.
MSUM’s Economic Impact on the Community
(Source: Wilder Research, 2007)
The total annual impact of MSUM on Moorhead exceeds $190 million, with the university adding an estimated 2,666 jobs to the local economy.
Total direct spending in Moorhead by MSUM in 2006 exceeded $43 million, while estimated local spending by MSUM students is nearly $55 million.
MSUM’s payroll for its more than 790 faculty and staff amounts to $32.4 million annually.
The University and the MSUM Alumni Foundation awarded $1.2 million in scholarships to students last year. The Alumni Foundation’s Endowment Fund is $7.18 million, the majority dedicated to scholarships.
