Saint Mary's Newsroom
Campus ConnectionAn update from the president to alumni and parents
Tips for the new normal: social distancing and wearing masks
Social distancing and wearing masks have become our new normal. Here are two resources to help you as you adjust to these new protocols.
- This article from The Philadelphia Inquirer offers a few simple, yet creative, reminders of what 6 feet apart looks like.
- This poster, which you might also see around campus, offers helpful tips on how to properly wear and clean your mask.
For more tips and helpful information on COVID-19, visit smumn.edu/covidplanning.
Heroes on the front lines-Zacher’s work vital to COVID testing and treating at Mayo Clinic
Jeremy Zacher M’19 doesn’t ever see or interact with patients at Mayo Clinic, yet his work is vital to the frontline heroes testing and treating COVID-19 patients.
As an education coordinator and instructor in Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Zacher and his team support departmental education and all of the educators for more than 60 laboratories at Mayo Clinic. His personal areas of focus are online training and leadership development.
The advance of COVID-19 has dramatically shifted his work plan priorities. “Though education is obviously still important, we have shifted into a support mode to help with technology issues, work with assignments for online training, and assisting staff with working more efficiently and effectively,” he said. “Each day is a little different with the challenges we tackle.”
One of those challenges has been training lab workers doing COVID-19 lab testing.
“Much of what I do deals with online training and education, so this has been all about supporting our staff and helping them adapt quickly,” he said.
“We have many laboratory staff members who are redeployed to help with the COVID-19 testing, so they need to be trained quickly so that they can contribute as soon as possible. My work as of late has included creating online training, videos, and quick reference guides for staff to use in their training.”
Though much of the Mayo Clinic laboratory staff still needs to be on site, many are now working from home for the first time, so Zacher and his team are there to train and answer questions.
“Many of those working from home have never had to deal with that sort of challenge before, so we are supporting them through the change,” Zacher said. “Part of that includes teaching them about the technologies, but also we try to support the well-being of the employees. We work with a variety of people, some of whom haven’t previously had to do meetings online. It’s about getting people more comfortable with using the technology, providing them with resources to work from home, and helping them feel good about what they’re doing on a daily basis.”
Zacher is finding multiple ways to directly apply what he learned in Saint Mary’s M.Ed. in Learning Design and Technology program. He graduated in 2019.
He admits getting his master’s degree was something he’d always wanted to do but had put off for quite some time, telling himself his workload and his family life would make it too difficult. But after working at Mayo Clinic for about 15 years, he decided the time was right and that a master’s degree would open up the door to more opportunities.
“I looked at a variety of programs, and the LDT program stood out because of how it fit with both my work and my own interests. Because education and technology have really been passions of mine, it seemed like a great fit. I was able to modify and adapt what I was learning directly to the work I was doing, which made
it seem less like another task to manage and more like a way of enhancing the things I was already doing. One top of that, the support I got throughout the process from my classmates and professors was outstanding.”
Zacher said the experience continues to benefit him in his career; for starters, after successfully balancing school, work, and family life, he feels confident in his ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines all at once.
“Much of what I do for the department is to help our educators and trainers become better at what they do, so it was great to be able to share what I learned with my colleagues at the same time that I was improving myself and developing into a more effective leader for our laboratories and for Mayo Clinic.”
Although Zacher said it’s both humbling and exciting to be a part of the COVID-19 fight, he doesn’t consider himself a hero. “We have so many great researchers, technologists, specialists, and lab assistants who are on the front lines, collecting samples, testing specimens, and searching for answers, and I see them as the real heroes of all of this because of how vitally important their work is to keeping everyone safe and healthy.
“Mayo Clinic’s primary value is that ‘the needs of the patient come first’,” he said. “For those of us in roles that don’t see patients, sometimes it’s hard to truly visualize what that means, but in today’s world, it’s very apparent to see the impact we are having on the lives of so many people. I am just happy to be able to do my part and contribute where I can.”
Heroes on the front lines – Schreder helps Haitians construct masks
Ellen Schreder’s voice cracks emotionally when she speaks of her Haitian friends and what she describes as their “infectious hope and joy.”
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, she constantly fears for their safety.
“They’re being told to wash their hands, but 80 percent of them don’t have access to running water,” she said.
“They’re being told to socially distance but they can’t. Their food is purchased in open markets … where they are shoulder to shoulder with each other, and they live in close proximity to one another.”
And if they do get sick, she adds, there’s no access to medical care.
Schreder said she read there are an estimated 60 ventilators in all of Haiti (which has an estimated population of 11.5 million). In truth, she discovered there are maybe 20 functioning ventilators, and medical personnel don’t know how to properly use them.
