NDSU President Dean L. Bresciani recognized Microsoft as a Campus Community Partner with a flag-raising ceremony at the NDSU flag pavilion on Oct. 12.
Bresciani said the ceremony highlighted the current and future collaboration between NDSU and Microsoft and their combined return to the local, state and regional economies. “The flags are raised together to signify the unity and cooperation between a great company and a great university,” he said.
Don Morton, Microsoft’s Fargo site leader, said NDSU graduates make up approximately 25 percent of the company’s workforce in Fargo. “We continue to invest in the Fargo campus because we can attract and hire highly motivated, bright people,” he said.
NDSU has developed a corporate partnership with Microsoft. This summer, NDSU also hosted the company’s Microsoft Dynamics AX Fast TrAX Summer Institute pilot program. The live-in training program is for new young professional employees of businesses that sell and service Microsoft Dynamics AX.
Established in 2001 with the acquisition of Great Plains Software, Microsoft’s Fargo campus is now home to a major Microsoft Dynamics development center. In addition to research and development, the campus hosts customer service and support, IT, inside sales and marketing teams. It also has a team of accountants and specialists who manage U.S. payroll, global headcount operations and other operational and financial needs for the entire company.
NDSU President Dean L. Bresciani established the Campus Community Partner program earlier this year to recognize private sector collaborations with the university that benefit the community. Sanford Health was the first partner and was recognized in a ceremony in April.
The NDSU flag pavilion is located on the corner of 12th Ave. N. and 18th St. N. in Fargo.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.