Lakeland Currents.

Your public affairs program for north central Minnesota.

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Hello again friends.

I'm Jason Edens your host of Lakeland Currents.

Thanks for joining the conversation today and thanks for your ongoing support of Lakeland Public Broadcasting.

Today we are hosting the outgoing President of Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College, Dr.

Faith Hensrud.

I'm interested in learning about her legacy at these keystone institutions as well as her thoughts about the future of higher education.

Dr. Hensrud welcome to the program and thank you for making time for our conversation.

Thank you so much Jason, Well, first of all congratulations on your retirement.

Thank you.

How long have you been serving in this capacity and why have you decided to pass the baton now?

Yes, so I'm just completing my sixth year here at Bemidji State and Northwest Technical College after having had 20 years in higher education prior to arriving here and then also some experience in the military and in private industry as well and you know there comes a point in your career where you start thinking about what are the next steps and what do I want to do or where do I see myself going next and I think having a global pandemic really helps to put some perspective on your life.

And it was probably about a year and a half ago that I started thinking, just over a year ago now I guess, it was in March of last year that I started thinking about what do I see myself doing next and where might that be and I have a new granddaughter.

She's now just yesterday 10 months old so that was a very big factor in my decision.

So, are you retiring or are you moving on to a new opportunity?

So, I'm retiring and I, you know, people have asked me well what do you see yourself doing next and I said, you know, what I am going to take some time to relax, enjoy life, enjoy my family and really do some of the things that I haven't been able to do in recent years.

Well, during your tenure you've of course accomplished quite a bit.

Of all those things what gives you the most pride as you pass the baton?

That's a good question because there are so many things.

This has been a wonderful community and the two campuses have been exceptional and I'm so, I feel privileged to have had the honor of working here.

I would say at BSU our focus specifically on becoming a destination institution for American Indians is a point of pride for me.

We were able to, in the time that I was here, to accomplish a number of things.

We had last year our highest number of American Indian students graduating with 56 students who walked across the stage at commencement and we had 350 American Indian students enrolled last year as well and that was during a pandemic.

So, really feeling very positive about that but we also were able to implement some grant programs and one very specifically was focused on Native American nurses and we received some federal grant funding and that was actually a four-year grant for close to $2,000,000 that we were then able to apply for again and we received another four-year grant funding cycle for another approximately $2,000,000.

That's amazing.

What exactly are those grant dollars used for?

Yes, so it's really used for a number of things.

Recruiting for one purpose so that we can attract more American Indian students into the program but then also providing them support, a really supportive program with mentors, with a stipend, with the ability to help them progress and actually attain their degree.

We started out with, prior to the grant we had only one or two American Indian students enrolled in our Nursing program and we will have graduated I believe 27 after this semester.

That's remarkable.

So, the part of the grant can actually be used as a living stipend or as some sort of financial aid for the students themselves?

Yep.

Excellent.

So, that of course increases college affordability and accessibility.

Exactly.

And I wanted to ask you a little bit about that because I'm curious.

What role do you think higher education plays in making college more accessible to underrepresented students?

As a public institution of higher education, that's our mission.

Access and affordability are really keys for public institutions of higher education because we, you know and I can speak for myself when I say the transformative nature of higher education is amazing.

I was a first generation, underrepresented, well a first generation college student.

No one else in my family had gone to college and I was the youngest of seven kids and I know what a college education has done for me and I can also attest to what it does for other individuals who may not have the mentorship of members of their family who have been in college before them and so providing that access and then providing the support for our students is so important so that they can number one, see themselves graduating and then complete their degree.

So, your experience as a first generation college student has affected your educational philosophy and your leadership?

Most definitely.

Do, so you've talked about how there's a higher enrollment of American Indians at at both Bemidji State and Northwest Tech or is it primarily Bemidji State?

I would say both institutions.

We have, it's about a six percent population at BSU right now.

It's about ten percent at NTC.

It's a much smaller school so your percentages are larger but yes most definitely we're seeing those higher enrollments at both institutions.

And is that enrollment driven by Native nations that share geography with Minnesota or are some of these students coming from further afield?

Yeah.

I would say it's primarily Minnesota and you know from within our region we have three tribal colleges, as well as three tribal nations just within our same area here.

