Recent Program Features

Maverick Students,

Welcome to the start of Spring semester. I hope you all enjoyed a safe, healthy and happy holiday season.

As you’re likely aware, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has become the dominant variant nationally. It is highly transmittable although it appears to cause milder symptoms than prior variants—especially for those who are vaccinated and boosted.

Fall semester went well and our collective efforts to take precautions and care for one another were effective. The Spring semester will require continued COVID-19 precautions and care for one another.

Spring semester will begin on Monday, Jan. 10, as planned, and all classes will proceed as scheduled. 

To keep our campus community safe and healthy:

• Wear a facemask while indoors. Ideally, masks should be medical-grade quality. This requirement will continue until our county drops to the CDC’s “Moderate” or “Low” transmission levels for 14 consecutive days;
• Follow appropriate respiratory etiquette and stay home when feeling unwell;
• Everyone should do their best to test before returning to campus, especially our residential students. Exposure testing is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. in Carkoski Commons, or find a testing site near you. Visit a medical facility if you are seeking symptomatic testing;  
• Report any positive COVID-19 cases to the Healthcare Hotline 507-389-2030;
• Follow current MDH isolation and quarantine guidelines if you do test positive or are exposed;
• Everyone who can should get vaccinated and boosted as soon as they are able to do so.  Unvaccinated people continue to have the worst outcomes from infection;
• Periodic town halls will occur to keep the campus community updated on the COVID-19 situation.

As a reminder, the requirement of proof of vaccine or weekly testing of all employees, student employees and students living in residence halls or participating in select campus activities remains in effect. For additional information, please visit our COVID-19 website or contact provost@mnsu.edu.

Finally, Jan. 15, will be our next drawing for 2 winners of a semester’s worth of tuition and fees for students who provide proof of vaccination status. We will have additional incentive drawings on Feb. 1, Mar. 1 and April 1 – more details on the specifics of those drawings will come later this month.

Sincerely,

Edward S. Inch, Ph.D.

President

Dear Mavericks:

I hope you are doing well as we begin the spring semester. As many of you have seen, our region’s COVID-19 positivity rates have increased, as well as the number of positive cases reported by students and employees. This is not good news, and I wish it were different.

The reality is that we are not through the pandemic yet. All of us have worked hard to protect each other’s health and safety while ensuring the best instruction and experience possible for our students. As frustrating and difficult as this is, I am asking each of us to continue to do our best, adapt, and care for the health and well-being of our campus community.

Our task is to continue to provide the best educational experience for our students—both online and in-person. At the same time, we should continue our efforts to maintain our reduced campus density where it makes sense.  

I am asking each of us to recommit to the mitigation measures that have worked well in the past. Please take the time to review all of the following items; I recognize this is a lengthy email, but it is critical that everyone be aware of the reminders and new information listed below. 

Self-Screening

Please do not come to classes, events, activities, or work in-person if you feel sick (whether or not it is COVID). We ask that all faculty, staff, and students ask themselves the following screening questions:

• Do you have a sore throat, different from your seasonal allergies? A sore throat seems to be an early indicator of the omicron variant. 
• Is your temperature 100℉ or higher today? 
• Have you had or felt like you have had a fever in the last 24 hours? 
• Do you have a new or worsening cough or runny nose?
• Do you feel fatigued? 
• Are you having trouble breathing that cannot be explained by an existing condition, like asthma? 
• Do you have new or worsening body aches? Headache?
• Are you experiencing a loss of taste or smell? 
• Are you experiencing diarrhea, vomiting, or nausea? 
• Have you had close contact with anyone suspected of having or confirmed to have COVID-19?
• Have you tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 14 days or have reason to believe you have COVID-19?

Face Covering

Masks will continue to be required. They must cover both the nose and mouth in all public indoor spaces regardless of vaccination status. The CDC and MDH recommend a surgical mask, double masking, a KN95 or N95 respirator.

Hygiene

Handwashing: Use hand sanitizer or soap and warm water frequently and especially before eating or after using a restroom.

Respiratory etiquette: If you need to sneeze or cough, cover your mask with a tissue (or your elbow if no tissue is available), dispose of soiled mask and replace with another, use hand sanitizer or soap and warm water as soon as possible.

Reduce in-person events and meetings

Faculty members are strongly encouraged to reduce unnecessary in-class activities and interactions where possible for the first few weeks of classes. In addition, endeavor to adjust large, in-person meetings or events to hybrid/virtual meetings for the time being. 

Cleaning Supplies & PPE

The University provides COVID 19 cleaning supplies and PPE, including medical grade/surgical masks, face shields, and more.

Testing

Exposure testing is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 pm - 4 pm in Carkoski Commons, or find a testing site near you. Visit a medical facility if you are seeking symptomatic testing; 

Vaccinations

Vaccination clinics will be held on Thursday, January 20 from 1 pm – 4 pm and on Friday, January 21 from 9 am – 12 pm in the former dining hall of Carkoski Commons. First and second doses and booster shots of Pfizer and Moderna will be available.

