NEWS | February 2007 - all articles

This page includes all articles in the February issue of NEWS. Return to summary of articles.

STEM: Meeting the science and technology demand
Cargill gives $1.1 million to Minnesota Private College Fund
Weigh in with your views on the Learnmore discussion forum
Legislative bills aim to expand need-based aid
New opportunity to study in China
BRIEFS

STEM: Meeting the science and technology demand

With science and technology continuing to change the nature of our everyday lives and the future of our economy, building the necessary foundation through education is a critical issue. Consider the fact that Minnesota's economic forecast projects a 20 to 33 percent increase in scientific and technical occupations in the next ten years.

At the 17 institutions of the Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC), education in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields has long been a cornerstone. We are preparing to meet the state's demand.

Integral to the curriculum
Our private colleges and universities have long considered STEM education to be important and have made it an integral part of the liberal arts curriculum. When partnered with course work such as fine arts, philosophy, literature and writing, students develop a varied set of skills providing a broad understanding of the world. Significant numbers of MPCC students major in STEM disciplines, accounting for one-fourth of the undergraduate STEM degrees in Minnesota.

When you look at specific STEM fields, MPCC institutions excel in producing graduates and leaders. For example:

• Collectively, our schools award 39 percent of the state’s degrees in the biological and physical sciences. St. Olaf College graduates more chemistry majors that any other four-year college in the nation. Carleton College leads in the number of women who go on to earn doctorates in the physical sciences. Read A hothouse for female scientists in the Carleton Voice.
• We award more than 40 percent of the state’s health profession degrees, especially for students choosing graduate and professional work. Concordia College graduates enter medical school at rates that are twice the national average. Read Improving My Home Country's Health Care.
• We award 40 percent of all mathematics degrees in the state. Carleton College does especially well; its summer math program for female undergraduate students helps build excitement and skills and encourages exploration of math careers.
• In 2004, the University of St. Thomas established one of three new U.S. engineering schools. Fourteen MPCC institutions are among the 17 Minnesota institutions partnering with the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology dual degree program.
• Many MPCC graduates seek advanced degrees in STEM fields. One-third of students pursing masters and doctoral degrees at the University of Minnesota completed their undergraduate education at one of Minnesota’s Private Colleges.

Supporting STEM studies
Minnesota Private College Fund is actively encouraging students to pursue STEM disciplines with current and developing scholarships. The Medtronic Foundation Scholarship is awarded to students from Minnesota who are pursing studies in math, science or computers. The Xcel Energy Foundation Scholarship is currently awarded to Minnesota students studying math, science, engineering or environmental science. And recently the Galileo Scholarship Fund was introduced, which will support students with financial need who are studying the STEM disciplines.

MPCC institutions recognize that a strong foundation in STEM disciplines and continued output of graduates in these fields is important to Minnesota. Look in next month's NEWS for an article on what MPCC members are doing to further STEM education in partnership with other higher education institutions and community and business leaders.

Cargill gives $1.1 million to Minnesota Private College Fund

Cargill continues its history of community leadership with a new gift to the Minnesota Private College Fund. One of the Fund's original donors when it was founded in 1951, Cargill has committed to a gift of $1,168,000 over four years.

This gift will provide funding for the recently created Access & Equity Scholarship for students of color, new Americans or first-generation students; and the Galileo Scholarship for students studying the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. It will also sustain the existing Cargill Diversity Scholarship and continue support for colleges' general operations.

Yer Thor, a senior at the College of St. Catherine, has been able to study abroad and pay educational expenses thanks to her Cargill Diversity Scholarship. "I am a minority student who has gone through many challenges and didn't know how I could finish my schooling without this support," she said. "It brings me great happiness and joy that I will be graduating this spring." Thor is double majoring in financial economics and international business. She studied in China in summer 2006 and is in South Korea for her last semester. Future plans include working in business and pursuing a graduate degree.

Another facet of the Cargill gift is support for a new Student Advocates program, which will engage a cadre of 50 students from across our member institutions who can serve as ambassadors to youth in diverse ethnic communities. Cargill's support will help formalize and expand existing outreach activities by students. For example, during the past three years, students from several of our campuses have represented their institutions at the annual Juneteenth event, which celebrates the end of slavery. This gift will allow the Minnesota Private College Council to leverage and extend ethnic student involvement in outreach, said Philip Miner, director of community initiative at the Council. "No one can tell the story about our colleges better than the students."