So that's a primary factor.

But even as we're looking at how do we recruit students?

One of the things that we're doing particularly through the Native Nursing grant program, we're recruiting in North Dakota as well and looking for other ways that we can begin to attract students from outside of the State of Minnesota to come here to complete their degrees.

Well, part of the conversation around college affordability and accessibility is also about the cost of tuition and there's sort of a growing conversation nationally about tuition-free college.

Yes.

What's your opinion on that?

Well, nothing is free.

I mean, we all know that there's no such thing as a free lunch.

So, one of the things that you have to recognize with that growing interest is there has to be some funding mechanism for that and I know at the federal government they're talking about tuition free college but again you need the resources behind that because we can't simply say we're going to open our doors and let everybody come in and not have to pay anything because it costs.

It costs us to be able to support those students and we need the resources to be able to do that.

At the state level the same thing applies.

If the legislature is saying, well we'd like to to freeze tuition.

Simply freezing tuition isn't the solution because there also needs to be the resources coming back to the institutions to cover the cost that now is no longer being managed by tuition.

I think it's a good thing but again the dollars have to be there to support, you know, a public institution like ours.

Sure.

I learned from the Bemidji State University website that during your tenure you've been responsible for a lot of strategic planning.

I'm curious, what is that revealed about the institution and also what will it change?

Yes.

So, I would say one of the big factors that went into our strategic plan at BSU was number one, we needed to look at how we could meet the needs within our region.

Number one that's a primary thing but we needed to do that in a way that was financially sound and also attracted students from an enrollment perspective.

So, as we looked at our priorities, we began to think about okay what can we do as an institution to stabilize our enrollment and potentially in the long term to grow and it really was focused on how do we become an institution that can attract and retain a more diverse population of students because we know when we look at demographics, the student populations, the traditional white student groups are shrinking in size.

Whereas, the diverse populations are growing and so for an institution to embrace diversity and equity and inclusion and look at ways to invest in strategies that will help to attract and then support and retain both students but also faculty and staff from from underrepresented populations, faculty and staff of color as well.

I'm curious about the transition.

How exactly are you preparing your successor?

Are you working side by side right now and would your successor have the let's say the authority to undo some of that plan?

That's always an option.

So, right now Dr. John Hoffman and I are having conversations on probably a weekly or every other week basis and he's in the process of putting together some transition teams both internal teams and external because he wants to be able to make the right connections both in the community and on the campuses even before he gets here so that he can can be ready when he hits the ground on on July 1st.

To number one, hit the ground listening but also to make sure that he has the right people that he is seeking advise and counsel from before he begins to, you know, make some very large decisions that he would have.

Every one of us recognizes that when we develop a plan, we set forth some strategies.

Our successor can come in and and once they learn what the needs are and it needs change.

In the six years that I was here certainly things have changed and the pandemic has impacted it a lot.

So, really assessing what's been done and then what can we do differently to continue to move the institution forward is a critical piece.

So, I fully expect him to change some of the things that we've set forth.

I would hope there are some things that have staying power though.

Sure.

Well, speaking of the pandemic, you've been at the helm throughout the pandemic so far and I'm sure that's been incredibly arduous as the President of two educational institutions.

Has that been your biggest challenge?

I would say yes.

I mean, there as a President you have lots of opportunities and you have lots of challenges but never would one have expected to have to deal with a global pandemic.

I think when you and I talked, probably in the early parts of the pandemic, you know, I said when you're in higher education you actually plan for pandemics but you don't plan or we didn't in the past, we never planned far enough because you didn't believe it was going to happen and so yes I would say in my career in higher higher education this is the most challenging thing that I've had to deal with because it was day in and day out for not one year but two years.

And it's not over.

And it's not over.

So, I'm curious, how do you think the university will change going forward as a result of the pandemic and how has it changed you?

Yeah, good questions.

So, I would say as a university we've learned a lot, you know, one of the things that we've learned about is how we interact with one another, how we communicate.

It definitely was impacted negatively during the pandemic when you couldn't be meeting face-to-face with one another and you had to figure out ways that you could communicate, work on, you know, signing things and moving them forward.