“They’re dying in their homes and not being counted because nobody knows,” she said.
“We’ll never know.”
Schreder, who is a partner at a Minneapolis law firm, first fell in love with the people of Haiti when she visited the country with her daughter on a mission trip about 15 years ago. In 2014, she and colleague Dr. Leslee Jaeger established a way to support Haitians in supporting themselves through Days for Girls and Helping Haiti Work.
It began with teaching Haitians to construct reusable menstrual products but, in the wake of the pandemic, has switched to manufacturing cloth masks.
Schreder had discovered that without access or funding to purchase proper sanitary products, girls in Haiti and other Third World countries were often forced to miss school for a week every month. Ultimately, she said, many dropped out of school.
Schreder and Jaeger began helping Haitian women develop valuable sewing skills, as well as a business plan for constructing and marketing sustainable feminine hygiene solutions. From their newfound income, the Haitian workers could now support their families, and countless girls were given the supplies and confidence they needed to stay in school. Schreder and Jaeger lead the Days for Girls Enterprise Team in Haiti (the only one in existence in Haiti).
When Haitian nonprofits began seeing a large demand for cloth masks this spring, they switched priorities. Haitian workers had constructed upwards of 6,000 masks by April 21.
At $2 each, the seamstresses are taking home about 50 cents per mask, which is greatly helping their families.
The orders keep coming in, and like here in the U.S., many businesses are closed, and material is hard to come by.
Another outcome of the pandemic has been an extreme rise in the price of food. Schreder recently raised $3,600 from family and friends, which was used to purchase large quantities of food for Haitian families. Even with cash, because of the current food scarcity in Haiti, it was difficult to find what they needed.
Too often, Schreder said, Haitians are forgotten.
Sometimes, she explained, visitors from more affluent countries visit Haiti on a volunteer mission. They come bearing gifts and they stay a few days, maybe a week, and help with building projects or other chores.
But when they leave, they never return.
Schreder said back in 2014 she had visited Haiti for about a week to teach women how to sew. She had discovered that her team of local sewers were very skilled but that they had rushed to get through the first round of production and earn as much as they could. They assumed she — like so many before her — would never return. On the first of many return trips, Schreder was greeted by the surprised exclamation, “Miss Ellen; you came back!”
“No one is ever as happy to see me as my Haitian friends,” she said.
Schreder looks forward to her return visits, which are now three or four times a year. In September, she led a group that included other Saint Mary’s alumnae Mary (Hennessy) Pawlowski ’82 and Cindy (Chamberlain) Budd ’82. Schreder attended Saint Mary’s for two years, between 1980 and 1982, and she made lifelong friends during that time. She was excited to introduce her U.S. friends to her Haiti friends.
“I can tell people about this all day long every day and unless you go there and see it, and touch it, and smell it, and feel it … It gets me choked up just talking about it. I look at them and I see they have nothing and they are so happy,” she said.
“And then I come back here and look at all that we have, and people just don’t get it. It’s life altering. I have a lot to learn from them.”
Photo caption: Ellen Schreder with some of her Haitian seamstresses.
Welcome back to campus
Hello Cardinals,
This newsletter is where all valuable COVID-19-related and move-in information is located. Please encourage your peers to read this newsletter. New students are busy moving into their residence halls. It’s wonderful to once again hear the sound of laughter on campus. It’s also reassuring to see everyone is adjusting to and adhering to our social distancing guidelines.
As a university, we are ready. We implemented guidelines, planned, planned even more, educated our community, rearranged our classrooms and meeting spaces, and purchased precautionary items — all in accordance to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). You are now in the driver’s seat; it is up to you to adhere to these guidelines to keep our community safe and to keep everyone on campus. Your actions during these first couple of weeks (but really all semester) could mean the difference between staying in Winona or needing to switch to online learning. We are depending on your partnership.
We’ve been monitoring situations at other colleges and universities that have needed to pivot to online learning within two weeks of having students on campus. Let’s break this trend. I know we can be better, and I have faith in you. We know the value of an in-person education, and we know your desire to be on campus.
Let’s make this a great semester.
Tim Gossen, Ed.D.
Vice President for Student Affairs
Campus updates and reminders
A few updates and reminders:
- Keep reviewing smumn.edu/covidplanning as we continue to update and add items frequently. We’ve added helpful videos from the CDC this week.
- As you are packing, remember to review one last time the “what to bring with you” list including: two masks, liquid hand soap, personal hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, a thermometer, a bottle to refill sanitizer, a reusable water bottle, tissues, and a bag for your mask.
- Although we have sanitation stations set up in common areas, having your own sanitizing supplies for your own room will be very helpful.
