Recent Program Features

Summer orientation is usually just the beginning of the excitement surrounding a new upcoming school year. Typically, students can sign up for a one- or two-day orientation to prepare for their first fall semester at Minnesota State University, Mankato. During their visit to campus, they register for classes, receive their MavCard, meet other students and talk to different departments on campus.

This year, however, the office of New Student and Family Programs had to think outside of the box and move programming completely online as a COVID-19 precaution. As a result, the Maverick Online Orientation and Registration (MOOR) programming was created on the University’s educational platform, Desire2Learn, or D2L, where students typically go for class-related items like viewing their syllabus, turning in assignments and checking their grades.

Jeremy Riesenberg, Assistant Director of Orientation and Transition Programs, spent the early summer months trying to figure out just how to use an educational platform to create an interactive and informational orientation.

 “My main goal for orientation is building excitement for [the students], that they’re looking forward to starting college,” Riesenberg says. “I hope that orientation is their first chance to see what they’re in for, the environment they’ll be in and the other fantastic students that they’ll meet. I hope that by the time everyone leaves orientation that they’re like ‘I can’t wait for this to all start again in the fall.’”

Riesenberg’s final product included weekly modules that were posted every Monday morning over a six-week period that provided students with information about campus resources, videos from current students, virtual resource fairs and fun activities for students to get to know the University better.

With the help of student Orientation Peer Assistants, known as OPAs, the office successfully implemented the new orientation style online. OPAs, like Lizzie Putnam, a junior Special Education major from Las Vegas, Nevada, were tasked with helping students transition to campus, while never actually getting to meet them physically.

“I feel like we’re the first face at the University that the students see and we’re also the student perspective, which I think is really important… There’s 16 of us and we help students with registration, we do the activities, and we perform a welcome dance right at the beginning which they always love on the two days,” Putnam says.

Although OPAs were bummed they didn’t get to perform their annually coordinated dance, they still sprang into action to help incoming students. Students were asked to fill out surveys throughout their orientation experience, which the Peer Assistants read through and responded to individually. Additionally, they held office hours for students to attend, hosted virtual labs for building relationships with other students and even hand packed “swag envelopes” with Maverick themed t-shirts, flags and lanyards to provide students with Maverick gear before they even moved to the Mankato area. Some days, they spent up to 12 hours on Zoom, providing resources for incoming students.

“The OPAs did a great job adapting, and I was very proud of them. They made the best of it, and I appreciated all of the work they did. They were the pulse of making it run, just like they are when they’re here in person,” says Riesenberg.

Overall, the online platform was a success. Students seemed to really engage in the process, despite the fact that it may not have been exactly what they expected, and participation was high throughout the summer.

 “I was happy to see that [the students] were still engaging,” Riesenberg says. “I was worried about that at first. But I also thought, ‘They had such a crazy end of their high school experience that maybe they’re looking for some normalcy and thinking about their next chapter.’”

With the uncertainty expected to continue over at least the next few months, orientation for students starting in the spring semester will also be done through the D2L online format. Fortunately, though, the orientation modules will continue to be used for this process and will stay open on D2L for the entirety of this next school year to provide students with a way to refer back to resources when they need it.

Student conduct promotes and enforces the responsibilities students agree to when they enroll at Minnesota State Mankato. To learn more, visit the Student Conduct website.

Our winners for 2020

First Place, $5000 and people’s Choice, $2000: Logan Sendle, Lakeshore Potential

He advanced to the semifinalist round in the student division of MNCup (the largest statewide business plan competition in the US where the Student Division prize is $30,000).

Lakeshore Potential specializes in weed removal, landscaping, and beach restoration services to Lakeshore residents using unique chemical-free techniques.

Where Are They Now

Lakeshore Potential had one of their best years ever in summer of 2020 with larger crews and more orders.

Second Place, $2500: Abelrahman Elkanaway, Alex Shepherd, Kaitlyn Gloege with Hearing Glasses

Hearing Glasses developed glasses designed for people with hearing disabilities. It’ll help anyone communicate between those with hearing disabilities and anyone without needing to know sign language or having a translator.

Where Are They Now

Hearing Glasses placed third in the semifinals of the Student Division of MN Cup 2020. They won Entrepreneurial Bridge ($5000) in 2020 and won the College Compact competition for $10,000. They continue to actively develop their business idea and to do research and development on their prototype.

Third Place, $2500: Sam Csizmadia, Csizmadia Lawn Care

CLC provides lawn care, landscaping, snow removal, and fertilization services.

For the first time in history, we had a tie between second & third place.

Where Are They Now

Csizmadia Lawn Care wrapped up one of their best financial years and over the winter, he is planning for growth for 2021.

Agriculture/Food/Beverage Division, $3000: Jaden Klingenberg, from Downed Duck

Downed Duck’s invention was a remote-controlled boat used for retrieving shot ducks from the water.

Where Are They Now

Downed Duck is actively working on building their manufacturing prototype to prepare for mass production.

“In the past six years, we have given away $70,000 to student startup businesses. Of the 34 presentations that have made it to the finals, 15 of those businesses are still in operation today. We have had about 112 community and alumni mentors and judges help to make this a terrific real-world learning experience for our students.”

The Big Ideas Challenge has been sponsored for each of the last six years by Lloyd Companies. Craig Lloyd is a 1972 graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato. This year, the Agriculture/Food/Beverage Division prize was sponsored by All American Foods. Other generous sponsors were CrankyApe.com, BankVista and MN Valley Business Magazine.

We had 32 applications start the process, 20 that went into Round one for judging. A team of community, alumni, and faculty review and score the round one applications. No names or identifying information is given to the judges, just the ideas. The highest-scoring teams advance to Round two. In Round two, the finalists had to write a full business plan and then prepare a pitch and deliver it on stage on April 14, 2020. The combined plan and pitch scores from our judges determined the winners of all of the prizes except for People’s Choice (which was chosen by audience vote).

We encourage all students, from any major, to start thinking about THEIR Big Ideas for next year. Ideas don’t have to be high tech. Your idea could be a novel or play, it could be an idea to clean up the environment, it could be something that helps people with disabilities or a service for agriculture. Join other students at the Center and get help with developing your idea so you can be on stage next year.

Dear Students:

I sincerely regret to inform you that we have decided to cancel our in-person fall commencement ceremonies originally scheduled for Dec. 12, 2020. Please understand that we are taking these precautions because we are concerned about ensuring everyone’s safety and well-being during the ongoing pandemic.

As you know, we have also restructured the semester to transition to remote learning following the Thanksgiving holiday break. This means that your class activities will be online between Thanksgiving and the end of the semester. Both of these changes—commencement and the transition to remote learning after Thanksgiving—are intended to minimize the potential for heightened transmission of COVID-19 and other viruses in late fall.

Please know that we understand and empathize that this news is disappointing to our graduates and their families. We know that many of you were looking forward to the traditional, in-person graduation day, just as many faculty, staff and administrators were as well. We are disappointed that we will not be able to celebrate with you in our customary format.

We will not, however, let commencement day go by without finding a way to celebrate you and all of your hard work! It’s important to recognize your accomplishments and to wish you farewell as you embark on your next journey in life. Therefore, I have assembled a team to work on a special virtual commencement as our alternative way to celebrate on Dec. 12.

Stay tuned as additional details will be shared with graduating students via MavMail and posted at www.mnsu.edu/graduation as plans are finalized. Any questions relating to commencement can be directed to events@mnsu.edu.

Please continue to be safe and well. The Maverick community is cheering you on to the completion of your degree.

Sincerely,

Richard Davenport
President