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Home Page > Administration > President's Office
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 Welcome from President Chicoine
My wife, Marcia, and I met as students at South Dakota State University. This has been a special place for us.
SDSU is a special place for today’s students, too. Several factors make State a great place ... the wide array of academic programs available to our students, the research done at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the robust learning experiences available outside our classrooms, the way our students interact with each other and with faculty.
If you are future student, a parent, an alumnus or a friend, here are a few more highlights I’d like to share from the President’s Office:
- South Dakota State students are phenomenal. The university is attracting more top-notch students every year. The fall 2007 incoming class boasted an average ACT score of 22.9, an increase of nearly one full point since fall 2001.
- About 46 percent of the 2007 first-year class had ACT scores of 24 or higher, and 17 percent of the class had ACT scores of 27 or higher. Both numbers are two percentage points higher than the previous year’s averages.
- The Jackrabbit Guarantee scholarship — and its corollary, the South Dakota Opportunities Scholarship — have made an impact in the academic prowess of the student body. During fall semester 2007, 920 incoming students received Jackrabbit Guarantee scholarships, an increase of 9.7 percent from last year.
- SDSU enrolled students from all 66 counties in South Dakota and from all 50 states during the 2007-2008 academic year.
- The strategic planning process has illuminated several opportunities to make SDSU nationally distinct while maintaining local relevance. Our campus strategic planning takes effect for the 2008-2009 academic year.
- Our work continues to attract public and private funding. Expansion of facilities for the College of Engineering is obvious south of Harding Hall. Very soon, construction will start on the Avera Health and Science Center. Both facilities will allow us to serve students better and to advance research initiatives.
- The Wellness Center, a project driven by student leaders, will open in the fall and will provide students with a state-of-the-art facility for personal health and recreation.
- The Innovation Center, the first building within South Dakota’s first university-affiliated research park, is taking shape, giving SDSU and Brookings a prime location for developing businesses.
- The Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Stations connect the university to the entire state. We touch people in every corner of the state.
The list is nearly endless, the opportunities are exciting. The university is the gateway to these opportunities for our students, and I am so proud of the work we at South Dakota State do for them, for our state and for the region.
Sincerely,
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David L. Chicoine, Ph.D.
President
Class of 1969
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