Regents rubberstamp land, leadership for new DSU cyber lab in Sioux Falls

Morgan Matzen, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·3 min read

The Board of Regents approved Dakota State University’s acquisition of real estate Thursday to construct the DSU Applied Research Lab in Sioux Falls.

Industry and higher education leaders have said the new lab will establish South Dakota as a cyber state, and help more graduates stay and work at home in South Dakota.

Sixteen acres of land near the Sanford Sports Complex on the north side of Sioux Falls donated by Sanford Health will be the future home of the lab. The facility is set to open by fall 2025, and could support as many as 500 full-time jobs in cyber research and cyber security.

Dakota State University announced Wednesday a $90 million initiative to grow the cyber-research industry in the state and expand to Sioux Falls. Here's an artist's rendering of the DSU Applied Research Lab that will soon come to Sioux Falls.
Dakota State University announced Wednesday a $90 million initiative to grow the cyber-research industry in the state and expand to Sioux Falls. Here's an artist's rendering of the DSU Applied Research Lab that will soon come to Sioux Falls.

This new $90 million facility was funded by $50 million over five years from T. Denny Sanford as laid out in 2022’s Senate Bill 130; $10 million from the city of Sioux Falls; $250,000 from Forward Sioux Falls; and, $30 million from the state as laid out in 2022’s Senate Bill 54.

More:Dakota State University could help establish South Dakota as a cyber state by building research lab in Sioux Falls

The Board also approved the incorporation of the DSU Applied Research Corporation (DSU-ARC), a nonprofit research park corporation with the Board of Regents as the sole member that will appoint a board to lead the DSU-ARC.

Incorporators of the new DSU-ARC are DSU president José-Marie Griffiths, and BOR general counsel Nathan Lukkes. The initial Board of Directors for the DSU-ARC are Griffiths, Lukkes, Miles Beacom, Andrea Thompson and Sara Venhuizen.

This pile of dirt southwest of the Sanford Sports Complex is the future site of Dakota State University's Applied Research Laboratory in Sioux Falls. The future site as pictured Jan. 26, 2022.
This pile of dirt southwest of the Sanford Sports Complex is the future site of Dakota State University's Applied Research Laboratory in Sioux Falls. The future site as pictured Jan. 26, 2022.

New academic pathways receive approval

In other regular business, the Board approved several requests for new academic pathways, including:

  • A request from Black Hills State University to offer a specialization in health services administration within the bachelor’s of science degree program in business administration.

  • A request from Northern State University to offer a master’s of science degree program in educational studies online.

  • A request from the University of South Dakota to offer a bachelor’s of science degree program in elementary education at USD-Sioux Falls.

  • A request from USD for an accelerated pathway for the attainment of the master of social work degree from the bachelor’s of arts degree in sociology so students in that program can extend their education to five years.

  • An agreement for academic cooperation between South Dakota Mines and the University of Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain, allowing for joint research, faculty collaboration and student, faculty and staff exchange.

  • An agreement for academic cooperation between USD and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Jena, Germany, allowing for joint research, faculty collaboration and student, faculty and staff exchange.

  • Authority for South Dakota State University to purchase a 2015 or newer used Piper Seminole aircraft for the Aviation Education program with $600,000 of the program’s funds. The 193-student program currently has 15 aircraft.

  • A request for USD to plan full proposals for a future Board meeting on offering a bachelor of science degree program in conservation biology, and a bachelor of science degree program in physiology, cell and molecular biology.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Dakota State University cyber research lab moves forward