Maverick Moments

Madison Vandersee, the Assistant Program Coordinator for Maverick Adventures, has been working on the Earth Month schedule and has received strong positive feedback on the number and type of experiences offered. In April alone, Maverick Adventures has partnered with 21 different groups across the University and in the community to provide 17 different events related to Earth Month. These events include volunteer opportunities, workshops, discussions, craft activities and some excursions that “allow us to have a wide variety of programs and different ways for people to interact,” Vandersee shares. Students across campus from a wide variety of majors have been participating in the outdoor programming, with many events seeing quickly filled registrations.

One of Vandersee’s favorite memories with Maverick Adventures is the State Parks Road Trip that took place during Earth Week last year. Throughout the one-day event, 18 students and three staff members stopped at three state parks in southern Minnesota to explore and hike. Another highlight for Vandersee from prior Earth Week events has been volunteer campus cleanups, like the one last year that focused on tobacco waste, which also had an educational component and impacted campus beauty. Tobacco waste cleanup is again scheduled this year during Earth Month.

This year there are even more unique events for students, such as a bike trip involving volunteering at a community farm, a day trip to the Niagara Cave and making wildflower seed balls. Other events are also open to the public including an ethics and animal discussion with author Peter Singer, the screening of Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time and an evening exploring Indigenous astronomy at Jeffers Petroglyph.

Earth Month events are listed online at the following link. Students, staff and community members interested in participating can find a full list of events and activities, event-specific details and register for events directly on the website. Certain events are limited in size and require registration, while others are open to anyone interested in participating.

About Maverick Adventures

Beyond the Earth Month events, Maverick Adventures offers a variety of programming to both students and the surrounding community. Maverick Adventures has long offered team building and leadership development programming, both indoor and outdoor rock climbing on the climbing walls on campus and outdoor programs and equipment rentals to encourage people to explore southern Minnesota's natural resources and the wide variety of outdoor activities in our backyard.

Maverick Adventures has been working in recent years to expand offerings within outdoor programs, giving Minnesota State Mankato students opportunities that include canoeing, snowshoeing, ice fishing, hiking and caving trips. Maverick Adventures Program Coordinator Sam Steiger adds that “getting outside is a great way for our students to relieve stress, refresh their energy, make connections with other students and make connections with the natural world.” Maverick Adventures is focused on continuing to expand in the coming years by offering more programming and increasing the outdoor equipment rentals offered.

If you would like to support the work of Maverick Adventures through donations or sponsorship, please visit the following link or contact adventure@mnsu.edu.

For the past 15 years, the Handball Club at Minnesota State University, Mankato has been finding remarkable success under the leadership of Coach Mike Wells. Within the team’s first three years, it rose to compete at the highest level, Division I, where it has achieved remarkable success since.

This year the team dominated at Nationals, finishing as champions in Men’s, Women’s, and Combined, with a total of 26 athletes competing at the National Championship competition. The women’s team made history by clinching its first national team title, breaking a streak of runner-up finishes in four previous seasons. The men secured their third consecutive team championship and their fourth overall. In addition, the Maverick Handball team won the combined team title for the third straight season.

Coach Wells is proud of the team’s accomplishments stating, "I think we have the best handball school in probably the world." The team draws handball athletes from all over the world, offering opportunities for international students—including several from Ireland—to compete at the highest levels, including professionally.

Despite the pressure that comes with developing talented athletes, Coach Wells emphasizes the inclusive nature of the team. "It doesn’t matter if you’re ranked on the pro tour or if you’ve been playing just a few weeks… there’s a division for you and you’re going to be competitive," he explains. The culture of this team has consistently been strong with good leaders. Generally, there is less of a focus on individual roles and titles and more emphasis on overall team success.

Academic excellence remains a top priority for Coach Wells and the team. Wells emphasized his passion for seeing the growth and development of college-aged students both on and off the court. The team only has one scheduled team practice a week, allowing students the flexibility to balance their academic commitments while practicing their skills on the court when it is most convenient for their individual needs and schedules. Additionally, the athletes are provided more one-on-one attention with coaches throughout the week.

Recruiting more female players remains a key challenge for the team, but the team recognizes that and is focused on addressing it to create a more diverse team. Wells highlights that the best recruiters are the student-athletes, who help build the team through word-of-mouth on campus. The coaches recruit international students by attending Junior Handball Nationals and the world championship every three years when they are held in the United States.

