2020-2021
STUDENT UNION & ACTIVITIES ANNUAL REPORT MISSION The Student Union and Activities builds community to advance student success and spark DragonPride.
STAFF Layne Anderson, Director of Student Union & Activities Becky Boyle Jones, Assistant Director of Campus Activities Jayce Branden, Office Manager - Administrative Office Romi Dehler, Assistant Director for Leadership & Organizations Melissa Fimreite, General Maintenance Worker Steve Fox, Assistant Director for Operations Lisa Johnson, Office Manager First Year Programs and Office of Student Activities Braden Kuznia, Assistant Director of Event Services Norman Sifuentes, General Maintenance Worker David Wichmann, General Maintenance Worker Annie Wood, Associate Director for Student Life
HIGHLIGHTS, KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS Planned and implemented a safe return to campus for departmental offices, student offices, dining services locations, lounge spaces and meeting spaces in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic. Managed the weekly and sometimes daily change that occurred to ensure a safe environment as well as offer safe in-person student engagement opportunities.
Advocated for a change to the student fee assessment model to support greater financial stability of fee funded areas. Actively participated in and supported the University efforts to review our tuition and fee model, develop a new model, educate the campus community and gather student support. The recommended change gained official Student Senate support and awaits approval from the Board of Trustees. Successfully onboarded our new Office Manager, Lisa Johnson, as a result of University layoffs. A challenging and emotional situation for both the new employee and the team. Time spent processing with the team, planning for the onboarding of a new team member and implementing that plan were important components in driving success and team development. Recognized in the first week of school students would need access to more quiet space and reliable internet for their remote classes. Created and implemented a process where students could schedule our meeting space for this purpose and we could ensure appropriate cleaning standards were maintained to support student safety. 824 study space bookings for 2438 hours were processed. We will continue to PAGE 3 offer this service in the future.
HIGHLIGHTS, KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS CONTINUED In preparation for more hybrid/virtual small-medium sized meetings, we invested in 360 degree owl cameras, HD web cameras and accessories. We developed operational practices and training materials to support use of the technology. Throughout the year, we had a number of opportunities to implement this technology for student organization meetings and virtual presentations with in-person presenters. We also collaborated with the GoTeam on three complex hybrid events with full production: Dragons Got Talent, Speak Up and Student Leadership Awards Ceremony. We learned much about how to plan for and execute hybrid/virtual events. Successfully searched, hired and onboarded the new Assistant Director for Leadership and Organizations, Romi Dehler. Romi joined our team on January 25, 2021.
Collaborated with the Physical Plant to successfully bid and obtain Board of Trustees approval for the roof replacement and structural reinforcement project. The $1.14 million project replaces the ballroom roof and a portion of the north and east roof of the CMU and will be completed the end of July 2021. To support campus's diversity, equity, and inclusion priority, we created and delivered a mix of in-person, hybrid and passive programs for students to develop knowledge, skills, and abilities. Drove the collaborative implementation of 11 DEI focused programs. Some examples include: DEI Training for Fall Student Leaders by Ubuntu Consulting; “In Color” series to present perspectives and experiences of BIPOC individuals; and a weekly Listening & Sharing Space held for six weeks during the Derek Chauvin trial. PAGE 4
ANNUAL WORK PLAN GOALS We developed work plan priorities for Academic Year 2020-21 that were in alignment with the Enrollment Management and Student Affairs divisional plan, the University Strategic Priorities and our departmental goals. Three priorities for each goal were developed that focused our efforts throughout the year. The following is an update related to each priority area: Goal #1: MSUM Student Life will drive the implementation of the Student Life Curricular Model to ensure that students are learning from their co-curricular experiences. Priorities: 1) Engage the Student Life Pathways Advisory Board to provide guidance on incorporating Student Life Pathways into academics and to review assessment of learning outcomes. The Student Life Pathways Advisory board was approved as an official University Committee in Spring 2020 and had its first official meeting in November 2020.Through monthly meetings, the Advisory Board focused on understanding the Pathways, clarifying the role of the Advisory Board, providing insight and input on resources to create, incorporating the Pathways into FYE, reviewing data of students completing experiences, establishing FAQ information that is intended for faculty /staff (website and printed), connecting with the Faculty Development Committee about Pathways, and reviewing communications plans for Fall 2021. 2) Develop and implement a segmented Communications Plan to strategically target freshman students, sophomore students, international students, and transfer students; ensure students have a foundational knowledge of what the Student Life Pathways are and how they can participate. The Student Marketing Team developed a plan to implement an informational Pathways campaign during spring semester 2021. The plan did not move forward as quickly as intended this year.
