Recent Program Features

There is strong communication between the Advisory Board, faculty and students. Students are encouraged to be active in organizations, understand their education and they receive real life working experience. The interaction that a student has with the Advisory Board, faculty, and organizations prepares them for what they will see in the engineering field. The end result is a student ready for their engineering career.

I emphatically recommend the Minnesota State University Civil Engineering program to interested students and encourage employers to seek out Minnesota State University Civil Engineering graduates. This program has consistently developed winners since its inaugural class in 2003.

“A good paper can add much to the interest of our college life and can be of use in helping along worthy college enterprises.” -C.H. Cooper. March 23, 1926. Number 1, Volume 1 of the student newspaper formerly known as Among Ourselves.

Madison Diemert, senior English major and Anthropology minor, is the current Editor-in-Chief of The Reporter, Minnesota State University, Mankato’s student-run newspaper.

Diemert came to college knowing that she was interested in writing, but she didn’t know what direction she should go. One day, she saw an ad in The Reporter for a staff writer position and took the opportunity to get involved with the newspaper. Since then, Diemert has gained invaluable experience in editing, business and journalism. “I don’t know what I’d be doing right now without The Reporter, I definitely would not be as good of a writer and would not have half the skills that I have today,” she says.

Since 1926, Minnesota State University, Mankato has supported a student-led newspaper, completely dictated by students’ wants and needs. This newspaper has continuously reported on campus related news, people, sports, arts and entertainment. Currently, the newspaper even has sections for horoscopes and comics. Two of its most popular sections are known as “The Pulse,” in which a reporter asks a different weekly question to random students and then spotlights their answers, and “Ask Jenna,” an interactive blog to get readers involved by asking questions.

“You can’t just write about events that are happening on campus because students can hear about that from other students or just go,” Diemert says. “But, if you can put something in like Ask Jenna that is something fresh and new every week that they can’t see anywhere else and that they won’t know the answer to unless they pick up the paper, you’re directly interacting with them and giving them something of value. I think that really increases the pickup rate.” Often times when students are featured, they’ll pick up a copy and encourage their friends and colleagues to as well.

In the last 93 years, the paper has seen many changes, including its name, content and platforms where news is shared. While many aspects of the paper have changed over the years, one thing remains the same: the need for a reliable news source on campus.

Being in the era of misinformation, it begs the age-old question: Why is the news important? Mansoor Ahmad, web editor, copy editor and staff photographer, says that “we need to know what’s happening. Sure, newspapers are a thing of the past, but it’s the concept of having something to rely on to get your news from. News isn’t just news as in politics, but it’s also what’s happening in construction or sports. It’s what professors are getting hired or fired. It’s what the drama is. At the end of the day, it’s just to let people know what’s happening around them, because one way or another it does affect them.”

It's no secret that the way people receive their news has changed. Many people get their daily news from social media now. To keep up with changing times. The Reporter now provides news on different social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; they even have a podcast. “You have to advance with the age, like with the invention of mobile phones and social media. We’re not just relying on the newspaper now to put out news, it’s also social media channels,” says Ahmad.

Although these platforms are important, the staff at The Reporter still finds a lot of value in the physical paper. The pick-up rates are actually up compared to 2017 rates. Last fall, the pick-up rate was 64 percent and, in the spring, the rate increased to 67 percent—proving that people do indeed still read the physical copy.

“I can’t see us as a campus without a campus newspaper. Even if it’s not something that people read or rely on as much on anymore, it’s still this integral part of the university,” Diemert says. “A student-run newspaper gives you so much hands-on experience, that you can’t find in the classroom. I just really can’t see us as a campus without a campus newspaper.”

The experiences that Diemert and Ahmad have received while working for the paper have been invaluable. Ahmad says that he’s been given many opportunities with the newspaper. “I’ve not taken a single mass media class, so everything I’m learning is on the job,” he says. “That’s the best part, because by the time I graduate I’ll have unofficially like two majors: Information Technology and Mass Media, because I’m working so much [on The Reporter].”

 The Reporter works closely with The Free Press, a daily newspaper in Mankato, to provide students with workshops to improve their skills and networking opportunities. The Reporter has positions for staff writers, photographers, advertisement representatives and graphic designers, so there is something for everyone.

Since graduating, former students who have worked on The Reporter have gone on to work for Microsoft, Social Butterfly, USA Today, Golf Digest, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Minnesota Vikings. Ahmad was even invited to take photos with an alumnus that are now featured on the NBA website—an opportunity he may not have received without the continuous support of the current and former staff for The Reporter.

As a first-year student, Taylor Kemper began working at the Career Development Center (CDC) as a work-study student. At the time, her major was undecided, and she had no idea what she wanted to do after she graduated, let alone over the next four years. One day at work, Kemper was tasked with reorganizing the CDC’s library and she was intrigued by the books on different majors that Minnesota State University, Mankato offers. She sat down and began to read through them and something finally clicked: human resource management.

The Career Development Center at Minnesota State Mankato is dedicated to providing high-quality services and resources that assist students, like Kemper, and graduates with career planning and the search for employment. This includes a comprehensive range of services from career counseling and major choice assistance to assistance finding part-time employment and internships and extensive job search support and guidance. Kemper has gone above and beyond with utilizing these campus resources to help her succeed in college and after she finishes her degree.

“Through the resources the CDC has offered me and the different experiences as well, it kind of all just connected at one point. I don’t think that [human resource management] would have popped in my head had I not been doing that work,” she says. Working at the CDC helped Kemper realize how much she enjoys career development and employee relations, which is perfect for the major she selected.

Staff at the CDC also encouraged Kemper to be as active on campus as she could to gain valuable experiences during her time at Minnesota State Mankato. During her second year, Kemper joined the business learning community for second year students to meet other students in the College of Business, build a community, and receive the resources she was looking to succeed.

She was worried about joining the College of Business later than most students. “I didn’t know anyone or know anything really, and it made me feel more comfortable going into it with a group of people,” says Kemper. Additionally, she has taken advantage of many other opportunities, including studying abroad in Europe for a business law class, becoming the president of the Society for Human Resource Management on campus and participating in a competition at Indiana University against other universities in the Midwest—all of which she said were amazing opportunities.

Now, Kemper is a senior who is graduating in May and she is looking toward the future. Her work at the Career Development Center helped her become familiar with Handshake, which is a resource to help students find internships and jobs after graduating. It helped her find the internship she had this past summer.

“One day I was at the CDC working and all of a sudden Handshake suggested a bunch of different jobs for me based on the information the school has for me. When it popped up, it suggested an internship with this company I had never heard of before in my life, Horton, but I clicked on it and applied thinking it was worth a shot,” Kemper says. She not only got the internship, but recently was given a job offer from the company for after graduation. She was astounded that they would offer her the position, because the job previously belonged to the person who was her mentor over the summer—someone who has a master’s degree and many years of experience. Clearly, Horton saw something in Kemper that made her stand out.

Reflecting on the past four years, Kemper is thankful for what the CDC has helped her accomplish. “I gained a lot of experiences and all of it came from the support they offered me there as an employee,” she says.

When asked what advice she has for other students in her position, the biggest thing Kemper could think of was getting involved on campus. “I would say getting as involved as you can whether it’s a club once a week or going on a trip to learn more about something. I think is an invaluable experience…” she says. “You learn a lot more when you’re engaged in something and when you’re a part of something; your interests pique.”