MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MOORHEAD

MSUM eyes faculty layoffs as it aims to balance budget

Robin Huebner — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 22:10:00 GMT

FARGO — As many as a half-dozen faculty members at Minnesota State University Moorhead could be laid off as the school works through its annual budget balancing process, the school’s president said.

A statement from the office of MSUM President Tim Downs on Friday, Aug. 23, said the budget plan includes a maximum of six faculty layoffs or retrenchments.

The number could be reduced depending on how many employees accept voluntary retirement incentives offered to qualifying faculty and staff earlier this week, the statement said.

The statement adds the budget plan does not call for any program closures.

Oscar Flores is an economics professor and president of the MSUM Faculty Association.

“Even the possibility that some of my colleagues may lose their jobs is terrible news,” Flores said.

Under their contract, faculty members must be notified of even the possibility they may be laid off.

“There are many steps in the process. We are only in the first or second,” Flores said.

He added that the faculty union will make sure that the process is followed and will advocate for faculty members as much as possible.

In September of 2020, 24 MSUM faculty members received official layoff notices that would take effect over three years.

Those faculty were initially told about potential layoffs in April of that year, when the university announced a plan designed to close a projected budget gap of $6 million in fiscal year 2022.

The statement about layoffs this week indicated the moves are being made with the future in mind.

“We acknowledge that university enrollments are growing. We believe this is the right time to make strategic investments in the university which will benefit our current and future Dragons,” the statement read.

Downs said further information about growth plans will be available next week.

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Anti-affirmative action organization targets Minnesota State University Moorhead scholarships in complaint

Ingrid Harbo — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 19:23:51 GMT

MOORHEAD — An anti-affirmative action nonprofit organization has filed a complaint against Minnesota State University Moorhead, challenging the legality of five diversity scholarships offered by the school.

On Tuesday, June 11, the Equal Protection Project announced it had filed a federal civil rights complaint against MSUM for scholarships that it awards to Black, Native American, Asian American and Latino students. The organization says the scholarships violate federal civil rights laws and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which promises equal protection under the laws.

"The eligibility requirements for these scholarships are openly racially discriminatory,” said William Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project. “Regardless of the purpose of the discrimination, it is wrong and unlawful."

The Equal Protection Project is a project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, a Rhode Island-based nonprofit organization. The project challenges race-based education policies, and has filed similar complaints against other schools for offering similar scholarships.

MSUM spokesperson Kristi Monson said the university was not aware of the complaint.

"At Minnesota State University Moorhead, we are committed to transforming the world by transforming lives, and ensuring all our students, no matter who they are, can achieve their educational goals," said MSUM in a statement. "We will cooperate fully with the Office of Civil Rights if they choose to investigate this matter."

The complaint against MSUM targets five scholarships at MSUM, listed on the school’s “Diversity Scholarships” page. Those scholarships are:

The Access, Opportunity & Success Scholars Diversity scholarship. The Earl, Violette and Louise Warner Diversity scholarship. The Joseph Thorman Hispanic scholarship. The MSUM Diversity scholarship. The ODI Diversity Scholarship.

Three of the scholarships are awarded to students who identify as African American, Native American, Asian or Pacific Islander, and Hispanic or Latino.

The Earl, Violette and Louise Warner Diversity scholarship is awarded to Mexican-American students, with preference to those who have worked as migrant sugarbeet workers or are descendants of migrant sugarbeet workers. The Joseph Thorman Hispanic scholarship is awarded to Hispanic students from south Texas.

The complaint calls on the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to investigate the scholarships and hold MSUM accountable for any unlawful conduct.

According to Jacobson, the organization has filed more than 25 complaints with the Department of Education. He says over half of the universities targeted by the complaints have changed programs without the need for action by the Department of Education.

One complaint has resulted in an official Department of Education investigation, he said — a complaint against the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a fellowship program for people of color.

It has been nearly a year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned race-conscious college admission policies, prohibiting schools from considering race as a factor for which students are admitted.

