Recent Program Features

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has brought about a lot of unexpected changes in the last month. With classes being moved online for the rest of the semester, there is a lot of uncertainty facing students and staff. Dealing with uncertain times can be difficult, and one office on campus is tackling those feelings of loneliness, grief, and ambiguity.

The Counseling Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato serves all currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students. The office offers a large variety of services to students to meet their unique needs at no cost, such as individual counseling, group counseling, seminars, wellness workshops and referrals.

In response to recent events, the office has moved all services online for the remaining semester to meet the ever-changing needs of students. They are now offering appointments and individual counseling sessions, via Zoom, for students who are in Minnesota (out-of-state students will be provided with consultations and referral services).

In addition, they have adapted several of their seminars, workshops, and groups to be provided online. According to Kari Much, Department Chair of the Counseling Center, the office worked closely with IT Solutions to provide students with online access to resources to succeed during this difficult time.

“We have also added many new services to help students cope during this challenging time.  We are offering several drop-in ‘Coping with COVID’ programs that specifically assist students with current challenges such as managing social distancing, coping with anxiety, being an online student and more that are offered multiple times per week for the rest of the semester. We have recorded some ‘on-demand’ presentations that students can access from our website at any time, and we have also developed a web page of self-help resources devoted to dealing with the distress of living through a pandemic,” says Much.

These resources are essential during this unprecedented time. Now, more than ever, students need help from the University to complete a semester that they never imagined in their wildest dreams. With this in mind, the Counseling Center has worked hard to adapt to telemental health services while keeping all services free and readily available for students.

Much reiterates, “All of our services are still free! Our Coping with COVID programs do not require registration; students can simply pick a time and topic that fits for them and drop in” 

Students can learn more by visiting the Counseling Center's website here. 

We are doing our best to serve our students and want to recognize that we are in this together. Together, we stay Maverick strong.

We are excited for you to become a Maverick this fall! Due to the uncertainty of social distancing recommendations, we have made the decision to move the summer new student and transfer student orientation programs to an online format this year.

Your orientation experience is an important aspect to your transition to Minnesota State, Mankato and we will provide you with the resources that you need to start as a Maverick by keeping you informed, connected, and on a path to success. Rather than coming to campus this summer, students will complete online modules using our online learning platform. Families will also have an opportunity to participate in virtual gatherings and presentations to learn about campus resources and how to help their student transition to the University.

The online orientation will launch on May 18, 2020 and students may complete it when it is convenient for them. Orientation staff will engage with incoming students throughout the summer in a variety of virtual activities to connect incoming students with each other and the campus. After students complete the online orientation module, they will be eligible for advising and registration. Details regarding advising and registration will be provided when students complete the online orientation.

We have a rich tradition of a Welcome Week just prior to the start of classes and this will be further enhanced to focus on building connections and catch up on information not covered in the online orientation.

In order to participate you must sign up for an orientation session on our website. The Maverick Online Orientation program will be offered at a discounted rate of $75. There will be no charge for families to participate in virtual family orientation information sessions.

We are excited to learn more about you, share more about Minnesota State Mankato, and help you launch your Maverick career! Please let us know if you have questions by emailing us at newstudent@mnsu.edu.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Riesenberg, Assistant Director for Orientation and Transition Programs

Nikki Stock, Director of New Student and Family Programs

Parking Permit Refunds to Students

On March 27, 2020, University President Davenport's Cabinet approved $193,000 worth of parking permit refunds to students for the two months affected by this COVID-19 Pandemic which led to classes being taught through distance learning for part of March, all of April, and a week into May. Individual refunds will first be applied to any outstanding charges on a student’s account, and if charges are already cleared, refunds will be posted as an automatic deposit or mailed as a check.

Greetings!

I hope this message finds you well and healthy. I know many of you are anticipating the nice weather this weekend, and I hope you are able to enjoy some much deserved rest and relaxation.

Tonight, I want to provide you with three important updates:

1. What does the Governor’s extended stay-at-home order mean for Minnesota State University, Mankato?
2. What plans have been made for Summer instruction and orientation?
3. What plans have been made for Spring 2020 commencement?

As many of you are aware, Governor Walz extended the Stay at Home order through May 3, 2020, and the Peacetime Emergency Order until May 13, 2020. This does not change current operations at Minnesota State Mankato. As part of the Minnesota State system, the University is an ‘essential service’ that remains open, while following social distancing guidelines and teleworking as much as possible. Therefore, please continue to work from home or report to work at the University as directed by your supervisor. We will continue to communicate with you as new information develops.

As communicated on Monday by Provost Cecil, summer session instruction will be conducted online only. I echo his sentiments and thank our faculty, staff and deans for their continued hard work to transition and offer courses to meet our students’ needs during this time.

Due to the uncertainty of social distancing recommendations or additional stay at home orders, the new student and transfer student orientation programs scheduled for this summer will also move to an online format. You can learn more here: https://mankato.mnsu.edu/orientation. This change provides certainty for new incoming students as they plan their summers and allows us to pivot our orientation and registration approaches while utilizing technology to provide a personalized onboarding experience. The Office of New Student and Family Programs, Division of Student Success, Analytics and Integrated Planning, and IT Solutions will work together to provide a seamless experience for our new students.

Finally, you may recall from my March 13 update that we made the difficult decision to cancel our spring commencement ceremonies. This does not mean we are going to let May 9 go by without recognizing our graduates! We have a group of talented and creative people working hard to provide an alternative commencement experience and special recognition for these graduates. In addition, graduates will all be invited to participate in the in-person commencement ceremonies scheduled for December 2020. While we don’t want to give-away the big surprise, know that a special communication plan has been put in place to share the news with the students over the next few weeks. We encourage you to engage with our graduates on May 9 on our new www.mnsu.edu/MavGrad2020 webpage..

These initiatives are further examples of the heavy lifts that are only made possible by the tremendous quality of our staff, faculty and leaders. Thank you all for everything you are doing to support our students during this difficult time. Please take care of yourselves and continue to stay safe and healthy.

Sincerely,

Richard Davenport
President