Recent Program Features

On Monday, August 10, we launched a new self-screening tool that all employees, students, visitors, contractors, suppliers and vendors must complete daily before coming to campus. You can link to the assessment from our homepage or at mnsu.edu/screening. This online health screening tool is a system-wide initiative and is being implemented at each of Minnesota State's 37 colleges and universities and at the system office.

All employees are encouraged to regularly check the Return to Learn Website to stay up-to-date on important information regarding safety measures, employee return to work expectations, academic year schedule changes, FlexSync resources and COVID-19 notification procedures.

Branded 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. Important to note, face shields do not replace face coverings. Additional information on the use of shields and face coverings can be found on the Return to Learn Website.

IT Solutions will be holding FlexSync open sessions this week and next 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 open sessions listed below.

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

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

All faculty and staff are encouraged to submit a coronavirus question. We will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.

To Our Student Community:

Many of you are probably making your final preparations for starting classes on Monday, August 24 and so are we! There are a few things you should know before you return:

• If any of your classes have been scheduled or switched to online-only as a result of the pandemic, you will not be charged online differential fees. Online-only classes traditionally have an online differential fee because of the costs associated with delivering them, but we recently removed that fee from courses that were not originally planned to be offered online during the fall 2020 semester.
• The planned transition to remote delivery via Zoom for all on-campus, in-person instruction after the Thanksgiving holiday break does not mean that the fall semester is ending early. Nor does it impact the start of spring semester. As of now, the plan is for the spring semester to start with in-person, on-campus classes in the same way that the fall semester will start.
• To help reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, we have launched a new self-screening tool that you must complete daily before coming to campus or leaving your residence hall room. It is quick and easy to complete. You can link to the assessment from our homepage or at mnsu.edu/screening. Reminder: face coverings are also required on campus.
• You should be hearing from each of your professors in the next week or so, if you haven't already, about how to prepare for your classes and what classes will look like. If you are enrolled in any FlexSync courses, your professors will be asking if you prefer to be in-person or remote via Zoom. Your professors will use those preferences to establish a schedule of who will be in-person on which days and will communicate that back to you before the first day of class. If you have not heard from them by Wednesday, August 19, please reach out directly for more details.
• We are monitoring the ever-changing situation locally and are in regular contact with local and state health officials to discuss how the pandemic may be impacting our area and our campus. As information becomes available communication will be sent out, and the Return to Learn website will continue to be updated.
• We are doing our best to make sure that you have the best college experience possible this year and to deliver classes in the way you want them—but we recognize that there may be changes that are beyond our control. We have been planning for that and are prepared to support your learning needs no matter what happens.

If you have questions about this change, please email provost@mnsu.edu. We will try to back to you as soon as possible. Don't forget to visit Return to Learn for more information as well.

I look forward to seeing you again in a few weeks!

Sincerely,

Richard Davenport,
President

Over the last five months, COVID-19 has affected just about every aspect of life as we know it. One of the most severely impacted areas is the labor market. The United States economy has lost an unprecedented number of jobs, shattering all previous unemployment records—even those of the Great Depression.

One center on campus has been working diligently to help Minnesota State University, Mankato students and alumni with the tremendous job losses that have occurred: the Career Development Center (CDC).

When the CDC realized what was happening, it sprang into action to brainstorm what it could do to aid students and alumni during this time. The Center recognized that there are many unique challenges related to careers and job searching during a global pandemic. As a result, the CDC went to work and gathered lists of employers still hiring, pandemic specific career resources and job searching tips for students and alumni that has continuously been updated with new information.

The Center’s website provides information on scheduling individual appointments to go over resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles. Students and new graduates can also sign up for practice interviews, graduate school planning and career assessments to guide them with their next career move.

The CDC has made a point to specifically reach out to all Maverick alumni through email communication, as well, to make sure they know that the office is available to help.

“We know that many of our Maverick alumni and their families have been impacted by job loss, and we thought it was important to remind our alumni that we are here to help and share some resources that are available through the University,” says Pamela Weller, the director of the Career Development Center.

Since then, the Center has been actively working to provide any information that could be beneficial, like which employers are still hiring and which are experiencing job freezes, how to get hired remotely and jobs skills needed to succeed in a post corona-virus world. The CDC wants to make sure that alumni know that even though they have graduated, they are still a part of the Maverick family and the University is still a resource for them.

“The mission of the Career Development Center is to ‘educate, equip and empower students and graduates to successfully explore, develop, and manage their career paths for a lifetime.’ We care about the well-being and success of our graduates,” says Weller.

As a result of COVID-19, the Center has transitioned the bulk of its resources, programs and services to an online delivery method. A huge benefit of this is that students and alumni can now access office resources 24/7 from wherever they are located. Many great career resources can be found on their website here to help during this unprecedented time.