Saint Mary's Newsroom / Campus Notes
Winona Campus Newsletter
Collaboration with healthcare system allows Saint Mary’s student to take part in cancer research
Being able to say you completed a summer internship at Gundersen Health System Kabara Cancer Research Institute is great for a résumé, but it was only a side benefit.
More importantly, for Saint Mary’s senior Kaydi Breeser, a pre-physician assistant studies major from Caledonia, it solidified her medical career aspirations — and it was an opportunity to play a small role in the fight against cancer.
Breeser was a Saint Mary’s University Fellow at Gundersen, an academic collaboration brought about through 1958 alumnus Dr. Jon Kabara (now deceased) and his wife Betty, founders of the Kabara Cancer Research Institute in La Crosse, Wis.
Breeser spent her summer learning how to use the flow cytometer, making samples, and assisting in an experiment aimed at fighting ovarian cancer.
“This experience was amazing, because research is extremely needed,” Breeser said. “It’s really rewarding to play even a small role and hope that someday it helps research go further.”
Karen Cowden Dahl, Ph.D., a senior research scientist, has headed the institute’s ovarian cancer research for three years. As her mother died of cancer when she was a child, her work takes on added meaning.
She said not much progress has been made in ovarian cancer, a devastating disease with only a 46 percent survival rate. Because there’s no screening, she said the vast percentage of women don’t know they have the disease until it has progressed beyond hope for a cure.
“One of our biggest challenges is how to understand the cells that start tumors,” she said. “Cancer starts from one cell that goes crazy, the initiator cell. We know they exist but need to know more. If we know more about them, we can help get rid of them. One of the problems with ovarian cancer is that these cancer cells survive chemotherapy and can start new tumors. If we understand them, we can target drugs at the cells not killed by chemotherapy. We are doing a number of tests to define them better.”
Breeser hopes to become a physician assistant, and although she doesn’t plan to further a career in research, the lessons she learned in a real-life lab setting were invaluable.
“It verifies how much I enjoy the sciences and biology, and I know I’m heading in the right direction,” she said.
It also taught her valuable skills about communication.
“Everyone has heard from someone who has had bad experiences at doctor appointments, and it’s usually because they feel like the physicians aren’t paying enough attention,” she said. “I want to be a PA who is there for my patients and makes them feel heard, and I look forward to connecting with every patient.”
Cowden Dahl agrees that undergraduate research is one of the best things a student can do. “It solidifies their career path, and most importantly develops those critical thinking skills.”
She said working with students is rewarding and energizing. “Students are fantastic. They come in with enthusiasm, wanting to learn, wanting to make a difference,” she said. “I’ve been very pleased with Saint Mary’s students. They’ve been fantastic, especially Kaydi, who has worked hard from Day One, reading things that helped her understand her project. All of her classwork and experience paid off and she understood and took her project and ran with it.”
Breeser credits her classes and professors for helping to prepare her. “Saint Mary’s has some of the best professors I could imagine,” she said. “I’ve never had a professor I didn’t like. They’re excited and passionate about what they’re teaching and always available to help you.”
Breeser is also grateful she had the opportunity to meet with Betty Kabara, who has herself battled cancer and whose philanthropic work and connections made her internship possible. “This position is very important to her, and she wants to make sure we are getting the most out of it as possible, so being chosen to do this was exciting, and I know that what I’m doing is going to a bigger purpose and will further Betty’s work.”
Area business professionals invited to Cardinal Connections networking event
WINONA, Minn. — Business professionals are invited to the Saint Mary’s University’s Winona Campus at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, for a Cardinal Connections networking event with business and communication students, hosted by the school of Business and Technology.
Enjoy food and drinks from 5-7 p.m. in the main entrance of Aquinas Hall while helping our students learn how to network and mingle with other business professionals. Students representing majors in accounting, data analytics, finance, healthcare management, management, marketing, public relations and digital media, and sport management will be in attendance to greet you and share their stories.
Please RSVP by emailing Dean Beckman at dbeckman@smumn.edu.
Enrollment leadership announcement
To further support and advance our strategic plan goals, with a particular and critical focus on enrollment growth, Saint Mary’s is pleased to announce Michael McMahon, Ed.D., has been named vice president for enrollment management. McMahon will begin at Saint Mary’s on Oct. 17.
Michael McMahon, Ed.D.
