Saint Mary's Newsroom

By LMS Task Force

Blackboard will be going away for faculty, staff, and student use on June 1, 2021. That means you will no longer have access to your prior course materials, feedback, and resources. Saint Mary’s will maintain archival access for a short period of time to meet certain obligations, but access to it will limited to Blackboard administrators.

Please read through the recommendations for incomplete and in progress grades for spring 2021 courses in Blackboard. This information is also posted on Blackboard and hosted via celt.smumn.edu.

Preparing for the end of Blackboard access

Prior to the end of the term (SGPP – April 25, 2021; College – May 6, 2021), for any students in a Blackboard course who will need additional time to complete coursework that would normally be done in Blackboard, please consider the following:

Communications

If at all possible, communicate with your students to help them complete their Blackboard work before Monday, May 31, 2021:

• Identify students in this situation so you can reach out to them to ensure they will be able to turn in work.
• Consider establishing an agreement of time so that these are completed in a timely manner.
• Inform students that after May 31, they will no longer be able to access Blackboard so it is in their best interest to complete any work and submit it to you in time for you to assess the work in Blackboard.
• Consider setting a last date for them to submit in Blackboard so that you have time to review it before submitting them a final grade.

Coursework completion options

If it is not possible for your students to complete their Blackboard-involved work before May 31, you will need to take additional steps before May 31:

Completed and submitted prior to May 31:

• No change in how you would review their submitted work
• No change in how you will grade it and give feedback
• No change in how you will enter in final grades via CAMS

Completed and submitted after May 31:

• Gradebook: You need to download the gradebook prior to May 31. This will be downloaded as an Excel document.
• Assignments:
  • Recommend your students email or share via Google Drive the completed assignment(s) to you.
  • If the assignment is a Flipgrid, Padlet, or a third party tool, the student will need to send the link of their submission to you via email or a shared Google Doc.
  • You review the assignment(s) and send any feedback (if applicable) to the student via email or Google Drive.
  • You will need to update the downloaded gradebook, and then submit final grades via CAMS (the faculty portal).

Discussion board

• Your student(s) will need to copy and paste the discussion board prompt and any necessary information into a Word document or Google Doc.
• Your student(s) will then email or share via Google Drive the completed aspects of the discussion prompts.
• You will review the submitted reply(ies) and send any feedback (if applicable) to the student via email or Google Drive.
• You will need to update the downloaded gradebook, and then submit final grades via CAMS (the faculty portal).

Quizzes/tests

• This is the hardest aspect to do once access to Blackboard is gone.
• If there is a student who has to take a test after June 1, please work with the HelpDesk to export the test to a PDF.
• You will need to share the PDF with the student — likely via Google Drive or email — keeping in mind that the PDF could be shared with other/future students.
• Your student will need to submit a document with his or her answers to the quiz/test.
• You will need to review the submitted document, provide feedback (if applicable) to your student via email or Google Drive.
• You will need to update the downloaded gradebook and submit the final grade CAMS (the faculty portal).

Support

If you have any questions or need assistance not covered in this document, please contact the HelpDesk at helpdesk@smumn.edu. They will help coordinate a consultation with the Registrar’s Office or Instructional Technology.

In previous years, the Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs (SGPP) held annual campus commencement ceremonies in the University Center in January, June, and October. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these ceremonies were virtual, and October’s event was combined with January’s. SGGP’s June 5, 2021 ceremony will be virtual. There will be no October 2021 ceremony. Previously, SGPP students in programs administered in Winona participated in the May in-person ceremony. Moving forward, SGPP students will participate only in the Minneapolis ceremonies.

Beginning in 2022, we will have only two days of in-person ceremonies to celebrate our SGPP graduates. One commencement ceremony will be held on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022 (previously scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022). The other will be in June 2022 (precise date to be determined). We will hold only one ceremony per day. The January ceremony will recognize SGPP students who graduate in the summer and fall, and the June ceremony will recognize those who graduate in the spring. The official date of graduation, not commencement, will appear on students’ transcripts and diplomas, independent of whether they participate in the January or June ceremony.

Beginning Jan. 22, 2022, we will also hold commencement ceremonies off-site at Orchestra Hall. While we appreciate the University Center’s convenience and rich history, the space is not large enough to accommodate one ceremony on each date. In addition to the official commencement ceremonies in January and June, individual programs are welcome to host separate commemorations for their graduates.

