The MSU Campus Newsletter is a monthly electronic publication of the Minnesota State University, Mankato Division of University Advancement. It is intended to inform faculty and staff members about events and achievements at MSU, Mankato. Send items for future newsletters to michael.cooper@mnsu.edu.
The Minnesota Vikings will begin training camp Friday, July 30, on campus. The team will have single practices on two of their first three days and 10 sets of two-a-day practices.
The camp will include 23 open-to-the-public practices at Blakeslee Field before the team departs for their first exhibition game at St. Louis Aug. 14.
The Vikings' Training Camp practice schedule:
Faculty and staff members recently received nearly a million dollars in grant funds, according to the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs.
The 10 grants include $400,000 to the College of Education (administered by Ginger Zierdt) and $350,000 to the Office of Twin Cities Partnerships at 7700 France (administered by Ann Goebel).
The College of Education grant, from the Bush Foundation, is phase 2 of the foundation's 10-year education initiative. The Twin Cities Partnerships grant, from the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development, is for a SAGE training partnership. The Twin Cities Partnerships also received a $36,000 Department of Employment & Economic Development grant for a Winnebago Manufacturing ISO 9001-Six Sigma program.
Other recent grants:
Minnesota State Mankato finished fourth in the 2009-2010 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings -- the fourth straight year in which the Mavericks have finished in the top four nationally.
The Mavericks totaled 660.50 points, putting them in the top one percent of the 290 NCAA Division II schools.
Minnesota State Mankato has finished in the top 10 six consecutive times, and in the top 25 nine times in the 15 years since the Directors’ Cup program was inaugurated. The Mavericks were second in 2008-09, third in 2007-08, and fourth in 2006-07 and 2009-10.
Minnesota State Mankato was the top Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Minnesota school in this year's standings.
In 2009-10 NCAA postseason events wrestling finished sixth, women’s outdoor track & field was seventh, baseball was seventh, men’s indoor track & field was eighth, women’s golf was 11th, football was 17th, men’s basketball was 17th, softball was 17th, and women’s indoor track & field was 18th.
The fourth-place ranking caps off a banner season for Minnesota State Mankato Athletics, including a second consecutive Northern Sun All-Sports trophy.
The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup honors institutions maintaining broad-based programs that achieve success in many sports, both men’s and women’s.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association has awarded its 2012 Division II national indoor track & field championship meet to Minnesota State Mankato. The event is scheduled for March 9-10, 2012, in Myers Field House.
It will be the second national indoor track & field championship and sixth national championship hosted by the university. In 2008 the university hosted the national indoor track & field meet, and before that hosted four other NCAA national championship events: Wrestling in 1966, 1968 and 2004 and men’s gymnastics in 1970.
The NCAA has been holding a championship for indoor track and field since 1985.
More than 500 participants (including student-athletes, coaches and administrators) from around the country are expected to visit Mankato for the event.
Anne Blackhurst (Graduate Studies & Research) has been named acting vice president for academic and student affairs by President Richard Davenport.
Anne, who assumed her duties July 1, replaces Scott Olson while he serves as senior vice chancellor for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
“Dr. Blackhurst brings an expansive breadth of experience to this position,” President Davenport said. “Her leadership skills, her commitment to diversity and her vision will allow us to maintain our strong position as an innovative leader within the MnSCU system."
Anne was named interim dean of Graduate Studies & Research in 2006, and permanent dean in 2008. Before that she served for 12 years as a graduate Counseling & Student Personnel faculty member and department chair. She came to Minnesota State Mankato in 1994 as assistant professor of Counseling & Student Personnel. She was promoted to associate professor in 1998 and to full professor in 2004.
Before coming to Mankato she was assistant dean of student life and director of residence life at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio; associate director of residence life at Ohio University (Athens); and director of residence life at the College of Idaho. She also taught as an adjunct at the three institutions.
She earned a doctorate in Counseling and Student Personnel from Ohio University, a master’s in counseling from the College of Idaho, and a bachelor’s in economics from Boise State University.
Faculty, staff, alumni and friends are invited to attend a pregame picnic and the Mankato MoonDogs-Rochester Honkers game on Friday, July 23 at Franklin Rogers Park.
The picnic will be from 6-7 p.m. At the game to follow, participants will be able to sit in a fan section reserved for Minnesota State Mankato.
Cost of the event is $14 per person and includes an all-you-can-eat buffet (hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, beans and more), unlimited soda and water and a game ticket. Participants may register online or call (507) 389-3235.
Law enforcement and emergency medical personnel, coroners and members of the public may take part in a crime scene recovery workshop reminiscent of television’s “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” on campus Thursday and Friday, Aug. 12-13.
The forensic workshop will be taught by Kathleen Blue (Anthropology). Participants will learn about the special care required to investigate crime scenes where human bone may be present, and about recovering and preserving evidence.
Kathleen will explain how to determine whether skeletal materials are human or animal, how to conduct a site survey and map skeletal remains, how to excavate, and how to properly collect, handle and preserve skeletal material.
The workshop is designed to acquaint law enforcement personnel and others with techniques necessary for crime scenes involving human remains.
