MSU President's Newspaper Column
January 31, 2026
Continuous improvement fuels a stronger campus and community
At Mayville State University, the commitment to personal service is more than our motto, “The School of Personal Service.” It’s a promise that works hand in hand with our strategic plan and guides our decisions. It fuels our innovation and shapes the experience of every student, employee, and visitor who walks through our doors. That commitment continues to grow as we work on new ways to enhance the Mayville State experience, strengthen academic programs and support, and respond to the evolving needs of the state of North Dakota and the community we serve.
When I first came to campus as Mayville State’s president, I spent time learning about how things worked and getting the lay of the land. The question, “How can we improve?” was always in the back of my mind. As we know, continuous improvement isn’t a project with a start and end point. It’s how we get better, and we embrace it because our stakeholders deserve our very best.
Over the last several years, we’ve focused on improving in many areas, including our finances. Through a lot of hard work by our faculty, staff, and administration, we were able to raise our Composite Financial Index from 0.4 in 2020 to 7.9 on June 30, 2024.
Our generous donors have helped us to be extremely successful in the area of fundraising. As of Dec. 31, 2025, MSU Foundation assets were at an all-time high of $22,612,672, and the endowment balance was at $12,148,772. Annual giving for the current fiscal year so far (July 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2025) is $1,899,123. All of this equates to greater opportunities for students.
We’ve been able to make numerous facility improvements. The Campus Center was recently remodeled to provide a beautiful new student lounge, bookstore, and mailroom space. The Campus Center now has an elevator, and there is a new paved parking lot on the east side of the building. Through the efforts of the Alumni Association board and generous alumni and friends, Legacy Plaza is providing a beautiful place for all to enjoy, and Agassiz Hall received a landscaping facelift last summer. The more than $52 million renovation of Old Main is well underway, and we look forward to having an amazing “new” facility that honors the historic character of the exterior of the building while providing wonderful modern interior space that will better-serve the students and employees of today and generations to come.
With an eye toward assisting with North Dakota’s workforce needs, Mayville State has added new academic programming. Bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and agribusiness have been added recently, and a new Bachelor of Applied Science degree in agribusiness has just been approved. We look forward to welcoming students for a new Master of Science in Leadership program and a pre-licensure nursing bachelor’s degree this coming fall. Faculty and staff are always looking for new ways to serve students while impacting the future. The state’s greatest need may well be workface, and Mayville State continues to shine in growing the number of well-prepared graduates who stay in the state and positively impact the workforce.
Mayville State is known for its warmth. Personal service makes people feel at home and part of a family. We strive to create a sense of belonging for all, whether it’s someone arriving on campus for the first time or someone reconnecting as an alum years later. More people are becoming aware of the Mayville State brand and appreciate the value-added aspect of personal service that sets Mayville State apart. This brand is no doubt impacting our record enrollment stats.
Another focus area is housing, both on campus and in the community. It is difficult for employees to find suitable and affordable housing in the Mayville-Portland community. On campus, we are looking for ways to expand and improve housing opportunities as enrollment continues to grow.
I am grateful to the Traill County Housing Authority and Traill County Economic Development Commission, who have just conducted a survey to gather community feedback regarding housing in Traill County. We repeatedly hear from employees and students who wish to have access to better housing options in the Mayville-Portland community, as well as other communities across the county. The survey has provided an opportunity to be heard. I thank Jim Murphy and Alyssa Short with the Traill County EDC, who were instrumental in making this survey happen. Providing housing opportunities is truly a key to future success for our county.
Continuous improvement is so important to a healthy university and community, and our efforts are paying dividends. As we look to the future, the focus remains clear: we’ll keep listening and learning, and we’ll keep raising the bar as we continue our work as a positive force for the citizens of our community, the region, and the state of North Dakota.