MSU All Staff Council Newsletter
Featured Staff Member
Shelley Fleming - School of Film and Photography
I started at MSU in August of this year as the Business Operations Manager. I am a Montana Native, originally from Wilsall, and a true Bobcat. I earned my BA in History with a Teaching Option, English Teaching Minor, Native American Studies Non-teaching Minor, Masters of Arts in History, and a Masters of Public Administration; all from MSU. I enjoy traveling with my husband and daughter exploring new areas of the world and experiencing new cultures. I also enjoy sewing, making Jingle dresses for my granddaughters and daughter for our annual Pow Wow and quilts for family and friends. I look forward to working at MSU for years to come.
Commencement Moves to Friday
Montana State University will host its 135th commencement at 10am on Friday, Dec. 17, at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. Friday is one day earlier for the ceremony and this means moving up the planning. Although it may seem seamless, commencement requires months of planning undertaken by staff in the Offices of Student Success and the Registrar. Each year, MSU enlists volunteers to help with this big day. Many of these volunteers enjoy sharing this experience with the graduates so much that they return to help year after year. All this hard work pays off when more than a thousand students walk across the stage to the cheers of friends and family.
Commencement has changed since COVID-19. In order to keep everyone safe and minimize the spread of the virus, attendees are required to wear face masks during the ceremony, and the number of guests is limited to no more than five per degree candidate. For those unable to attend in person, MSU will livestream the ceremonies. A link to watch the events will be live on Dec. 17 at montana.edu/commencement. Don’t forget to share your congratulations with students by tweeting @montanastate with #CatGrad21!
On-campus parking will be free the day of commencement. However, attendees may not park in reserved spots. There will be shuttles available to transport guests from parking lots to Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. Parking options can be found at montana.edu/commencement/family_guests.html.
Individual college celebration information can be found at montana.edu/commencement/colleges. For more information about MSU’s 2021 fall commencement ceremony, visit montana.edu/commencement.
'Tis the Season
After Thanksgiving each year, we change our focus from gratitude to giving. This switch usually kicks off with a healthy dose of consumerism—Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but then comes Giving Tuesday. It’s widely acknowledged that, in the U.S., more than a third of yearly giving happens during this time of year. In fact, researchers from Indiana University found that end-of-year giving accounted for even more of yearly giving in 2020 than in 2019 or 2018. If you usually make contributions to your favorite organizations or causes between Thanksgiving and December 31st, you’re in good company.
Of course, monetary giving isn’t the only way to give. Volunteering your time is a way to contribute without impacting your bank account. There are a multitude of volunteer opportunities in the greater MSU community, and we encourage you to investigate ways you can give your time in the upcoming year.
Giving, whether it’s money or your time, clearly benefits the recipient, however, an article in Greater Good Magazine points out that giving has been proven to also benefit the donor. Among other things, giving can make you happier and improve your physical health. Giving can also help you feel more connected to others, so grab a friend and get giving!
We’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that you can give to our very own All Staff Council Scholarship Program https://www.montana.edu/msuasc/staff_scholarship_program.html and you can donate or volunteer with our featured program, Bounty of the Bridgers (see below for more information and a link to their page).
Get To Know Your Council Members
Tia Brown - Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship
I began my career in higher education in 2000 as an adjunct faculty member at Eastern Oklahoma State College and continued to become the Department Chair of Business and Technology. Over the years, I have remained passionate about the mission of higher-education and began to search for opportunities in the West to further my career as an administrator. In June 2015, I joined the JJCBE as the Director of Operations and recently promoted to the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Assessment of Learning. My primary role in the college is to manage the daily operations of the college and facilitate the college’s program assessment process. When not on campus, you can find me running on the trails of Bozeman with my dog, Ocho, or floating on area rivers.
Nick Childs - Office of Research Compliance
I moved to Bozeman in 2006 to pursue my PhD in Physics. I have been teaching in the department since graduation in 2013. In 2014 I took on the position of Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) within the Office of Research Compliance. As MSU’s RSO I oversee safety programs related to use radioactive materials, x-ray generating machines and lasers. My favorite part of this position is working with folks from across campus; from the Museum of the Rockies to research in Yellowstone National Park.
I only applied to one graduate school, so it is no secret that I moved here to ski! What I have found though is our summers are just as good as winters with backpacking and our rivers. With two kids, four and eight, I’m starting to be able to share these activities with them which is such a joy.
McKenna Christensen - Montana PBS
I started my journey at MSU as a student 5 years ago, then moved into the Administrative Manager position at Montana PBS after graduation 1 year later. My background is in Business Management and Entrepreneurship with a special interest in Finance. I absolutely love my job; working for a nonprofit is so fulfilling. When I’m not working, you can find me outside digging for sapphires and garnets, or baking (and eating!) many scrumptious desserts.
What is Bounty of the Bridgers?
The shelves of MSU’s Bounty of the Bridgers food pantry are lined with brightly colored cans of produce, boxes of pasta and other nonperishable goods. On any given day, volunteers might be out on a food rescue route, collecting produce donations from grocery stores across Bozeman, or working on paperwork for food donations to make available to MSU students, faculty and staff.
Bounty of the Bridgers began with a survey to find out how many MSU students considered themselves “food insecure,” a term defined by the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion as “disruption of food intake or eating patterns because of lack of money and other resources.”
The four-year study ended in 2015, but the resulting statistics — 38.8% of respondents identified as food insecure — inspired students to continue the project by developing the idea for a food bank.
What began as a student-led project has developed into a permanent pantry that provides food and hygiene resources for students in need. In 2019, the program opened its primary location in the MSU Office of Health Advancement. Bounty of the Bridgers also helps students sign up for SNAP benefits and connects them to additional community resources.
Bounty of the Bridgers currently serves about 80 people per month, a number that continues to increase as word of the resource spreads. Last spring, the organization awarded more than 150 food-security scholarships in the form of commuter meal plan passes to MSU dining halls.
Bounty of the Bridgers participated in both Giving Days, but increased its donations, jumping from $8,125 in 2020 to $11,516 this year. Funds from Giving Day will go toward continued work around food scholarships, food resources and running the day-to-day pantry operations.
This past fall, Marci Torres, director of the Office of Health Advancement, heard the Mericos Foundation was looking to support student emergency services, specifically those that address food insecurity. Torres wrote a proposal for Bounty of the Bridgers’ needs, one of which was the need to provide food to people quarantined by COVID-19.
The proposal was accepted, and Bounty of the Bridgers received a $50,000 grant from The Mericos Foundation to purchase a refrigerated truck. This will enable the program to provide perishable food items and will let staff deliver food to those in need who aren’t able to visit the pantry. Once the project is complete, the food pantry will have an expanded reach, offering both perishable goods and the ability to transport food.
“Students that struggle to choose between paying bills and putting food on the table had that stress reduced,” Torres said. “It’s thanks to the generous contributions of the people we worked with on this program.”
Permanent Pantry
Wednesdays 11am - 1pm
Thursdays 4pm - 6pm
Located in the back office of the MSU Office of Health Advancement Building at 1102 South 6th Avenue, across the street from the new American Indian Hall. Entrance is now off of Arthur Street.
Pop-Up Pantry
Saturdays 1pm - 3pm
Located in the Family Graduate Housing Community Center at 1218 South 15th Street