How a Small College Became a Top High-tech University

01A measure begun 40 years ago by South Dakota lawmakers and state higher education leaders has turned a small rural college into one of the top high-tech universities in the United States.

02It began at a time when the future of Dakota State College itself was in question.

03In 1984, the South Dakota Board of Regents, which oversees the school, was under pressure to cut its budget.

04It closed one college and turned it into a prison.

05Soon after, a new law went into effect.

06The measure put technology at the center of all Dakota State's study programs.

07The decision to reinvent a teacher's college founded in 1881 in a rural city of 6,000 people seemed risky.

08But at around the same time, Citibank, a major financial services company, decided to headquarter its credit card business in Sioux Falls, a city near the college.

09Jose Marie Griffiths is the current president of Dakota State University, or DSU.

10The school changed its name from college to university in 1989.

11Griffiths said Citibank was looking for computer programmers, and somebody came up with the idea that, well, we could turn this college that's fumbling a little bit into a computer school with software development and engineering.

12Griffiths told South Dakota Newswatch, that way we could supply the needed programmers to the Sioux Falls workforce for Citibank and ultimately for others.

13Lynette Molstadt-Gorder was teaching at DSU 40 years ago when the change to a high-tech campus began.

14She said, at first, some members of the college community were unsure about the change and its effect on people and programs.

15Later on, we looked upon it as a welcome opportunity, she said.

16It was kind of hazy at first, and then all of a sudden it just clicked.

17Suddenly, computers replaced pens, pencils, and typewriters in classrooms.

18And later, the move into computer science and then cybersecurity, she said.

19The jump into technology at DSU started with a bachelor's degree in computer science using teaching materials from IBM.

20The teaching of computer science and software development, along with industry partnership, laid the groundwork for what was to come, Griffiths said.

21With a mix of private and public money, the university expanded the school and its offerings.

22In 2004, the National Security Agency named DSU a Center of Academic Excellence in Computer Security, one of the first in the nation.

23The number of students has also risen steadily from 867 in 1985 to 3,509 in 2023.

24The university said DSU now offers 44 degrees, including seven master's degrees and four doctoral programs.

25In 2017, DSU started Madison Cyber Labs, with money from the state and local businesses.

26It expanded research at the university to include cybersecurity, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, among others.

27The school is now planning an expansion into Sioux Falls itself.

28The plan includes partnerships with another research center and a cyber academy program for high school students.

29DSU is also pushing the state for more money to start a new center for quantum computing.

30Jen Easterly is director of the Federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

31She was the lead speaker at a DSU cybersecurity event last March.

32Easterly said that before she visited Madison, she had been hearing increasing discussion on the national level about the growth and innovation taking place at DSU.

33She said, The ideas generated at forums like this are just further proof that it doesn't matter the size of the university.

34Alexis Calm graduated from DSU in December of 2022.

35She studied cyber operations there.

36The 23-year-old said she liked the small-town feel of the college.

37She took classes in web and network design, computer programming, and malware analysis.

38All of them, she said, helped prepare her for the cyber workplace.

39You get a strong real-world education in your classes, Calm said.

40Calm also said she had several job offers after graduating.

41She chose Sanford Health, a company in Sioux Falls.

42It has a partnership with the university to increase employment opportunities for DSU graduates.

43Calm is not the only DSU graduate to stay in South Dakota.

44John Waldman and Chad Knutson were in the class of 2006.

45Soon after graduating, they set up a business together right in Madison.

46Their 90-employee company, SBS Cybersecurity, serves the banking industry in 49 states.

47Waldman said, DSU has a commitment to innovation that makes it easy for students to remain on top of the always-changing cyber technology and security industry.

48I'm Katie Weaver.

49And I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.