Recent Program Features

All employees are encouraged to check out the Return to Learn Website. Content will be updated regularly and includes important information such as safety measures, employee return to work expectations, Fall 2020 Semester schedule changes, FlexSync resources, and COVID-19 Notification Procedures.

University branded face coverings have been delivered to department offices for distribution to faculty and staff. In addition, branded face shields have been ordered and will be available soon. Face shields for instructors and other employees who need them will be distributed through their respective College and Division offices. Additional face shields can be requested by contacting University Stores by emailing sharon.wetzel@mnsu.edu.

IT Solutions will be holding FlexSync open sessions over the next few weeks to allow faculty to try out the new technologies. These sessions will be hosted in AH 214 but include the opportunity to spread out into other classrooms to experience the technology and ask questions. Please stop in during the hours listed below.

Open Sessions:

• August 12: 9am - 12pm; 1pm - 3pm
• August 13: 9am - 12pm; 1pm - 3pm
• August 14: 9am - 12pm
• August 17: 9am - 12pm; 1pm - 3pm
• August 18: 9am - 12pm; 1pm - 3pm
• August 19: 9am - 12pm; 1pm - 3pm
• August 20: 9am - 12pm; 1pm - 3pm
• August 21: 9am - 12pm

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning is offering a Faculty Peer Coaching program to support faculty as they prepare for fall courses. A D2L course will be monitored by Faculty Peer Coaches to offer support, connection, and resources; to be added to the course, email cetl@mnsu.edu with your star ID. Coaches are also setting up office hours to offer 1:1 assistance with FlexSync and online course design, assessments and class activities. Use the calendar to views days and times for drop-in hours and support.

Town Hall forums for both faculty and staff are scheduled for Thursday, August 6. Please register in advance to participate:

• Faculty Town Hall: 11am - 12pm
• Staff Town Hall: 12:15pm - 1:15pm

Faculty and staff are encouraged to help welcome new students to the University at the virtual New Student Rally on Friday August 21 at 10:30am. The rally will be live streamed on the Minnesota State University, Mankato Facebook page.

All faculty and staff are encouraged to submit any questions about Return to Learn. We will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.

Adding spirit to home sporting events, the Maverick Machine will rouse the energy among new Mavericks at the New Student Rally '26 in Bresnan Arena.

New Student Rally

NEW STUDENT RALLY: Friday, Aug. 21, 11:00 a.m., Bresnan Arena in the Taylor Center (A Zoom link will be provided prior to the event)

The official kick-off to your life as a Minnesota State Mankato student, the New Student Rally on Friday, Aug. 21, features a high-energy performance by the Maverick Machine marching band as you are welcomed to campus by the University President Edward Inch, student leaders and more.

Passing through The Arch is a rite of passage marking your arrival as a Maverick.

MARCHING THROUGH THE ARCH

Following the rally, another University tradition is marching through the Alumni Arch.

Look across the University skyline to find the iconic Bell Tower. Next to the Bell Tower, you'll find the Alumni Arch. A landmark remnant preserved from the University's original lower campus location.*

As a rite of passage, new students pass through The Arch as the symbolic threshold to the University. The custom marks one's forever place in the Maverick family.

When students graduate from Minnesota State Mankato, they are encouraged to pass through The Arch again as they step into their careers with big ideas and real-world thinking. 

Be sure to take a selfie of the event and post to your social media with the #mavfam hashtag to share the moment with others. 

*BIT OF TRIVIA: The University dates back to 1868. For more than a century the campus was based at the bottom of the Warren Street hill. To accommodate the growing campus, the school moved its location to the top of the hill. Among the earliest "hilltop" buildings are Armstrong Hall, the Memorial Library and the Centennial Student Union. 

Galactic Bingo is the most popular event during Welcome Week.

GALACTIC BINGO: Saturday, Aug. 22

Myers Field House, 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. Session

The biggest annual event during Welcome Week is Galactic Bingo, as new and returning students participate to win thousands of dollars in amazing prizes, it's arguably the largest bingo game in Minnesota! 

Two sessions! Attend Based on your Res Hall

A $300 grand prize presented by *Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union (*Affinity Plus members receive a second sheet of bingo cards for each game). Free food, an awesome DJ blacklight party, and BINGO with your friends. Presented by the Student Events Team and Fraternity & Sorority Life.

7:00 P.M. SESSION:
RESIDENT HALLS : Crawford, Julia Sears, Stadium Heights (yellow wristbands)
OFF-CAMPUS: Reserve your ticket at www.mnsuevents.com. Available for online reservation at 10 a.m. on the day of the event. 

9:00 P.M. SESSION:
RESIDENCE HALLS: McElroy and Preska (purple wristbands)
OFF-CAMPUS: Reserve your ticket at www.mnsuevents.com. Available for online reservation at 10 a.m. day of event. 

Good morning,

With three weeks until classes begin, I wanted to share a significant change to our fall semester schedule.

All on-campus, in-person instruction at Minnesota State University, Mankato, will transition to remote delivery via Zoom after the Thanksgiving holiday break. This includes all FlexSync courses and any required in-person experiences like science labs, etc. The final week of classes, November 30 to December 4 and then final exams, December 7 to December 12, will be held using remote and online technology rather than in-person meetings. A few important notes:

• Transitioning away from in-person meetings is not an early end to the fall semester.Faculty should plan to hold classes virtually the final week of classes and then deliver final exams online during finals week.
• Students who wish to remain in dorms after the Thanksgiving break may do so, and residential rates will remain the same.
• Students who do not want to remain in student housing following the Thanksgiving break may request a prorated refund.
• The campus will remain open during the two weeks after Thanksgiving to accommodate students who choose to stay in their private Mankato residences or in the dorms.
• More details, including campus staffing plans during those final two weeks, will be coming soon.

I understand this will require faculty to reconfigure their plans for the fall. The change is an effort to minimize the potential spread of COVID-19 following the Thanksgiving break. Public health officials tell us that mass travel during a pandemic, and particularly in late November at the traditional beginning of the typical flu season, raises significant concerns about the transmission of viruses. A majority of our students and many faculty and staff travel over the long Thanksgiving break. When people arrive at their destinations during those longer breaks, they gather with others who have also traveled, compounding the potential to spread viruses. With this change, we join the University of Minnesota and several other institutions across the country in transitioning away from in-person interactions after the Thanksgiving break.

I hope everyone finds some time to recharge over the coming days. I appreciate everyone's patience as we await further guidance from state agencies to understand how our fall semester will look. Like you, we are watching the indicators. We will continue to provide updates as we have new information to share. This remains a fluid situation, and we should all be ready to adapt quickly as new guidance from state public health officials emerges.

Thank you for all you do for our students and our university.

Kind regards,
Matt