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ANNUAL WORK PLAN, GOAL #1 CONTINUED The team identified what information students needed to know, what misinformation we needed to correct, and what aspects of the Pathways are most appealing to students. The informational campaign was not necessarily targeted by a students’ status, instead it was general messaging about the Pathways to increase awareness and understanding; however, it did incorporate multiple avenues for reaching students including videos, blogs, graphics, and social media. Additionally, the marketing team created a detailed communications plan to implement in fall 2021 that is segmented for new students and returning students.
3) Within the Student Union & Activities department, create tools and implement processes whereby the Student Life Pathways learning outcomes drive the programming offered and are used to assess the programs. We used the Pathways in the development of the In Color Series and other educational programs during the fall semester and the Dragon Leadership Summit in spring, ensuring alignment with the learning outcomes; however, we fell short on developing robust assessment plans. We have not yet created tools or captured in detail replicable processes for program development and assessment. While the learning outcomes have been a focus when putting together the program and event plans, we do not have the tools and processes developed.
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ANNUAL WORK PLAN, GOAL #2
Goal #2: At the Intersection of Student Life and Facility, we will prioritize supporting student-driven events in the Comstock Memorial Union through proactive project management. Priorities: 1) Develop and implement a clear planning process for complex student organization events. As work began on this priority, it was determined effort should first be spent on a complete revision of our foundational CMU policies and ensure alignment with University policies. Research of other student union policies and procedures was completed. Revision of our policies will be completed Summer 2021 with an accompanying practices document to be completed early Fall 2021. 2) Institutionalize the collaborative efforts between the School of Entertainment, Industry & Technology and Student Union & Activities to ensure continuity of support. The impact of COVID on all aspects of the University impacted our ability to move this priority forward. Our collaborative partner in this priority was not in a position to fully invest time for these conversations. Work on this priority will begin again in August to ensure processes and staffing expectations are documented. 3) Determine long term plan for human capital needed to support complex events. This priority did not move forward beyond discussions related to full-time departmental staff support for complex events. Work will continue on this priority to determine appropriate student staffing levels and the long-term budgetary impact.
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ANNUAL WORK PLAN, GOAL #3 Goal #3: At the Intersection of Student Life and Facility, we will drive programming into spaces to create visibility and intentionally use spaces to bring life and energy to the CMU. Priorities: 1) Enhance the atmosphere in the CMU to help Black, Indigenous and other students of color feel welcome and supported. Intentional conversations occurred with staff in Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Center for Global Engagement to create greater understanding. Perspective was solicited from student leaders of culturally based student organizations. Work will continue on this priority to develop actionable next steps. 2) Develop academic department and major specific partnerships to showcase student talent in the CMU to draw more students, faculty, staff & community members to the facility. This priority did not move forward beyond discussions with Theatre Arts and Music. Work will continue on this priority to develop partnerships and implement programs. 3) Create, support and promote programs and events in the CMU to increase building use, potential retail sales and community building. Due to COVID, passive programming was offered under the supervision of the welcome desk student employees. Pool, table tennis and the Nintendo Switch were available throughout the semester. The welcome desk recorded 249 unique users of those services in fall semester. Data was not collected spring semester. Most of these programs will return to pre-COVID offerings in the fall. Work will continue on this priority to develop and implement an intentional plan of additional programs for the year.
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ANNUAL WORK PLAN, GOAL #4
Goal #4: As a facility, the Comstock Memorial Union will prioritize space improvements that would have a significant negative impact if they aren’t able to function to serve the campus community. Priorities: 1) Prepare for and successfully complete a roof replacement project in summer 2021. Collaborated with the Physical Plant to successfully bid and obtain Board of Trustees approval for the roof replacement and structural reinforcement project. The $1.14 million project replaces the ballroom roof and a portion of the north and east roof of the CMU. Coordination and planning meetings occurred throughout the semester to ensure spaces were ready for construction to begin. Access was provided two weeks earlier to the contractor than originally planned to finish work by the end of July 2021 and provide access to spaces for pre-fall activities. 2) Identify and prioritize future improvements to meeting room and conference spaces. The impact of COVID on operations and the complexities of the roof project derailed substantial progress on this priority. COVID has made clear the need to focus on flexibility in spaces combined with access to ever-changing technology that supports in-person, hybrid and virtual meetings/events. 3) Identify, prioritize and implement preventative maintenance and repairs to areas remodeled in 2015 to retain facility condition. Proper procedures were researched and documented for the following items: polished concrete floors and stairs; bathroom tile cleaning and sealing; bathroom cleaning and disinfecting; and enhanced facility cleaning measures due to COVID. Appropriate operations staff and students were trained on the procedures. A variety of annual preventative maintenance activities and additional tasks that should be addressed during those activities has been documented including responsible party (CMU Operations or Physical Plant). Work on this priority will continue to ensure we have appropriate documentation of all major preventative maintenance activities and prioritized plans of areas most in need of repair to maintain appropriate facility condition. PAGE 9
STUDENT LIFE EVENTS & PROGRAMS
HOMECOMING
We saw lower raw numbers of attendees at many of the events hosted both by the Student Union & Activities Team and the Dragon Entertainment Group. Especially in January through March, we struggled to engage students in many programs. However, when considering the student population decline the percentage of the student body that engaged with events was not drastically lower than recent years. Over the course of the year, the majority of students participating in social programming and events were new entering freshman and/or students living on campus. We engaged upper class students more in the educational or personal / professional development types of programming.