Dr. McMahon has deep experience driving enrollment growth and managing teams while serving Catholic institutions of higher education. He currently serves as the vice president for student engagement and mission integration at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., where he oversees enrollment management and student life. Before his work at Carroll College, Dr. McMahon worked in various admissions roles at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., including vice president for enrollment management from April 2016 to April 2019.
McMahon holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Mary. He also holds an M.S. in English Literature and Writing from Utah State University and a B.A. in English Writing from Carroll College.
“As Saint Mary’s continues to find new and innovative ways to navigate through enrollment challenges that are currently being faced by all institutions of higher education, we are excited to welcome Dr. McMahon into this leadership role at Saint Mary’s,” said Father James Burns, IVD, Ph.D., president. “Dr. McMahon has a track record of change management, admissions and enrollment success. He is a mission-oriented leader and collaborator. He will make a wonderful addition to the Saint Mary’s community.”
”I feel privileged to join Saint Mary’s given its strategic and sound vision for the future,” said Dr. McMahon. “All higher education is facing many difficult challenges, and Saint Mary’s has developed a proactive and compelling vision to meet those challenges. I look forward to joining the team and serving our diverse student population on all three of Saint Mary’s campuses and online.”
Saint Mary’s in the headlines
As the new academic year is underway, students and administrators have appeared in regional media, highlighting our work and mission to a broader audience.
Story of Anthony B’59 and Sandra Adducci Family Makerspace shared in the Winona Daily News
Winona Daily News readers recently had the opportunity to learn about Saint Mary’s Anthony B’59 and Sandra Adducci Family Makerspace, the collaborative workspace equipped with 3D printers, woodworking tools, sewing machines, and more for students to express their creative, innovative ideas, and entrepreneurial interests.
The article that ran in the paper as a part of a content-sharing agreement between Saint Mary’s and the Winona Daily News provided insight into how the space can be used, and also focused on a successful microbusiness launched out of the Makerspace by two Saint Mary’s graduates.
If you do not subscribe to the Winona Daily News, a version of the story can be found here.
Merchlewitz discusses return of students in the Winona Daily News
Last week, Ann Merchlewitz, senior vice president and general counsel for Saint Mary’s, spoke to Winona Daily News about the return of undergraduate students to the Winona Campus and the start of the 2022-2023 academic year.
In the article, Merchlewitz spoke about the events and opportunities students will have in their first few weeks on campus to prepare them for “success as a Cardinal.”
“Many faculty and staff have expressed how energized they feel now that the students are back on campus. Their arrival is a highlight of the year, and we are incredibly grateful to have them here. Our wish is that our students feel welcome, safe, and comfortable in their new home. We want them to experience diversity in all its forms, as we know that creates a richer and deeper campus and academic experience. As our students continue to emerge from the pandemic, we want them to feel connected with each other, with our faculty and staff, and with the Winona community. And, of course, we want them to meet and exceed their academic and personal goals,” Merchlewitz said in the article.
Saint Mary’s Junior discusses decision to return to Saint Mary’s in Winona Post editorial
In an opinion piece for the Winona Post, Saint Mary’s junior Patrick Derleth spoke about his decision to return to Saint Mary’s this fall after considering transferring to another college following the academic changes that occurred at the undergraduate campus.
Derleth, who is a history major and political science minor and is involved in music as an extracurricular, said even with the changes, Saint Mary’s remains the “best fit for me as a student.”
In the article, Derleth said, “Saint Mary’s, despite public perception to the contrary, is still not completely deficient in this respect. After all, as U.S. News and World Report made clear last year, its tuition prices and scholarships still make Saint Mary’s the “Best Value in Minnesota.” Moreover, students at Saint Mary’s are still truly able to form close working relationships with their professors, akin to that of a master and apprentice, allowing for extremely personalized learning. Finally, I also believe that the cuts, as painful as they are, will allow me to truly personalize and individualize my major and minor paradigms as well. The administration has expressed openness to this to me, and I hope they will follow through with their assurances.”
Wieser speaks with Twin Cities Business about addressing student, workforce needs
Michelle Wieser, dean of the school of business and technology, recently spoke to Twin Cities Business for an article about how higher education is responding to workforce needs in a post-pandemic world.
In the article, Wieser said Saint Mary’s is helping meeting these needs by offering stackable credentials at the master’s level, additional online degree options, accelerated bachelor’s to master’s pathways, and digital badging.
Advertorial in Twin Cities Business to highlight business programs at Saint Mary’s
An upcoming advertorial in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Business Journal will highlight the value of both graduate and undergraduate business degrees that are offered at Saint Mary’s.
For those seeking graduate degrees, the advertorial offers details about the accelerated MBA program at Saint Mary’s, as well as the “Saint Mary’s Accelerators,” which includes thirteen different graduate certificates.
For the university’s undergraduate business offerings, the advertorial speaks to the high-demand business and technology skills students attain in programs at Saint Mary’s, as well as the business ethics and values that are infused into the courses.
Second cohort of Latin American Sisters visit Saint Mary’s
This past week, the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota community welcomed its second cohort of religious sisters who are a part of the Latin American Sisters Initiative to the Winona Campus.
The sisters’ visit was made possible through the U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program, a partnership between Catholic Extension and Saint Mary’s. As a part of the program, the sisters serve as missionaries in underserved Latino communities across the U.S. while also receiving degrees from Saint Mary’s. The first cohort of sisters had a similar visit to campus last November.
The new cohort of 14 sisters enrolled at Saint Mary’s is working toward an M.A. in Integrated Studies with a focus on Human Services and Pastoral Studies. With the newest group of sisters joining the program, there is now a total of 56 religious sisters enrolled in the initiative. The first cohort of sisters, which started at Saint Mary’s in 2019, had a similar visit to campus last November.
The sisters’ visit offered a mix of classroom experiences and opportunities to interact with the Saint Mary’s community and take in different sights in the region.
The classroom experience included an Introduction to Integrated Studies taught by Robertolino Vargas, the program director for the Latin American Sisters Initiative, as well as an introduction to the Lasallian Catholic charism, which was taught by Brother Larry Schatz, FSC.
The cohort’s visit was also celebrated with a formal dinner attended by Saint Mary’s staff, faculty, and administration, as well as representatives from Catholic Extension. During the dinner, the Most. Rev. Robert E. Barron, D.D., S.T.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, welcomed the sisters to Winona in a pre-recorded video message.
The trip also allowed the sisters to take in the sights of the region, including a sightseeing boat trip on the Mississippi River and a trip to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wis.
Susan Jarosak, M.Ed., who helps oversee the Latin American Sisters Initiative, says it was wonderful to welcome the second cohort to Saint Mary’s and is pleased to watch the initiative continue to grow.
“This initiative is important to Saint Mary’s because we have this very unique, fabulous partnership with a Catholic Extension, and we’re meeting the needs of a very unique group. The sisters are so appreciative, and they’re so excited about learning. And they want to take what they’ve learned right back to their mission, which they talk about a lot. So it is a really positive partnership,” she said.
Two more cohorts of religious sisters will begin at Saint Mary’s in fall 2023.
Saint Mary’s alumna creates innovative airway used to provide anesthesia
Dr. Roxanne McMurray M’93, a nurse anesthetist by trade, never planned on starting a medical device company.
“I never set out to be an entrepreneur,” she said. “I am very content providing anesthesia.”
But, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. After years of frustration with ventilation equipment used to help patients breathe, McMurray knew something new and innovative was needed in the field. This led to the invention of the McMurray Enhanced Airway and the foundation of McMurray Medical, the company she now runs with her husband and three other investors.
“With liability going up, not having devices that adapt to meet patient needs, and having to do workarounds to keep patient’s airways open, I noticed, ‘We need a device to open the distal pharyngeal tissue and keep patients breathing.” The tools created centuries ago did not work as well as they once did.
So, in 2016, McMurray and her business partners set out to design the McMurray Enhanced Airway. They oversaw the development of a number of prototypes and eventually were able to find a manufacturer for the device. In 2019, they officially launched the product.
The company is now on its third production run and is experiencing success. The device is being used in 49 states and is used in major healthcare systems. According to McMurray, most of the connections the company has made have been through word-of-mouth advertising.
“We’re a bootstrap company,” she said.
And the device is being used beyond just the administration of anesthesia. In 2021, the McMurray Enhanced Airway received the EMS (emergency medical services) Innovation of the Year Award.
“The beauty of the device is that it is easy to use, it’s a multi-purpose tool, and it’s a simple, smarter, not harder device,” she said.
McMurray’s ability to create this groundbreaking medical device comes from years of experience in the field, along with advanced nursing education, which includes a Master in Nurse Anesthesia degree from Saint Mary’s, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.
Prior to attending Saint Mary’s, McMurray had been working as a critical care nurse. Wanting to attain an advanced practice degree, she began weighing her options.
“Every nurse anesthetist I talked to loved their career,” she said. “I also enjoyed one-on-one critical patient care, and being a nurse anesthetist is a good step towards having increased autonomy with critical patients.”
What impressed McMurray about Saint Mary’s program was the focus on particular body systems during clinical practices.
“We would do six weeks of the nervous system and then six weeks of the cardiac system, instead of a hodgepodge where you might say, ‘Oh, I’ll focus on this system today and this system tomorrow,’ ” she said.
She added that clinical placements during her time in the program were top-notch. “There were always excellent practitioners at all of our clinical sites who provided stimulating learning,” she said.
Now nearly 20 years after her time at Saint Mary’s, McMurray says the education she received during her master’s program has helped her as she leads at McMurray Medical.
“Nurse anesthetists are leaders,” she said. “We’re taught to continuously improve our career, and we’re always wanting to do our best. In each scenario we’re in, we’re passionate about patient care and making sure we have the best devices possible to provide that care. And Saint Mary’s helped me develop that concept of doing your best and going beyond what is expected of you.”
Saint Mary’s student awarded $100,000 fellowship from Bush Foundation to support work with African immigrant survivors of abuse
As the founder of Phumulani Minnesota African Women Against Violence, Comfort Dondo helps women experiencing homelessness and abuse. And she knows what they need because she has been there herself. Dondo, a student in Saint Mary’s Doctor of Education in Leadership program, started Phumulani in 2017, when she was at a self-described rock bottom.
“I was the typical BIPOC woman, facing barriers that most people from marginalized communities were facing. I was fleeing domestic abuse. I couldn’t find housing and was couch hopping,” Dondo says. “I was educated, but the barriers didn’t care about my education level. So as the leader I know that I am, I found a solution. That solution was to identify others who were going through what I was going through and help.”
Phumulani is a nonprofit that seeks to prevent domestic abuse and sexual violence against women of color in Minnesota and across the U.S. She created it using funding from a community innovation grant from the Bush Foundation, which offers grants for community problem solving in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native nations in the region.
In the six years since that first grant, Phumulani has grown from a $20,000 budget to over half a million-dollar budget. In 2022, the Bush Foundation recognized Dondo again, this time as one of 24 recipients of the $100,000 Bush Fellowship, which funds educational expenses for changemakers.
The funding will support her expenses as she continues her doctoral studies at Saint Mary’s, where she is studying the impact of childhood trauma and sexual abuse. Dondo is herself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence, which she says is a silent pandemic in her community.
“I’m meant to be a silence breaker,” says Dondo, who moved to the U.S. from Zimbabwe when she was 17. Today, her home office walls are adorned with sources of inspiration in her work: a portrait of South African civil rights leader Nelson Mandela and a canvas painting of an African woman that represents her mother. “Our community, African immigrants, we don’t have enough psychologists and we shy away from talking about mental health. It’s very stigmatized,” she says.
Minnesota is home to large numbers of African immigrants from Liberia, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, many of whom have experienced war and do not have access to the mental health services that can help them deal with trauma. That’s where Dondo and Phumulani — which means “lover of peace” in Zulu, one of the languages spoken in sub-Saharan Africa — come in.
Phumulani offers counseling, resources, and advocacy support for women survivors. They help women who might need to obtain a protective order against an abuser, find safe housing, and get legal help from a pro bono attorney. Starting in the fall of 2022, they will offer retreats twice a year, for women to set goals and reflect. They also opened their first supportive housing location in 2022, and tailored the layout specifically for the women they serve.
“I know that African women like to cook for their children, so I wanted to make sure everyone has their own kitchen to cook,” says Dondo, who is a mom of three herself. “We believe in the housing-first model, where if someone gets a place to be and breathe, they can start their healing. If they’re couch hopping and in motels, there’s no room for healing.”
Dondo, who plans to complete her Ed.D. degree in 2024, has an undergraduate degree in social work from the University of St. Thomas, a master’s in public affairs from St. Catherine’s University, and a master’s in public affairs and leadership from the University of Minnesota. When it was time to choose a school for her doctoral studies, Saint Mary’s stood out.
“There were so many options for schools, but I had friends going to Saint Mary’s and heard their positive experiences — specifically students from the African continent who pursued their graduate studies at Saint Mary’s,” Dondo says. “I did my own research and it was the place that curated programs that work for busy women like myself. Saint Mary’s has a great understanding that we can still be mothers and working professionals and students and accomplish all our goals.”
By Maura Sullivan Hill
‘Jazz at Saint Mary’s’ announces its 2022-2023 season
WINONA, Minn. — As the school year begins, it’s time to mark your calendar for this year’s “Jazz at Saint Mary’s” concert schedule.
Fall 2022
The Red Bird Club opened its doors in 2014 in the Valéncia Arts Center at the crossroads of Vila and 10th streets in Winona. Never heard of it? Maybe that’s because the doors only open once every two years. Every other December, the theatre is transformed into an American Jazz Cabaret, showcasing the talents of Saint Mary’s University student musicians.
This year the Red Bird Club will honor big band’s royalty – Count Basie and Duke Ellington. From the Count’s April in Paris to the Duke’s Take the ‘A’ Train, “One More Once” will feature crooners, an emcee, beer and wine service, and a dancefloor!
In past years, the Red Bird Club has sold out quickly. This season, we’re opening the doors for two nights: Thursday, Dec. 8, and Friday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Mark your calendars!
Spring 2023
Looking ahead to springtime, the Jazz Ensemble will partner with Saint Mary’s Concert Band, under the direction of Dr. Janet Heukeshoven, for “All Good Things” – an all-alumni reunion concert, featuring a program of “greatest hits,” selected by current and former members of the ensemble. The celebration will take place on Sunday, April 16, 2023, at 3 p.m. in Page Theatre and will mark the final concert for Eric and Janet Heukeshoven, who are retiring from Saint Mary’s in spring 2023.
Reservation and ticket information for both events will be available later this fall.
For more information, contact Jazz at Saint Mary’s director A. Eric Heukeshoven at 507-450-5622 or eheukesh@smumn.edu.
Annual picnics allow community to gather prior to academic year
Last week, members of the Saint Mary’s community had the opportunity to gather, celebrate university achievements, and prepare for the successful year ahead during the annual employee picnic.
Along with a wonderful meal, faculty, staff, and administration had the opportunity to take part in jumbo Jenga, bocce ball, and a tour of the Harrington Mansion
As is tradition, a bean bag/corn hole tournament also took place, with We are the Champions, consisting of Michael Lovorn and Molly Bigelow, taking first place. The best team name was awarded to Instructional Tossology, consisting of Garey Gill and Joe Gargaro, and the best costume award was given to Corn to Be Wild, consisting of Ben Murray and Andrea Carroll-Glover.
The Winona Campus community will hold its annual employee picnic tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 24, at noon on the plaza, just prior to the arrival of first-year students. It’s wonderful to come together in community and conversation as we kick off the new year.
Incoming, returning students receive academic update letters
As the 2022-2023 academic year quickly approaches, Saint Mary’s University undergraduate students, both returning and incoming, received a letter from Father James P. Burns, IVD,
Ph.D., highlighting updates to academic and student affairs.
The letters emphasize our faculty and staff’s commitment to providing an environment where students are able to meet their academic goals, while also having a full student life experience.
Both letters can be read in their entirety here.
Coming soon: The new Saint Mary’s website
We are just two days away from unveiling the New Saint Mary’s website. This site will support our enrollment efforts and offer prospective students a new way to see, experience, understand, and — most importantly — choose Saint Mary’s.
This website redesign has been a top priority for the Marketing and Communication team — and the university — and we have been hard at work on it for close to a year. As we launch this week, please know this is a “soft” launch, as is the case with most new websites. There will be bugs; there will be missing images; there will be questions. We have focused the bulk of our efforts on those pages important to recruit students. (We have more than 500 pages on the site.) It has been our goal to launch this completely rethought and redesigned site at a peak recruiting time for our admission colleagues because the primary audience for the site is prospective students. We are tracking things that we already know will need to be fixed or completed, and that continuing work will be completed with a focus on what matters most to prospective students.
Navigation, language, page design, and calls-to-action all have been developed for a strong user experience for our prospective students. Faculty, staff, and current students will be able to find the information they need, but top level pages and information are designed to showcase all Saint Mary’s has to offer a future student … based on best practices and what future students have told us they want and how they search for information. The new site is being launched in our new content management system (CMS), which is WordPress. WordPress is increasingly the system of choice for colleges and universities, is the most commonly used, and is significantly better and easier to use than the earlier custom CMS we had in place.
Over the next few weeks, we will follow up with updates about ongoing testing and changes, and will provide WordPress training to those tasked with updating specific pages on the site. Until then, thank you for your ongoing support of this key enrollment initiative.
University unveils new look and distinct, but familiar, messaging
Kelly Shannon, vice president of marketing and communication, stands behind Saint Mary’s brand.
Saint Mary’s is rolling out the results of a branding refresh in June, and yes, there’s a new logo, but Shannon explains that branding is so much more than a logo: “A brand is the sum total of all of the images and feelings that someone holds about an organization and its services or products,” she said. “A brand is our promise, and our audiences determine whether we deliver on that promise.”
Higher education is more competitive than ever, with universities and colleges all going after fewer students. “We are mindful that we don’t have endless resources to tell our story and get that story heard,” she said. “Our challenge, which is fun to take on, is telling our story in a creative way to interest and captivate those we are trying to reach. It comes down to three ‘c’s: being consistent, clear, and compelling.”
What is a brand?
“A brand is not what an organization says it is, it is what our intended audiences experience, perceive, and believe,” she said. “What is the experience that our students have, students who range from 17 to well into adulthood or even retirement? While each student has their own educational experience, there are common outcomes and benefits that we want all students to have at Saint Mary’s.”
Further, she said the brand is shared and solidified at every major touchpoint, from the website, to a campus visit, to every interaction a potential student or current student has in the classroom and with staff and faculty across the university. According to Shannon, we are all brand ambassadors. “Branding starts internally,” she said. “If we all know and tell our story consistently, we have a great opportunity to make the case to a prospective student about ‘Why Saint Mary’s?’ ”
Strong university brands also have alumni, employees, and current students who express their pride, ownership, and passion for their school. According to Shannon, “Alumni pride goes a long way toward building awareness, excitement, and affinity for a school. One of the leading indicators of a strong brand is the answer YES to the question: would you recommend this (organization, company, product, service, program) to someone else?”
Time for change
The rebranding process began a year ago. The process is lengthy, mainly because of the research done with current and prospective students, faculty, staff, and alumni to help define the brand.
“Our external partner, who is also doing our web redesign, did extensive quantitative and qualitative research,” Shannon said. “They then created a visual identity that represents the attributes important to our community. A lot of listening goes into creating your visual signature in the marketplace. Because a brand is what our audiences say it is, the messages must be true, authentic, and relevant to them.”
As you noticed on pages 4 and 5, Saint Mary’s is launching a new logo and updated seal. Additionally, new fonts, overall photography and design looks were established, and a new color palette is being unveiled. For the first time in its history, Saint Mary’s primary color is navy blue.
“Our primary colors remain red and blue but we’re leaning more heavily into blue,” Shannon said. “The blue is bold and classic, yet contemporary. And it stands out in a market where many universities in our competitive set have red as the lead primary color. As a university with a long legacy and strategic vision, we want both to acknowledge the strong heritage and say we are agile and responsive to the needs of our future students.”
Ever mindful of financial resources, the new logo and seal will roll out in phases. The branding effort was funded through reallocation of existing marketing funds so did not require additional funding.
“Walk the campuses and you will see branding everywhere, so we have to be very planful about how we launch the new visual identity without having it being financially onerous,” Shannon said. “A brand drives reputation, which in return drives revenue (enrollment, giving), so phase one is getting the new branding in front of external audiences.”
Also, still to come, is a brand new web redesign, slated to roll out by fall.
“The new website’s primary audiences are our many and diverse prospective students — from traditional undergrad and transfer students to adult bachelor’s completion seekers to graduate and professional learners,” Shannon said. “Best practices in website design call for excellence in content, navigation, and design. How do we provide a prospective student, wherever they are in their learning journey, to quickly find what they want? Too many clicks and they are gone, so what is the easiest and most intuitive navigation? Does the design entice and tell our brand story? Does it compel them to stay on the site and visit other areas? And is the content clear, relevant to what they want and need, and interesting?”
Our pillars
Shannon explains there are five brand pillars that describe who Saint Mary’s is and what sets it apart.
- Lasallian Catholic values create real value.
- Faculty and staff are all in for every student.
- A community that cares.
- Education that’s within reach.
- Practical, hands-on education for the real world.
“Those pillars should be familiar,” she said. “We hope this is exactly the experience our alumni had as students. Part of the refresh is a recommitment and a refocus and actually stating our brand clearly and concisely.”
Shannon believes now is the perfect time to refresh the Saint Mary’s brand. “We, and all of higher ed, are facing challenges, with declining enrollment due to COVID-19, and with a smaller pool of potential undergraduate students on the horizon,” she said. “New branding, a new website, and cleaner, crisper messaging increases visibility. The goal of branding is to provide a clear and positive sense of what we offer. When a prospective student is researching or deciding on colleges, we hope to have caught their attention and interested them. If our brand resonates with their values and the outcomes they are seeking, we should minimally be in the mix of their decision making and hopefully the ultimate choice.
“Saint Mary’s has a strong value proposition, especially in our Lasallian Catholic vision of education, and this is our opportunity to articulate that well,” said Father James P. Burns, IVD, Ph.D., Saint Mary’s president. “We meet students where they are along their learning path and support them with excellence in a real-world educational experience that prepares them to work, lead, and serve with character and purpose. By telling our story clearly, consistently, and compellingly in a way that is relevant and resonates with our various audiences, we have a very bright future ahead.”
Fastenal internship puts Swanson on fast track to career
By their senior years, many college students are starting to panic, wondering if they’ll be able to find a job after graduation, whether they’ll enjoy the path they’ve chosen, and if they’re truly prepared to take the first big step in their careers.
Parker Swanson isn’t panicking.
The Saint Mary’s University senior, who is triple majoring in marketing, management, and business intelligence analytics, spent his summer in an immersive solutions analyst internship at Fastenal, a global industrial supply company, headquartered in Winona.
And, between his applicable classroom experience and the well-rounded experiences he’s had at Fastenal, he knows he’s set for a career in sales — and that his résumé is looking good.
Beyond the opportunity to play hockey, it was the co-op program between Saint Mary’s and Fastenal that secured his admission choice. “No other schools that I had been looking at had an experience like that. So it was actually a big pull for me to come to Winona,” he said.
When it came time to look for internships, he knew he would apply to Fastenal for the best possible experience and international name recognition.
Jeremy Johnson, director of operations for Fastenal company for the FMI technology innovation team, says typically anywhere between four and 10 students apply for an internship in his area each semester.
“Some of the qualities I look for in interns generally start with experience,” he said. “I’m looking for experience in extracurricular activities, experience in prior work history in high school, or even volunteering. So something outside of the norm that shows us that a student is putting themselves out there.”
Johnson said over the years, he’s picked up a few shared traits Saint Mary’s students bring to their internships.
“I feel like they’re good communicators, verbal and written, and that can be hard to come by,” he said. “I also think they bring a level of integrity, which is really important in today’s society, and especially in our company. But then also, I feel like they’re inquisitive. So they asked good questions, and that’s important for any job that you take on.”
Throughout the summer, Fastenal interns have an opportunity to work through a myriad of business processes and roles.
“We actually put them through administration, project coordinating, what we call product testing, and the installation process for our technologies. And then we bring them into our innovation team, where we do research, we work on product development, and new project management, along with a little bit of quality and engineering,” Johnson said. “So they get a very diverse view of business, as it relates to our technologies that we support.”
“Getting an opportunity to work in a real world experience is something you don’t get in a lot of university settings,” Swanson said. “And I think Saint Mary’s close partnership with Fastenal has allowed a lot of different students to have opportunities … to understand what they like and what they don’t before they even get to that point of finding a job and job searching. Working with five different teams this summer, all the way from administration to innovation supply chain, helped me understand what I like, what I’m good at.”
Johnson agrees that it’s valuable for interns to get work experience prior to going out into their chosen careers. It’s also a win-win scenario for Fastenal as they look for potential career placement.
“Most interns have an opportunity for future placement full time after the internship is done or continued part time work if they choose,” he said. “We have anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 job openings at any given time all over the world. So when you look at our organization, and you consider the term business, what aspects of business are you interested in? And where would you like to live? And generally speaking, we would have lots of opportunities for those interns.”
In fact, he said, Fastenal employs many Saint Mary’s alumni who have been working there for decades.
Swanson said he’s currently applying for a few different roles with Fastenal and is also looking at other opportunities outside of Fastenal to see which environment suits him the best. Either way, he’s incredibly grateful for the experience.
“Fastenal is one of those companies that everybody knows … putting that label on a résumé is a huge résumé booster. I think I want to take those skills that I’ve learned … and transfer those into the sales world, whether it’s at Fastenal or somewhere else. I’m ready to take that next step.”
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