During the South Dakota State University Students’ Association meeting Oct. 18, Senators were addressed by Provost Dennis Hedge about campus updates, ratified the SDSU Men’s Club Volleyball Constitution and introduced four new bills. 

Provost Dennis Hedge

Hedge began his address by remembering Provost Don Marshall, who passed away unexpectedly Oct. 3. 

“Don was a great friend and a colleague,” Hedge said. “We had worked together for many years on this campus. Don was a true champion of academic excellence. He held high ideals and worked very hard on your behalf. He was a very student-success-focused individual. We will miss him greatly.”

Hedge reported that the academic affairs office, which performs daily checks on academic continuity, has seen very few COVID-19 disruptions to date. 

SDSU also hit a milestone of 57 accreditations or certifications of programs. 

“We added four new accreditations or certifications last year at SDSU,” Hedge said. 

Hedge also reported the sociology and psychology departments’ move to Ag Engineering is going forward. 

“We’ll do some nice little updates to Ag Engineering,” Hedge said, adding that the name of the building may change.

SDSU is continuing work to post course syllabi online and hopes to have most of them posted within the next several weeks, according to Hedge. 

SDSU Men’s Club Volleyball

The Senate unanimously approved the constitution for SDSU Men’s Club Volleyball. The club will play competitively with other college-level teams in the surrounding area. 

Bills

The Senate introduced four new bills Monday. Resolution 21-4-R affirms support to increase inclusion, diversity and access at SDSU. Resolution 21-5-R supports a credit window to bill Hobo Dough to student accounts, 21-6-R recognizes October as LGBTQ+ History Month and 21-7-R encourages students to seek education about and receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. 

The bills will be discussed in-depth at next week’s Oct. 25 meeting.