Offering two SGPP commencement ceremonies per year at an outside venue aligns with goal five of the strategic plan to steward resources by increasing institutional effectiveness and operational integration and goal three to foster innovation and offer flexibility. Orchestra Hall is a beautiful space that will allow us to celebrate our graduates in style.

Welcome Weekend 2021 (Aug. 26-29 on the Winona Campus) is right around the corner, and we are looking for your help!

New this year, the orientation staff is hosting “Big Red Activities” on Saturday, Aug. 28, and Sunday, Aug. 29. Big Red Activities are optional sessions that new students can participate in during welcome weekend. Big Red Activities are hosted by members of the Saint Mary’s community and the orientation staff. These activities are meant to engage new students in fun and enriching travels, crafts, or even events that foster a sense of community amongst the incoming class and the community.

We are looking for faculty or staff on the Winona Campus who would be interested in hosting a Big Red Activity Session during Welcome Weekend. If you are interested, please fill out this form. You will need the name of your proposed Big Red Activity, how long the activity will be (up to 2 hours), who will be hosting the activity, where the activity will take place (on campus or in the Winona community), and which day is your preference (Saturday or Sunday).

The sky is the limit! Here are two examples of Big Red Activities that have already been submitted:

• Safe Spaces in Winona: A tour of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ friendly businesses and spaces in the Winona community (Saturday in the Winona community)
• Transfer Student Bingo: A game of bingo specifically intended for incoming transfer students (Saturday on campus)

Submit your proposed Big Red Activity today! Once you submit the form, someone from the orientation team will be in contact with you to confirm approval and logistics.

Questions can be directed to Tricia Dobrient at tdobrien@smumn.edu.

With the end of another fiscal year upon us, please take note of the dates below to ensure accurate information is recorded by the Business Office for the current fiscal year, which ends on Monday, May 31.

Budget/expenditure review

Carefully review your departmental budgets and current year expenditures and be certain to submit any interdepartmental transfers prior to 4 p.m. on Friday, May 28.

If there are any reallocations unit managers who wish to make in their area budgets heading into the new fiscal year, they should submit those no later than Monday, May 10, to David Ulaszek at dulaszek@smumn.edu. (As a reminder, this is only for reallocations that do not change the bottom line of the unit; any additional expenses or reduced revenues must be commensurately offset.)

Important dates to remember

• Friday, May 14 — Last day purchase orders will be issued for current fiscal year.
• Friday, June 11, at 10 a.m. — Deadline for extra payroll items (advising, independent studies, etc.) for the year ending May 31, 2021.
• Wednesday, June 16 — All reimbursements for direct expenses must be submitted and approved in Chrome River for year ending May 31, 2021.
• Wednesday, June 16 — All invoices must be submitted and approved for payment in Chrome River by this date. All invoices submitted after June 16 will be charged against the next fiscal year, fiscal year 2021-22.

U.S. Bank/Chrome River expenses

All charges incurred and posted on your May 2021 Chrome River expense report will be charged against the current 2020-21 fiscal year. All charges incurred and/or processed after the May report will automatically be charged against the new 2021-22 fiscal year. Please note: U.S. Bank charges are often delayed in posting by vendors. If you make purchases in late May, these charges may post to your June statement, thus being charged to the new year.

Annual policies review

We ask all employees of the university to review the university’s business policies on an annual basis. These policies are located on the Business Office page which can be accessed from smumn.edu under the Students, Faculty & Staff heading in the upper left. Once in the policy, use “CTRL F” to search for specific topics.

If you have any questions regarding the above deadlines or activities, please contact Cindy Ostrem at costrem@smumn.edu or Ext. 6690.

Thank you for being good stewards of Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota resources!

Undergraduate student Sarah Hannan is the winner of this year’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month Art Contest. She contributed a dance she choreographed and performed. (The music has been removed to be in compliance with licensing.)

She writes, “This piece is titled ‘The Road’ and features my choreography. The piece shows how difficult the road to healing can be for many sexual assault survivors. The ups and downs featured in the choreography symbolize the ups and downs associated with the process of healing from a traumatic experience such as sexual assault. The piece calls on the importance of support for sexual assault survivors in their road to healing.”

While the dance can be watched without music, Hannan choreographed her dance to “The Way (Instrumental)” by Zack Hemsey (available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music). The dance video starts 1 minute and 37 seconds into the song.