New president asks for help in writing the next chapter for MSU
Aug. 17—Hundreds of faculty, staff and a few students gathered — in masks, but together — to ceremoniously begin the 2021-22 academic year at Minnesota State University.
"For the past year and a half, we have experienced the collective trauma of the COVID pandemic," new MSU President Edward Inch told the convocation crowd in the student union ballroom. "... I wish I could tell you this morning that the pandemic is behind us and that we are in the post-pandemic world. We are not."
The campus returned a week ago to a mask requirement in indoor spaces. Employees at MSU will need to provide proof of vaccination or submit to weekly testing starting Sept. 8.
After fighting demographic trends to maintain and even grow enrollment, MSU expects to see a 5.1% decline in students this year.
But after the convocation was forced to go virtual a year ago, the assembly appeared to have a little extra gusto as staff prepare for the return of mostly in-person classes next Monday. Before the speeches started, the MSU pep band had the crowd standing and clapping along to the "Maverick Rouser."
"How great is that — seeing the Maverick Machine live and in-person again?" Interim Provost Brian Martensen exclaimed.
A new convocation feature instituted by Inch — inviting the student government president to make a speech — also prompted an enthusiastic response. Reauna Stiff received a standing ovation following her remarks on the precarious financial situation of many students and the ways a unified university could put them in a better situation to succeed.
MSU's 13th president was the featured speaker. On July 1, Inch replaced retiring President Richard Davenport, who spent nearly two decades at the helm.
Coming to Mankato from the San Francisco Bay area, where he was provost and vice president of academic affairs at Cal State-East Bay, Inch spoke of his excitement for the new role and the effort he's made in the past six weeks to meet students, faculty, staff, area educators, elected officials, and business and community leaders.
He's also been reading everything from financial statements to strategic plans.
"But one of the most important for me was 'Minnesota State University, Mankato 1868-2018: A Sesquicentennial History' by William Lass," Inch said.
He listed all five of the school's name changes since its origins as Mankato Normal School, saying the institution has a history of "adapting to meet the needs of our students, region and state."
The book by Lass, a professor emeritus of history, had six chapters.
"This year, we will begin working together to write 'Chapter 7, Our Destination,'" Inch said. "... My question for all of us is, 'Where do we want to go? What do we want to build?'"
Already, more than 100 administrators, faculty, staff and students gathered for a retreat to begin that strategic planning process.
"I asked them to think big, dream of our best future and be bold," he said.
And Inch laid out five themes to consider in developing the next strategic plan. The first involves serving students and managing enrollment in the face of demographics that will produce a smaller college-age population, particularly in the Eastern and Midwestern parts of the nation. The second will question how resources should be focused and reallocated. The third will center on ways to offer "an exceptional student experience" through less debt at graduation and better four-year graduation rates but also including social and recreational activities outside the classroom.
The fourth encompasses the health and well-being of people on the campus, particularly students, as the world moves through a highly challenging, sometimes traumatic era. And finally, MSU must strive to be "a welcoming, equitable and inclusive university."
"I know I am in the right place at the right time, and I look forward to the work we will get to do together," Inch said. "Go Mavs."
