Saint Mary's Newsroom
Campus ConnectionAn update from the president to alumni and parents
Move-in day details
Move-in day for new students (freshmen and transfer) is Thursday, Aug. 26. You should have received an email from the Office of Residence Life with a specific time slot to move in. The time slots are either 8 a.m., 11 a.m., or 2 p.m.
Move-in day for returning students (non-transfer sophomores, juniors, and seniors) is Sunday, Aug. 29. On that day, stop by the Office of Residence Life in Vlazny 105 to pick up your room key. The office will be open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
All residents are allowed two people over the age of 12 to help move in. Masks will be required by all individuals while inside any residence hall.
If you have questions about move-in day, please contact the Office of Residence Life at reslife@smumn.edu or 507-457-1640.
See you soon!
COVID-19 planning
Students,
We thank you for your flexibility, patience, and support as the university readies for the fall semester and plans and adapts as needed. As we have stated throughout the pandemic and in our most recent communications, we continue to closely follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), as well as transmission levels in the communities in which our campuses are located. As fluctuations occur quickly, we appreciate your responsiveness and adaptability.
We will communicate any updates in a timely manner and direct you to smumn.edu/covidplanning, which is the best source of up-to-date information. There, we have resumed our COVID-19 tracking dashboard and have added a question-and-answer section that we are updating as new questions arise. We will also be restarting the COVID-19 newsletter Wednesday, Aug. 18, for faculty, staff, students, and undergraduate parents.
We appreciate everyone remembering that masks are required on all our campuses when inside buildings and outside when social distancing is not possible. Please also remember to stay socially distanced (6 feet apart) and wash your hands frequently.
We can hope that as transmission levels decline, we will be able to lift some of our current protocols. It’s important to note that the MDH has asked these measures not be changed until two weeks after transmission rates move to “moderate.”
“Together and by association” we will support each other as we prepare for the fall term. Thank you for remaining steadfast and resilient in the coming weeks and beyond.
Ann Merchlewitz
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Ben Murray
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Join the Walk to End Alzheimer’s Sept. 25
Our Rochester Campus will host the Walk to End Alzheimer’s event on Saturday, Sept. 25. You’re invited to register and join the Saint Mary’s team in the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support, and research.
Event details:
- Registration at 9 a.m.
- Ceremony at 10 a.m.
- Walk (1 and 3 mile options) at 10:20 a.m.
Join the Saint Mary’s University team
Feel free to share with friends, colleagues, family, and others who may be interested. The event will be outdoors and follow COVID-19 protocols. Participants will enjoy time together on the campus trails of native plants and wildflowers.
Can’t join the walk but still want to participate? Submit a donation.
Questions can be directed to Kate Utterback, director of campus operations and programming, at kconnor@smumn.edu.
Newsletter schedule and reminders
Starting next week, we’ll be resuming our regular e-newsletter schedule. Here’s what you can expect each week:
- Monday: CommUNITY newsletter for undergraduate students
- Tuesday: Cardinal Update newsletter for all university employees
- Wednesday: CommUNITY newsletter focused on COVID-19 updates for all university employees, students, and parents of undergraduate students
- Thursday: CommUNITY newsletter for all students (separate versions for undergraduate students and Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs students)
- Friday: No newsletter
All are welcome to submit a story idea. Submission deadlines are noon each business day prior. For example, if you’d like a story included in Tuesday’s Cardinal Update, it should be finalized and submitted by noon on Monday.
Questions? Contact Deb Nahrgang, senior director of communications, at dnahrgan@smumn.edu.
COVID-19 planning and August events
Saint Mary’s faculty and staff,
We thank you for your flexibility, patience, and support as the university readies for the academic year and plans and adapts as needed. As we have stated throughout the pandemic and in our most recent communications, we continue to closely follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), as well as transmission levels in the communities in which our campuses are located. As fluctuations occur quickly, we appreciate your responsiveness and adaptability.
We will communicate any updates in a timely manner and direct you to our Steadfast and Resilient webpage, which is the best source of up-to-date information. There, we have resumed our COVID-19 tracking dashboard and have added a question-and-answer section that we are updating as new questions arise. We will also be restarting the COVID-19 newsletter Wednesday, Aug. 18, for faculty, staff, students, and undergraduate parents.
One of the questions we have received is about events later this month. We are still planning the picnics on the Twin Cities and Winona campuses, and all attendees will be asked to follow our latest COVID-19 protocols, including wearing a mask indoors or outdoors when physical distancing of 6 feet is not possible.
We also will hold Convocation and are still adjusting plans, which we will communicate. We are planning for a hybrid model meaning limited travel to Winona for those in the Twin Cities, live seating in two locations with capacity guidelines in place and livestreaming available.
The ribbon cutting and blessing of the newly renovated HABC on Tuesday, Aug. 24, will continue as planned. The event will be held outdoors, and attendees are asked to be masked and follow our social distancing guidelines. We will be sending out an RSVP to get an accurate count of attendees to plan accordingly.
The University Faculty Workshop on Wednesday, Aug. 25, will be held hybrid or virtually with more details to come.
Again, updates on these events and other COVID-19 information will be communicated in the Aug. 18 COVID-19 newsletter or, if needed because of urgency, stand-alone notes like this one.
We know it is difficult to return to masking, but we appreciate everyone remembering that masks are required on all our campuses when inside buildings and outside when social distancing is not possible. When you are alone in your office or workspace, mask wearing is encouraged but not required. Please also remember to stay socially distanced (6 feet apart) and wash your hands frequently.
