Maverick Moments

Osman started her journey at Minnesota State University, Mankato in the spring of 2018 as an undecided freshman looking for ways to make friends and ways to get involved. Little did she know that her involvement with the student activities and organizations on campus would transform her into the student leader she is today.  

“I thought, what better way to get involved than to start volunteering” says Osman. 

She started volunteering at Campus Kitchen three and a half years ago. From making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to collecting donations from Panera Bread every Thursday, Osman has grown not only in her role as a volunteer but also as a student leader.  

Her compassion and love for helping others left her wanting more. Therefore, joining the Student Events Team was the next step for Osman. From team member to team lead, Osman continues to put her heart and soul into helping others through her time and dedication spent being a part of these organizations.  

“We create events such as bingo, lip-sync, the homecoming parade, and everything in between” states Osman. 

“It’s cool to help bring those events to life and seeing all of those students enjoy it made my college experience so much fun” she adds.  

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March of 2020 which directly impacted her physical involvement on campus. However, an advocate by nature, she knew in her heart something had to be done to help students suffering from the consequences of the pandemic. 

“I joined Student Government because I wanted to advocate for students and help them with any issues they were facing – during the pandemic we focused on student’s mental health issues” states Osman.  

Osman’s strong passion for advocating, supporting, and encouraging students on campus has not gone unnoticed.  

Director of the Centennial Student Union and Student Activities – Mark Constantine states “Zahara is all things to all people. She has a knack for connecting with so many different groups on campus. She is a doer. If someone needs assistance, she is always one of the first people to raise her hand. I find her to be a bright light for our campus.” 

Over the past four years, Osman has shown great accomplishment in her ability to provide care for students through her volunteer work and involvement on campus. Her confidence and leadership skills have grown exponentially which not only made an impact on students but faculty as well.  

Osman is currently finishing up her final year at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She is set to graduate in May with her bachelor’s in Aviation, minoring in both business administration and music industry and entertainment. After graduation she plans to go abroad to experience different cultures and continue her passion for learning, advocating, and connecting with others. Osman has successfully fulfilled her role as a student leader through her ability to make a difference. 

The sun is setting across the remnants of our first snow of the season outside my office window as I write this to you. It is truly hard to believe we have arrived in December yet again. While the journey has been different this fall, the impact of your support and giving has never been greater. Let me share with you some of the great ways you have made a difference this past year.

Your support for scholarships has made the difference for so many or our Minnesota State University, Mankato students. Fall 2021 marked the third year of the Student Affairs Retention Scholarship and with your support we awarded three $1,000 scholarships to students who are becoming a pilot, studying psychology while fighting a rare kidney disease, and preparing to be a computer engineer as a first-generation immigrant from Nigeria. These three students are tremendous examples of the promise and challenges that many of our students are facing. 

At a recent luncheon for our Presidential Scholars ($5,000 scholarship a year) I had the opportunity to join President Inch at a table with three upper-class students preparing for the end of their semester and for two of them, the beginning of life after college.  The first December graduate will be starting her career at Federated Insurance in Owatonna, where she will be focused on debugging software.  Our second December graduate will be working as an emergency department nurse at Mayo Clinic Health System’s Mankato Hospital. Our third Presidential Scholar is a junior with some time on his hands, but not much.  You see he is a mechanical engineering major who is interested in working at a company where he can apply his knowledge to solve their engineering needs and help people.  Of course, this sounds like every engineer I ever met.  He then followed it up by sharing that he continues to drive to Madelia, MN almost every night because the local pizza restaurant is shorthanded, and he thinks it is important to help keep them afloat to serve the locals. The pandemic has created some new challenges for all of us, and it is exciting to see three students responding in their own ways to help others. 

Throughout the fall, I am lucky to have the opportunity to spend time with many of you who stop by to visit at Homecoming, sporting events, or just traveling through.  A recent visit from a long-time supporter and former faculty member from Colorado, and sometimes Alabama, stopped by to meet his scholar and spend some time with me to learn how things are just going.  In the bustle of our daily work, home life, and concern for our own health, it was a welcome respite to share, learn, and laugh about our own challenges. I do not think we solved too many of the world’s problems, but the time together was an important reminder of what this University means to so many of us. 

I choose to work at Minnesota State Mankato because I believe in our mission, the passion of our faculty, and the dedication of our staff to serve students who want to make a difference. My wife, Dr. Jennifer Jones a 1992 Alum, and I choose to give to this University because of the many students who need that little extra bit of support to help keep them on track toward their goals. From our premier Presidential Scholars to our students struggling with the balancing act of school and part-time work, we both know our gift makes a difference.

Thank you for all your support this year and please consider reaching out to me to ask how you can help. My best wishes to you and yours this holiday season.  See you in 2022!        

David P. Jones, Ph.D.

Student Body President Reauna Stiff and Vice President Kara Svercl go above and beyond what it means to be a leader and advocate for students at Minnesota State University, Mankato. “The ability to make a real difference on campus is something that I want to do as a person, a student, and as a social work major in preparing for my future career,” says Svercl.