The team would like to continue to expand. One barrier, however, is the amount of scholarship dollars available as well as travel expenses. The team has corporate sponsors that help with travel expenses, but as a club sport the majority of financial help comes from private donors and sponsorships. Despite these challenges, the Handball Club at Minnesota State University, Mankato remains successful with a positive team culture and strong leadership from the coaching staff.

The other group that has won accolades and deserves recognition recently is the student-led news platform on campus. Last month the student newspaper, The Reporter, left the Minnesota Newspaper Association's Better Newspaper Contest awards ceremony with 15 awards, including three first-place individual finishes, a second-place finish in General Excellence, and third in Best Website. Students are eligible to submit their own stories, providing ownership on what they deem their best work.

Emma Johnson ’25, Editor in Chief, shares that “the entirety of The Reporter is fully student run, so our editors, writers, photographers and ad sales representatives, they are all students here, which makes it so unique.” They generally have between 15 and 20 student writers in different categories; currently, there are four writing in variety, four in sports, and seven in news.

The staff is made up of students from a large array of majors including Mass Communication, Film Studies, Sociology, Aviation, and Sport Management. Johnson believes having a diverse staff helps because “it brings different perspectives and stories.” Adding diversity has been a focus amongst the students at The Reporter for the past few years, and they can proudly say that the current staff comprises a diverse group of students.

 Luke Jackson ’25, a current staff member, says the best part of working at The Reporter is “the people... it’s kind of like a family here.” They are serious about their work, but also know how to have fun. This balance is key to success.

The Reporter takes pride in offering extensive onboarding and training to ensure all staff members are acting professional and following the Associated Press guidelines. A challenge for the operation of The Reporter is high turnover rate, with students graduating or having to step back due to academic commitments. The job is demanding with strict deadlines and long hours sometimes, which can be difficult to balance while in challenging academic programs.

The Reporter is considered a “hands-on learning laboratory” that provides the experience students need to stand out while applying for future jobs. The Reporter provides students the opportunity to create a portfolio of their stories which can be beneficial in the job search to show all the applied experience they gained while still in school. Recent graduates have received notable job placements, which is in part from the experiences and knowledge they gained through The Reporter.

Their social media presence has continued to grow the past few years, and plans to continue expanding in the multimedia realm of reporting are in the works. Currently, they are working on a sports podcast—so maybe there will be a future episode talking about the Handball team winning yet another national championship! In addition, they are adding the Reporter Radio, which is essentially audio storytelling. The Reporter is funded in large part by advertisements and support from the University through Student Government, but support and donations could help further their expansion and student success.

Both of these groups are shining examples of the incredible work our students are engaged with both inside and outside of the classroom. The hard work and dedication to their craft is something that cannot go unnoticed. Balancing rigorous academics while also meeting strict deadlines or training for a national competition, these students embody the characteristics of well-rounded, multi-faceted students. The longevity of their success is positively impacted by the support and continued funding from the greater Maverick community.

Big ideas and real-world thinking on campus and in the community.

During his senior year of high school, Willette had a friend in a metal band that needed a bass player. He decided to give it a try and learn as he went. He started playing shows at a small coffee shop on Saturdays and immediately fell in love. Willette shared that his academics improved because he was focused and kept himself busy with a new passion and purpose.

This group of friends transitioned into making punk music in his father’s basement and called themselves the 12th Avenue Band. Shortly thereafter, they started playing shows around the Minneapolis area. After opening once for a band out of Wyoming called Teenage Bottle Rocket, they got a call offering the opportunity to tour together throughout the country. They only toured with Teenage Bottle Rocket for a few months, but the band spent a total of two years traveling the country playing music.

Although music is no longer his main focus today, Willette still has that passion and plays solo music throughout the Greater Mankato area.

Following his time in the music scene, Willette worked other jobs, but none quite satiated his desire for something more fulfilling. It was during this time that he made the decision to pursue higher education, inspired in part by his sister and the band's bass player, both of whom attended Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Although he is an untraditional undergraduate student having started his college career at 21, Willette feels that no one looks at him differently. If anything, he says that it helps him focus more on school. With one year left in his undergraduate studies, Willette plans to pursue a Master's in Education and later a Ph.D., with the aim of working in higher education and fostering a love for English among students.