Homecoming 2020 was like no other in the history of MSUM due to the COVID pandemic. Staff and students involved in the planning of activities developed detailed safety plans that were reviewed and approved by the Pandemic Response Team (PRT) and PRT Leadership. Homecoming was one of
We focused our department driven programming on the Student Life Pathways learning outcomes of: communication, intersectionality, inclusive community, self-awareness and ethical leadership. This resulted in 9 specifically developed programs for the Pathways that were assessed. The programs included: Mindful People, Meaningful World; Dragon Leadership Summit; Thomas X Ojibwe Nation Hip Hop Performer; Crystal Queer Drag Show; You. Me. We. Diversity Program; In Color Diversity Series; Speak Up; and departmental student employee training programs. Additional programs aligned with learning outcomes were hosted throughout the year, but were not part of the assessment plan.
the first multi-day programs after Welcome Week activities that were programmed during the pandemic. The campus community honored the safety guidelines and appreciated the opportunity to gather together safely with many events held outside.
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DRAGON LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Dragon Leadership Summit was created as a learning and development opportunity open to all students, with the key audience being student employee leaders who are hired for 2021-2022. Using the Pathways as the framework for content development, a keynote speaker was selected to address values-based leadership.
More than 1000 unique students attended an event programmed by Dragon Entertainment Group. The majority of attendees were undergraduate students of traditional age. They were primarily white individuals who identified as female and lived on campus. More than 50% had a GPA at or above 3.00 in Fall. Events that drew a greater percentage of male audience (over 45%) were Battle of the Bands, Jackbox Game Night, Joker Movie night, Laser Tag, Late Night Mario Kart, Ski trip, Grocery Bag Bingo, Archery Dodgeball and Jumanji movie night. Those same events also had a higher percent of Black or African American students in attendance. Additional priorities this year in programming were to enhance our efforts towards weekend programming, offer events that target undergraduate male students and ensure in-person as well as virtual/hybrid offerings. Some events included: 5k Your Way, Painting pARTy, Epic Picnic, and Beat the Heat Welcome Back Spring Program. There were 400 virtual events and 47 hybrid events hosted by MSUM student organizations and departments listed in DragonCentral. These events were open to any student and planned with the intent to engage students. This does not include student organizations’ regular meetings.
Following the keynote, students had three options during each of the four break out sessions; each break out session focused on a different Pathway to develop knowledge, skills, and abilities. Budget $1500, Impact 91 students, hybrid delivery.
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FACILITY & OPERATIONS Planned and implemented a safe return to campus for departmental offices, student offices, dining services locations, lounge spaces and meeting spaces in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic. Created and implemented new cleaning and disinfecting standards along with proper training of operations staff and hiring additional student support. Designed and implemented additional facility specific signage to support the DragonsCare messaging campaign. Managed the weekly and sometimes daily change that occurred to ensure a safe environment as well as offer safe in-person student engagement opportunities. Dining Services operations were adjusted due to the COVID pandemic with reduced hours, occupancy, menu options and the closure of some service points. Grubhub mobile ordering was expanded to all locations to allow for more grab-n-go flexibility. COVID impacted the modality of course offerings with fewer inperson classes and more remote or online courses. We recognized in the first week of school students were seeking access to quiet space and reliable internet for their courses. We created and implemented a process where students could schedule out meeting space using the EMS web application or via students working the welcome desk or staff in our office. We also had to create a process to ensure appropriate cleaning standards between reservations were maintained to support student safety. 824 study space bookings for 2438 hours were processed. We will continue to offer this service in the future. Led collaborative efforts with Physical Plant and Housing to complete two RFP’s: refrigeration preventative maintenance and repairs and exhaust hood and duct work cleaning. These multiyear contracts meet Minnesota State and MSUM purchasing policies and provide some level of predictable expenses.
