Saint Mary's Newsroom

Dear Saint Mary’s community,

We’ve just passed a significant milestone: the one year mark when this pandemic began and all of our learning suddenly shifted online. The nation has suffered a great loss recording close to 550,000 deaths and eternal sadness for families and loved ones. At Saint Mary’s, we’ve all adapted to a university that may look and feel quite different, one filled with masks, social distancing, and virtual events, but is at heart the same Lasallian Catholic family. Now, more than ever, we see hope on the horizon.

We are incredibly grateful for our faculty who quickly shifted to adapt their curricula and become masters of online engagement. And we’re especially grateful for our students who have worked diligently to keep one another safe — all while maintaining a positive and flexible spirit. We’ve had a very successful year thus far due to your hard work and creativity. We’re grateful that so many of the aspects we love about Saint Mary’s haven’t changed despite this pandemic. We’ve held onto hope throughout these past 12 months.

Encouraged by our successes and the rapid pace at which the COVID-19 vaccine is being distributed around the U.S., we want to confirm that Saint Mary’s is planning to return safely to fully in-person teaching and learning in fall 2021. We are so pleased that the vaccine is now being made available to our faculty, staff, and students. We also are encouraged by the newly expanded guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for those vaccinated.

This fall, we look forward to a full schedule of activities that reflect our identity as a Lasallian Catholic university. On the Winona Campus, courses will return to their regular mode of operation. We are also excited to announce that, at the undergraduate College, we will return to a traditional academic calendar, not one abbreviated due to pandemic conditions. On the Rochester and Twin Cities campuses, graduate and professional courses will also return to standard methods of delivery, as determined on a course-by-course basis. Please watch here for more information.

We are excited to return to a vibrant, robust, hands-on living and learning environment and to remove obstacles preventing our students from achieving their personal and professional goals.

The safety of our community will always be our top priority, and we will make adjustments to safety protocols and course delivery as needed. We are thankful that many of our community members have already been vaccinated, and we encourage everyone to become vaccinated as soon as they are eligible. Even with vaccinations becoming more available, the CDC and other health officials are cautioning all to remain vigilant and follow safety guidelines. Currently, Saint Mary’s is not requiring the vaccine prior to returning, but this decision is subject to change based on city, state, or federal regulations or recommendations.

We have remained steadfast and resilient and have maintained a caring and connected community. The lessons we’ve learned will ultimately make us better educators, students, and citizens. We ask for your continued patience this spring and summer as plans may fluctuate based on local and federal guidelines and state and regional COVID-19 contagion levels. We promise to communicate with you regularly in our newsletters and will update our Steadfast and Resilient website at smumn.edu/covidplanning.

Together, we are Saint Mary’s!

This past year has taken a huge toll on all of you — on your physical and mental health, on your education, and perhaps on your family’s economic or job situation. We cannot thank you enough for how you have pulled together as a community from the start of this pandemic. It’s hard to believe that we have been dealing with this for over one year now. Your grace, compassion, and resilience has been an inspiration to us. You have epitomized all the values that we hold dear as a Lasallian Catholic community.

With that being said, we must continue to be vigilant against this insidious virus. The governor has eased COVID-19 restrictions. Vaccines are being administered in our local communities, However, all of this is occurring as highly contagious variants are gaining ground in our state. These variants are more easily transmitted. It is unclear if the state’s vaccination programs will stay ahead of the variants taking hold in Minnesota.

We want to remind you of how vitally important it is to continue compliance with our COVID-19 protocols. Please continue to wear your mask, practice social distancing, and wash your hands frequently. Thankfully, we are not seeing any increases in our COVID-19 numbers at this time, but other colleges and universities are.

Let’s continue doing what we need to do to stay safe, to keep others safe, and to take care of each other during these trying times.

Winona County provided the following information in its COVID-19 newsletter on March 19.

Winona County will no longer use vaccine interest forms, for the following reasons:

• 78% of the over 65 population of Winona County have been vaccinated for COVID-19.
• More populations being eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in phase 1 B.
• Winona County Public Health has administered 10,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Going forward, Winona County will release links to register for upcoming COVID-19 public clinics through a media release, the Winona County Health and Human Services Facebook page, and the weekly COVID-19 newsletter. (Sign up to receive the newsletter.)

Anyone needing assistance may call the vaccine hotline at 507-457-6375 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The university will continue to notify faculty and staff by email of vaccination clinics in Winona County, Olmsted County, or Hennepin County of which it becomes aware.

TV screens placed around our Winona and Twin Cities campuses are used to share important messages and advertise on-campus events. Think of them like a digital poster.

If your club, organization, or department would like to share information on the screens, you can submit your request at community.smumn.edu/forms/tv-monitor-displays. Students should submit through their advisers.

To help you get started, the Marketing and Communication team has created PowerPoint design templates you can use to create your slide for the TV screens. These templates can be found at smumn.edu/brandresources.

Here are a few tips for creating your slide:

• A JPG file or editable PowerPoint format is accepted.
• TV screen size is 1920×1080 pixels (or the Widescreen 16:9 slide size in PowerPoint).
• A maximum of 30 words per slide is recommended as each slide cycles through displaying for only seven seconds at a time.
• The Saint Mary’s Writing Styleguide offers helpful guidance on frequently used terms and other writing best practices.
• In general, it is not best practice to take a poster design and copy/paste it to the slide. Most often, it will be better to extract the content from the poster and use it to create a slide.
• Many screens have multiple users, so please limit the number of postings you request as much as possible.

