Recent Program Features

Hello from Mankato! We are excited to have you join us this fall.

While the Fall Semester will involve a number of changes in support of health and safety, we intend to provide on-campus students with a great residential living experience. Below are updates you may find helpful.

Room Selection/Assignments

• Students who applied by March 1st will be emailed Room Selection timeslots throughout the day tomorrow. Timeslots will open beginning June 22nd.
• Students who applied after March 1st will be assigned a room beginning mid-July. You can expect an email when you have been assigned to a room.
• Learning Community students will receive room assignments on a rolling basis starting this week. Learning Community students who are unable to live on Learning Community floors may still participate in their LC.

Early Drop-off of Belongings
To support social distancing, students will sign up to drop off their belongings in their residence hall room in the weeks prior to residence hall opening. More info to be provided.

Housing Application Cancellation Deadline
We are extending our cancellation deadline to July 20.

Health & Safety Practices
To support the health & safety of the University community, the University will issue behavioral expectations to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.  These expectations are being developed in conjunction with guidance from the CDC and the MN Department of Health and are expected to include the following:

• Wearing face masks in public spaces
• Social distancing
• Limiting occupancy of public spaces
• Limiting guests in residence hall rooms
• Frequent hand-washing
• Daily individual health screening

More information will be provided when this set of expectations is finalized.

Department of Residential Life | Minnesota State University, Mankato | (507) 389-1011 | reslife@mnsu.edu | www.mnsu.edu/reslife

Dear Students:

With this email, I want to introduce you to Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Return to Learn plan, which is the work we are doing to prepare to open campus this fall. We will be sending you weekly updates throughout the summer about how these plans will impact you and your return to school in August.

We are looking forward to welcoming you back in the fall for a mixture of face-to-face and online instruction, as well as a new model that we are calling FlexSync. FlexSync course delivery allows students to attend the same class in-person or remotely via Zoom. The flexibility allowed by FlexSync may be used throughout the semester to meet student needs and preferences as well as to adjust to evolving distancing guidelines related to the current health crisis.

I invite you to learn more about how FlexSync will work at the Return to Learn website, where you can also find more information about the plan and how it will come together over the coming weeks.

In order to make a return to campus work, the University will need to implement new health and safety protocols for all faculty, staff and students around social distancing, facility cleaning and personal protection. We are in the process of building a flexible plan that will allow the University to address additional issues as they arise and to keep our campus community safe.

I will share more details of the plan with you in coming weeks. In the meantime, here are some additional key points for you to be aware of right now:

1. Under the direction of the Minnesota State Chancellor’s Office, we’re using a multi-phase planning timeline to address both immediate and long-range needs.

Phase 1        Short-term (May-August 2020)

Phase 2        Mid-term (August-December 2020)

Phase 3        Long-term (January 2021-)

2. Also under the direction of the Minnesota State Chancellor’s Office, we are looking at a planning scenario framework that allows us to shift as conditions change. We are currently operating as if Scenario B will be in place.

Scenario A   No restrictions on movement or size of gatherings 

Scenario B   Restrictions on movement and size of gatherings, but no stay at home order in place

Scenario C   Significant restrictions on movement and gatherings, with stay at home order in place for part or all of the semester

3. The University has established the following Return to Learn Values to guide our decisions as we prepare for fall:

• Keep our students, faculty, and staff healthy and safe
• Assure that students can maintain progress toward their educational goals 
• Maintain the financial sustainability of the university
• Pursue the strategic directions and priorities of the university
• Advance toward achieving Equity 2030 goals

For more information about our efforts to prepare for your return this fall, please visit the Return to Learn website.

I look forward to seeing you again in August!

Sincerely,

Richard Davenport,
President

We are looking forward to welcoming students back in the fall for a mixture of face-to-face and online instruction, as well as a new model of course delivery that we are calling FlexSync. FlexSync course delivery allows students to attend the same class either in-person or remotely via Zoom. Since we likely cannot host full classrooms due to social distancing requirements, FlexSync provides the flexibility to meet student and faculty needs and preferences as well as to adjust to evolving distancing guidelines related to the current health crisis.

We invite faculty to learn more about how FlexSync will work at www.mnsu.edu/flexsync. That site will be updated with additional updates and professional development information in coming weeks. In addition, IT Solutions has produced a video that visually describes how FlexSync would work in a class. You can view that on the Return to Learn Web site at www.mnsu.edu/returntolearn.

To deliver these FlexSync classes, we will need to add new health and safety protocols around social distancing, facility cleaning and personal protection. We are in the process of building a flexible plan that will allow the University to address additional issues as they arise.

Some key points of the plan to be aware of now:

1. Under the direction of the Minnesota State Chancellor’s Office, we’re using a multi-phase planning timeline to address both immediate and long-range needs.

Phase 1        Short-term (May-August 2020)

Phase 2        Mid-term (August-December 2020)

Phase 3        Long-term (January, 2021-)

2. Also under the direction of the Minnesota State Chancellor’s Office, we are looking at a planning scenario framework that allows us to shift as conditions change. We are currently operating as if Scenario B will be in place.

Scenario A   No restrictions on movement or size of gatherings 

Scenario B   Restrictions on movement and size of gatherings, but no stay at home order in place

Scenario C   Significant restrictions on movement and gatherings, with stay at home order in place for part or all of the semester

3. The University has established the following Return to Learn Values to guide decisions made as we prepare for fall:

Keep our students, faculty, and staff healthy and safe

Assure that students can maintain progress toward their educational goals 

Maintain the financial sustainability of the university

Pursue the strategic directions and priorities of the university

Advance toward achieving Equity 2030 goals

4. We are in the midst of implementing the FlexSync hybrid learning model, which will allow us to be prepared for both face-to-face and online/remote learning in approximately 100 classrooms on campus.

Colleagues,

We have received written guidance from the Office of Higher Education (OHE) on the governor's recent executive order, 20-56; the order that allowed non-critical businesses to begin re-opening on May 18. The new guidance is available on OHE's website.

The safety of our students and employees remain paramount. Our campus will be open and ready to welcome students in the fall, while adapting as necessary to safely serve them and provide them with an extraordinary education.

In addition to the safety focus, what does this new guidance mean for Minnesota State University, Mankato?

• First and foremost, services and courses that can be delivered remotely must continue to be delivered remotely. 
• Employees who can work remotely must continue to do so.
• Prior to resuming in-person activities, our campus will need to establish a COVID-19 Preparedness Plan. Work on our University’s COVID-19 Preparedness Plan is underway, guided by a Return to Learn Advisory Committee led by Interim Provost Matt Cecil and Vice President Lynn Akey.
• The work of the Advisory Committee is focused on coordinating planning across a range of potential scenarios that is supported by action teams focused on five key areas: student learning; student life; employee return; financial sustainability; communications and enrollment; and partnerships.
• The work of the Advisory Committee is also support by a Pandemic Operations and Tactics team focused on precautions and steps that must be taken in the context of COVID-19.

In the days ahead you will receive additional communication providing guidance and steps that will need to be taken prior to the University increasing in-person activities and/or additional employees returning to the workplace. 

Our eagerness to return to normal must be tempered by the overarching need to keep the campus community safe. Careful preparation is critical for our success moving forward. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we prepare for fall and beyond.

Stay safe.

Richard Davenport
President