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St. Cloud native Tim Bergstraser following in his college coach's footsteps

Andy Rennecke — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 21:54:44 GMT

MOORHEAD — When Tim Bergstraser came to St. Cloud State in the fall of 2009, he was already obsessed with basketball.

After having a strong career for St. Cloud Apollo, he chose to stay in his hometown to play college basketball under longtime SCSU head coach Kevin Schlagel.

Bergstraser picked a good landing spot as he was a key part of the Huskies' run to the Division II Final Four that 2009-10 season. He made an appearance in all 34 games for St. Cloud State, averaged 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 rebounds a game and took a beating every day at practice while trying to guard All-American center and future Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Hall of Famer Matt Schneck.

"I did hit the lottery as a freshman. I was addicted to basketball. That's all I thought about. At the time, I didn't know that winning the NSIC and Central Regional Tournament didn't always happen. We made it to the Elite Eight and then made it to the Final Four. I thought that was going to happen every year," Bergstraser said with a laugh.

"Looking back, I realize how stinking hard that was to do. I was just a dumb 18-year-old along for the ride. It's a lot more significant than you realize."

Leading the Dragons

Bergstraser, 32, is in his second season as head coach of the Minnesota State-Moorhead men's basketball team.

He's guided Moorhead to a 15-1 record this season and a No. 5 ranking in the latest NABC Division II men's basketball Top 25 poll. The Dragons were ranked No. 1 for a week before being knocked off 70-68 at the University of Sioux Falls on Jan. 13.

Last season, Bergstraser guided the Dragons to the NSIC Tournament championship and an appearance in the Division II Central Region Tournament.

To accomplish all of that since being hired in May 2022 has impressed his old college coach, who is the all-time winningest men's basketball coach at SCSU. Schlagel, who was one of the most-respected Division II head coaches of his time, went 341-157 from 1997 to 2014.

"To see how far Tim has come, it's awesome to see," said Schlagel, who is retired and still lives in St. Cloud. "The success he's having is fantastic. Coming out of high school, he needed to mature. Playing against Schneck every day certainly helped with that. He started to understand how he had to grow up, on and off the court.

"He always had that passion for the game. But the injuries took their toll on him."

The ACL tears

Bergstraser tore the ACL in his left knee three times during his career with the Huskies. The first one came in the fall of 2010 during a preseason scrimmage. He had to take a medical redshirt for the 2010-11 season. He returned in 2011-12 and averaged 12.8 points and 7.5 rebounds a game to earn All-NSIC second team honors.

But in the Central Region Tournament that season in Golden, Colorado, Bergstraser tore the ACL in the left knee for a second time against Bemidji State. The Huskies won the game, but lost to Metro State (Colorado) in the next round in large part to Bergstraser's absence.

"His second tear in Colorado devastated all of us," Schlagel said. "Tim was a self-made player who worked extremely hard to have the success he had. We enjoyed seeing that progression in him. When he couldn't get back to where he wanted to be, I might have took it harder than anybody."

Bergstraser tried to return the following season, but was never the same. He found out he tore it for a third time after the 2012-13 season had concluded.

"After that third time, I had the mind-set that I was going to come back stronger than ever," Bergstraser admitted. "I was like 'let's get under the knife, cut it open and fix it again.' But, over time, you realize that your body is wearing down on you and how significant these tears were. I couldn't move the same way anymore. I couldn't be as physical as I liked.

"Schlagel sat me down and told me that he wanted me to be able to play with my kids some day. I can't thank him enough for that. It was the tough love I needed. If I had had another surgery, I probably wouldn't be walking right now."

Coaching path

Bergstraser became a student assistant coach at St. Cloud State the following season, which started him on his path to Minnesota State-Moorhead. His first full-time job was with Wisconsin-River Falls in 2014-15. He then made his first stop in Moorhead under then-head coach Chad Walthall as a graduate assistant from 2015 to 17.

Following one season at Division II Quincy (Illinois), he became Walthall's top assistant during the 2018-19 season. Bergstraser soaked up as much as he could under Walthall, who turned the Dragons into a conference contender during his 12 seasons at the helm.

