College move-in day is here, signaling a new start for students at Montana State University and the University of Montana, along with some emotional goodbyes. About three-quarters of students moving into dorms at both universities are new, including UM student, Dora Colin, who arrived on campus without knowing anyone beforehand.
BOZEMAN and MISSOULA, Mont. – College move-in day is here, signaling a new start for students at Montana State University and the University of Montana, along with some emotional goodbyes.
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About three-quarters of students moving into dorms at both universities are new, including UM student, Dora Colin, who arrived on campus without knowing anyone beforehand.
“I’m from Burnsville, Minnesota, and I’m going to be a freshman. I’m just here alone. I know my roommate from Instagram, but that’s all I know. I meet her tomorrow,” Dora said.
Accompanied by her family, Dora’s mom, Julie Colin, expressed her mixed emotions.
“Dora’s my first child going to college. I have all the feels. I am super excited for her, I think she’ll have a really good time, but I’m very sad for us,” Julie said.
“Right now I feel really uneasy. But it’s exciting. But I think once I’m settled in, it’ll be fun,” Dora said.
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For families, staying connected remains a priority. “Lots of FaceTime, I hope. Lots of text messages. Hoping to get out here a couple times to visit, hoping to get her home for Christmas at least,” Julie said.
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MSU and UM both have packed schedules for incoming students.
“Learning where their classrooms are and where the bathrooms are at, but they’re also getting embedded in the communities, through service projects. We partner with organizations like the Paddle Heads, we do trail maintenance,” Dave Kuntz, UM Spokesperson, said.
MSU has also introduced new initiatives this year to support both students and their families.
“We have stations set up in all the residence halls for parents or family members to write a quick note to their student that will deliver about week four. And we know students tend to get homesick. Then you’re back into the routine, and we want parents to have a way to kind of encourage them and continue to support them from a distance,” Korrin Fagenstrom, MSU Student Housing Senior Associate Director, said.
The Bozeman community also shows its support during move-in days.
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“Not only the MSU community, including athletics, the administration, the faculty, but we also get community volunteers coming in giving their time to MSU to help make sure that our students feel welcome in Bozeman,” Michael Becker, MSU Spokesperson, said.
With Montana’s newest Bobcats and Grizzlies getting settled, the upcoming school year promises to be memorable.
HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.
“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.
It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.
(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)
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Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026
“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”
But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.
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“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.
Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.
“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.
The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.
The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.
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“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.
While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.
BUTTE — MSU-Northern and Montana Western pulled a pair of upsets Saturday at the Butte Civic Center to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the Frontier Conference women’s basketball postseason tournament.
The fifth-seeded Skylights started the day with a red-hot shooting performance to down No. 4 Rocky Mountain College 82-74. Western, the sixth seed, used a third-quarter surge to defeat No. 3 Carroll College 65-56.
MSU-Northern (17-11) and Western (14-13) now advance to Sunday’s semifinal round, where the Skylights will play No. 1 seed Dakota State at noon and the Bulldogs will face No. 2 Montana Tech at 2:30 p.m.
MSU-Northern 82, Rocky Mountain College 74
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MSU-Northern sizzled in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers to take a double-digit lead, and put together a crucial third-quarter run to get past Rocky and advance to the semifinal round.
Becky Melcher splashed four 3s in the first 10 minutes, and Taya Trottier, Canzas HisBadHorse and Shania Moananu added one apiece as the Skylights built a 29-13 lead. Melcher scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting (7 of 15 from 3-point range). She added 11 rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals to her stat line.
Rocky battled back to tie the game at 36-36 in the second quarter on a Brenna Linse basket, but MSUN responded with consecutive triples from Trottier and Melcher and took a 44-38 lead into halftime. The Bears eventually stole the lead back in the third quarter following a 9-0 run capped be an Isabelle Heggem bucket.
But the Skylights again answered — this time with a 13-2 run to take a 60-51 lead. MSUN led 66-59 going to the fourth and wouldn’t trail the rest of the way. The Skylights trailed for less than two total minutes of the game.
As a team, MSUN made 14 of 26 3s in the game. Ciera Agasiva was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and Trottier was 2 for 3. Trottier had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Agasiva had 13 points.
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Paige Wasson led Rocky (20-9) with 29 points but was 0 for 10 on 3-point attempts. Heggem had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Montana Western 65, Carroll 56
After neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Western broke open a 25-25 tie game by outscoring Carroll 20-9 in the third quarter.
Bailee Sayler scored 10 points in the quarter, including making two 3-pointers, to help the Bulldogs take control. They led 45-34 going to the fourth, and Carroll wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.
The Fighting Saints were just 18-of-65 shooting (27.7%) for the game.
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Sayler scored an efficient 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was 2 for 3 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. The Missoula native also had nine rebounds.
Isabella Lund added 16 points for the Bulldogs, and Keke Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Carroll (19-10) was led by Kenzie Allen with 12 points. Willa Albrecht and Meagan Karstetter scored 11 points apiece for the Saints.