Reminders

Report any positive COVID-19 cases to the Healthcare Hotline 507-389-2030.

Follow current MDH isolation and quarantine guidelines and accommodate/support individuals who need to isolate or quarantine.

Anyone who can get vaccinated and boosted should, as soon as they are eligible to do so. Unvaccinated people continue to have the worst outcomes from infection. 

To stay up to date and for more information, please visit our COVID-19 website. With questions or concerns, please contact provost@mnsu.edu.

As always, thank you for everything you do for our students and our university.

Sincerely,

Edward S. Inch, Ph.D.

President

Mavericks, 

I want to thank everyone who joined the faculty and staff town hall yesterday. We had over 180 participants yesterday, which shows me that these forums are an effective way of engaging in conversation about topics you are most interested in. If you weren’t able to join us live, the recording will be posted on our university website under News and Events next week. 

A few themes emerged during our town hall: 

Mask-Wearing 

• Consistent with updated MDH and CDC recommendations, Minnesota State Mankato no longer supports the use of cloth or gaiter-style face coverings within our buildings by students, staff, visitors or vendors.  
• The use of well-fitting medical grade multi-layered masks by all students, staff, visitors or vendors is recommended. These masks can be ordered here. 
• While not required for University use, a limited quantity of KN95 masks for voluntary personal use are available via the University Storeroom. KN-95 masks can be ordered here.   
• Numerous employees have been observed or expressed interest in wearing N95 respirators while on campus. Employees’ voluntary use of N95 respirators in response to COVID-19, requires the University to provide all employees with the attached OSHA notification regarding the risks associated with using this respirator. Please review it carefully.

Remote Work or Classes 

At this point, the University does not have plans to switch to fully remote course delivery or work. Our current mitigation strategies are at or above the level recommended by the Minnesota Department of Health’s recommendations for higher education institutions. Our goal is to preserve our critical in-person instructional experience to the best of our ability. Therefore, if there are non-critical in-person meetings or classroom activities that can be switched temporarily to Zoom or other hybrid delivery options you are encouraged to do so.  Our current mitigation efforts appear to be working and rates on campus are decreasing. 

Telework Policy and Practice 

There is a great interest in long-term and short-term telework / flexible work practices for our campus community. The task force is revising their recommendations based on feedback given to the draft proposal; an updated draft document should be ready to share at our February meet and confer for broad feedback. In the meantime, it was requested that a more equitable immediate short-term solution should be developed. Our senior leadership team will review this at our next meeting.

To stay up to date and for more information, please regularly visit our COVID-19 website.

As always, thank you for everything you do for our students and our university.

Sincerely,

Edward S. Inch, Ph.D.
President

Osman started her journey at Minnesota State University, Mankato in the spring of 2018 as an undecided freshman looking for ways to make friends and ways to get involved. Little did she know that her involvement with the student activities and organizations on campus would transform her into the student leader she is today.  

“I thought, what better way to get involved than to start volunteering” says Osman. 

She started volunteering at Campus Kitchen three and a half years ago. From making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to collecting donations from Panera Bread every Thursday, Osman has grown not only in her role as a volunteer but also as a student leader.  

Her compassion and love for helping others left her wanting more. Therefore, joining the Student Events Team was the next step for Osman. From team member to team lead, Osman continues to put her heart and soul into helping others through her time and dedication spent being a part of these organizations.  

“We create events such as bingo, lip-sync, the homecoming parade, and everything in between” states Osman. 

“It’s cool to help bring those events to life and seeing all of those students enjoy it made my college experience so much fun” she adds.  

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March of 2020 which directly impacted her physical involvement on campus. However, an advocate by nature, she knew in her heart something had to be done to help students suffering from the consequences of the pandemic. 

“I joined Student Government because I wanted to advocate for students and help them with any issues they were facing – during the pandemic we focused on student’s mental health issues” states Osman.  

Osman’s strong passion for advocating, supporting, and encouraging students on campus has not gone unnoticed.  

Director of the Centennial Student Union and Student Activities – Mark Constantine states “Zahara is all things to all people. She has a knack for connecting with so many different groups on campus. She is a doer. If someone needs assistance, she is always one of the first people to raise her hand. I find her to be a bright light for our campus.” 

Over the past four years, Osman has shown great accomplishment in her ability to provide care for students through her volunteer work and involvement on campus. Her confidence and leadership skills have grown exponentially which not only made an impact on students but faculty as well.  

Osman is currently finishing up her final year at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She is set to graduate in May with her bachelor’s in Aviation, minoring in both business administration and music industry and entertainment. After graduation she plans to go abroad to experience different cultures and continue her passion for learning, advocating, and connecting with others. Osman has successfully fulfilled her role as a student leader through her ability to make a difference.