Recent Program Features

Good afternoon,

I wanted to follow-up yesterday’s messages from Chancellor Malhotra and President Davenport with a few additional points of interest and reminders.

As President Davenport noted, we have extended Spring Break for students until March 23. Campus remains open and faculty and staff should report to work. The extra week gives faculty an opportunity to plan for online and alternative delivery of all courses for the remainder of the semester beginning March 23.

The goal of this move to online and alternative delivery is to allow students to stay away from campus. We have encouraged students to stay away if they can, though residence halls remain open for those students who have nowhere else to go or who need to be here because they have jobs in the community. We know that with this shift many of our students will choose not return to Mankato this semester.

Thus, with the exception of unique, off-campus instructional situations like clinical experiences, student teaching, and aviation flight training, we expect that faculty will not hold on-campus classes for the remainder of the semester.

We recognize that this creates enormous challenges in areas like laboratory sciences, art studios, and performance classes and we are ready to help faculty address those challenges.

This is a public health crisis and a worldwide pandemic. It is going to require creativity and innovation in order to help our students succeed. The timing is difficult and planning for those alternative experiences needs to happen quickly. Our goal must be to create learning opportunities that, while not ideal by any measure, address our students’ needs and keep them on schedule for graduation.

As a reminder, we have created a Web site to help anyone with questions about moving classes online quickly: http://mankato.mnsu.edu/keepteaching.

We also have a support site for students who are inexperienced with online learning: http://mankato.mnsu.edu/keeplearning.

In addition, the faculty and staff of Memorial Library offer a wide variety of services that can help with the transition. Contact a librarian for more information.

If you have questions about specific kinds of learning experiences, please contact us at the Office of the Provost, provost@mnsu.edu. We will try to answer your questions or connect you with experts who can help.

Many faculty members have come forward offering their online teaching expertise to assist faculty colleagues with this shift to online and alternative delivery. I am grateful to them for their willingness to help. If you have special skills you would like to offer to help colleagues with this transition, please contact Associate Vice President Jennifer Veltsos: Jennifer.veltsos@mnsu.edu.

It has been a turbulent few weeks. I hope everyone has a restful weekend in preparation for what will be a busy time next week preparing for this shift to online and alternative delivery.

Thank you for everything you do to help our students succeed.

Kind regards,
Matt

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Chancellor Devinder Malhotra communicated today that we are extending Spring Break by one week for our students and suspending all classes (including classes that are already online) for that week. Beginning March 23, all coursework at Minnesota State University, Mankato will resume and be delivered through online or alternative instruction.

We believe this is a prudent course of action and I urge everyone to pull together to assist our students in their academic goals.

Please review the following points:

• While students are allowed to extend their Spring Break next week, employees will continue to report to work as usual. Student employees and graduate students who are able to work next week have been encouraged to do so.
• Employees who believe they, or a member of their family are at-risk because of the possibility of infection should contact their supervisors to arrange other work alternatives. Those arrangements might include working remotely, or taking appropriate leave.
• Individuals who recently traveled internationally to a Level 3 country, please self-identify and determine with your supervisor alternative work arrangements for 14 days to limit the risk of secondary exposure.
• In addition to the already-suspended school and business-sanctioned international travel, Minnesota State System has now suspended school and business-sanctioned out-of-state domestic travel, effective Monday, March 16. Please do not make new travel arrangements at this time. If you have non-refundable travel expenses for a canceled trip, please contact your supervisor. Additionally, we highly recommend any travel plans for this weekend be re-evaluated for your own safety and well-being of others.
• If you have questions about delivering a course online, addressing a situation unique to a class you are teaching, or anything else related to academic affairs, please contact the Office of the Provost at provost@mnsu.edu. Also note that we have a Web site: http://mankato.mnsu.edu/keepteaching which may help with your transition to online or alternative delivery.
• For other questions, please review our FAQ at http://mankato.mnsu.edu/coronavirus. The page includes a “submit a question” button where you can submit your questions about any topic related to this unprecedented situation.

We ask that everyone work together on the many challenges that are ahead as we embark on this major shift in how we deliver our courses. Minnesota State University, Mankato is a special place. I know we will rise to the occasion as a campus community in this difficult time.

Thanks to all of you for everything you do and for making this a great university!

Sincerely,

Richard Davenport
President

Dear Students,

A recent communication from Chancellor Malhotra announced that we are extending Spring Break one week (March 16-20) for all students and suspending all classes (including classes that are already online) for that same week. This will allow professors and others to prepare classes. Beginning March 23, all classes will resume and be delivered through online or alternative instruction. Student workers, including graduate assistants, may return to work on campus next week. Any student worker, or graduate assistant who does not wish to return to campus should contact their supervisor.

We want to help all students complete their Spring semester classes and successfully complete their degree requirements. We are committed to supporting you during this unprecedented situation.

• If you have questions or concerns, including accessibility, online learning or other alternative instruction, please contact the Office of the Provost at provost@mnsu.edu.
• For other questions, please review our FAQ at http://mankato.mnsu.edu/coronavirus. That page includes a “submit a question” button where you can submit your questions about any topic related to this situation.

Minnesota State Mankato students who live in campus residence halls and Stadium Heights, please note the following:

• If you need to live in campus housing throughout the semester, you will continue to have access to your room or apartment. 
• If you simply need to collect some belongings, you will also have access to your room or apartment. 
• There will be limited dining service available in the University Dining Center and Centennial Student Union next week. 
• If possible, we do encourage you to consider staying at home, or another location until classes resume on March 23.  In fact, you may wish to stay at home for the remainder of the semester and continue your studies online or through alternative instruction identified by your faculty.
• Additional questions about your housing can be directed to the Office of Residential Life at reslife@mnsu.edu or 507-389-1011.

Students, you should be aware that travelers returning from CDC Level 3 countries are required to observe a 14-day period of self-quarantine and monitoring.

• You can learn if the county you visited is on this list here: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices. 
• During this quarantine period, you are not permitted to come to work, attend class in-person, or participate in any other campus or community activities.
• The university does not have the capacity to provide self-quarantine locations on campus for students. Students needing to self-quarantine will be required to return to their permanent home residences or self-quarantine in their off-campus apartments.
• Students who reside in university housing and are unable to return to a home residence should contact University Housing in the Office of Residential Life at reslife@mnsu.edu or 507-389-1011. 

Please know that we want everyone to succeed and will work with you to make that possible. In the meantime, take precautions, and be safe and healthy. Everyone at Minnesota State University, Mankato stands ready to help you.

Sincerely,

Richard Davenport
President

Faculty and staff,

We continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely. Many of you have asked about moving courses online. Universities across the U.S. and internationally have begun to make that transition.

While no decision has been made to transition to online instruction here, it is prudent for everyone to be prepared should that become necessary. We are asking that you begin planning for that possibility.

It is important to acknowledge as we plan that everyone understands moving in-person courses online is neither simple nor ideal. This is an unprecedented situation. The fact is that if we must forego in-person classes, this is the best we can do for our students as we deal with a serious public health crisis.

With that in mind, a team from the Office of the Provost, CETL, and IT Solutions have created this web site:

http://mankato.mnsu.edu/keepteaching

There you will find basic resources that can help you plan for the possibility of moving your in-person course online. You will also find links and contact information for people who can help you plan for this possible transition. We are also taking steps to assure that, should a transition occur, all of our students can access online classes.

Support staff and the administration stand ready to assist as you consider how you might move your classes online. Let’s work together to help our students through this situation.

If you have questions, comments, concerns, or ideas to share, please contact me at provost@mnsu.edu.

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

Kind regards,
Matt