So, processes had to be put into a digital format which is good but, you know, really your your engagement with one another was impacted negatively.

But, I think going forward we appreciate now one another much more.

To be here in a room with you is wonderful versus the last time we talked when we had a Zoom conversation.

Indeed.

So, I think people are much more appreciative of one another when they can gather together and I think that's going to be something that lasts with folks moving forward and with the institution and certainly students.

Students were so negatively impacted by not being able to have in-person classes that now when they are able to, you can just see the joy that they express and the faculty express.

When, you know, when those masks came off the faculty said "you know what?

I can see smiles.

I can see faces".

Right.

And it's wonderful!

What part of or what practice during the during the pandemic do you think will be kept and possibly even embraced by BSU and Northwest Tech?

Was there any lesson learned or new approach that you think you'll hang on to?

Yeah, I think, you know, some of what we did was in the teaching area and we shifted some of our classes from strictly face to face to more of a hybrid or a high flex so that there was some flexibility in students able to physically come to class or to to have it in a Zoom environment.

So, I think the use of Zoom, I know I've heard some faculty say that they now are recording some of their lectures because you don't know when your students are not going to be able to be there.

So, to have a recorded lecture is a wonderful way to do that.

I think from my perspective one of the things I really liked about it was not having to travel so much down to St. Paul because it was once or twice a month and I missed the interaction with my colleagues and my peers but I certainly didn't miss the four-hour drive.

Four hour one way.

One way, yes.

And so I think there are some aspects of what we do as a system that are changing as well because now my May meeting is no longer a drive down to St. Paul.

It's a Zoom meeting.

So am I hearing you say it's almost a bridge between rural and urban communities?

It really is it and to be able to engage, you know, so much more easily with my colleagues, you know, even in the northern portions of the state and my Presidential colleagues, you can do that in a Zoom environment much more easily.

Nobody has to travel and you save that much time.

You know I've always been curious about quality assurance and quality control in a post-secondary institution or environment rather.

There's a growing conversation about the role of tenured instructors in post-secondary institutions.

Oftentimes, tenured instructors have sort of an iron-clad job security environment.

How do you ensure that those instructors are providing the best educational offering?

Yeah, you know, I really look at our faculty at BSU and so that we have tenured and tenure track probationary and we also have the non-tenure, the fixed term and I just look at the expectations that are set within the departments and by the academic deans and then the Provost and myself is really raising the bar and raising the standard for expectations.

So, if we're very clear and we provide mentorship opportunities for individuals so that they have somebody that they can learn from, I think that's a really critical point and I see so much quality teaching being done at my institution that I don't fear for that and I think that there are mechanisms by which we can address challenges when there are challenges.

I see.

Well, on the other end of the spectrum as you mentioned, they're also contingent or adjunct or I think you said fixed-term instructors, many of whom make a significant commitment to the school.

Is that asymmetrical or is BSU and Northwest Tech making a comparable commitment to those fixed-term instructors?

Yeah, I say we make a comparable commitment.

I know when we hire fixed-term employees at, you know, faculty at BSU, they go through the same orientation program that our tenure track faculty would go through.

So, they have the same opportunities for understanding their role as faculty members even if they're only there for a year.

We do the same thing at NTC although it's on a smaller scale and we have fewer part-time instructors there but you're really looking at, okay how do you orient faculty and then how do you support them going forward?

So, it's important to be able to hire people that are not a probationary or tenure track because we have individuals who are off for a variety of reasons.

They may be taking a sabbatical.

There may be a leave for some reason and you need somebody to be able to step in and fill that role and oftentimes when we hire somebody in a part-time or a one-year hire it's a good opportunity for them to try us out and us to test them out and then if we have an opportunity that's more permanent, they can certainly apply for that.

Is hiring fixed-term instructors an adaptive cost management strategy or is it more a recruitment process?

Yeah, I think what's happening, if you look at higher education across the nation, there is more of a tendency to hire more part-time individuals than I think you're seeing in Minnesota and I would say that our strong relationship with our faculty union is one of the reasons that we tend not to do that and we're really looking at hiring tenure track faculty where we can.

But, I would say nationwide, there's more of a tendency to hire maybe temporary, part-time adjunct instructors as they're often referred to but it depends I guess.

