This collection is composed mainly of materials related to the Promotional Techniques for Engineers class which Benton Lee developed with Dean of Engineering Ernest Buckley in 1987. Material consists of general files for the class including lecture notes, class notebooks, and audio-visual material. Also included are personal files from 1992-2010 and cover Benton Lee's years as a graduate assistant for the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium and diversity coordinator for the College of Engineering.

Promotional Techniques for Engineers Class

In 1987, Dean of Engineering, Ernest Buckley and Mary Jo Benton Lee developed the Promotional Techniques for Engineers course. The concept was to teach journalism skills to engineering students and then ask them to promote major university-wide and state-wide events with their newly acquired skills. The ten students each year, who were hand-picked for this experience, all became student leaders.

Between 1987 and 1992, the students were routinely given budgets of $20,000 to use for the promotion of major events that drew speakers and participants from around the country. These events, all sponsored by the College of Engineering, included an Impact '87 Trade Fair, a Making Connections ethics seminar, and an Expanding Horizons Together entrepreneurship workshop.
The Promotional Techniques for Engineers Class series is composed of general files, class lecture notes, class notebooks on promotional campaigns, and audio-visual material. An item of note is the proceedings from the American Society of Engineering Education conference which includes a paper that explains the promotional techniques class in detail (page 1-8).

Class Projects

The Class Projects series is composed of promotional campaign material for various projects that the class worked on. Included are files on the Entrepreneurs' Workshop (Expanding Horizons Together - A Seminar on Entrepreneurship Opportunities), the Impact '87 Trade Fair, and the Seminar on Ethics (Making Connections - A Seminar on Ethics in a Technological Society). Included are promotional campaign reports which details the promotional techniques the class used for each project.

Personal Files

The Personal Files series is composed of other College of Engineering material that Benton Lee collected during her tenure. Included are files of the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium while she was a graduate assistant (1992-1998) during the time when South Dakota's tribal colleges were incorporated into the Consortium. Also included are files while she served as the Diversity Coordinator for the College of Engineering (1998-2010). Benton Lee took this position after she completed her Ph.D. in Sociology in 1998.

Flandreau Indian School Success Academy

South Dakota State University-Flandreau Indian School Success Academy is an early and intensive college preparatory program for American Indian high school students. This material includes reports and a history of the Flandreau Indian School.

This collection is composed of materials that pertain to the college. Folders contain booklets, programs, brochures, correspondence, minutes, periodicals, reports, posters, and photographs.

A large portion of the material deals with Engineering and Science Research at South Dakota State University. This material consists of summary sheets, reports and correspondence and is arranged by researcher name. This material covers research for engineering, chemistry, pharmacy, and agronomy.

Also included is biographical information on prominent persons related to the College of Engineering, including, Harold M. Crothers, Harry Solberg, Halvor Solberg, and Guy Lee Boyden.

A file on the engineering controversy of the early 1970s dealing with the possible transfer of the College of Engineering from South Dakota State University to another institution in the state. This material consists mainly of clippings, but also included is correspondence and notes.

Other items of note include several files of brochures on the various programs offered by the college, the Impulse magazine, a periodical published by the college featuring events and happenings in the college, and file dealing with the history of the College of Engineering at South Dakota State University.

This collection is composed of records related to the removal of the College of Engineering from South Dakota State University in the early 1970s. Included are meeting minutes, reports, and research.