After Walthall stepped down following the 2021-22 season, Bergstraser knew he wanted the job. He was named the Dragons' head coach on May 16, 2022.

"I realize how lucky I am. Not many 32-year-olds get a chance to be a head coach at this level," Bergstraser said. "I was in the right place at the right time. When Walthall stepped down, he had my back and was in my corner for the job. I felt like I earned it, but I knew I still had to go through the interview process.

"It was a good experience and I couldn't be more grateful to this university for the opportunity."

Instant success

After guiding the Dragons to a 25-7 record last season, including a 17-5 mark in the NSIC, Moorhead is back near the top of the conference standings again this season. Minnesota State-Mankato, under the guidance of longtime head coach Matt Margenthaler, is on top with a 10-0 mark in the NSIC and 16-0 overall. Mankato earned the No. 1 ranking in D-II this past week.

The Dragons are led by junior guards Jacob Beeninga and Jamir Price. Beeninga is averaging 19.6 points a game and Price is averaging 13.6 points per contest. Sophomore forward Logan Kinsey is averaging 10.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and senior forward Dane Zimmer is chipping in a solid 9.9 points and 8.9 boards per contest.

"I haven't tried to reinvent the wheel with this team," Bergstraser said. "We're pretty vanilla in what we do and I try and find low-maintenance guys who love to work hard and love the game. We're not flashy. I keep it that way on purpose. I'm just doing my best to try and sustain the success that Walthall built here."

Schlagel, who is still an avid basketball fan, watches every MSU-Moorhead game online. While he still attends every St. Cloud State game he can, he can't help but be a fan of his former player.

"Its very rare for a guy Tim's age to get a job like this and then to hit the ground running and not stop," Schlagel said. "I watch all of their games and if he's in St. Cloud we try and get together. I watch him on the sidelines and he's a lot different than me. He's not very demonstrative.

"He's very low-key and calls things out when he needs to. He lets his guys play."

One of Bergstraser's former SCSU teammates, Scott Hawkins, came up to Moorhead recently to watch a game and sit behind the Dragons' bench. Schlagel was infamous for throwing his tie at press row when he was angry with a referee's call. Bergstraser doesn't wear a tie since coaching attire is a lot more relaxed these days.

"Hawkins told me that I have a lot of Schlagel in me," Bergstraser said with a laugh. "I'm OK with that. I want these guys to show up, work hard and appreciate this special sport. That's what Schlagel taught me. He was a winner and all business. He was open and up front with his statements toward you. He was an incredible coach to play for and learn from."

Bergstraser credits his wife, Ashley, and his 2-year-old daughter Presley for keeping him grounded. He's come a long way since that confident 18-year-old arrived on campus at St. Cloud State not knowing what was in store for him.

"Life has been incredible. I would love to have a household of little kids running around very soon. My family has propelled my life in the right direction," Bergstraser said. "I know I wasn't on the right path until I met Ashley. She's a good-hearted, loving person. She's supportive of my coaching career and has sacrificed a lot.

"I realize how fortunate I am. Ashley knows this is my profession and how much I love it. I'm still addicted to this stuff."

The Bergstraser file 2009 graduate of St. Cloud Apollo Was an All-Area and All-Central Lakes Conference player at Apollo Played for St. Cloud State from 2009-13 Was part of the Huskies' Final Four team in 2010 Averaged 12.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in 2011-12 for SCSU while being named All-NSIC second team Suffered three torn ACL injuries in his left knee while at SCSU Was an assistant coach from 2014-2022 at SCSU, Wisconsin-River Falls, Quincy (Illinois) and MSU-Moorhead Was named head coach at MSU-Moorhead in May 2022 Guided the Dragons to a 25-7 record and an NSIC Tournament championship during the 2022-23 season Helped the Dragons to a No. 1 national ranking after a 15-0 start in January 2024]]>

97.5% of Minnesota State administrative and service faculty vote to authorize strike

Paige Naughton — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 14:46:10 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota State University administrative and service faculty voted by 97.5% to authorize a strike if Minnesota State does not advance the union’s economic priorities for living wages and for an equity and compression study.