“I am a writer,” he says. “I love to write.” His hope is that he can help instill that same love for English and writing in the next generation of scholars. He has a passion to increase the percentage of males graduating both high school and college, specifically in higher education. “I want to be a mentor,” he says. “If I’m going to be a male teacher, I’m of course going to help [students of all genders], but those boys need someone to look up to. I’ll make sure they have someone to talk to.”

His experience in public speaking, gained from years of performing with his band, has made him comfortable addressing diverse audiences. Willette feels that his time spent touring and seeing different parts of the country has given him a unique perspective allowing him to connect well with students coming from various backgrounds and different cultures.

Beyond his academics, Willette quickly got involved in extracurriculars within his first semester on campus. He did not come into college with full intentions of joining Greek life, but early in the fall semester of his first year, a Phi Delta Theta member approached him on campus and invited him over that night. Willette immediately got along with the members and found himself going back every day. Shortly thereafter, he was asked to join their fraternity.

Joining Greek life at Minnesota State Mankato proved to be another pivotal decision for Willette, who states that it was “the best decision ever.” Phi Delta Theta ΦΔΘ has high educational standards that members must meet in order to maintain their membership and attend events. Willette credits Greek life as a motivating factor to succeed in school. He says, “It keeps you busy, keeps you on your toes. You have to have good grades and a good work ethic just to be in Greek life all together… Our education comes first. Always.”

One of the largest events in Greek life, Mavathon, is coming up on Saturday, Feb. 17. Willette invites everyone to attend the event or donate. “We raise a lot of money for Gillette’s Children’s Hospital,” he says. “Come dance, or dance horribly with us.”

Willette adds, “Community service is very important to us [Greek life]. We wouldn’t be here without it.” The event is open to all students, staff and community members. Tickets to the event and information on how to donate can be found here.

Big ideas and real-world thinking on campus and in the community.

Janney’s favorite aspects of working at Minnesota State Mankato included her interactions with Residential Life students and staff. As Dean of Students, she enjoyed solving problems not specified in procedures and rules and helping students and families not get lost in the complexity of the university during difficult situations. Managing student conduct has been a fun challenge, she says, especially helping students realize that student conduct is here to help rather than get them in trouble. Janney describes her work in the student conduct process as the opportunity to “help [students] refocus on what they want to accomplish and what will help them get there.”      

Over the years, Janney has observed changes amongst incoming classes, including smaller family sizes and fewer students having previously shared a room with a sibling. She noted that there has been a clear decline in students’ ability to resolve conflict as first-year students, possibly due to less experience sharing spaces growing up. She also mentioned the impact that electronics and technology have had, highlighting the same success rate in roommate selection between students using social media platforms to find roommates and the selection of roommates by Residential Life based on the preference survey provided by the university. 

Janney believes that one of her greatest impacts to the Maverick community was her willingness to show her own mistakes and accept others. This behavior has been visible within the Office of Residential Life, and she anticipates this positive culture to continue well beyond her time. She hopes that people feel cared for and able to work as part of a team. Without communication and teamwork, the larger efforts and construction projects—like building new residential buildings—would not have been completed successfully.

Some of the more visible impacts Janney has made on campus include her involvement in building renovations and new construction projects. She describes these projects as “fun and satisfying” because they changes the environment and have the opportunity to shape student behavior in positive ways. She shares that “it’s been fun to provide students with the spaces that meet their needs.”

 Janney describes the sense of community and teamwork within Residential Life as having an emphasis on being vulnerable with one another. She acknowledges that it is not always easy to do, but that they are most successful when a certain level of vulnerability is present. While working in Residential Life, Janney believes that “in order to show up as a human for students, we need to show up as a human to each other.” It is evident within Residential Life that there is an emphasis on communication, vulnerability and relationships with one another. Janney feels that this community helps them achieve extraordinary outcomes.