We can hope that as transmission levels decline, we will be able to lift some of our current protocols. It’s important to note that the MDH has asked these measures not be changed until two weeks after transmission rates move to “moderate.”
“Together and by association” we will support each other as we prepare for the fall term. Thank you for remaining steadfast and resilient in the coming weeks and beyond.
Ann Merchlewitz
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Ben Murray
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
In the news
Michelle Wieser, Ph.D., dean of business and technology, was featured in the Twin Cities Business Notable Leaders in Higher Education 2021 list.
Saint Mary’s University, along with Winona’s two other higher ed institutions, has been given the opportunity to run a piece every three weeks in the Winona Daily News. This first piece is a spotlight on our new nursing program with an overview from Sister Agnes Mary Graves, RSM, DNP, director and inaugural Jack and Mary Ann Remick Chair of Nursing.
Expansion of badges in the School of Education
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota loves teachers! Their words and actions help our children appreciate the value of their own uniqueness as well as the unique character of the people and world around them. We are proud to support them in all they do. This is why we are especially excited to announce the expansion of the badging and micro-credentialing initiative through the Saint Mary’s School of Education.
At the start of the summer, Saint Mary’s partnered with Credly, an industry leader in digital credentials, to provide students with 20 industry-specific micro-credentials tied to in-demand skills in culturally responsive teaching, mental health in education, critical, creative and design thinking and teaching, and training and leading with technology. These credentials have become valuable additions to our students’ professional portfolios. In fact, over 175 credentials have been accepted and shared throughout professional and social media networks in the School of Education so far!
“I was just given a badge from Saint Mary’s. My work of two years has led me to a possible enhancement in mental health awareness for K-12 students. I’m proud of being aware of childhood health and how we can improve upon it for our students. We all want our students to be successful and happy. The better we can understand, the more we can create beautiful relationships as teacher to student.” —Tiffany Alequin M’21
Building on the success of this initial offering, the School of Education is proud to announce the launch of an additional five distinct micros-credentials beginning in summer term 2, tied to graduate courses in Saint Mary’s specialization in curriculum and instruction:
- EDMA 612: Learning Environments
- EDMA 614: Communication and Collaboration
- EDMA 620: Curriculum Design
- EDMA 622: Assessment and Evaluation
- EDMA 624: Effective Instruction
Badges will be automatically issued to students who have successfully completed badged courses beginning in fall 2020 up to the present summer term 2.
View the complete list of our badge offerings
Students who have successfully completed a badged course prior to fall 2020 that would like to receive the corresponding badge(s) can submit a request.
Once again, we are thrilled by the energy and enthusiasm you have shown regarding badges and micro-credentials. We look forward to continuing the work to identify and recognize skills-based achievement across the university, helping to ensure that our students are among the most well-prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
To learn more about digital badges and micro-credentials at Saint Mary’s, visit smumn.edu/badges.
Dixon featured in local news, inclusion website launches
The Winona Post featured Leon Dixon, Saint Mary’s first vice president for inclusion and human dignity, in a recent article. Brian Schmisek, provost and dean of faculties, and Elijah Williams, student senate president, were also featured.
“I’m a big proponent of collaboration … There’s something to be said for experience/wisdom, and there’s something to be said for passion and expectation. So when we can put those two together, I’m pretty sure we can come up with something that really matters and is unique to us,” Dixon said.
Read more from the Winona Post
Additionally, Saint Mary’s has launched a new inclusion and human dignity website which can be found at inclusion.smumn.edu. Visit the site for updates on past efforts, resources, news, and more.
Meet our new faculty: Michaela Rinkel, social work
This is the first in a series as we introduce our new faculty members.
Michaela Rinkel, Ph.D., LCSW, joined Saint Mary’s University as an associate professor in the Master of Social Work program on July 5.
Rinkel has extensive teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her most recent role was at Hawai‘i Pacific University in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she served as social work program director and associate professor.
Her scholarship is mainly focused on three areas: spirituality and social work practice, sustainability in social work practice, and the use of simulation in social work education and training. With years of clinical experience, she has also published many research findings, including a three volume workbook series published by the International Federation of Social Workers which examines different aspects of social work and environmental justice — a project Rinkel said she is most proud of.
“My passion right now involves preparing social workers to work on the sustainability movement,” she said. “Our profession is right in the middle of the climate crisis, but for many reasons is often not at the table working toward changing the social systems that are contributing to the problems. I can help by preparing social work educators to help this next generation of social workers be engaged on environmental issues.
Many see social work as working just with social systems and that the physical environment is somehow separate. But we work with the consequences of the systems that degrade both our natural and social environments such as oppression, racism, separation of humans from their cousins, and exploitation that has become synonymous with the brand of capitalism in the U.S.”
A member of the National Association of Social Workers Council on Social Work Education, Rinkel has delivered numerous presentations, particularly on ethics in social work, and even received an oral presentation award for the paper “Sitting in the Grey: How Social Work Practice Influences Spiritual Development” at the International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health in Singapore.
Rinkel received a Ph.D. in social work and a MSW from the University of Minnesota. She also holds a BSW from the College of St. Catherine. The Minnesota native said she was drawn to Saint Mary’s because it brought her home after 10 years in Hawaii, and because the Saint Mary’s MSW program is in an exciting phase.
“It is new and innovative, growing, has competent compassionate faculty, and is delivering a high quality online education in social work. That is a challenge,” she exclaimed. “And I’m excited to be a part!”
The Rev. James P. Burns, IVD, Ph.D.
President
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
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