FOUNTAIN FODDER

Key administrative appointments took place this summer as campus leadership begins a new era.

David Hood was named the University’s new provost and senior vice president of academic affairs this summer, with President Edward Inch praising Hood as “a strategic, innovative, collaborative and transformational leader in higher education.” Hood comes to Minnesota State Mankato after leading the successful opening and launch of University College at Montclair State University, where for six years he was associate provost for undergraduate education. Montclair State is a public university in Montclair, N.J. with 21,005 total students (16,374 undergraduate, 4,631 graduate). In 2017, Montclair State was designated as a public research university by the state of New Jersey. In 2019, it was recognized as a Doctoral University-High Research Activity by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. “His background and expertise will help the University advance our goals around student success, Equity 2030 and our overall strategic plan and objectives,” Inch said in announcing Hood’s appointment. Hood comes to Minnesota State Mankato after leading the successful opening and launch of University College at Montclair State University, a public university in Montclair, New Jersey, with 21,005 total students (16,374 undergraduate, 4,631 graduate). In 2017, Montclair State was designated as a public research university by the state of New Jersey. In 2019, it was recognized as a Doctoral University – High Research Activity by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Minnesota State Mankato is the second ranking administrator position at the University. The provost designation became part of the University administration in 2007. Hood is the fifth person to serve in the position and first African American.

From left, University Provost David Hood; College of Allied Health and Nursing Dean Patricia Marincic, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Chris Brown and Library and Learning Dean Chris Corley.

Chris Corley was named the University’s dean of library and learning in May after a national search. Corley had served as the University’s interim dean of library and learning since July 2019. He joined Minnesota State Mankato in 2004 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2007 and professor in 2017. Prior to 2004, Corley held career appointments at Minnesota State University Moorhead and graduate assistantships, fellowships and affiliations with the Purdue Research Foundation and Centre Georges Chevrier at the Université de Bourgogne, in Dijon, France. “Dr. Corley has been a passionate user of, and advocate for, libraries, archives and student engagement his entire career,” said Brian Martensen, interim provost at the time of Corley’s appointment. “[Corley] has demonstrated continued commitment to developing our library as a learning commons and center for intellectual inquiry on behalf of the entire campus and the greater Mankato community.” Corley earned doctorate and master’s degrees in history from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania while a student in the university’s honors program.

Patricia Marincic was named dean of the University’s College of Allied Health and Nursing after a national search. She took over from retiring dean Kris Retherford on July 1. Marincic had been a professor at Idaho State University, where she served as the associate vice president of the division of health sciences and director of ISU’s health science outreach campus from 2017 to 2020. She also served as the interim co-dean for the College of Health 2020 and was active in the university’s Covid-19 response. Under Marincic’s leadership, Idaho State University Meridian experienced significant expansion of academic programming to meet the State of Idaho’s workforce needs. She oversaw the addition of graduate programs in physical therapy, nutrition, clinical psychopharmacology, health informatics, rehabilitation counseling, and homeland security and emergency management. Marincic held academic, administrative and/or clinical appointments at Auburn University, Augsburg University, the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University and the University of Wisconsin. While at Auburn, she was appointed by the governor to the Alabama Health Improvement Task Force and the Health Literacy Partnership of Alabama. She has a doctorate in nutrition and food science from Utah State University and a master’s degree in applied human nutrition from Colorado State University and a bachelor’s degree in dietetics from Purdue University.

Christopher Brown was selected as the first dean of the newly formed College of Humanities & Social Sciences. He joined Minnesota State Mankato in 2011 as a fixed-term instructor in the communication studies department. He was the department’s director of graduate studies from 2013 to 2017 and department faculty chair from 2018 to 2020. Brown served as acting dean of the College of Arts and Humanities from January 2020 through June 2021, and as interim dean of the college since July 2021. As such, he guided planning and development of the new flexible performance and lecture space in the Earley Center for Performing Arts building. Brown, said University president Edward Inch, “will be pivotal in aligning the college’s mission with the demands of our students and the workforce, which includes the desire from both students and local businesses to have strong interdisciplinary experiences and skills in communication, collaboration, critical thinking and leadership—areas in which this new college thrives.” He has a doctorate in intercultural communication from the University of New Mexico and was a postdoctoral fellow at The Ohio State University. Brown earned a master’s degree in multicultural communication from DePaul University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and communication from Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois.

Library Services has acquired 97 reels of historical microfilm that can be used to support research by students and provide a more detailed local history for the public, genealogists and historians. The 97 reels of microfilm were acquired through a Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant and are housed in the microfilm collection of Minnesota State Mankato’s Marilyn J. Lass Center for Minnesota Studies. The Center is a special section of the library dedicated to preserving and making available resources about Minnesota, specifically southern Minnesota and Blue Earth County. The microfilm includes 39 reels of Mankato Weekly Free Press newspaper issues published between 1879 and 1923; eight reels of the Mankato Post, a German language newspaper, including issues published between 1887 and 1918; and six reels of the North Mankato Review newspaper, with issues from 1921 through 1923 and 1935 through 1947. Other publications in the collection include issues of a newspaper called the Legionnaire published by Mankato’s American Legion Lorentz Post 11 from 1933 to 1972; issues from 1940-1950 of the Mankato High News, published by Mankato High School; and the Kato Engineering News, an official publication of the Kato Engineering Company from 1956 to 1960. The project was financed in part with funds provided by the state of Minnesota from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the Minnesota Historical Society.

A variety of old newspapers from the Mankato area, including the German-language Mankato Post and the Mankato Evening Herald, are part of a recent microfilm acquisition for the Marilyn J. Lass Center for Minnesota Studies.

Abe now has a new home

A new space was created in the University’s Memorial Library to display the 7-foot-tall statue of Abraham Lincoln that was a 1926 gift to the institution from alumni. For the past few decades, the statue has been in several locations of the Centennial Student Union. Establishing a section in the Memorial Library serves as a more effective and appropriate spot to learn and reflect on of Lincoln’s legacy, from his role as emancipator and Civil War president to the Dakota War and its execution of 38 Sioux in Mankato. The historic information that is part of the exhibit was peer reviewed by scholars around the country. Citing Lincoln’s legacy as “a complex story,” a Mankato Free Press editorial praised the move as one finding an ideal way to handle a hot topic. “The university reached a good compromise,” The University’s Lincoln statue, now housed in the the editorial stated, “turning the issue of Memorial Library in a special exhibit space. Lincoln’s legacy, and his flaws, into a charge for further learning, contemplation and consideration of how Lincoln’s history shapes America today. "Lincoln isn’t just a statue. He’s a complex story. And the new display is more about education than adoration.” The exhibit space, on the Memorial Library’s second floor, is open to the public during regular library hours. It includes six temporary panels peer-reviewed by historians and indigenous scholars from universities across the nation. The panels were also reviewed by current and former Minnesota State Mankato faculty historians.

New nursing partnerships formed

Formal collaborations have been formed with the online nursing programs at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College, Minnesota North College and the Riverland Community College. Participating students in the associate of science in nursing program at the two schools will be provided with guidance and support to ensure a seamless transfer path toward the University’s RN baccalaureate completion degree after graduating with an associate’s degree in nursing. These partnerships, said University president Edward Inch, not only benefit students transferring into the University’s 100 percent online program, but will help meet the critical need for baccalaureate degree-educated nurses in the region. With MAP, associate degree registered nursing graduates from the colleges can not only immediately begin working in their field, but also begin working toward the RN-BS degree 100 percent online.