MSUM is expecting 1,275 new freshmen and 675 new transfer students on campus this fall. The “Dragon Move-in Crew” will move new students into the residence halls from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Wednesday. The crew consists of 50 Student Orientation Counselors and MSUM employees, including President Roland Barden and his vice presidents.

Orientation check-in at the Welcome Tent runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Students will meet their Orientation Counselors and other students during SOC Talk from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on The Slab.

On Thursday, the University Welcome Convocation runs from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Hansen Theatre. This is the first meeting for the incoming class of 2003 aimed at introducing new students to academic life.

The new MSUM students will be invited to the Making College Count Orientation program. This presentation is designed to help students’ transition to campus life. It will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. on Thursday in Hansen Theatre.

Many other events will take place during the week, including dances, departmental meetings, music events, “Campus Capers Live,” karaoke, breakout sessions, a barbecue, self-defense and more.

Classes begin Monday, Aug. 25.

MSUM BALANCES BUDGET IN FACE OF STATE'S FINANCIAL PROBLEMS
MSUM's state budget allocation this year, $27.5 million, is about $4 million short of what had been expected.

But with an extra $3 million in income from this year's 15% tuition increase along with other budget reductions, including 10 percent across-the-board cuts in many operating budgets, the university will start the new year with a balanced budget.

"But that means we'll have no money in our instruction reserve account, no money in our strategic initiatives account, and we won't be filling about 22 FTE in positions due to unfilled vacancies and reductions in temporary faculty positions," President Barden said. "We're down to the very basics, and that's without considering another potential rescission in our budget by the governor this fall if the state's economy doesn't turn around."

MSUM's state appropriation is expected to be $27.5 million this year and tuition and fee income about $24 million, adding up to $51.5 million.

"We've increased class size in some cases, scheduling fewer sections but with more seats available," Barden said. "We've also cut our equipment and facilities maintenance budgets."

A few more potential budgetary problems may be on the horizon: all campus unions are negotiating new contracts this year; higher medical insurance costs seem inevitable; and natural gas prices are predicted to soar.

"We'll have to have more focused conversations on campus this year to take a closer look at our financial situation," Barden said. "But let's look at the good side of this. A new school year is beginning, we're ready, and our enrollment is holding steady."

Crockett, the university’s vice president for administrative affairs, will replace Katy Wilson, who resigned this spring after 10 years as the Dragon AD to pursue a law degree at the University of North Dakota.

Crockett, a former high school quarterback, will continue his vice presidential responsibilities while overseeing the university’s 16-sport intercollegiate athletic program.

“I’d like to keep the momentum going because we’ve got a great story to tell in Dragon athletics,” Crockett said. “I believe we’ll have some very talented applicants for the position once the search begins.”

Crockett will chair the AD search committee, which will be organized this fall once the students return. It will be composed of about 12 campus and community members. A new AD is expected to be on board sometime next year.

With everyone aware of the current budget crisis in Minnesota, the upgrade in service is accompanied by long-term cost cutting. The current estimates of savings for the universities are $750,000 over five years for MSUM, and $300,000 over five years for Southwest State.

Among the more significant new services planned to be used immediately are enhanced emergency services accesses and voice mail. These services are offered to resident students, faculty, and administration. The new systems are capable of future expansion as SMSU and MSUM’s needs change over time.

Diversified Networks has offices throughout the state of Minnesota.

When MSUM’s first president, Livingston Lord, left the university in 1899 after 10 years of service, he received an 18-karat gold pocket watch as a gift from prominent Moorhead lawyer, Solomon G. Comstock (who donated the land that created the campus), and Moorhead Mayor Judge Carroll A. Nye.

That watch is now back on campus. What happened in between is a mystery.

This summer a group of MSUM alumni agreed to buy the watch for $2,700 (half the appraised value of $5,000) from a collector who purchased it at four years ago at an auction house in British Columbia.

No ordinary timepiece, it was made by Geneva-based Patek Philippe, the prestigious master watchmaking company founded in 1839.

“I went to the auction specifically to see if I could pick up an old Jaguar,” said 78-year-old retired chiropractor Glendon Ferguson, the Canadian who won the bid on the watch for $4,000 Canadian (about $2,700).

He didn’t find a Jaguar, but he was attracted to the Swiss-made Patek Philippe pocket watch. He didn’t notice the inscription on it until he got home:

Presented to Livingston C. Lord
With Affection and esteem
By the Students, Teachers
and Alumni of
The Moorhead Normal
School
And Mr. S.G. Comstock
And Mr. C.A. Nye
Moorhead Minn.
May 17, 1899

Lord left what was then called The Moorhead Normal School to become the first president of Eastern Illinois State Teachers College.

Lord died in 1933, but left his legacy on the campus: Livingston Lord Library.

University officials determined the watch was originally purchased at J.B. Hudson Jewler in the Twin Cities. Ferguson said he has no idea how it eventually landed in Canada. But he kept the watch in a safety deposit box for the next couple years.

“Then I thought, that’s kind of silly,” he said. “Besides being an old watch, it has no meaning for anyone up here. So I e-mailed the city of Moorhead to find out if anyone was interested.”

The e-mail ended up on the desk of Michael Redlinger, a recent MSUM alum (master’s degree in public administration) who’s an assistant to the Moorhead city manager.

“It was just a random e-mail we got and we knew right away where the watch should go,” said Redlinger, who also sits on the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees.

Mark Vanyo, MSUM’s Alumni Association president, along with other members of MSUM’s now defunct Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, eventually donated the funds to buy the watch from Ferguson at half its appraised value.

The watch is in working, mint condition.

Doug Hamilton, executive director of university advancement, said the most obvious place to display the watch would be in the Livingston Lord Library.

“It’s kind of an artifact that allows us to share our history and our traditions,” he said.

And keep a watch on history.

Before joining the MSUM faculty in 1998, Suomala was superintendent of the Tri-County School District in Karlstad, Minn., for the five years.

She holds a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in English from MSUM.

Earlier in her career, Suomala taught English at Detroit Lakes High School and Fergus Falls Community College, served as principal for Central High School in Norwood, Minn., worked in curriculum services for the Minnesota Department of Education, and was a clinical practicum specialist for Tri College University here.

She will assume her new two-year interim position in mid-July after completing a teaching assignment in educational leadership earlier in the month.

He’ll serve as a live-in hall director working with a university pilot learning community program to improve student learning and retention with the College of Arts and Sciences. His responsibilities include working with 600 residents, 30 resident assistants, 15 learning assistants and two graduate assistants. He’ll leave MSUM after July 7.

Sylvester earned a degree in Mass Communications here in 1998 and a master’s of science in Education Leadership last year. MSUM Prof. Andrew Conteh came up with the idea of the Student Academic Conference and Sylvester, working with Conteh, developed it as his master’s degree practicum project.