With the start of the school year just around the corner, it's unclear what this could mean for students in the fall.

The seven campuses that would be included in a potential strike are Bemidji State University, Metro State University, Minnesota State University Mankato, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Saint Cloud State University, Southwest Minnesota State University and Winona State University, the Minnesota State University Association of Administrative and Service Faculty said in a news release.

Administrative and service faculty affiliated with Teamsters Local 320 planned a news conference for Friday, July 21, at 1 p.m. to announce its strike authorization vote and next steps in state mediation.

The faculty who would strike include those who work in admissions, financial aid, housing, health services, mental health services, student registration, course scheduling, student activities, event planning, teaching, international student services and more, the Minnesota State University Association of Administrative and Service Faculty said.

All students at Minnesota State universities come into contact with administrative and service faculty at some point during their university careers; these faculty members are vital for student and institutional success, the Minnesota State University Association of Administrative and Service Faculty said.

The news conference will be held via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81601494297. For more information about Minnesota State Universities strike and advocacy, visit https://asfrising.com/.

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MSUM student crowned 2023 Miss Minnesota

Jay Dahl — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:38:32 GMT

MOORHEAD — A Minnesota State University Moorhead student was crowned Miss Minnesota 2023 on Friday, June 23, at Treasure Island Resort & Casino in Welch.

Angelina Amérigo, 22, majors in digital media management with an emphasis on public relations and advertising at MSUM through their online degree program, and is entering her senior year this fall. She got a $10,000 scholarship as part of winning the competition.

Amérigo, who lives in the Twin Cities, said she enrolled at MSUM because they offered her preferred program entirely through online courses, which gave her the flexibility to balance preparing for the Miss Minnesota competition while working toward her degree.

Amérigo will now represent Minnesota at the 2024 Miss America competition. She said she's looking forward to the challenge of balancing competition, her role as Miss Minnesota, and her online coursework.

"The first few months here in the summer are the busiest, so getting into the school year, I'm still going to be registered for some classes and be able to implement that into my schedule, so I'll still be an active student," Amérigo said.

She was the second runner-up for Miss Minnesota two years ago, and she was the first runner-up last year. She said her confidence helped her stay calm in the moment when she was announced as this year's winner.

"Everyone keeps telling me, they're like, you looked so calm. And I think I just had so much faith in that moment of just the timing of the path through my life and what that was going to look like," Amérigo said.

She said it's been a busy couple days since winning, and that busy schedule will continue as she performs duties as Miss Minnesota for the next year. Part of that includes her chosen community service initiative, which focuses on reducing the use of one-time plastics.

While performing those duties across the state over the next year, Amérigo said she's hoping she'll get a chance to get back on MSUM's campus for just the third time, as she's only visited in person twice before.

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Minnesota higher education system wants $350 million, tuition freeze

Robin Huebner — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 10:42:00 GMT

MOORHEAD — As Minnesota lawmakers mull how to spend a historic budget surplus, the system overseeing the state’s 33 public colleges and universities wants a freeze on student tuition to be part of the equation.

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system has put together its largest ever budget request to the Legislature, including about $75 million for a tuition freeze.

Chancellor Devinder Malhotra and Board of Trustees Chair Roger Moe outlined the total $350 million request for fiscal years 2024-25 during a meeting with The Forum’s editorial board on Monday, Jan. 9. Anne Blackhurst, president of Minnesota State University Moorhead, and Carrie Brimhall, president of Minnesota State Community and Technical College, were also in attendance.

Previously, the system’s largest legislative request was for about $242 million, four years ago.

The request comes as Minnesota eyes a record budget surplus estimated at $17.6 billion, according to state projections released in December.

Moe said the request was compiled before the latest surplus projection announcement and before the November election, when Democrats gained control of the governor's office and both legislative chambers.

