Campus News

Heritage meets higher ed meets humor
During the month of April, Metropolitan State University is celebrating Asian American Heritage Month, an outgrowth of the strong Hmong population in the Twin Cities over the past two decades. Although you can take in a dose of serious history, the scheduled events also include a comedy show, a panel discussion on adoption and self-identity and a hands-on course in Japanese floral arrangements. The events highlight some expected trends in the Asian-based student population, and some unexpected trends...

End-of-the-Year Celebration for Nursing Student Organization
Graduates of Metropolitan State University’s nursing programs will be honored with a special treat when professional actress Pippa White performs at the annual End-of-the-Year Celebration, sponsored by the Nursing Student Organization (NSO), on April 22. The performance will narrate the lives of people who changed the nursing profession and health care. The End-of-the-Year Celebration is just one of many events the NSO puts on yearly. Aimed at bringing nursing students together to support ...

As the economy sinks, college enrollment numbers climb
eak, scarce, bleak—call it what you want, and we’ve heard it all before—the current state of our economy is anything but burgeoning. Often compared to conditions as exorbitant as the Great Depression, it’s safe to say that people nationwide are scrambling. And they’re scrambling fast, as the layoff rate soars to record heights, breaking the ’90-’91 recession stats, with employers continuing to swing the axe. Daily announcements are surround-sound as headlines from CNN to our local and national periodicals to the Web incessantly reveal the newest victims surrendering to the belt-tightening economy. Families are seeking a quick turn-around solution for their impending and existing income challenges, and higher education ostensively fits the bill. A growth spurt of college enrollment numbers has taken place across the board, with Metropolitan State University smack...

MnSCU aims to recruit more underrepresented students
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system, which includes Metropolitan State University, is stepping up initiatives to encourage more students of color, first-generation college students, and low-income studentsto attend college. According to the State Demographic Center, Minnesota’s population is quickly diversifying and MnSCU plans to stay ahead of the game by encouraging students to seek higher education.“We have been reaching out to underrepresented students for quite some time,” says Melinda Voss, MnSCU Public Relations Director. “Historically, the underrepresented groups have not participated in higher education at the same level as other groups, so that is why there is a special outreach to these groups.” The MnSCU Board of Trustees’ number one goal, as part of its strategic plan, is to raise the participation and achievement in post-secondary education by meeting the needs of students with diverse backgrounds and educational goals...

Metropolitan State recognized for service to adults
The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), a nonprofit dedicated to helping adults access higher education, awarded Metropolitan State University the 2008 CAEL Institutional Service Award. The award recognizes colleges and universities that have made an outstanding effort to reach out to adults and provide quality programs suited to their needs. The award was presented during CAEL’s 2008 International Conference on Nov. 13 in Philadelphia, Pa. College deans, presidents and administrators gathered to discuss how the presidential election and the economy will affect Americans’ access to higher education. Susan T. Rydell, professor, Psychology Department, College of Professional and Community Studies, and project manager, Minnesota Center for Professional Development, represented the university at the award presentation...

New student organization to promote “Active Minds”
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in four adults over 18 years old experience some form of a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. With over 9,000 students enrolled at Metropolitan State University ranging in age between 15 and 71 years old, the campus is long overdue for some focus on mental health. A new student organization is forming to promote just that. The group is called Active Minds and their mission is to promote mental health awareness, education and advocacy on the Metropolitan State campus. The Metropolitan State chapter of Active Minds was started by Madeline Sutherland who is a graduate of Metropolitan State’s Human Services Program and a tutor in the writing center. She was inspired to start the organization by a documentary film called “Depression, Out of the Shadows.” The film tells the stories of real Americans who suffer from depression and how it affects families, workplaces and each individual. It features celebrated scientists describing the latest neurological research and revolutionary new treatments for depression...

Individualized B.A. Program
Are you undecided or have a specialized interest? If you are undecided and/or looking to focus on specialized career interests not offered in the university’s structured degree programs, the individualized Bachelor of Arts degree through First College may be for you. First College offers an individualized and interdisciplinary degree program for students who would like to design their own degree by choosing courses from most of the university’s curriculum and by exploring a variety of creative learning strategies (Priors, SDIS, FDIS and Internships) to meet their educational goals. Students in the individualized degree program complete the four-credit semester course, Perspectives: Educational Philosophy and Planning (Prsp 301), at the beginning of their educational journey. There are numerous sections offered both online and on campus each semester and there are still seats available for you to enroll...

GoCrossCampus launches tournaments at hundreds of campuses
After launching popular games at nearly forty colleges and universities in the US and abroad last school year, the popular team-based social gaming platform GoCrossCampus is continuing rapid expansion to hundreds of college campuses this fall, bringing hundreds of thousands of students into the GXC community. “Take a world domination game, multiply it by hundreds or even thousands of players, inject plenty of social interactivity, and set the whole thing on a map of your campus,” explains Matthew O. Brimer (Yale ’09), co-founder of GoCrossCampus...