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In collaboration with other campus stakeholders, co-led our campus process in support of the Minnesota State led initiative to update our EMS database in preparation for merger with the system database. Campus updates included: schedulable rooms with appropriate features; capacities and photos; room types; groups and contacts; billing options and reporting features. Repurposed the offline former Underground space into a facility overstock storage location for building materials, furniture and supplies. We will continue to reduce the storage footprint on our main levels to free up prime space for other purposes. The roof access room will be repurposed into event support equipment and furniture space.
Study Space Bookings started September of FY 21. FY20 includes data from July 1, 2019 - March 15,2020 due to COVID-19.
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FACILITY & OPERATIONS CONTINUED Developed and implemented a process to input our Trafsys people counter data into an excel worksheet to allow for more robust data reporting. Utilized this data to inform building hours adjustments multiple times throughout the year to best meet student need, ensure a safe environment and maintain fiscal responsibility. Data was also input from prior years to inform future decision making. See data below. 2020-2021 Stats: Fall Semester Total Count: 110,454 Fall Semester Average Weekly Count: 6,136 Spring Semester Total Count: 141,550 Spring Semester Average Weekly Count: 8,326 Date Notes: Homecoming was Fall Week 6, Thanksgiving was Fall Week 14, DragonFrost was Spring Week 5, Spring Break occurred between Spring Week 9 and 10, April Breather was Spring Week 11 and 12 Note: COVID-19 Pandemic Changes Started Mid-Spring 2020 2019-2020 Stats: Fall Semester Total Count: 308,406 Fall Semester Average Weekly Count: 18,141 Spring Semester Total Count: 176,363 Spring Semester Average Weekly Count: 11,023 Date Notes: Homecoming was Fall Week 6, Thanksgiving was Fall Week 14, DragonFrost was Spring Week 4, Spring Break occurred between Spring Week 8 and 10, Move to Virtual Classes occured Spring Week 10 PAGE 14
ASSESSMENT We transitioned our official departmental assessment plan to focus on the student learning outcomes that are part of the Student Life Pathways. We implemented our plan that included focusing on three pathways (Contribution & Influence, Equity & Inclusion, Professional Success) and five skillsets (Self-Awareness, Ethical Leadership, Intersectionality, Inclusive Community, Communication). We utilized multiple methods and tools to measure student learning. We learned: Our assessment of student employees is thorough and we captured useful results. Our assessment of student learning as a result of attending events needs more development. We need to be more intentional in our event programmatic design to ensure assessment plans are developed during that process.
BUDGET SUMMARY The ongoing Student Union budget issues due to declining enrollment and the legacy student fee assessment structure coupled with the unexpected impact of COVID on dining operations created a challenging fiscal reality. Dining Services operations transitioned to a cost model in March 2020 and continued through June 2021. This change eliminated dining royalty’s revenue with an estimated impact of $434,167 in lost revenues. The University efforts to review and recommend change to the fee structure and to gather support for the change is important to the financial stability of the student union. The COVID stimulus funds from CARES, CRSSA and ARP will further help recover a portion of lost revenues and minimize the impact on operating reserves. PAGE 15
BUDGET SUMMARY CONTINUED
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Challenges
CHALLENGES & PRIORITIES
COVID had a profound impact on all aspects of student life and daily operations. The inability to feel “control” over your daily work priorities and the additional workload to ensure safety but continue to support student success was taxing on staff. Staffing transitions and vacancies (both full-time and student) throughout the academic year created challenges in the Office of Student Activities. Long-term fiscal sustainability and the need for continued investment in capital projects to improve the facility for future generations of Dragons. Working collaboratively with other departments through the Student Life Programming Group presents challenges when departments have differing expectations, especially this year, for generating student engagement inperson and virtually. Additionally, differing workloads, priorities, and commitment to programming has resulted in challenges with peer accountability. During the year, we met with Directors to discuss concerns and expectations, which has resulted in progress toward greater buy-in and engagement among members.
Priorities In addition to our annual work plan priorities, these are some additional priorities we plan to move forward in 2021-22: Continue our work to create transparency, accountability and agency over the Student Life fee funds. Develop SAFAC/Senate approved policies and guidelines. Build assessment planning into the event programmatic design process to ensure alignment with student learning outcomes and the development of appropriate methods and tools to assess learning. Ensure a balanced offering of virtual/hybrid/learn-on-your own activities to support enhanced access to events and programs. Implement an outdoor gathering space near the CMU/Kise to support community building and student life. Provide access to outdoor games and occasionally program additional activities. Search, hire and on-board the vacant OSA/FYP Office Manager position. Identify and implement strategies for managing the staffing vacancy through the start of fall semester. As the financial situation becomes clearer with the fee assessment model, fall enrollment and five-year dining renewal, evaluate the financial capacity for a capital project and consult with the Physical Plant to determine feasibility. PAGE 17