“Had we waited until after the forecast, we would have asked for more,” Moe told The Forum’s editorial board.

Input for the budget request came from listening sessions held statewide with college and university faculty, staff and students, as well as chambers of commerce, labor unions, trade organizations and employers.

To put the $350 million request in perspective, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system has a budget of roughly $2 billion. About half of its revenue comes through state appropriations and half from tuition, Malhotra said.

Blackhurst said while it is a “bold” request, she doesn’t want those words to imply that MSUM would be “rolling in money” if fully funded.

“Our state appropriation would increase by less than 10% and that state appropriation is only a portion of our university budget,” Blackhurst said, adding that inflation would “eat” that up.

Higher education institutions nationwide have suffered from declines in student enrollment in recent years. Brimhall said community and technical colleges have tried to stay on top of things by trimming wherever they can.

“I think we've been diligent every year about looking at investment and cuts,” she said.

The $350 million legislative request is divided into three general categories: $125 million for student support, $125 million for campus support and $100 million for workforce and economic development.

The focus of the student support request is on making education more affordable and accessible for all students.

“There were always equity gaps and inequities in both access and student success even before the pandemic, but the pandemic exacerbated that,” Malhotra said.

Of that $125 million, $77 million would go toward a freeze in tuition and expansion of free textbook offerings, $26 million would go toward mental health and other student supports on campus, and the rest for transfer scholarships and emergency grants.

The $125 million in campus support would go toward maintaining academic programs and recruiting and retaining faculty and staff.

The $100 million request for workforce and economic development would go toward upgrading equipment and learning environments on campuses, and increasing workforce development scholarships.

That workforce money wouldn’t be spent unless it was matched dollar for dollar by employers, which Moe said he was confident would happen.

Though the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities request might be considered aggressive, Moe said it’s also reasonable given the state’s budget situation.

“To put it in perspective, if you take the gross surplus, our ask is less than 2%,” he said.

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Bemidji High �� graduate Gavin Kestner wins $100,000 scholarship in Dr Pepper football toss

Dennis Doeden — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 16:52:19 GMT

Gavin Kestner did not play football for the Bemidji High �� Lumberjacks, but his passing skills earned him $100,000 on Saturday night.

Kestner, a 2022 BHS graduate, won the tuition scholarship from Dr Pepper at halftime of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in Charlotte, N.C. Currently a freshman at Minnesota State University Moorhead, he plans to transfer to North Dakota State University next month to pursue a degree in computer science with an emphasis on cybersecurity.

Kestner competed against Althea Musakasa of Baylor University. They had 30 seconds to toss footballs into holes in giant Dr Pepper cans from 15 feet away. After falling behind halfway through the contest, Kestner rallied to claim the $100,000 first prize. Mukasaka earned $20,000 in the Dr Pepper Tuition Toss program.

Kestner said he found out about the Dr Pepper program this fall when he was surfing the internet looking for scholarship opportunities.

“Like everyone else I was worried about tuition for next year,” he said. “I got a few scholarships this year. I was able to pay most of it out of my pocket, but for next year I was a little worried.”

Winning the competition certainly will ease his mind.

“I’m just really excited,” Kestner said, “because I know it’s normal for people to take out student loans and everything, but just the thought of having all that debt scared me. It’s a huge relief because I can focus on applying for internships, either paid or not paid, and just work on continuing my degree work and doing what I can to help me in my future.”

As part of the application process for the Dr Pepper program, Kestner needed to submit a short video describing how they would use the scholarship money. He had experience as a wedding videographer through his side business called Northwind Photo and Video, so he was able to use those skills in the video's production.

Kestner’s girlfriend Addy Kelly, who also graduated from BHS last spring, assisted with the video and also helped Gavin practice for the competition. She accompanied him to Charlotte.

“She’s my supporter, and she hyped me up,” Kestner said.

During a post-competition interview on the ABC broadcast, Kestner said, “This is just absolutely amazing. I just want to thank Dr Pepper first of all for this wonderful opportunity, my girlfriend, Addy, and most of all my family because they're my No. 1 supporters.”

