MSU launches new polytechnic, applied learning institute

Ashley Opina, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·3 min read

Jan. 12—Minnesota State University has expanded its hands-on learning opportunities by launching the Minnesota Polytechnic and Applied Learning Institute this week.

A ceremony celebrated the official launch of MinnPoly, an addition to MSU's project- and work-based integrated engineering programs. The launch was at Saint Paul College, MinnPoly's newest partnership.

The partnership includes a newly renovated learning laboratory for MSU's Twin Cities Engineering program, in which students are able to complete a four-year degree exclusively on the campus of Saint Paul College, which is a community and technical college.

MinnPoly came to be after Devinder Malhotra, chancellor of the Minnesota State System, looked into different ways of enhancing industry partnerships with higher education institutions to help build economic development within the state.

Malhotra asked MSU to look into creating MinnPoly — the first and only polytechnic institute in Minnesota — because of the success of MSU's engineering programs in the Twin Cities and Virginia. The two programs have received a handful of awards for their unique approach to project-based learning that immerses students in both education and industry.

"It's educating a new kind of graduate," said Brian Martensen, executive director of MinnPoly. "The students in these programs are hands-on, they're project-based. Our students are graduating with experience, but also those skills that employers are wanting beyond technical skills."

Through MinnPoly, students are able to learn by doing. In the classroom, they learn theories related to their field while simultaneously combining them with application out in the field to gain industry experience while developing their skills.

Polytechnic institutes center around experiential learning and specialize in STEM courses in addition to a strong liberal arts foundation.

"We talk a lot about intercultural competency and how to work across cultures and teams. We embed ethics in the programs, and it's really that project-based environment that lends itself to being able to do that work," Martensen said. "Our students are able to adapt as the world changes and learn on their own because we've given them that base mechanism for doing that."

This is accomplished by closely collaborating with businesses and industries to understand their needs and provide quick responses, according to MinnPoly's mission statement.

MinnPoly will expand based on industry needs.

"Sometimes there's a big disconnect between higher education and industry," said Molly Schaefer, MinnPoly's director of operations. "So MinnPoly is really coming in to try to make sure that we are helping develop the needs of the workforce for industry 4.0 and much more. We want Minnesota to continue to be a very robust industry that people are happy to work, play and learn in."

"We have not necessarily been in the St. Paul market. By putting MinnPoly at Saint Paul College and partnering with them, we're able to reach a whole new group of students that may not have been able to come down to the Mankato campus or go to one of our other programs," Schaefer said. "This helps us better serve the needs of students while also allowing us to reach more industries that we may have not been able to without these partnerships and collaborations."