Saint Mary's Newsroom

On Wednesday, March 25, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued a two-week “stay at home” order beginning Friday, March 27, at midnight to Friday, April 10.

The latest executive order is intended to allow the state to:

• Build out hospital capacity
• Increase access to ventilators and other life-saving equipment
• Increase testing for COVID-19
• Address personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages for health workers
• Plan for protecting and caring for vulnerable populations in coming months
• Assess new data to inform mitigation strategy

The order requires that all workers who can work from home must do so. Workers in critical sectors who are performing work that cannot be done at their home or residence through telework or virtual work, and can be done only at a place of work outside of their home or residence, are exempt from the prohibition.

These critical services exemptions apply only to travel to and from an individual’s home or residence and place of work and an individual’s performance of work duties that cannot be done at their homes or residence. Travel may include transportation to and from child care or school settings as necessary to ensure the safe care of children. Included in the list of workers in critical sectors are educators and other workers supporting public and private schools, as well as colleges and universities.

In accordance with this order and to continue to safeguard the health and well-being of our students, faculty, and staff, Saint Mary’s campuses will remain closed to all but essential employees until April 10, as specified by the governor’s orders. In his announcement, Walz noted that he will continue to assess the state’s preparedness, and may extend the order beyond April 10.

Saint Mary’s University is continuing to develop a plan so students can safely retrieve their belongings from their residence halls and will be in communication soon.

Because of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s direction to “stay home,” beginning Friday, March 27, and continuing for two weeks, students will not be able to return to campus during this time frame.

Our first priority has been moving the few students who remain on campus to one facility for their care and safety. Rest assured that the residence halls are secure, and campus safety continues to make regular rounds to our halls.

A plan is being developed so that students can safely stagger their returns to campus to more easily comply with social distancing recommendations. Roommates will be scheduled to return at different times. Carts and dumpsters will be available to make the move as swift as possible. This will take a coordinated effort, and we appreciate your continued patience.

Saint Mary’s University is not alone in navigating the uncharted waters COVID-19 has brought. Colleges across the country are facing the same challenges that come with moving classes online, closing campuses, and suspending events. University leadership teams are working tirelessly to tackle important decisions while responding to the coronavirus outbreak.

Check out this article from Inside Higher Ed to better understand how colleges are “Prioritizing the Urgent, Important and Necessary.”

Students in the Graduate and Professional Programs and Bachelor’s Completion Programs can get writing help seven days a week through our online queue, as well as email appointments and telephone appointments. We can help you at any stage of your writing process, from understanding an assignment to completing a final draft. We also review resumes and cover letters!

You can make an appointment and access our online queue here. In addition to getting one-on-one help from our writing consultants, visit our website to access our many online resources on grammar, the writing process, and citation styles.

If you have any questions about our services, or have a quick writing question, please email us at write@smumn.edu.

Academic advising has officially started! This means that you should be reaching out to your faculty adviser to schedule your virtual advising appointment.

To help you prepare for online advising, we have updated the advising website with new tools, such as editable advising forms, a new FAQ section to answer questions about preparing virtually, and more! The most popular tools are housed under the ‘How do I know what to register for?’ tab on the website.

If you have any questions, we are here to help. Email studentsuccess@smumn.edu or schedule a virtual appointment:

• Make an appointment with Bethany Mota
• Make an appointment with Marisol Martinez

As a reminder, registration dates are as follows:

• Seniors: Monday, April 6
• Juniors: Tuesday, April 7
• Sophomores: Wednesday, April 8
• First-Years: Thursday, April 9

Check the portal for your specific registration date and time.

Student Senate will continue to meet via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. If you are interested in participating, please contact Marisa Quinn at mquinn@smumn.edu, Student Senate advisor, to receive the link.

Below you’ll find Student Senate meeting minutes from the March 24 meeting. Congratulations to Kendall Archer, who was elected Student Senate president for 2020-21!

• March 24 Student Senate meeting minutes

Budgets will continue to be heard for the remainder of the semester. Nicole Noreen, vice president for Finance, will be in touch with your club representative regarding the date of your budget hearing.

If you have any questions or concerns, please continue to reach out to your hall representative or class officers.

Executive Board elections

We are currently accepting nominations for Student Senate Executive Board. Below you’ll find position descriptions and time commitment specifications.

