MARSHALL –Southwest Minnesota State University has named Dr. Sonya Vierstraete, chair of the School of Education, as the 2026 recipient of the Cathy Cowan Award for University and Community Service.

According to a SMSU release, the award honors employees whose impact extends beyond formal job responsibilities through sustained service, leadership, and community engagement.

The award is presented to a faculty or staff member and is the most prestigious annual award given at Southwest Minnesota State University. It is named for the late Cathy Cowan, a Psychology professor who died in an auto accident in December 2001. Cowan’s example of service to SMSU students and the community was the inspiration for the award. A big criterion is ‘doing good for others.’

The release stated Vierstraete is known for a student-first approach and a steady, behind-the-scenes leadership style. she also has built a reputation for strengthening academic programs, supporting colleagues, and deepening connections between SMSU and the communities it serves.

For Vierstraete, being named the 2026 recipient has been both affirming and challenging.

“This is an elite group, and I’m not quite sure if I’m worthy of being part of such an amazing collective of Mustangs” she said. “I need to continue to try to be worthy of it in the future.”

The Cathy Cowan Award recognizes SMSU employees whose service reaches beyond campus responsibilities to strengthen the university and the broader community. Colleagues who nominated Vierstraete consistently described the same pattern: she notices needs early, steps in without fanfare, and brings others with her, often by doing the work alongside them first.

Across nomination letters, the release stated one theme appeared repeatedly. Vierstraete does not ask others to take on work she is unwilling to shoulder herself.

“Colleagues described her as a leader who anticipates challenges, supports people before they ask, and treats frustration as an opportunity for improvement. Her student-first philosophy shows up in her leadership, her teaching, and her approach to institutional change,” the release stated.

Vierstraete’s service closely reflects the Cowan Award’s emphasis on university – community connections, according to the release.

In Marshall, she has been involved in youth and school activities, including serving on the Marshall Public Schools Advisory Committee, long-term leadership with the Marshall Tiger football boosters, where she served as president for a decade before recently shifting her support to the Marshall Tiger baseball boosters. Her community involvement has also included service with Junior Achievement, YMCA fundraising efforts, and volunteer roles at the Church of the Holy Redeemer, ranging from projection support to renovation planning.

Her service also extends well beyond southwest Minnesota, according to the releasse. Vierstraete has played a key role in building and sustaining international experiences for teacher candidates, including a long-standing partnership with El Colegio El Camino in Los Cabos, Mexico. Through that collaboration, SMSU students have completed practicum and student-teaching experiences abroad, supported by immersive fieldwork and on-site supervision.

She has also helped support a student-teaching partnership with Internationella Engelska Skolan in Lanna, Sweden, and contributed to the development of a pilot pathway with Ulster University in Ireland — initiatives designed to broaden global perspectives and prepare future educators for increasingly interconnected classrooms.

At the state and regional level, Vierstraete serves on the SouthWest/West Central Service Cooperative Superintendents’ Executive Council and related advisory efforts that bring K-12 leaders and higher education partners together. She has served on the executive committee of the Minnesota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and remains active in literacy-focused professional organizations serving on two executive boards. Colleagues also highlighted her contributions to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB), where she has served as a program or unit reviewer and licensure‒via‒portfolio reviewer.

More recently, her work has included hands-on leadership in teacher apprenticeship planning and helping develop “earn while you learn” pathways that expand access for place-bound candidates while strengthening Minnesota’s educator pipeline.

Vierstraete traces her willingness to step in back to a lesson she learned as a high school lifeguard and swim instructor.

“If it’s going to be, it’s got to be me. I am, I can, I will,” she said, describing a mindset that continues to guide her approach to leadership. For her, improving systems means someone has to be willing to do the work. “So let’s do it,” she has told colleagues.

That philosophy shapes her work as chair of the School of Education, where she is deeply engaged in accreditation, assessment, and program development. She frames the work not as a burden, but as momentum, especially when the purpose is clear. Recently, the School of Education has earned national accreditation for the first time with AAQEP – Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation. This is one of the educational highlights for Vierstraete.

A Marshall native, Vierstraete’s connection to SMSU began early through Postsecondary Enrollment Options courses. After earning her undergraduate degree at the College of St. Benedict and building a career in K-12 education, including roles as a teacher, principal, coach, and mentor, she returned to SMSU for graduate study and then the University of South Dakota, where she earned her doctorate.

Later, Vierstraete joined the SMSU as faculty in 2010 full-time as a faculty member after having served as an adjunct faculty member at SMSU for several years. Vierstraete has just celebrated her twentieth year of service to SMSU.

Today, her teaching centers on literacy and preparing future teachers to enter classrooms ready on day one, while also understanding that professional growth never stops. With the renovation of space and creation of the Center for Learning Innovation, the School of Education began offering a Literacy Lab in 2026, where literacy fellows (teacher candidates) offer foundational literacy support and interventions for area learners. Both the dedicated model classroom space and literacy work are truly highlights for Vierstraete.

Viestraete lives in Marshall with her husband, Dustin. They are parents to their three sons: Jackson, Jonah, and JR.