After leaving the field, Kestner’s phone blew up with messages from friends and family.

“All my friends and family were freaking out,” he said. “ It was hard to pick who to respond to first.”

Kestner’s football season isn’t over. As a trumpet player in the NDSU Marching Band, he’ll be on the field Friday night, Dec. 9, when the Bison host Samford in a national quarterfinal game at the Fargodome.

Since 2008, Dr Pepper has awarded more than $13 million in tuition.

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Nursing is in crisis. The pandemic is largely to blame. Here's what comes next

Jeremy Fugleberg — Sat, 15 Jan 2022 17:01:00 GMT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The pandemic has beaten and battered many nurses into numbness.

Numb to the numbers. Numb to people. Numb to deaths.

That’s how Jodi Doering describes the scars of being a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic, facing surge after surge of patients, including many who won’t leave the hospital alive.

Doering is a veteran nurse who is working as a travel nurse at hospitals in South Dakota. She’ll be a nurse until she dies, she said, invoking an old nursing joke. But the seemingly endless pandemic is making nurses ask the question: Do I even want to do this job?

“That’s a conversation that happens literally every shift amongst people, whether they’ve been there for six months or 30 years,” she said. “There’s a group of people who will do it till they die, because that’s what they’re meant to do, and there’s a group of people who maybe were going to do that until they die,and now it’s like, ‘I can’t do it anymore, I absolutely cannot watch these people suffer anymore.’”

The pandemic has changed nursing, raising questions about the future of nursing and most immediately, who wants to even be a nurse. This crisis in nursing is causing nursing educators to quickly rethink how they train their students and making health systems rethink how they recruit and retain nurses.

The upheaval in nursing was topic No. 1 during a December meeting of nursing education leaders in Minnesota, said Carol Roth, associate professor and co-chair of Minnesota State University's �� of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership, in Moorhead, Minnesota.

“What we ended up talking about was how this is just a massive crisis of our workforce,” she said. "It's more than just a shortage. It's also nurses who are choosing to leave the profession."

Many nurses — both young and old — are burned out and quitting, or considering it. They’ve borne the brunt of equipment shortages, missing coworkers, overflowing COVID wards, angry and difficult patients, and death after death after death.

A spring 2021 nationwide survey of nurses by Vivian Health, a health care career company, said 43% of respondents were considering leaving health care, and two out of three nurses said they felt more stressed about their jobs than a year previously, soon after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And that survey was conducted before the deadly surges from the delta variant and now the omicron variant.

"This survey confirms what has become plain in the past year: The health care workforce is in an upheaval," Vivian concluded from its survey.

Other nurses are seeking a change of scenery, taking easier jobs or eyeing much-needed, and therefore lucrative, temporary nursing gigs around the country — what’s known as travel nursing. But those jobs aren't any easier, and usually are most urgently needed at COVID hotspots.

Jessica Meyers, a travel nurse recruiter based in South Dakota, said she's made it a priority to check in on her nurses, making sure they're taking care of their mental health, or even talking through if doing the job is the right thing for them anymore.

“We’re starting to see the strain in the people that have been saving us and been doing everything that they can to keep the public healthy, and I don’t blame them one bit," Meyers said.

This isn’t the Great Resignation. It’s more of an industry wide sigh of exhaustion and a cry for help.

While the pandemic spurred the nursing crisis, concerns about nurse staffing aren't new or unrecognized. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing identifies a number of pre-pandemic causes of a nurse shortage, including an aging population requiring more health care, already insufficient staffing, and nurse retirements with too few nursing school enrollments to cover the gap.

“I think when you look at the whole scheme of things, the nursing shortage has been coming," said Erica DeBoer, chief nursing officer at Sanford Health, a Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based health system with clinics and hospitals in the Dakotas and Minnesota. "It has been something that has been on the forefront for, really, more than 25 years. And so, when you think about what the pandemic has done, it’s accelerated some of that.”