- If you have a maintenance request in your residence hall room, please contact the Residence Life staff and they will submit a request for you. When the staff member comes to your room to fix the item, you will be asked to temporarily leave until they are finished with the job for safety reasons.
- Please remember to wear your masks properly over your nose and mouth pretty much any time you are away from your sleeping room and not alone.
- According to MDH, surface transmission is low risk, but we should still clean surfaces as much as possible. Wipe areas before and after you eat, work out, attend class, or study.
- In the classroom, do not move chairs around and adhere to the 6-foot rule at all times. Faculty will not be moving around the classroom as much so they can also adhere to this rule.
- Please make sure you are cleaning your masks regularly. Cleaning mask guidelines are posted throughout campus.
- We are developing a COVID-19 dashboard for the university website to show weekly numbers of positive COVID-19 cases on our campuses, as well as how many individuals are being tested. Once completed, we will share this link with the Saint Mary’s community. This will help keep everyone updated on how we are doing.
- While in food service, please be mindful of the following:
- Approximately 100 students can sit in the main dining room.
- Other spaces available are the plaza, game room, gym lobby, Toner Student Center lounge, President’s Room, and your residence hall.
- Do not bring your own containers for food or drink; use what is provided.
- Take only the amount of food you will eat and make sure you are taking enough, as seconds will not be an option at the moment.
- Use hand sanitizer when you come into the main dining room, Cardinal Coffee, or Cardinal Club.
- Stand on the red floor decals (either the 6-foot social distance decal or the arrow).
- Each residential student should read the letters — which reference a number of COVID-19-related guidelines — that have been placed in your sleeping rooms. Commuter students will also get this letter shortly.
- Please continue to be flexible and patient. Things continue to change quickly, and we do not always have the answers to every question. But I can assure you we are working hard and will respond to you in a timely manner.
- I encourage each of you to politely remind your peers, faculty, and staff to adhere to social distancing and COVID-19 guidelines. It is important we all take responsibility for keeping our education in person this semester.
Video message from Student Senate president
Kendall Archer ’21, Student Senate president, shares a special welcome back message.
Wellness Center updates
There will be several changes in the Jay Johnson Wellness Center’s operations for fall semester:
- The entrance to the Wellness Center will be from the external door of Vlazny Hall, facing the ball fields.
- Students will be screened prior to entry.
- All appointments need to be scheduled ahead of time by calling the Wellness Center at 507-457-1492.
- Appointments may be limited, due to availability of staff and the priority of COVID-19 testing and follow-up.
- COVID-19 testing will be available for symptomatic students and close contacts of positive cases.
- The cost of testing can be billed to the student’s insurance. Students must bring their insurance information to the appointment.
- Counseling appointments will be available via telecounseling primarily.
Move-in Weekend mailroom hours
The Saint Mary’s mailroom will have additional hours this weekend and for the first week of class.
- Wednesday, Aug. 19, through Friday, Aug. 21, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 22, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Sunday, Aug. 23, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- Monday, Aug. 24, through Friday, Aug. 28, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The mailroom will return to normal hours Monday, Aug. 31, which is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and the surgeon general, there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 is being spread through the mail.
It is still a good idea to wash your hands before and after touching any objects or surfaces that were likely touched by many other people.
Answers to your questions
What happens if the state goes into another stay-at-home order while we are on campus? Will we be allowed to stay on campus or asked to go home?
If another stay-at-home order is announced, the process will be similar to last spring. Students will be asked to go home within a reasonably quick time frame and should plan accordingly. With a stay-at-home order, we would not have the staff or ability to care for students on campus.
Do you have a list of building names and abbreviations to know where classes will be held?
Building abbreviations:
- FH — Fieldhouse (lower level of the gym)
- Fig — Figliulo (inside the Page Theater building)
- GR — Griffin Hall
- Gym — Gymnasium
- HC — Hendrickson Center
- HT — Heights
- LS — LaSalle Hall
- MCE — McEnery Center (attached to the library)
- Page — Page Theater (main theater)
- SJ — Saint Joseph’s Hall
- SLC — Science & Learning Center
- SM — Saint Mary’s Hall
- SY — Saint Yon’s Hall
- TSC — Toner Student Center
Will there be any extra measures for community showers and bathrooms in the residence halls?
Yes, we are cleaning them according to guidelines specified by the Minnesota Department of Health.
If I don’t feel safe using community showers and bathrooms, and there are other rooms available with a private bathroom, can I seek to have a room change?
At this time, there are no spare rooms available. But you are welcome to be put on a waitlist by emailing reslife@smumn.edu.
Will I be able to fly to another state to pick up my car while at school?
