University Letter

UND's faculty and staff newsletter

Cara Halgren receives Outstanding Dean Award

Denzil Suite, NASPA Board Chair, and Shana Warkentine Meyer, NASPA Region IV-W Director, present the Outstanding Dean Award to UND's Cara Halgren.
Denzil Suite, NASPA Board Chair, and Shana Warkentine Meyer, NASPA Region IV-W Director, present the Outstanding Dean Award to UND’s Cara Halgren. Photo courtesy of NASPA.

Cara Halgren, vice president for student affairs & diversity, received the James J. Rhatigan Outstanding Dean Award from NASPA IV-W, the professional association for student affairs administrators in higher education at a conference in Fargo.

The award is presented to a senior student affairs officer who has made a significant contribution to students, student affairs, and their respective campus.

Nominees are evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Seen as collaborative, effective, and inspirational by a range of campus constituencies
  • Strategic and innovative in providing programs and services to students
  • High level of competency in developing staff
  • Exemplary managerial and administrative skills
  • Extended length of service to student affairs profession and as Senior Student Affairs Officer
  • Leadership in greater campus and community affairs

Cara Halgren
Cara Halgren has served as vice president for student affairs and diversity at UND since 2017. She previously served as associate vice president/dean of students. A native of Elk River, Minn., Halgren joined UND in 2006 as associate dean of student life and director of judicial affairs and crisis programs. Prior to her UND career, Halgren served as director of the Office of Campus Life and other positions at the University of St. Thomas. She was a residence hall director at Bemidji State University and was earlier the director of residence life at Salem-Teikyo University in West Virginia.

Halgren earned her Ed.D. degree from the University of St. Thomas in 2006, her M.S. in Educational Leadership from Troy University in 1994, and her undergraduate degree in English from UND in 1989.

 About NASPA
NASPA is the professional home for the field of student affairs. It strives to serve the diverse needs of the higher educational community, from vice president of student affairs to undergraduate student leaders considering a career in the field. NASPA is dedicated to cultivating student success in collaboration with the missions of its institutional members, a network of colleges and universities representing every sector of higher education.