Saint Mary's Newsroom

As previously communicated on March 18 in an email message from Father President James P. Burns, IVD, Ph.D., Saint Mary’s will waive its current refund policy and issue credit adjustments for room and board charges for the time you are not able to live on campus. To assist with registration for fall 2020, which begins Monday, April 6, we have applied the credit adjustment for the remainder of the term to your student account, effective immediately.

Please review your account by logging in to your student portal and clicking > My Student Portal > My Bill to check for a balance.

For returning students:

• If you have an outstanding balance due, please make arrangements to resolve your account prior to registration. Please note that Saint Mary’s has temporarily adjusted its threshold for financial holds to only affect balances greater than $1,000 and has waived late fees through June. Accordingly, if your balance is less than $1,000, you will be permitted to register for next fall.
• If you have a remaining credit balance, it will be applied to your charges for the fall 2020 term.

For graduating seniors:

• If you have an outstanding balance due, please make arrangements to resolve your account prior to graduation.
• If you have a remaining credit balance, you can apply it to a Saint Mary’s graduate program or certificate for the fall 2020 term or you can request a refund by completing the refund request form.

Please contact Cardinal Central at cardinalcentral@smumn.edu or 507-457-6655 if you have any questions or need assistance.

A pre-scheduled email regarding summer workers was sent by mistake. We apologize for this confusion. As Saint Mary’s continues to monitor the progression of COVID-19 and related campus operations, we are unsure of a viable timetable for summer work and housing.

As such, Saint Mary’s has suspended summer work until further notice. We hope to be able to provide additional information later in April.

Connect with us LIVE

Wishing you could come to the Hendrickson Center Computer Labs during your registration time? We do too. Have no fear as you can still join us LIVE in a Zoom meeting (but this time it is BYOD – bring your own donut!) Jump on the call anytime during your registration window, and not only will Student Success and First Generation Initiative advisers be available to help you, but also your peer advisers.

Join the Zoom meeting

What to know before you join

When you first join, we will welcome you in and provide general information and guidance as you register. If you experience any issues with registration or have any specific questions, we will pop you in a virtual breakout room from that same meeting to have a quieter space to help you troubleshoot. Have a more individualized or confidential question? Just let us know and we can do a 1-on-1 in a breakout room.

We can’t wait to see you!

REMINDER: Check your student portal to see your specific registration date and time. Registration opens according to Central Standard Time. Not sure what time that means for you? Check this out.

Every semester, Cardinal Central uploads video tutorials to Blackboard to familiarize students with new registration features. As you prepare for registration next week, take time to review this handy tutorial.

In light of ongoing recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to limit the spread of COVID-19 and its impact on our community, the university will continue to offer all graduate and bachelor’s completion courses online through summer term 1, May 4-June 28, and will cancel or postpone all events currently scheduled through May 31.

New and continuing students were notified of their course options earlier this week, and program directors will continue to work with students to determine a course plan that helps achieve their goals. With a long history of helping students excel in online, blended, and on-campus programs, Saint Mary’s remains confident in our ability to continue to serve our adult learners.

The delivery of courses beginning after June 28 will be assessed in early May and will be informed by further recommendations from state and federal officials.

Thank you for your patience and flexibility, and for your continued support of Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

You may not be on campus right now, but the Student Success Center is here to support you. Whether in need of tutoring in a specific subject area or struggling with the transition to remote learning, there are a variety of support services still available.

Friday, April 3, is the last day to sign-up for a tutor. Don’t delay.

Email a peer learning assistant for support as you manage classes online:

• Claire Patterson – cepatt16@smumn.edu
• Mariah Bell – mxbell16@smumn.edu
• Edgar Medina-Ortiz – exmedi16@smumn.edu
• Danielle Harris – drharr17@smumn.edu
• Brookelyn Lewis – bllewi18@smumn.edu

Starting Monday, April 6, the Office of Recreation, Involvement, and Student Engagement (R.I.S.E.) will be providing daily virtual programming opportunities for students. Each day will have something different ranging from movies to virtual concerts, to activities to enhance your well being. Email RISE@smumn.edu if you have any ideas for virtual programs.

Don’t forget we also have an in-home workout guide and links to things like free yoga classes and Planet Fitness’ free daily virtual workouts available at studentactivities.smumn.edu.

Movie Mondays

Join your Cardinal classmates in a virtual movie night and chat every Monday at 8 p.m. If you have any movie ideas, email RISE@smumn.edu. We will kick off Movie Mondays on Monday, April 6, with Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog.”

How to Join the Netflix Party

• You must have a subscription to Netflix in order to join.
• For the full experience, join on a laptop or PC to better sync with the Netflix Party.
• Download the chrome extension.
• Join via the link on studentactivities.smumn.edu.
• Please be sure to read over the chat rules below.

Chat rules:

• Be polite. No bullying.
• No inappropriate language.
• Do not post links in the chat.
• Show respect for everyone.
• No spamming.

Talk About It Tuesday

Enjoy weekly roundtable talks, hosted by Saint Mary’s staff members on a number of topics. Our first topic will be Mental Health and Coping During the Quarantine hosted by Naz Zerka, one of our mental health counselors from the Wellness Center, at 4 p.m. via Zoom. The Zoom link can be found at studentactivities.smumn.edu.

Also: Verizon “Pay it Forward Live” Concert series at 7 p.m. on the @Verizon Twitter account and Yahoo Entertainment.

Well-being Wednesday

R.I.S.E. is working with multiple campus partners to come up with something special every Wednesday related to student well-being.

We will be kicking off Wellness Wednesday next Wednesday, April 8, with a Zoom group workout hosted by Saint Mary’s very own strength and conditioning coach, Matt Sagar. The Zoom link will be on studentactivities.smumn.edu, and the workout will start at 4 p.m.

Thursday Tours

Every Thursday we will provide a number of virtual tours of famous locations around the world and also some video hikes and tours of places around Winona you’ll be able to check out yourselves when you return to campus. Links to the tours will be updated every Thursday on studentactivities.smumn.edu, so check back weekly for updates.

Also: Verizon “Pay it Forward Live” Concert series at 7 p.m. on the @Verizon Twitter account and Yahoo Entertainment.

And: Weekly free video series “Learn that Thing” on Degy Entertainment’s Facebook page. This week they will be hosting “How to Salsa with Salsa Fiesta” at 2 p.m. CT. Future sessions include:

• April 9: How to Juggle
• April 16: Learn the DJ
• April 23: Vocal Lesson
• April 30: Learn to Play Cello

Friday Night Live

Friday Night Live! is Degy Entertainments Free Friday night concert series hosted by DJ Jeff and MC Ari. Watch on Degy Entertainment’s Facebook page.