Dakota State University
Encyclopedia
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
located in Madison
Madison, South Dakota
Madison is a city in Lake County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 6,474 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lake County and is home to Dakota State University.-Geography:Madison is located at ....
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. The university has a technology centric focus with programs in computer and information science, business, education, physical sciences, among other graduate and undergraduate programs. The university requires all full-time undergraduate students to use tablet computer
Tablet computer
A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen...
s and laptops in general education courses in addition to taking a computer usage course and an introductory programming course as part of their curriculum.
Dakota State University is considered to be one of the more technologically advanced post-secondary institutions, making use of Tablet PCs
Microsoft Tablet PC
A Microsoft Tablet PC is a term coined by Microsoft for tablet computers conforming to a set of specifications announced in 2001 by Microsoft, for a pen-enabled personal computer, conforming to hardware specifications devised by Microsoft and running a licensed copy of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition...
, advanced biometric identification devices, special computer laboratories designed for computer hacking and has 25 of the available degree programs offered on campus available via distance methods. This, among other things, has contributed to DSU being listed as the highest ranked baccalaureate
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
college in the Midwest by U.S. News and World Report for five consecutive years.
DSU is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents
South Dakota Board of Regents
The South Dakota Board of Regents governs South Dakota's six public universities: Black Hills State University, Dakota State University, Northern State University, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, South Dakota State University, and the University of South Dakota...
and accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Additionally in 2004 DSU was designated by the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
Education.
DSU is home to the Smith-Zimmermann Heritage Museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
and the Karl E. Mundt
Karl Earl Mundt
Karl Earl Mundt was an American educator and a Republican member of the United States Congress, representing South Dakota in the United States House of Representatives from 1938 to 1948 and in the United States Senate from 1948 to 1973.-Biography:Born in Humboldt, South Dakota, Mundt attended...
Library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and Archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
s. Its athletic mascot is the Trojan and it is a member of the Dakota Athletic Conference
Dakota Athletic Conference
The Dakota Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA. As the name implies, member teams are located in the states of North Dakota and South Dakota.-History:...
. Its current president is Dr. Douglas D. Knowlton.
As of the Fall 2010 semester, its total student enrollment was 3,101, of whom 52.2% were women, and its total faculty count was 96, of whom 35.4% were women.
Academics
DSU offers associate'sAssociate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
, bachelor's
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
, master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
, and doctoral degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
programs through the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
and Information Systems, and the College of Education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
.
Associate's degree programs are offered in:
- Application ProgrammingComputer programmingComputer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
- Business ManagementManagementManagement in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
- General Studies
- Health Information Technology
- Office Management
- Respiratory CareRespiratory systemThe respiratory system is the anatomical system of an organism that introduces respiratory gases to the interior and performs gas exchange. In humans and other mammals, the anatomical features of the respiratory system include airways, lungs, and the respiratory muscles...
.
Bachelor's degree programs are offered in :
- BiologyBiologyBiology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
Education (Grades 7-12) - Biology for Information Systems
- Business Administration in AccountingAccountancyAccountancy is the process of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers. The communication is generally in the form of financial statements that show in money terms the economic resources under the control of management; the art lies in...
- Business Administration in FinanceFinance"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
- Business Administration in ManagementManagementManagement in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
- Business Administration in Management Information SystemManagement information systemA management information system provides information needed to manage organizations efficiently and effectively. Management information systems involve three primary resources: people, technology, and information. Management information systems are distinct from other information systems in that...
s - Business Administration in MarketingMarketingMarketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
- Business EducationBusiness educationBusiness education involves teaching students the fundamentals, theories, and processes of business. Education in this field occurs at several levels, including secondary education and higher education or university education. Approximately 38% of student enroll in one or more business courses...
(Grades 7-12) - Computer and Network SecurityComputer securityComputer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
- ComputerComputerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
Education (Grades KKindergartenA kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
-12) - Computer Game DesignGame designGame design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
- Computer Information Systems
- Computer ScienceComputer scienceComputer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
- Digital Arts & Design (Specializations in: Audio Production, Computer Graphics, Digital Storytelling, Production Animation, and Web Design and Production)
- Elementary EducationPrimary educationA primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
(Grades K-8) - Elementary Education and SpecialSpecial educationSpecial education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
Learning and Behavioral Problems (Grades K-8) - EnglishEnglish studiesEnglish studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
Education (Grades 7-12) - English for New Media
- Exercise Science
- Health Information Administration
- MathematicsMathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
Education (Grades 7-12) - Mathematics for Information Systems
- Physical EducationPhysical educationPhysical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
- Physical SciencePhysical sciencePhysical science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that study non-living systems, in contrast to the life sciences...
- Physical Science Education (Grades 7-12)
- Professional Accountancy
- Respiratory Care
- Scientific Forensic TechnologyForensicsForensic science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action...
.
Master's degree programs are offered in:
- Educational TechnologyEducational technologyEducational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources." The term educational technology is often associated with, and encompasses, instructional theory and...
(MSET) - Information AssuranceInformation AssuranceInformation assurance is the practice of managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information or data and the systems and processes used for those purposes...
(MSIA) - Information SystemsInformation systemsInformation Systems is an academic/professional discipline bridging the business field and the well-defined computer science field that is evolving toward a new scientific area of study...
(MSIS) - Health InformaticsHealth informatics.Health informatics is a discipline at the intersection of information science, computer science, and health care...
(MSHI) - Business Administration (MBA)
Doctoral degree program is offered in:
- Information SystemsInformation systemsInformation Systems is an academic/professional discipline bridging the business field and the well-defined computer science field that is evolving toward a new scientific area of study...
(D.Sc. in IS).
In addition to the degrees offered above, Dakota State University offers several minors and pre-professional programs. To learn more about the degrees offered, visit the "http://www.dsu.edu/majors-programs/index.aspx Majors & Programs]" section of the DSU website.
History
Dakota State University was founded as a normal schoolNormal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
in 1881 as Madison Normal School with a mission to train teachers. It was the first school dedicated to training teachers in the Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
. After South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
became a state in 1889, Madison Normal School became Eastern State Normal School. Over the next several years Dakota State would be known as Dakota Normal School, Dakota State Normal School and General Beadle State College after William Henry Harrison Beadle
William Henry Harrison Beadle
William Henry Harrison Beadle was born in a log cabin in Parke County, Indiana, and grew up on the frontier. Refusing his father's offer of a farm, he accepted instead $1,000 for an education. He studied civil engineering at the University of Michigan...
who served as its president from 1889 to 1906. In 1969, the South Dakota Legislature renamed the college Dakota State College. In 1989, the legislature once again changed the name of the institution to Dakota State University to reflect the addition of graduate programs. Its motto is "Dare To Do.".
KDSU
KDSU is a college campus radio stationRadio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
only broadcast in the Student Union and online at the kdsu.net website. KDSU presents all genres of music.