Saint Mary's Newsroom

We are offering one more set of certification courses this November at the intermediate and advanced Levels. You can read more about them on the CELT site and you can sign up for them here: https://celt.smumn.edu/ourplan/certification/.

This is the last week for course-contracted faculty to apply for the Teaching Fellows program. The Teaching Fellows Program is designed to provide selected adjunct faculty the opportunity to actively develop, invigorate, and expand their teaching repertoire and build community through a series of 6 monthly workshops. Participants will engage in research-based practices, strategies, and tools grounded in the Lasallian tradition of excellence in learner-centered teaching. You can read more about the goals for the program and find the application form on Teaching Fellows page on the CELT site.

Please email any questions to CELT@smumn.edu.

Minnesota’s COVID-19 case counts have been climbing since June.  On Oct. 29, the State of Minnesota reported 2,900 new COVID-19 cases – a daily record in the pandemic. The state is now averaging more than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases a day.  Over 300 new COVID-19 cases are being reported at colleges and universities weekly.  Thankfully, the number of weekly positive COVID-19 cases at colleges and universities has decreased since mid-September 2020.  Per the Minnesota Department of Public Health, the rampant spread in Minnesota is being driven now by the “thousands of seemingly small decisions” Minnesotans make daily to meet and gather with others without wearing masks, socially distancing or taking other steps to stem the spread.

Our expectation is that students, staff, and faculty not put themselves in situations where there is crowding or a lack of social distancing.

It is everyone’s responsibility to help reverse the trend we are seeing.  So, we are once again asking you to adhere to the following:

• When getting together in a social setting, whether indoors or outdoors:
  • Keep group sizes small (10 or fewer people) – the smaller the better!
  • Ensure at last 6-foot social distancing between you and your friends.

• Limit the number of people in small or common spaces.
• Keep your friend group or pod contacts very low.

Our actions now directly impact the level of COVID-19 we have in our state, as well as the level of risk to our university community. We continue to be very proud of our efforts so far.  Do the right thing, slow down, wear a mask, and spread out.

Also, Just a gentle reminder to all employees that they should stay at home if they are experiencing ANY symptoms associated with COVID-19. Those symptoms are as follows:

•  Fever or chills
•  Cough
•  Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
•  Fatigue
•  Muscle or body aches
•  Headache
•  New loss of taste or smell
•  Sore throat
•  Congestion or runny nose
•  Nausea or vomiting
•  Diarrhea

As we move indoors and as COVID-19 surges in Minnesota and across the nation, we need to be particularly mindful of the need to stay home when feeling ill.

In addition, if an employee is experiencing any symptoms associated with COVID-19 and takes a COVID-19 test, the employee must quarantine at home until the results of the COVID-19 test are received.

Protocols for employees who test positive, test negative, are awaiting test results, and are close contacts of someone with a positive COVID-19 test can be found on the HR page in Blackboard.

Ed.D. course contracted faculty member Krista Soria, Ph.D., published an article in the Journal of Leadership Education, along with some of the students from her Ed.D. course, Theories of Adult Learning. Students Karl Kaste, Milpha Blamo, and Kelly Diekemper are listed as co-authors for the article titled “Enriching College Students’ Leadership Efficacy.”

Also, Kate Soucheray, an Ed.D. aluma published an article titled, “A White Counselor in a Multicultural World: Understanding the Need for a Spiritual, Multicultural Counseling Course,” in the June 2020 Spiritual Psychology and Counseling publication.

Because of ongoing COVID-19 safety restrictions on large gatherings, our annual live benefit open enrollment meetings on the Twin Cities and Winona campuses will be replaced this year with a recorded PowerPoint presentation you can watch at your convenience. That presentation, together with the 2021 Employee Benefit Guide, instructions for submitting your benefit elections, and other helpful information, will be posted to the HR page of Blackboard on Nov.  9.

During open enrollment, which runs Nov. 9-24, you may add, drop, or change benefit coverage without a qualifying life event. Your elections will take effect on Jan. 1, 2021.

We are pleased to announce that for the second consecutive plan year, the university is absorbing the cost increase so employee premiums for all tiers of medical, dental, and vision plans will remain unchanged.

The 2021 plan year is a passive enrollment. You are not required to re-enroll in your current benefits if you do not want to make any changes. However, you must re-enroll in all Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) if you wish to use them for 2021. These benefits — Health FSA, Dependent FSA, and Limited FSA — are “use it or lose it” each plan year, so a new annual salary deferral election is required each year. If you do not re-enroll in your FSA benefits, they will be cancelled effective Jan. 1, 2021.

To enroll or change elections, please login to the Faculty/Staff Portal, then My Payroll, Benefits, and Open Enrollment. Whether you make benefit changes or not, we encourage all benefit eligible employees to review and update their beneficiaries, home address, and phone numbers during the open enrollment period.

Please view the recorded open enrollment presentation starting Nov. 9 for more details. If you still have questions or need assistance afterwards, you can email hr@smumn.edu or visit the human resources office on your campus. If you prefer to call, dial 507-457-8706 (or Ext. 8706 from any campus phone).

Saint Mary’s University is hosting an interfaith prayer service (Catholic-Christian, Muslim, Jewish) for peace and civility on and after Election Day. The prayer service will be viewable, beginning at 1 p.m. today, Tuesday, Nov. 3. All are welcome to this largely student-led, virtual event, which will be viewable until the end of the day.

Saint Mary’s students are set to perform “Measure for Measure” by William Shakespeare. Due to COVID-19 and necessary safety precautions, performances will take place for a small, select audience Thursday, Nov. 5, through Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m.

Audiences will be restricted to no more than 50 students to ensure that safety procedures are followed. Theatre majors and students whose instructors have required them to watch the production for a class are invited to attend performances in person. Those who are invited and plan to attend have registered with theatre faculty to ensure the 50-seat capacity is not exceeded. Masks are to be worn by audience members throughout the entire performance. Additionally, abundant seating is available (over 450 seats) to ensure that those in attendance are able to sit at least 6 feet apart.

Since Shakespeare’s plays are not bound by licensing fees or royalties, “Measure for Measure” can be viewed online by the general public. All performances will be live-streamed on Panopto. A video recording of the production will also available beginning Thursday, Nov. 19. 

More information on how to view the performances and additional information about the production is available here.