Sanford Health is seeking to cover the gap by, among other strategies, working with nursing schools, recruiting international nurses and getting creative with its own "enterprise" float pool of nurses, who can move as needed between Sanford facilities, she said.

At Essentia Health, a Duluth, Minnesota-based health system whose footprint spreads from North Dakota across Minnesota and Wisconsin, it's become abundantly clear a nursing shortage is a short-term issue, said Chief Nursing Officer Rhonda Kazik.

“Now we’re saying, let’s assume this is going to be our new normal," she said. "How do we reset everything to actually meet this new need, demand and expectation, not only of our workforce but of our patient population? So we’re shifting — we’re shifting the tactics to get to a sustainable workforce.”

One crucial component, she said, is to"deepen the reach of our pipeline" to potential future nurses, working with high schools and even grade schools to get students thinking about a potential future nursing career.

Essentia also deepened its relationships with nursing schools, most notably in a partnership with Minnesota State University Moorhead's �� of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership, creating the Essentia Health Center for Nursing on the university's campus.

Its leaders say the partnership has paid dividends in the MSUM's new bachelor of science in nursing program, which will graduate its first official class this summer, with Essentia providing equipment and offering crucial on-site clinical experiences for students, among other contributions.

MSUM's Roth and Alicia Swanson, associate professor and bachelor of science in nursing program coordinator, said their program provides a deep and sustained education for prospective nurses in developing and practicing self-care and resilience strategies — strategies that the pandemic has shown are must-haves, both now and in the future of nursing.

“This COVID pandemic has only exacerbated something that has been existing for years, about burnout," Swanson said. "I think this is an opportunity to be, and do, better."

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Finding Faith: Campus chaplain is a resource for students, staff in Moorhead

Devlyn Brooks — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 14:30:00 GMT

I bet when most these days think about a college campus, they picture a debaucherous scene from the 1978 movie “Animal House” more than an interfaith international meal.

But they might be wrong, according to the Rev. Dominique Buchholz, who not only serves as pastor of Crossroads Lutheran Campus Ministry at Minnesota State University Moorhead, but also is now serving as the state university’s inaugural campus chaplain.

“Faith is a bigger part of a student’s life than a lot of people expect,” Buchholz said. “It’s a time of their life where they’re exploring everything about who they are, including their faith.”

As proof that young adults really are more faithful than they may profess to be, Buchholz shares that when first-year students are required to journal about their college experience, many openly share about their faith lives.

The longer we talked about her chaplaincy, the more excited I was about how an institution of higher learning would get that faith and spirituality are integral to people’s wellness. And rather than run scared from this, the home of the Dragons is embracing it.

Buchholz said MSUM officials noticed last year, coming back from the COVID pandemic, that campus counseling resources were swamped. MSUM leaders wanted to fill this important void. So they brought on Buchholz as chaplain to provide free, confidential listening and spiritual care to anyone: students, faculty and staff. She works most closely with the school’s Wellness Center to offer spiritual wellness opportunities, and its Office of Diversity and Inclusion to offer interfaith educational opportunities.

It’s difficult to find good data as to how many U.S. colleges or universities have chaplains, but it’s certainly not a high percentage. Which is unfortunate because a seven-year study conducted by UCLA called “Spirituality in Higher Education” showed that “students who were part of spiritually practicing communities and had healthy spiritual experiences on campus … had higher retention rates, better graduation rates, higher civic engagement, and higher student satisfaction and lower instances of mental health [issues] than their peers.”

So what does Buchholz find herself doing as MSUM’s new chaplain? Well she spends a lot of time “accompanying people through difficult times.” That can be helping a student connect with a faith community on campus or off campus. Or it can mean organizing an interfaith meal for international students who have nowhere to go during campus academic breaks.

“Finding a community of faith is tough for anyone,” Buchholz said. “I help people find that.” Adding that her work is about helping people on their faith journey, while offering protection for religious freedom. She says that although her position is funded by Crossroads, the purpose is to serve people of all faith backgrounds or no faith background.