Just a week before retiring, Janney got to experience her favorite event of the year. On Tuesday, Jan. 9, an annual award ceremony took place for residential hall students in which students both give and receive awards for achievements they didn’t know they could do. For example, students received awards for having exceptional involvement, being a ray of sunshine, or for being the culinary master of Residential Life students. “The whole point of student affairs is out of classroom experiences that support students’ achievement in [the] classroom,” Janney says, and this event highlights some of those moments. The event concluded with Janney receiving the Bronze Pin award for the work she has put into helping Residential Life Student Leadership. Junior Sammy Higgins presented this award, saying that Janney was deserving because “she gave the conference staff the confidence to host the first Regional Leadership Conference 2022 within the Midwest Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (MACURH) and the National Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH).” Higgins added, “she has also made a large impact within my own life as a student leader, especially during COVID-19, in a time that students didn't and couldn't be involved on campus.” Janney has clearly made a lasting impact not only on the professional staff, but also current students. 

            While reflecting on her time at Minnesota State Mankato, Janney attributes her professional growth to breaking out of her own assumptions and seeing problems/issues in new ways, allowing her to move forward. She acknowledges that assumptions can be limiting in what she can accomplish and breaking out of these assumptions has allowed her to continue to serve students positively. She is particularly proud of her consultation with students on what University and Residential Life planning is, explaining where their money goes and being a good steward of student resources. She has seen the impact of her intentionality of residential hall student resources achieve outcomes that have positively benefited students as well as University enrollment.

In retirement, Janney plans to spend more time with family and friends scattered across the country and the world. She plans to continue part-time consulting work for the Minnesota State system, specifically in planning for the next 10-year food service contract. She shared that she is looking forward to only focusing on one task. In her reflection, Janney acknowledged the dedication of the people at the University. Her career is marked by a commitment to students, a willingness to adapt to changes and a passion for creating a positive and supportive Residential Life community. Although her time at Minnesota State Mankato has come to an end, it is clear the University will continue to see the positive aftereffects of her many years of great work and dedication long into the future.

We wish Cindy Janney the best in her retirement. 

Big ideas and real-world thinking on campus and in the community.

Leadership changes are happening at Minnesota State Mankato. Our long-time serving Vice President for Finance and Administration, Rick Straka, is retiring in February 2024. Rick has been a tremendous champion of the student experience and Student Affairs. From new construction to creating new student scholarships, Rick has built a foundation that will serve the university for decades. Dr. Lynn Akey, who started her career at Minnesota State Mankato in Student Affairs and was serving as our Vice President for Student Success, Analytics, and Integrated Planning is becoming the new Chancellor at University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Lynn was also a great champion of the student experience and wonderful partner for Student Affairs. Our Director of Residential Life, Cindy Janney, is retiring in January 2024 after a tremendous career in Student Affairs. Under her leadership two new residence halls, an off-campus apartment complex, a new dining hall, and millions in renovations have kept our campus beautiful and serving the needs of our students. Searches are underway to fill these positions, so watch for announcements of the new leaders this spring. 

With all of these leadership changes, some reporting lines are changing as well. President Inch is focused on the university achieving our new strategic plan (https://president.mnsu.edu/vision-mission-and-values/strategic-directions/) and has made structural changes to ensure our success. Beginning in December 2023, the Office of Registration and Academic Records now reports to me as the Vice President. In February 2024, the Office of Financial Aid will also report to the Division of Student Affairs. Later this summer, the Office of University Scheduling and Conference Services will report to the Division as we attempt to grow our summer camps and conferences activity. To assist with supervising these changes, we are creating a new Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management. This new leadership role will report to me and supervise University Admissions, Financial Aid, and the Office of New Student & Family Programs. A search will be conducted to fill this position in spring 2024. Finally, the great work of the Career Development Center will be reassigned in 2024 to the new Vice President for Student Success and Engagement. This provides a heightened presence of their work and how we can connect students and employers through a central effort at the university. The Career Development Center will be missed, but we look forward to seeing them achieve new heights.  

As these changes are occurring, there is one other change we are making as a division. Since I arrived at Minnesota State Mankato, I have been the Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management while the division has been titled Student Affairs. Beginning immediately, we will be the Division of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management. This better reflects the scope and focus of our work. 

Thank you for all of your support in 2023. Whether through your direct giving of scholarships and emergency grant support to your willingness to share your ideas and passions to help our students, we appreciate all you do for Minnesota State Mankato. At this time of celebration and reflection, I invite you to include a visit to our campus in 2024. I would like to hear more about your ideas to support the university, as well as share the latest news and changes. Until then, I wish you and yours the best this holiday season.

Yours in Maverick Spirit,

David P. Jones, Ph.D.

Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management

Big ideas and real-world thinking on campus and in the community.