If you have questions, contact James “Twigz” McGuire, coordinator of Recreation, Involvement, and Student Engagement (R.I.S.E.), at 507-457-1686 or RISE@smumn.edu.

As many of you know, New Student Orientation and Registration (NSOR) will be virtual again this year. That means all in person NSOR dates are canceled. All new students will be registered for and participate in the virtual NSOR program.

Program overview 

Virtual NSOR will happen during the month of June, from May 31 to July 2. Each week, incoming students will participate in Canvas modules and meet virtually with their orientation group. All new students are required to attend virtual NSOR, including transfer students, international students, athletes, seminarians, 3+2 students, and readmit students. See program details below.

Module 1: Welcome to the Cardinal Community (starts May 3)

• Module focuses on welcoming new students to Saint Mary’s
• Orientation group meeting — meeting times will be determined by student’s availability

Module 2: Cardinal Life (starts June 7)

• Module focuses on what life is like for Saint Mary’s students and covers many Student Affairs offices
• Orientation group meeting — same group and time as the previous week

Module 3: Prepare for Take Off (starts June 14)

• Module prepares students for registration, covering the course catalog, the portal, and Integratus
• Orientation group meeting — same group and time as the previous week

Module 4: Let’s Get Registered (starts June 21)

• Module will show the students directly how to register
• No orientation group meeting this week — instead, student’s will be meeting with a Student Success adviser virtually to get registered for classes

Module 5: Officially a Cardinal (starts June 28)

• Module focuses on aspects that new students have access to now that they are officially registered, including financial aid, buying books, and services available to them as a Saint Mary’s student
• Orientation group meeting — same group and time as the previous weeks

Each department will be represented through videos and discussions in small groups. Modules will be housed on the “Cardinal Kickoff” Canvas course. If your department is updating their video from last year, please have those submitted by April 30.

Welcome Weekend 2021

New students move in on Thursday, Aug. 26. We are planning for an in-person Welcome Weekend this year from Friday, Aug. 27, to Sunday, Aug. 29. Welcome Weekend will include old traditions and will be launching a few new traditions. If you are interested in helping with any aspect of Welcome Weekend, please reach out to Tricia Dobrient at tdobrien@smumn.edu.

First five weeks – fall 2021

A small committee is working on first-year programming for the first five weeks of the fall semester. Events include shopping shuttles into Winona, the clubs and organizations fair, and drop-in advising for first-year students. Many other events are in the works. If you are interested in assisting with any of these programs, or you have ideas for first five weeks programming, please contact Tricia Dobrient at tdobrien@smumn.edu.

Common read 2021 – “Between the World and Me” 

The common read books are here and ready to be picked up. If you would like a copy of “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, please visit the Student Success Center or email Tricia Dobrient at tdobrien@smumn.edu.

Orientation leaders 2021

The orientation leaders are hard at work planning for virtual NSOR and Welcome Weekend. Weekly, the orientation staff is training to build leadership skills, develop as representatives of the university, and prepare to be the best welcoming staff for the incoming class of students. It is a great idea to get to know the orientation leader representing your department so they can help establish connections for your department with the incoming students. Take a look at your orientation leaders for 2021 below.

Executive orientation leaders:

Katie Pierpont, biology, pre med.

Jordan Keeley, leadership and pre physical therapy

Noah Xing, finance and international business

Orientation leaders:

Ashley Streveler, elementary education

Caroline Cummings, business intelligence and analytics

Catie Schiltz, biology and pre physical therapy

Cheyenne Carlsen, psychology and criminal justice

Emilie Serna, literature

Emily Henderson, elementary education

Emma Doering, theatre: musical theatre track

Enitan Onayiga, psychology and criminal justice

Josie Borchert, English

Juoleanne Ladao, 3+2 physicians assistant program

Maddie Mora, biology, pre physicians assistant

Maria Flynn, public relations and digital media

Becca Fabozzi, Spanish and marketing

Sydney Klausler, elementary education

Tiwonge Kafera, biology, pre med

If you have any questions or concerns about any new student programs, please contact Tricia Dobrient at tdobrien@smumn.edu.

Last year, employees told us they appreciated the security and convenience of receiving and signing their annual employment contracts electronically. The Human Resources department, therefore, will distribute exempt staff contracts electronically once again this year. We expect to deliver them to employees’ inboxes no later than Friday, April 9. If you do not receive your contract by close of business in April 9, please notify hr@smumn.edu.

Historic vegetation map (1855) for Winona Township created by GeoSpatial Services.

In 2017, the Winona County Historical Society (WCHS) discovered a nearly 120 year-old transcribed copy of the original Public Land Survey (PLS) notes for Winona Township in its archives. The survey field notes provide a record of vegetation, landmarks, and other natural resources of the Winona area as they appeared in the middle of the 19th century. WCHS and Winona State University (WSU) received a grant from the State of Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to digitize this and other historic ecological data with the goal of producing an accessible and shared resource to educate the community about the local ecologic history of the Driftless Area. GeoSpatial Services (GSS) joined the project to develop the needed spatial data, a digital vegetation map, and an interactive online Esri story map to present the findings.

Our digital vegetation mapping found that, historically, the most prevalent communities in Winona Township were prairie and oak woodland, followed by floodplain forest and savanna. Since the time of the original PLS, the expansion of the city of Winona has eliminated nearly all of the prairie and savanna, and human influence has modified waterways and the river floodplain.

For more information on the process and our findings, visit the full story map. GSS staff will also be giving an online presentation about the project on Tuesday, April 6, at 6:30 p.m. Learn more and join the presentation.