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President Davenport outlines goals for year during Convocation talk

Smoke-free campus is popular item

Of President Richard Davenport's 2007-2008 goals for Minnesota State Mankato, none generated as much faculty and staff support as a smoke-free campus. President Davenport spoke Aug. 20 at the annual Convocation, the traditional beginning of the academic year.

2007-08-21
By Amanda Dyslin, Free Press Staff Writer [published in The Free Press, Mankato, MN, 8/21/2007]

Apparently item No. 6 on Richard Davenport’s list of goals for 2007-08 is a popular item of discussion on campus.

As soon as the Minnesota State University president uttered the words “ smoke- free campus,” an otherwise quiet crowd of hundreds of MSU facul­ty, staff and others burst into applause at Bresnan Arena, where Davenport gave his annual convocation speech Monday morning. There was even a “ woo” or two.

Jay Dengel, MSU Theatre & Dance box office manager, said smoking is a problem on campus. He used to work in food service at MSU, and there was a problem with workers going out often for smoke breaks. Then there’s the image thing.

“It shows a bad example when you have people who should be working going out (to smoke),” he said.

Although none quite as loudly supp­ported as a smoke-free campus, other goals also were outlined by Davenport under the theme of “Expanding the Horizons of the University.” He said enrollment management is a need to be addressed this year by developing a strategic plan and hosting forums to discuss solutions.

This year the university saw an increase in 500 students, the largest increase in a decade or more. Continuing to recruit more students while keeping the focus on learning and addressing needs such as additional housing, faculty and office space, among other things, is a big chal­lenge, he said.

Even more challeng­ing is to meet these goals during a time when people want lower tuition and state funding is limited. But it’s attainable, he said. “I ask you to work with me to expand the horizons of our univer­sity together,” he said.

As always, Davenport hopes to work toward enhancing the image and name of MSU throughout the state and Midwest through a public rela­tions campaign that includes television commercials.

Davenport’s other goals include making MSU the best place to work in the state, pro­viding access and opportunity for minori­ty students to attend MSU, create a new col­lege of extended learning, including an online learning plan, and creating more business and educational partnerships outside the college.

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