As a university, MSUM states that it’s mission is to educate a student body that is more globally aware and just. And to do so, Buchholz said, we must understand people’s culture, including faith traditions. “Religion is a place where many fears and misunderstandings begin.”

Ultimately, though, it’s her goal to share God’s love on campus. And she says, despite stereotypes, the students are open to receiving it.

“They’re hungry for community, and they’re hungry for some kind of spiritual wellness of some kind,” she said. “There’s a lot of people who don’t want to be alone in a time of ‘aloneness.’”

Devlyn Brooks, who works for Modulist, a Forum Communications Co.-owned company, is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. He serves as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minnesota. He can be reached at devlyn.brooks@forumcomm.com for comments and story ideas.

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Minnesota's Backyard: Just east of Fargo-Moorhead, visitors to Buffalo River State Park find heritage, critical habitat

Jess Myers — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 12:30:00 GMT

GLYNDON, Minn. -- We will get the bad news out of the way right at the start: the swimming pond is closed for a third consecutive summer due to the pandemic and the challenge of hiring enough lifeguards to keep it safe.

The folks at Buffalo River State Park are hopeful to have the popular destination to beat the summer heat, just a few minutes east of the Fargo-Moorhead metro area, up and running again in the summer of 2022.

Now the good news: the shallow, rocky, sandy Buffalo River itself, for centuries, has been a place that people and animals come to cool off when the western Minnesota sun is at its most relentless, and it’s open.

“She’s a good river for wading and walking in and fishing in, but not something that tubing or kayaking is going to lend itself to,” said Paula Comeau, a naturalist who is part of the park staff. “We have a few really nice sandbar areas not far from our campground. We get a lot of activity for people coming and using the river for water recreation.”

The park is the ninth state park so far featured in our 20-location Minnesota's Backyard series.

The Buffalo River is a winding tributary that flows into the Red River of the North just outside Georgetown, Minn., but before that, it flows through this stretch of state park that is named for water, but known as much for the rolling tallgrass prairie that defines so much of this region.

“The Buffalo River connects up to one of the largest remnants of native prairie, Bluestem Prairie Scientific and Natural Area,” Comeau said. “A lot of people come here because we are clean, we are quiet and we have great hiking trails. That’s kind of our claim to fame.”

On a quiet weekday morning, with dark storm clouds rolling in from the north, hiking the Wide Sky Trail, visitors are struck by the silence. A big group of 50-something women out for their own morning hike, and the chirps of myriad birds, were about the only sounds on the moved trails that give one a taste of that vast prairie. In winter, those trails -- while not groomed -- are used by many cross country skiers who visit for the same solitude.

Like seemingly all state parks, which have proven to be wildly popular destinations during -- and as we emerge from -- the pandemic, the visitor numbers have been “insane” according to Comeau. And the temporary closure of the swimming pond has served to spread out the visitors. Where the bulk of families used to come between June and August to swim, now the number of cars in the parking lots is spread out throughout the year. But if you are of a certain age and grew up within about 50 miles of the park, you may have been there already, most likely via school bus.

The park’s trails are interconnected with those of the neighboring Minnesota State University Moorhead Regional Science Center, and both are very popular field trip destinations for school groups from the region.

Notable nearby

After a morning hike, with lots of calories burned, you are permitted to treat yourself to something sweet as a reward for your hard work. Just 20 miles west of the park, in the refurbished restaurant district of downtown Fargo, in the shadow of the iconic Fargo Theater marquee, you will find Sandy’s Donuts, which has been serving up great coffee and all varieties of sugary goodness, with or without a hole in them, since 1983.

History happens

This was a popular spot to picnic and cool off for a long time prior to 1937, when more than 4,600 acres around the Buffalo River were established as a Minnesota state park. Visitors can still see park buildings that were constructed way back then by the Works Progress Administration. Preserving the tallgrass prairie is a three-way-joint joint venture between the Minnesota DNR, MSUM and the nature conservancy, which cooperatively manage the spot.

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