Hey, fellow DSU students and staff, not to mention everyone else in Madison! Not to be an alarmist or anything, but two unscientific online polls should perhaps make us a bit nervous. Following Rep. Mark Kirkeby's suggestion that the state study closing one of our public university campi, the Rapid City Journal and SD Watch are both running polls asking, if a campus has to go, which one it should be. As of 15:19 CST today, DSU isn't faring too well:
| Rapid City Journal poll results: | |
| Black Hills State University | (146 Votes, 9%) |
| Dakota State University | (872 Votes, 56%) |
| Northern State University | (318 Votes, 20%) |
| South Dakota School of Mines & Technology | (81 Votes, 5%) |
| South Dakota State University | (55 Votes, 4%) |
| University of South Dakota | (89 Votes, 6%) |
| Total Votes: | 1561 |
| SD Watch poll results: | % | votes | |
| BHSU | 26 % | 28 | |
| DSU | 30 % | 32 | |
| NSU | 14 % | 15 | |
| SDSM&T | 3 % | 3 | |
| SDSU | 3 % | 3 | |
| USD | 8 % | 8 | |
| University Center | 16 % | 17 |
Dang, we're catching heck from both sides of the river!
Mount Blogmore suggests there is no cause for alarm: politically, shutting down a university is about as doable as mounting our own South Dakota mission to Mars (which actually sounds like a heck of an idea!) But perhaps you'll understand if this grad student reacts more sensitively than others to even a hint that the institution currently providing his bread and butter is South Dakota's least loved university.
Help me out, folks -- I'd like to at least get through the doctoral program (think Spring 2010... please?) before we shut the doors. Like Todd Epp said, nobody wants to see me turned loose in the real world!
I'm pretty sure it's the hideous tv campaign with the cheezy guy jumping out of the plane. The spot is the worst college advertising I've ever seen. I hope they didn't actually pay for that.
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me that the person who jumps out of his office into thin air is actually a professor at DSU who really does skydive and teaches skydiving. Is it true? I would say that a LOT of us should visit those website surveys and the entire campus and alumni of DSU should be voting vigorously!
ReplyDeleteMost probably don't oppose DSU and its important, though niche mission - but what we do oppose is the higher ed bureaucracy and administration replicated 50 miles north in Brookings, then replicated again 50 miles south at that "alphabet thing" in Sioux Falls, and yet again 60 miles further south in Vermillion. Hey, the SD National Guard doesn't have a general and general staff in every town where the guard has a detachment - well why should the higher bureaucracy have a university president and full staff at every village where there's a small presence? It's way past time to consolidate the higher ed administration and to move out with greater distance higher ed delivery.
ReplyDeleteEven though I don’t like DSU, but I will have to admit DSU is one of the best colleges in this state. They provide a wonderful education in the computer technology field that no other college in this state can even get close nor incorporate into their curriculum. Because of this DSU is the only college in this state to receive national recognition. This is not even including their education department where the nearby college students from Brookings and Sioux Falls go to finish their teaching degrees. The other main issue is the DSU has one of the biggest enrollment increases in the past eight years. So why punish DSU for providing a wonderful education that no other college in this state can provide.
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