Kathleen has analyzed modern and ancient human remains in Minnesota for more than 10 years. She has worked on forensic cases for the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office, Dakota County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
More information is available on the Continuing & Professional Education website.
Faculty and staff are invited to be guest volunteers during the Annual Fund Thank-a-thon through Thursday, July 1
Volunteers staff Thank-a-thon Call Center phones to thank donors for their fiscal year 2010 gifts. Participants, who receive five minutes of training, can sign up for 15 minutes to 2.5 hours of calling from 6-8:30 p.m. in Alumni Foundation Center Room 125.
Last year’s volunteers included administrators, faculty, staff and students, many of whom said the experience was unique and enjoyable.
Those who are interested in volunteering should contact Laurel Schemmel (University Advancement) at laurel.schemmel@mnsu.edu or 389-5951.
The Minnesota State University, Mankato Foundation has approximately 14,000 donors.
The Great Place To Work Task Force is recruiting interested individuals to participate in the mentor program for Minnesota State Mankato employees. The pilot program is for all new and existing employees.
The program supports and guides employees to build strong relationships and promote their growth and continued success.
The task force seeks volunteers who are interested in becoming mentors. Volunteer mentors will partner with other Minnesota State Mankato employees, sharing university work experiences, providing guidance and support and offering a broad perspective of the university to foster personal, professional and organizational growth.
Those interested in becoming mentors should submit letters of interest to Jane Lebert (Human Resources) at Mary.Lebert@mnsu.edu. Applicants should briefly explain their interest in being a mentor, as well as their campus background and experiences. Those who have submitted letters will not need to resubmit them.
Those who have questions may contact Jane at 389-6944 or Linda Hanson (Affirmative Action) at 389-2986.
The Minnesota State Student Association recently honored Cyrus Azarbod (Information Systems & Technology) and Greg Wilkins (Student Activities) for outstanding service to the community.
Cyrus received the 2009-2010 Dr. Duane Orr Teacher of the Year Award, established in 1995 to recognize faculty members who excel in teaching students and demonstrate outstanding service to the university.
Greg won the Vic Swenson Student Friendly Award, recognizing faculty, staff and administrators who have demonstrated outstanding friendliness in assisting students and creating a community atmosphere.
University Advancement is responding to budget challenges and personnel changes with new duties for four staff members. Here’s the new Advancement who’s who:
Deborah Jesseman (Educational Studies: KSP) recently was elected to the School Board of EdVisions Off Campus School, a public charter school and the only completely project-based, online school in Minnesota. As a newly elected board member, Deborah also completed Charter School Board Training required by Minnesota.
David Viscoli (Music) performed a solo recital in June at the National Theatre in Panama City, Panama, as part of the Alfredo Saint-Malo Festival. He also gave a master class at the University of Panama. In addition, he performed two-piano recitals with Daniel Rieppel at the Palais Corbelli in Vienna, Austria, and at Kontrapunkt Klavierwerkstatt in Munich, Germany, in June.
Furman Haddix (Computer Science) co-authored "A uniform process alternator for arbitrary topologies," published recently in the Journal of High Speed Networks.
Tom Hendrickson (Electrical & Computer Engineering & Technology) recently completed negotiations with Thrivent Corporation and Tumaini University to found an Institute of Microfinance in Tanzania. The Institute will work with villages in rural Iringa, Tanzania, to develop and promote savings and credit cooperatives. Tom has worked with villages there since 2005, assisting in forming 12 cooperatives. With the help of Thrivent and the Institute, he hopes to start 10 moor more next year.
Brian Martensen (Mathematics & Statistics) participated in a workshop sponsored by the Fields Institute on "Recent Advances in Topological and Measure-Theoretic Methods in Dynamical Systems" in May at Nipissing University, North Bay, Ontario.
Deepak Sanjel (Mathematics & Statistics) presented "Using Real Data from the Web in Math/Stat Classroom,” at the 2010 MN MATYC/MCTM conference in Duluth recently.
Qun Zhang (Electrical & Computer Engineering & Technology) co-wrote "On the Gaussian Approximation and Margin Measurements for Optical DPSK Systems with Balanced Detection," published in the June of IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology. Qun's "Gaussian Approximation and Margin Measurements for Amplified Fiber Optical Systems" was accepted for publication in the book "Advances in Optical Amplifiers." His co-authored "Electronic Post-Compensation of Fiber Nonlinearity for 40 Gb/s WDM Systems" was accepted for publication in the Optical Society of America Journal of Optical Communications and Networking. And he has submitted a co-authored manuscript, "Parallel Algorithms for the Simulation of Pulse Propagation through Optical Fibers," to the Optical Society of America's Optics Express.
Do you have faculty, staff, student or departmental news for the campus newsletter? Send news items to newsletter editor Michael Cooper. The newsletter usually is published every other Wednesday during the academic year and monthly during the summer. The next newsletter will be published Aug. 25; the deadline for that newsletter will be the previous Friday (Aug. 20).
You should also submit your event to the university's official Campus Events Calendar. Go to the events calendar website, click on the self-service "Submit Event" link, and provide the information requested.
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University, Mankato
Mankato, MN 56001
1-800-722-0544
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Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system and an affirmative action/equal opportunity university.