• Executive Board position roles and responsibilities

If you’re interested in running for a Student Senate Executive Board position, email Stephany Beck at sxbeck16@smumn.edu, vice president of Media and Communications, to receive your official electronic petition, which will require 25 email responses. A member of the student body may submit their email no more than once on each petition.

Here is the election timeline:

• Monday, March 30 – Executive Board petitions available
• Monday, April 6 – Executive Board petitions due by noon to Stephany Beck
• Wednesday, April 8 – Executive Board Elections held

We look forward to your participation, and hope you seize the opportunity to be a part of Student Senate!

The Office of Recreation, Involvement, and Student Engagement (R.I.S.E.) is here to keep you engaged during this unprecedented time. We are currently researching a number of different activities that we can provide virtually, and we are always looking for great ideas!

If you have ideas on things you would like us to look into, please email RISE@smumn.edu.

Current opportunities include:

• RISE has put together an in-home workout resource guide so you can stay active. This guide can be found at studentactivities.smumn.edu and is being updated on a weekly basis with new daily workouts that require minimal equipment and take no more than 30 minutes.
• Verizon kicks off a weekly concert series called “Pay It Forward Live” starting tonight (Thursday, March 26) at 7 p.m. CST with Dave Matthews Band putting on a 30-minute concert from his home. You can stream the show on the @Verizon Twitter account and Yahoo Entertainment. New concerts will stream every Thursday at 7 p.m. CST.
• DEGY Entertainment, which provides many of the concert and dance parties that R.I.S.E. brings to campus, is providing free digital content for students. Stay up-to-date on upcoming events by following @Degyentertainment on Facebook.
  • Salsa Fiesta Facebook Live Dance Class: Thursday, March 26, 6 p.m. CST
    • Looking for something fun to do while social distancing? Join David from the Salsa Fiesta Dance team for a Facebook Live dance lesson (online)!Don’t worry about finding a dance partner. In this lesson, David will be teaching you a solo salsa shine and styling pattern you can put to use next time that favorite salsa song or even some reggaeton comes on!Solo salsa footwork is perfect for when you need a break from dancing with others or want to show off when you’re out there busting a move.Join here: https://www.facebook.com/events/545736242966342/

• • Friday Night Live!: Friday, March 27, 6 p.m. CST
    • Friday Night Live! is DEGY’s *NEW* Friday night concert series hosted by DJ Jeff and MC Ari. Join us on Facebook Live for a concert you won’t want to miss!The lineup for Friday, March 27:
      Alex Ahn
      Nelly’s Echo
      Steve Everett
      *Along with a very special SURPRISE HEADLINER!*This concert series is FREE.Join here: https://www.facebook.com/events/3011209895597174/

Saint Mary’s University is surveying students about their health behaviors, risks, attitudes, and access to resources.

Your participation will help Saint Mary’s prioritize health and wellness offerings to better meet your health needs.

Watch your inbox for an email from the National College Health Assessment (ncha-web@acha.org) for more information and a link to begin the confidential survey.

Participants will be eligible to win one of three $100 Visa gift cards.

Questions? Email wellnesscenter@smumn.edu.

Have you played “Name that Spot” with the Career Services Office? Last week’s spot featured the Page Theatre Auditorium!

Those guessing correctly were:

• Faculty/Staff: Lauren Leighton, Caitilin McCoy, Judy Myers, Theresa Remick, Beth Seebach, Brother Robert Smith, and Laurie Ziliak.

• Students: Jillian Alekna, Amy Bach, Jada Biermeier, Anna Dale, Megan Dienger, Elizabeth Duellman, Erin Grams, Sarah Hannan, Sarah Hardy, Bridgette Hegarty, Jennifer Honsa, Amanda Jaeger, Kati Keller, Mackenzie Kelly, Jacob Kramer, Maddy Long, Ryan Mann, Jordan Modjeski, Natasha Otto, Claire Patterson, Luke Puffer, Gabriel Rysavy, Catie Schlitz, Christopher Shepard, Ashley Streveler, Mak Taf, Michelle Tran, and Clarissa Van Dale.

And this week’s winner is: Bridgette Hegarty, who will receive a $5 Caribou gift card.

Until next time … Can you name the on-campus location where this photo was taken?

[photo credit: Sarah Phipps]

Submit your name that spot guess before Wednesday, April 1, at 4:30 p.m.

All who correctly name that spot will be identified, and one lucky winner will be drawn from the correct responses for a $5 Caribou gift card.

If you have any questions or would like more information, contact Mike Hagarty at mhagarty@smumn.edu.