We’re strongly discouraging travel. If you do need to travel, you will need to fill out the travel notification form, and depending on where you are traveling, you may need to quarantine for 14 days.
Can you give more specific direction on how to find the risk level the CDC associates with a location?
We recommend viewing the CDC Cases in the U.S. webpage. This interactive map has been helpful for us and is updated frequently.
The travel form says it needs to be submitted 24 hours ahead of time. What if it is not? What if people lie about where they are going on this form? Will there be consequences?
We are encouraging students to adhere to all COVID-19 guidelines. If students choose not to adhere to these guidelines, we have the option of engaging in the judicial process. However, we are hoping students understand they are living within a community, need to be respectful of others, and need to be our partner in keeping the university open and keeping education on ground.
Will we get a refund if we are sent home for room and board like last year?
Should we need to send students home early for online learning, we would review the situation and make an appropriate determination about room and board reimbursement largely based on how much time is left in the semester.
Is there a filter in the purification unit in each dorm room that needs to be changed or cleaned? If so, who would change or clean it, and how often would it be changed or cleaned?
The units must be cleaned monthly, and we are determining how to best accomplish this. Students will receive more direction when they get on campus. Filters must be replaced every six months, and our maintenance workers will take care of this. The first filter change will occur late fall while our students are on break.
Why are the tables in the cafeteria socially distanced from one another, yet the chairs for sitting are not? If students are not socially distanced at the tables, and masks are off while eating, then what is the need to socially distance the tables themselves?
With our current cafeteria setup, we are obeying Minnesota Department of Health guidelines for bars and restaurants. Additionally a Minnesota Department of Health senior epidemiologist, approved our set up last week. We are encouraging students to continue gathering in their “pods.” Pods are like your family at Saint Mary’s, the people you potentially room with and are your best friends. This group would sit together at a table and though relatively close (with reduced chairs per table), would be limiting exposure to others by remaining together and eating together most days.
I’m concerned about the amount of styrofoam waste created through the use of the current disposable method in food service. Could paper products be looked at in terms of being more eco-friendly as well as being recyclable?
We agree with your environmental concerns about the styrofoam, and we continue to give this thought. There isn’t another alternative at this point. We can’t use reusable containers because they may not be sanitized properly. It’s also a matter of being cost effective and readily available. Paper products are difficult to come by, much like other items in this pandemic. The product would also have to meet a certain caliber to be used in our to-go situation (sturdy, as well as completely covered).
Do masks need to be worn outside? Could you provide clarification to when/where/how masks need to be worn?
We will be putting up more details about mask wearing on smumn.edu/covidplanning soon. Masks need to be worn indoors at all times (unless a student is entirely by themselves or are in their sleeping space). Masks need to be worn outside when social distancing may not be possible. For example, if walking on the trails alone, a mask is not needed, but students should bring it along in case they run into a group of friends.
There are concerns in regard to the guest policy and how that will be enforced. Will there be an increase in sanctions to further discourage students from breaching this policy?
Overnight guests are not permitted. Like other policies, a student will be documented if they have a guest over, and we have the option of engaging in the judicial process. However, we are hoping students understand they are living within a community, need to be respectful of others, and need to be our partner in keeping the university open and keeping education on ground.
Will students have to wear masks while cooking in kitchen spaces if they are the only individual there? Some areas, like Brother William Hall, have large gathering spaces connected to the kitchens. In locking this area, there will be an estimated 10-12 seating spaces lost for student use. Is there another system that could be set up so these valuable seating spaces are not lost to things such as locking the kitchen for reservations?
When students are alone in the kitchen, they will not need to wear a mask. We’ll take your thoughts under consideration. If we require reservations, the good news is we know who is in there and when, so proper cleaning can occur. We are also erring on the side of caution as these are mass gathering spaces, and we are trying to help students to stay socially distanced.
Will cafeteria hours be extended in order to accommodate new schedules?
We are encouraging students to stagger their meal time so not everyone comes at the start of the meal time. That said, we know our safety processes will take additional time. We’ll see how things work once everyone is on campus. This fall will be a learning process for all of us, and we will make adjustments as necessary.
Will the college be doing any COVID-19 testing on campus? If not, can you recommend someplace in Winona where students could get tested?
Students who are feeling ill or believe they have been exposed can be tested on campus at our Wellness Center; tests are available through a collaboration with Mayo Clinic. Students should call 507-457-1492 to make an appointment. They can also be tested at Winona Health. At this point, in following CDC recommendations, we are not doing mass testing.
Have an additional question or concern? Fill out the form and let us know.
The Rev. James P. Burns, IVD, Ph.D.
President
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
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