If you're looking at starting a program or growing a program, you may need to do that as a first step and you say okay we're not ready to commit to a probationary track position but we are willing to commit to a one year or two year hire and see if we can get the enrollment up enough to then justify whether or not we would search it at a different level.

So, there are 37 institutions within Minnesota State correct?

Correct.

And, it's my understanding that BSU, Bemidji State University is the only one with both a Bachelor's and a Master's in Environmental Studies and BSU also has one of the oldest Sustainability programs in the State of Minnesota.

That's correct.

Yet in spite of that Bemidji lags woefully behind other institutions within Minnesota State on what we can probably all agree will become an increasingly large percentage of our energy milieu, solar and wind.

Was the deployment of solar and wind not a priority for you or when will we see more clean energy supporting the energy load at BSU?

Thanks for that question.

We certainly have been looking at it and looking for opportunities where we might be able to look for more environmentally sustainable ways of producing and getting our energy.

We looked at solar on two different occasions for some different options and things just fell through with both of those.

We have also looked, well I brought up wind and certainly we don't have as many advantages here for wind as there would be in other areas where there are fewer trees.

In terms of the wind resource?

Yes exactly.

So, that's not something that under my tenure we explored in depth but certainly is something that that could be looked at along with some more solar and right now the credits that the energy companies get, I mean you know more about this than I do so I'm making it up but what what is interesting is it's not as advantageous to the power companies to do this at this point.

Well, as you mentioned earlier you also are a veteran.

You served in the Army between 1986 and 1989 and then you were a reservist between 1989 and 2000.

If I'm not mistaken.

That's correct.

I'm really curious how does that experience or how has that experience affected your leadership and your educational philosophy?

Yeah, thank you for that question.

So, I went through the Army ROTC program and Army ROTC, that's when you're an undergraduate student, you're also taking your ROTC and your military preparation courses.

It's really all about leadership and so I had four years of leadership training as an undergraduate student that helped to prepare me to be a leader when I went into the military and that was really beneficial.

I mean, you learn a lot when when you are at the point where you need to now be in charge of 30 to 60 people right out of college and you're not, you know, you haven't really had experience doing that except for the training opportunities that you received.

So I think that was really instrumental for me in helping me to understand, number one how to manage people, how to manage a diverse workforce and how to ensure that they were trained and equipped to do their jobs properly because that's what it was all about.

It was all about mission readiness in the military and so that those were pretty critical factors.

So, I think, you know, as you think about what our military does and taking very young people and turning them into highly experienced technicians in many cases is just exceptional and I think my love for the training and the education piece was further developed when I was a training officer in the Army as well.

So, in your retirement statement, if you will again, on your website it says that the past five or six years were the most fulfilling in your professional career working at BSU and NTC.

Why is that?

Well, you know, I think it has to do with the community first of all.

I'll say that because if you look at Bemidji as a community, it is the most wonderful community in which I have ever worked.

It is embracing of individuals who come in new to the community.

There are so many opportunities for work to be done on on economic development and to look for ways that we can both meet the workforce needs within the community, as well as to ensure that we are educating students that that will help with that workforce need.

Well, you've already alluded to this a little bit but I'm really curious, how do you intend to spend your time in retirement?

What are you looking forward to in addition to spending time with your 10 month grandchild?

So, that's a big piece.

I, you know, as you think about Bemidji in April and this wonderful weather that we've had, I think I'm looking to go someplace warmer for a little bit of the winter time and we'll be heading to Arizona for a piece of the winter next year just to sample that.

We have a lake cabin and not too far from here and we'll continue to spend time there.

I love to be on the water.

My favorite thing is kayaking and watching birds and I have not played enough golf.

You know you're supposed to be a President and play a lot of golf.

I play maybe twice a year and so I want to get back to my golf game and certainly I'm looking forward to that but again that granddaughter is really calling to me.

Dr. Hensrud, congratulations.

Thank you so much for your service and thank you for spending time with us today.

I appreciate it.

Thank you so much Jason.

And thank all of you for joining me once again.

You can continue the conversation on Twitter.

Tweet me @currentspbs.

I'm Jason Edens, your host of Lakeland Currents.

Be kind and be well.

We'll see you next time.