Office of Human Resources

Annual Recognition Awards for 2015-2016

All Minot State University faculty and staff members are invited and encouraged to attend the annual Employee Recognition and Retirement Event May 11 in Old Main. A social in McFarland Gallery at 2 p.m. will be followed by a recognition program in Ann Nicole Nelson Hall at 2:30 p.m. President Steven Shirley has advised supervisors to close offices where feasible to ensure the fullest attendance possible. Join colleagues as those marking five-year increments of service, those retiring and those receiving Faculty and Staff Achievement Awards will be honored.

Three faculty members, Sarah Aleshire, DeVera Bowles and Heidi Super, and two staff members, Sue Mosser and Bonnie Trueblood, will receive MSU Board of Regents Achievement Awards Wednesday (May 11) during Minot State University's annual Employee Recognition and Retirement event. The awards are as follows:

Faculty Achievement Awards
This program was established in 1985 by the Burlington Northern Foundation. In 1990 the Board of Regents established a second award and now solely supports the awards to recognize outstanding university teaching. The intent of the award is to recognize, reward, and motivate excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service.

Teaching — Sarah Aleshire, instructor of English and coordinator of the gender and women's studies program, has taught full time at MSU since 2009. The Minot State alumna wanted to return to Minot after graduate school to work with and for the community. As a research writer with foundations in literary theory, Aleshire teaches a variety of courses on composition, literature, theory and gender studies, as well as working with the Honors Program and First Year Experience program. She is also the chief coordinator of WORDSTOCK, the English component of MSU's annual NOTSTOCK Festival.

During her very first semester teaching, Aleshire's composition director, upon observing her class, told her that she had "a great gift of productive silence" that, if harnessed, would serve her well as a teacher. She uses that silence in the classroom to create the space students often need to grapple with complex issues, from systemic social injustices, to dense literary theories, to the intricacies of Modern Language Association format. She also uses it outside of the classroom to encourage student-driven dialogue about students' individual projects, questions and interests.

Service — DeVera Bowles, professor of voice, and her husband, Kenneth, came to Minot in 1993, when Minot State hired him as a director of choral activities. She was hired the following year to teach voice. Thus far, 50 voice majors have completed their MSU degrees under her guidance. Currently, she is active as vice president for the North Dakota Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

In MSU's Faculty Senate, she advanced from Student Government Association liaison to secretary, then vice president and president. She was the MSU faculty voice to all media outlets during the challenging spring semester of 2013. She has served on numerous Faculty Senate committees including tenure, promotion, intellectual climate, curricular diversity and campus climate, sabbatical and faculty rights. She served on two search committee for the vice president for academic affairs and two inauguration committees, where she coordinated two "Celebration of Talents" variety shows featuring MSU students, faculty and staff and community members.

Currently, Bowles is active on the Faculty Handbook Committee and the Strategic Planning-Student Life, Athletics, Fine Arts Subcommittee. She serves on the executive board of the Campus Beautification Committee, represents College of Arts and Sciences faculty on the Budget Reduction Committee and will continue activities into the next academic year as Council for College Faculty secretary.

Within the Division of Music, Bowles has actively participated in numerous music faculty searches and gathered thousands of photos of music events to market the program. She routinely hems and alters dresses for choral program and enjoys accompanying the concert choir and other singers within the program in recital.

Scholarship — Heidi Super, professor of biology, has been part of the Division of Science and Department of Biology since 1999. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Carroll College in Helena, Mont., and her doctorate in molecular genetics and cell biology from the University of Chicago. Her primary mentor was Janet Rowley, a pioneer in identifying specific gene alterations in cancer.

Super's teaching and research expertise are in genetics and molecular biology. Her research focuses on the abnormal genetic mechanisms associated with human cancer, primarily leukemia. She has mentored more than 20 undergraduates through research projects and into their careers in medicine in biomedical research.

Her husband, Joe, teaches biology at Minot High School Central Campus. They have three children, Claire, Meg and Sam.

Staff Achievement Awards
The Board of Regents Staff Achievement Award was established in 1991. The Board of Regents established the award to recognize university staff members for outstanding service to the University and the community.

Sue Mosser, cashier for both the Beaver Creek Café and the C-Store, began working at Minot State in 1985 and is the sole remaining MSU food service employee. Previous to that, she worked at Trinity Nursing Home and the Minot Eagles Club. She graduated from Minot High School in the Class of 1976.

"The students make MSU a very nice place to work," Mosser said. "They keep me young."

Every university student who eats in the Beaver Creek Café fondly knows Mosser by name. Students even discuss on social media how much they like her and how she is the sweetest lady on campus. She is warm, genuine and always professional, serving everyone respectfully and responsibly. She is a master at multitasking, as she is running the register for the busy café and convenience store.

At MSU, Mosser served on Staff Senate. Within the community, she belongs to the Minot Eagles Auxiliary #2376.

Mosser and her husband, Robert, have two children, Renae and Darrin, and three grandchildren, Kianna, Logan and Brekken.

Bonnie Trueblood, administrative assistant to the vice president for advancement, is the mainstay behind the Office of Advancement. She repeatedly goes above and beyond the call of duty, working tirelessly with a positive attitude. Not only does she excel in her job responsibilities, she has initiated and completed new processes supporting the MSU Development Foundation and the Alumni Association. Trueblood continually identifies initiatives to benefit MSU, most importantly the students, and seizes opportunities to serve.

The Linton native completed an associate degree at Bismarck State College. She joined MSU after working for 32 years in the banking industry.

Trueblood and her husband, Don, are strong MSU supporters. Although she participates in all advancement activities, she also assists other MSU departments, such as volunteering at enrollment services events. She is highly respected by her peers and members of the MSU Development Foundation and Alumni Association.

Retirements

Ken Bowles, music; Cheryl Gilson, communication disorders; Stephen Hayton, mathematics and computer science; Donna Just, library; Kevin Neuharth, communication arts; David Rochholz, teacher education and human performance; Marv Semrau, advancement; Thomas Seymour, business information technology. Not shown: Patti Fedje, accounting and finance; Koletta Ficek, North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities, Susan Herzog, Center for Extended Learning; Joan Houston, accounting and finance; William Klimpel, facilities management; Rebecca Volk, publications and design services.

Outstanding Academic Advisors

Evan Borisinkoff, special education and NDCPD; Eileen Solberg, College of Business.

Distinguished Lifetime Educator Awards

Jonathan Wagner, social science; Gary Leslie, teacher education and human performance; George Slanger, humanities.

Service Awards
Seventy-three Minot State University employees will be acknowledged for five-year increments of service at the annual recognition event May 11. They are: