Saint Mary's Newsroom / Campus Notes

As we prepare for the fall semester, we are reinstating this weekly COVID-19 newsletter. We’ll use this forum to share important news and updates each Wednesday as it relates to the pandemic and safety protocols on our campuses. If we don’t have any new information to share, we will skip that week.

Helpful information

Visit smumn.edu/covid19 for the latest information. We continue to update this website on a regular basis, including the Q&As and COVID-19 tracking dashboard. You’re also encouraged to submit your own questions or email covid@smumn.edu with any concerns.

Current protocols

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 physically 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.

Vaccine

As the FDA works to approve the vaccine, we know there will be many questions. We appreciate your patience, as we try to respond as quickly as possible. Remember to be kind to one another, even when others’ beliefs are different from your own. While respecting personal beliefs, Saint Mary’s will make decisions based on the health and safety of our students and in accordance with recommendations from local, state, and federal guidelines.

By staying vigilant and following protocols, we will continue to exhibit the same commitment and flexibility to support one another that we have since the beginning of the pandemic. Thank you for remaining steadfast and resilient in the coming weeks and beyond.

Ann Merchlewitz
Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Dear Saint Mary’s colleagues,

We want to extend an invitation to join us in welcoming our newest members of the president’s cabinet with an upcoming meet and greet on the Twin Cities and Winona campuses.

• Mr. Leon Dixon, vice president for inclusion and human dignity
• Dr. Matthew Gerlach, vice president for character, virtue, and ethics and endowed director of the Hendrickson Institute
• Mr. Gary Klein, vice president for advancement
• Ms. Kelly Shannon, vice president for marketing and communications

Winona Campus:

• Monday, Aug. 23, 3 to 4 p.m., Toner Student Center Lounge

Twin Cities Campus:

• Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2 to 3 p.m., University Center

Light refreshments will be provided. We look forward to welcoming Leon, Matthew, Gary, and Kelly to our community with you.

Sincerely,

Andy Dirksen, chief of staff
Ann Merchlewitz, senior vice president and general counsel

The Pell Grant has proven to be a highly successful program that has opened the doors of educational opportunity for many low- and moderate-income students across our state, including here at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Lower-income students at colleges across the nation depend on federal Pell Grants to afford college, earn their degrees, and hold down debt. However, after years of under-investment, Pell Grants are not able to help students like they used to – the buying power of the program has simply not kept up with the financial aid needs of students.

We are part of an alliance of national organizations – including the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), and private and public colleges across the country – that have joined together to support the cause of doubling the Pell Grant maximum from $6,495 to $13,000. Doubling Pell Grants will:

• Increase access to higher education for more low- and moderate-income students and families;
• Increase degree completion; and
• Reduce student debt.

At Saint Mary’s, Pell Grants are critical, helping 472 (29% percent) of our undergraduate students afford their education. At DoublePell.org, you can find a wealth of information about the Pell Grant program and why it needs to be doubled now.

As a Lasallian Catholic institution of higher education, accessibility and affordability are central to our values and mission. Saint John Baptist de La Salle, the founder of the De La Salle Christian Brothers, started his educational ministry in France in the 1600s to provide a high-quality education to the working class and poor. That continues to be our ministry at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Hence, our request to you today.

All of us have an opportunity to encourage our members of Congress to act. I am writing now to ask you to consider joining me and our national coalition in asking our Members of Congress to double the Pell Grant — allowing the maximum grant to grow from $6,495 to $13,000.

Please take a moment now to send your own notes to your members of Congress: doublepell.org/take-action

Contact with your federal elected officials can make a real difference.

Thank you.

The School of Health and Human Services is pleased to announce that the Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesia received Council of Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) approval to offer a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree effective Aug. 2, 2021.

The Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesia began in 1953 out of Abbott Northwestern Hospital. The first two nurse anesthesia graduates were both women, and they graduated under the direction of the first program director, Leah Tharaldson, RN. The program moved to Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in the 1990s, with official transcripts reflecting the transfer of ownership beginning in 1997. The Master’s Degree was awarded to graduates beginning in 1998. Over the decades, the program has graduated over 1,000 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) that work all over the country and the world.

The new 85-credit, 36-month DNP program consists of courses in four areas including, a scientific core, leadership core, project core, and clinical scholarship core. Students will complete over 3000 hours of bedside clinical practicum rotations at over 40 regional clinical sites already established by the current GNA program.

The first DNP cohort of 21 students begins this fall semester. Congratulations to the program leaders Dr. Leah Gordon and Dr. Julie Gauderman and instructor Dr. Carol Daniel for all their work to make this happen.

The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) notified Saint Mary’s University last week that we have successfully completed our Open Pathway Year 4 Assurance Review and, significantly, we have met all standards with no monitoring required. This is the highest level of passing we can achieve. This is cause to celebrate! We have now completed the mid-cycle institutional review conducted by the HLC in year 4 of our 10-year accreditation cycle. Our next Assurance Review will occur as part of a broader comprehensive evaluation in 2026.

This four-year review is a critical milestone in our institution’s regional accreditation. A team of our peers — academic and operational leadership from five other institutions in the region — completed an extensive virtual evaluation of Saint Mary’s academic and operational activities. We were informed that we successfully met each and every one of HLC’s five Criteria for Accreditation, including 86 separate standards. These standards serve as the measures of quality by which HLC determines whether an institution merits continuation of its accreditation. Saint Mary’s regionally accredited status, in place since 1934, allows our students to participate in federal financial student aid programs while providing us with the tools to engage in continuous quality improvement of our programs and our institution.

Our president, Father James P. Burns, IVD, Ph.D., noted that this news speaks to the thorough preparation that engaged so many people over the past four years. Father Burns stated, “The review provided an excellent opportunity for Saint Mary’s to both highlight our steady and ongoing adherence to best practices in higher education, and showcase the progress and improvements we’ve made to our programs, our services, and our campuses over the last four years. The Year 4 review also allows us to demonstrate the ways in which we continue to set a course for a hope-filled future while fulfilling our Lasallian Catholic mission to awaken, nurture, and empower learners to ethical lives of service and leadership.”

This project would not have been successful without the work of dozens of faculty and staff from across the university over the past two years. The Year 4 Project Team took on the substantial task of updating the comprehensive repository of evidence demonstrating Saint Mary’s adherence to the HLC accreditation criteria across all of our academic, financial, and operational functions. In addition, multiple staff and faculty devoted time, energy, and resources in the project’s final months to ensure a successful outcome. While it is impossible to list everyone who contributed, below we recognize the Year 4 project team and the key contributors who went above and beyond for their sustained efforts:

Steering committee:

• Brian Schmisek, Ph.D., provost and dean of faculties
• Brother Robert Smith, FSC, Ph.D., senior vice president for university initiatives and special advisor to the president
• Timothy Gossen, Ed.D., vice president for student affairs
• Robin Hemenway, Ph.D., director of accreditation and compliance
• Ben Murray, CPA, MPA, executive vice president and chief financial officer

Project team members and key contributors:

• Dave Ansell, B.S., director of procurement and auxiliary services
• Erin Ayala, Ph.D., course-contracted assistant professor, Psy.D. in Counseling Psychology
• Carolyn Ayers, Ph.D., professor of English and world languages, associate dean for general education
• Alison Block, B.S., associate registrar
• Brett Bodsgard, Ph.D., professor of chemistry
• Crystal Carlson, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology
• Andrea Carroll-Glover, MBA, vice provost for online strategy and programs
• Lori Charron, Ph.D., professor of business and communication
• Elizabeth Childs (now retired), M.A., associate dean of curriculum and assessment
• Stacy Dean, Ph.D., director for university writing services
• Nicola Imbracsio, Ph.D., director of curriculum and assessment
• Susan Jarosak, M.A., interim dean, School of Health and Human Services
• Andrew John, Psy.D., assistant professor, Psy.D. in Counseling Counseling Psychology
• Jenny Kuderer, M.A., institutional research analyst
• Dave Miliotis, MBA, assistant vice president for human resources
• Marisa Naryka, Ed.D., vice president for Mission and Ministry
• Matt Nowakowski, Ed.D., interim vice provost for faculties and academic affairs
• Laura Oanes, M.L.S., director for university library services
• Adam Potthast, Ph.D., former interim director of Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
• Laura Roy, B.S., director of admission – SGPP
• Antar Salim, DBA, core associate professor, Doctor of Business Administration
• Barbara Schmidtknecht, administrative assistant, academic affairs
• Holly Tapper, J.D., course-contracted professor
• David Ulaszek, M.A., assistant vice president for finance – budgeting and planning
• Nancy Van Erp, Ph.D., program director, M.Ed. in Learning Design and Technology
• Paul Weiner, Ph.D. (now retired) professor of mathematics, computer science, and statistics
• Kara Wener, M.S., director of Institutional Research
• Nick Winecke, M.A., associate director of athletics, head baseball coach

“This was a herculean effort, from the steering committee and project team to dozens of people across the university who provided information, resources, and documentation to support the review,” Father Burns added. “It epitomizes commitment, collaboration, and our shared care for Saint Mary’s. I particularly want to acknowledge the Accreditation and Compliance team’s leadership as they coordinated the collection of hundreds of pieces of information, worked with contributors, and crafted the final submission.”

Saint Mary’s HLC liaison, Dr. Thomas Bordenkircher, shared with Father Burns his view that our report was “literally outstanding. This is the best news that an institution could receive, given the pandemic and economic challenges we are all facing. Congratulations to Saint Mary’s, your leadership, and your outstanding team, faculty, and staff for an outcome that Saint Mary’s has worked hard to achieve.”

Formerly known as the Adducci Science Center’s Hoffman and Brother Charles Halls, this newly renovated science, nursing, and business facility on the Winona Campus has a new name. On Tuesday, Aug. 24, we will bless and host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the building, which will be known as Aquinas Hall. You’re invited to join in person or via livestream, (Info to be shared soon.) We will maintain our COVID-19 protocols for those attending live.

Aquinas Hall is named after Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican Catholic theologian, philosopher, and priest who is the patron saint of students, philosophers, academics, universities, and schools. That our newest and most innovative building would bear his name is appropriate, and we are grateful to have him watching over the collaborative learning that will be taking place inside.

Combining the theological principles of faith with the philosophical principles of reason, Aquinas asserted that “both kinds of knowledge ultimately come from God” and were therefore compatible. Not only were they compatible, according to Thomas’s ideology, but they could also work in collaboration: He believed that revelation could guide reason and prevent it from making mistakes, while reason could clarify and demystify faith.

This also marks a return of Saint Thomas Aquinas to the Winona Campus, as Vlazny Hall, constructed in 1953, was formerly known as Aquinas Hall.

The Advancement and Marketing and Communication teams are working on a recognition wall for Brother Charles Severin, FSC, Ph.D., and John Hoffman, Ph.D., our legendary and long-term science faculty, for whom the two wings of the original building were honorifically named. The Adducci family also continues to be recognized inside for their generous sponsorship of the Anthony ’59 and Sandra Adducci Family Makerspace.

We also invite you for the public dedication Friday, Oct. 15. More information will be shared at a later date.

Please complete the University Convocation RSVP by today, Tuesday, Aug. 17, to reserve a boxed lunch and indicate your attendance location. Convocation will be held in person and virtually on Tuesday, Aug. 24. All faculty and staff are expected to participate.

RSVP

A new, shared website has been created to unify Winona and Twin Cities library services, which can be previewed at lib.smumn.edu. The new website will launch on Monday, Aug. 23, and features:

• 24/7 chat services
• SuperSearch, the libraries’ unified search tool
• Mobile-friendly design
• Enhanced navigation (site search, user-friendly organization, and menus)

To support you during this transition, we plan to:

• Keep the Winona library and Twin Cities library websites available until Monday, Dec. 20, 2021.
• Include links to the Winona library and Twin Cities library websites on the new website’s homepage.
• Inform students about this change in the CommUNITY newsletter, digital signage, and library instruction.
• Update links (Canvas, the university website, etc.) to the new website URL to promote usage.
• Demo the new website during library instruction as well as at school, department, and committee meetings as requested. To arrange a Zoom presentation, email our new, shared account at lib@smumn.edu.

This website launch culminates a year’s work, during which we sought to understand student and faculty needs universitywide through student interviews, data analysis, and in-depth discussions. The new website highlights consolidated library services, search tools, and research guides. Ultimately, we hope that the new website raises awareness that you may use both libraries; increases access to the libraries’ collections and staff; and mimics the experience you have face-to-face in the libraries, feeling as though a friendly and knowledgeable librarian is guiding you through the research process.

We value your input and will continuously improve the new website with your feedback. Please email lib@smumn.edu if you have questions, suggestions, or interest in participating in usability testing.

As a reminder, we will be starting up the COVID-19 newsletter again tomorrow Wednesday, Aug. 18. This CommUNITY newsletter will be focused on COVID-19 updates for all university employees, students, and parents of undergraduate students.

All are welcome to submit a story idea. You can also view more information on our current newsletter schedule and deadlines.

The AXIS: Journal of Lasallian Higher Education has just published its latest issue at axis.smumn.edu. You’re invited to review the Table of Contents and then visit articles and items of interest. Printed, bound copies are also available for purchase at lulu.com, an on-demand print service.