Civic engagement center moves forward for Black Hills State

Black Hills State University campus (Courtesy of BHSU)

Black Hills State University will begin work on a center for civic engagement this year, even after a bill to create the center failed twice in the Legislature.

The Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee approved a letter Tuesday outlining how nearly $1 million it budgeted for Black Hills State earlier this month should be spent. The letter says that the school will use a portion of that money to create the center.

According to the letter, the center’s purpose will be to prepare undergraduate students in South Dakota for active and informed participation in political and civic life.

“The center must provide this foundation by incorporating, in the education of the students, a broad range of subjects, including communications, economics, history, philosophy, political science, and sociology, and enhancing the students’ understanding of civic affairs and discourse,” the letter reads.

The center would be tasked with helping the Board of Regents and other public universities develop civic programming, develop and provide curriculum, and host civic-focused events.

Gov. Kristi Noem and the South Dakota Board of Regents , which oversees the state’s public universities, identified a civic engagement center as a priority ahead of the 2024 legislative session, but a bill to create the “Dr. Nicholas W. Drummond Center for Civic Engagement” failed by one vote in the Senate .

Sioux Falls Republican Rep. Tony Venhuizen, who serves on Joint Appropriations, told South Dakota Searchlight after the Tuesday meeting that legislation wasn’t necessary, since the South Dakota Board of Regents  has the authority to create the center so “on their own terms.”

Rep. Tony Venhuizen, R-Sioux Falls, (center) listens to state officials brief him and other lawmakers serving on the state’s Joint Appropriations Committee on Jan. 10, 2024. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Writing the center’s name into state statute sparked opposition to the bill, he said. The Board of Regents testified against the bill because there wasn’t a new funding source to help Black Hills State pay for the center.

To get around such concerns, appropriators sent an additional $926,406 in general funds to Black Hills State University at the end of session. The Legislature approved the increase when it signed off on the state budget bill.

Board of Regents Executive Director Nathan Lukkes told appropriators on Tuesday the center would cost about $200,000 in its first year of implementation “as the minimum to do the initiative justice.”

Spearfish Republican Rep. Scott Odenbach, who introduced the civics bills, said he’s pleased with the decision to move forward on the “groundbreaking” initiative. He hopes Drummond can still be honored somehow through the center.

“Whatever your major is, you need better exposure to the civic life of our country,” Odenbach said. “For too long, that got pigeon-holed for political science or government majors. But if you’re going to school for education or biology, every student still needs to understand that in South Dakota ‘Under God the People Rule.’ We all have to step up as leaders of our country. That’s the hope of where this will go.”

The rest of the money would be added to Black Hills State’s regular budget. A 2022 study found that the university had a “significant shortfall in funding” compared to similar institutions in other states. The Legislature approved about half a million additional dollars last year for Black Hills State.

Northern State University in Aberdeen has its own Center for Public History and Civic Engagement, which prior legislation indicated the two centers could work together on the initiatives.

BHSU will present the center’s progress to the Legislature during the 2025 session, which begins in mid-January.

The letter was one of eight approved by the committee on Tuesday, all concerning how appropriators expect state money to be spent, and what they expect those awarded funding to report back to the Legislature in the coming years.

The committee considered letters of intent for:

• Center for quantum computing : Of the $3 million approved for this project, $1.2 million will go to Dakota State University, $1.2 million to South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and $590,000 for the Regents to distribute as needed.
• Local government cybersecurity initiative : The $7 million appropriated by the Legislature will be used primarily to create a secure email server for South Dakota counties and municipalities, as well as for grants to implement Project Boundary Fence cybersecurity recommendations .
• Technology grants for long term care facilities : The $2 million in grants passed by the Legislature “may only be used” for technological equipment to improve the care of elderly patients or improve the productivity of workers. Those improvements can include remote sensing, monitoring devices and other equipment.
• Telemedicine grants for long term care facilities : The $5 million in federal funding will be used for telemedicine technology grats at assisted living centers and nursing centers in remote and underserved parts of the state.  Facilities are expected to cover ongoing costs of the technology after the grants are spent.
• Tuition and fees freeze : Tuition and fees for students attending South Dakota public universities and technical colleges won’t increase for the 2024-2025 school year because of this $7 million in appropriation.
• Updating the USD chemistry and biology lab : $8 million of the $16.8 million in appropriations for this project  will be set aside for maintenance and repair of the Churchill-Haines Lab, used for chemistry and biology, at the University of South Dakota.
• Support to South Dakotans who are disabled : The letter of intent from the Department of Human Services failed to pass the committee. Instead, the committee plans to ask the Government Operations and Audit Committee to address the recommendations from a Family Support 360 and Shared Living Program Assessment, monitor compliance, and report back to the Legislature before the 2025 session.

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