Hardworking and determined leaders, Stiff and Svercl share a passion for student advocacy. Stiff fought social justice issues in high school and continues to do so as a senior here at Minnesota State University, Mankato. In the future, Stiff wants to pursue a career as a civil rights attorney who represents society’s most vulnerable and disenfranchised. Svercl has been an advocate for students with food insecurities and was able to bring a program called Swipe Out Hunger, which provides donated dining hall meals to over 300 needy students. Svercl is a junior here at Minnesota State, Mankato working on her social work and child development degree in hopes to help as many people as she can.

Both Stiff and Svercl have been working tirelessly on a campaign called Back to Basics. As student government leaders, their mission is to ensure students have the basics such as food, water, clothing, and a safe place to live in order to succeed. They have identified three areas of focus this coming year.

The first project is creating an off-campus housing website that is student-centered and student-led. In addition to having a website with pictures, lists, of amenities, and other information to help make a rental decision. They hope to provide a rating system that allows students to rate the cleanliness, security, and responsiveness of off- campus housing rental properties.  

The second project Stiff and Svercl are working hard to finish is creating a student basic needs hub. Building off the momentum of the Maverick Food Pantry. Even though the Maverick Food Pantry has been a huge success in terms of feeding students, it is running out of space due to the max number of students who need food. Therefore, the idea behind this project is to expand it into a hub where students not only get food but also have access to case manager service.

“We know where there is food insecurity, there is strong correlations between lack of transportation, house insecurity, medical needs, or mental health needs,” Svercl stated. “Usually, food insecurity is a symptom to a much larger problem.”

Both Stiff and Svercl want to go into this idea with a holistic approach that will tackle every aspect of a student’s life in order to ensure their success on and off campus here at Minnesota State University, Mankato. 

The third and final project for this Back to Basics campaign is the Student Room and Board Support Fund. Which will establish scholarships for students with the highest need to cover a portion of the room and meal plan on campus. 

Stiff and Svercl’s passion for the students here at Minnesota State University, Mankato is impeccable. Their Back to Basics campaign offers real life ideas that have and will continue to impact many students lives in a very positive way.

Exactly one year ago, our lives were completely changed as COVID-19 was declared a national pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). With the unprecedented times came a need for unprecedented creativity to continue providing access to campus resources for students. Although campus closed, Student Health Services found a way to accommodate student needs.

At the time, most of the University was closing, and Student Health Services worked to do what it could to continue to serve students. Dr. Wendy Schuh, director of Student Health Services, now acknowledges, “We had many long, difficult conversations about that…. and did not know nearly as much as we know now. We decided that it’d be important to stay open but needed to do things like separate our well visits from anyone who had COVID symptoms and reconfigure our space to allow for social distancing.”

Student Health Services worked closely with Residential Life and Environmental Health and Safety to find a safe space to open an upper clinic, in Carkoski Commons, to see students and begin testing those with COVID-19 symptoms. A space that once housed administrative offices was renovated; they brought in exam tables, installed a sink, calculated air circulation times needed between testing appointments and were able to get the clinic up and running before students returned to campus for the Fall 2020 semester.

In addition to the upper clinic, Student Health Services found a variety of ways to alter services to meet student needs. Despite low numbers of students living on campus, the clinic still saw more than 3,200 students for more than 7,700 medical visits in 2020.

“Some students need that continuity of care to meet their healthcare needs,” Schuh said.

The different functional areas of Student Health Services worked collaboratively to adjust services to continue to meet student needs. The Medical Clinic remained open for in-person visits but also began offering more virtual appointments through Zoom Health, a HIPAA-compliant meeting tool. The clinic also enabled a secure message feature on Medicat, its medical record system, to provide more open communication between students and providers.

Additionally, a healthcare hotline (507-389-5591) was created and staffed by a nurse or medical provider every weekday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to answer students’ questions about symptoms, testing, isolation and quarantine. They also hired a graduate intern to meet with students, some of whom had never been on campus because of COVID, and connect them with campus resources to aid in their success.

Furthermore, the Pharmacy began sending mail order prescriptions and over-the-counter supplies to students for the first time. Telepsychiatry partners through the Minnesota State Collaborative Partnership were offered this same service to meet the needs of students struggling at other Minnesota State campuses too.

The Office of Student Affairs hired a COVID Case Manager housed in Health Education to help track COVID cases related to the University and serve as a liaison to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Additionally, alcohol and drug sanction education programs moved online to keep students and staff safe, and the Student Health PROs continued to meet virtually to find creative ways to carry on programming and messaging around campus.

As Minnesota State University, Mankato looks to the future and to the realities of a post-COVID society, the University also has to consider what changes to keep. COVID has demonstrated semester after semester just how important Student Health Services is and how lucky the campus is to have such a valuable resource for students.

Even when students come back to campus, online resources will still serve as a way to increase access to services.

“I don’t think telehealth is going anywhere.” Schuh says. “Most people prefer to see their provider in person; it’s just natural to have that in-person relationship. But telehealth can address barriers such as students being out of town, going home for the semester or being under isolation or quarantine. Technology is a vehicle to help us care for our students, which has really pushed us to the next level.”

As the long-term effects of COVID linger on campus, Student Health Services will continue to meet students’ physical and mental needs while they plan for a free-standing, comprehensive facility to expand services within the next 10 years.