This is the first gift the Fund has received that is over $1 million. It establishes a new standard of corporate commitment to the Fund and our member institutions.

Legislative bills aim to expand need-based aid

Legislative champions have stepped forward to help recommit the state to need-based aid for college students. Sen. Rod Skoe (DFL-Clearbrook) has introduced SF 786 with David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm), Tarryl Clark (DFL-St. Cloud) and Richard Cohen (DFL-St. Paul) as co-authors. The companion bill, HF 1142, was authored by Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights) with David Bly (DFL-Northfield), Erik Paulsen (R-Eden Prairie), Terry Morrow (DFL-St. Peter), Morrie Lanning (R-Moorhead) and Willie Dominguez (DFL-Minneapolis) as co-authors.

Under these bills, the state would reduce the share of costs that students are expected to cover and increase the cap on four-year tuition and fees to correspond with current levels at the University of Minnesota. With these and other changes, the legislation would:

• Allow thousands more middle-income families to be eligible,
• Help lower-income students who are already eligible, and
• Help part-time students by increasing the size of their grants.

"Improving the state's need-based aid for college students will target state dollars where they are needed most — with the students and families of modest means who run the risk of losing access to higher education. This proposal lowers the share of tuition the student pays from 46 percent to 40 percent and therefore reduces student borrowing," said Sen. Skoe.

"Without new state effort, the number of college graduates is forecast to fall 12 percent. Meanwhile, our economy will require twice as many graduates," said David B. Laird, Jr., president, Minnesota Private College Council. "All Minnesotans will benefit if lawmakers act to keep college affordable for as many students as possible by recommitting to need-based aid."

For more details on MPCC's legislative efforts, view the Education Agenda for the Common Good 2007

Weigh in with your views on the LearnmoreMN discussion forum

The LearnmoreMN Web site, a resource for anyone wanting to learn about and address the education challenges facing our state, contains a forum where anyone can weigh in on the discussion topics. Read the latest posts by our guest columnists, Kent Pekel of the University of Minnesota and Stacy Becker of the Citizen’s League. In "A post-election proposal: Send the winners to China," Pekel suggests that Minnesota leaders go to China to observe the educational system. "[They] should visit schools and meet with officials, eat strange foods at banquets and generally experience life in countries that are intensely focused on educational success...when those Minnesotans have the opportunity to look together at the enormity of the challenge we face from China and many other nations, the things that unite us will become more tangible."

Stacy Becker of the Citizen’s League in her post, "How are our schools doing," discusses the recent MAP 150 survey that probes citizens' concerns and views about policy and civic involvement. Regarding education, she writes, "few citizens were able to articulate what they would want different except more money…. These are discussions adults like to have, but seldom do we ask students what matters to them — what would help them learn better and stay in school?"

Read the full posts on the LearnmoreMN discussion forum. To share your views, click on "Create new account" and enter your reply — or e-mail your reply to info@learnmoremn.org.

LearnmoreMN is an initiative to help ensure that more Minnesota children succeed in school and pursue higher education. The Minnesota Private College Council has been a catalyst in this effort and has been joined by an informal alliance of citizens representing business, education and others, all of whom are concerned about our state’s future.

New opportunity to study in China

Prof. David Davies from Hamline University visited in UIC in January and talked with students about Minnesota, study abroad, and the liberal arts

Student exchanges between Minnesota and China will grow with the signing of a new agreement between the Minnesota Private College Council and a unique Chinese liberal arts college. Starting this year, students and faculty from 17 private colleges will begin studying and working at United International College (UIC) in Zhuhai, China.

"Minnesota’s unique and historic connections to China are further strengthened by this agreement," said Dan Miller, Ph.D., president and CEO, Excorp Medical Inc., and a board member of the Minnesota Private College Council. "By enhancing our understanding of the 21st century’s economic powerhouse, we greatly benefit both the academic and business communities in Minnesota."

The 17 institutions in the Minnesota Private College Council have longstanding ties with China, with some dating back to the 19th century. The colleges have 15 exchange programs in place that will be complemented by the new partnership with UIC. Minnesota students from all member institutions will have an opportunity to study side-by-side with Chinese students in a Chinese institution where all courses are taught in English.

"This partnership is another sign of the private colleges’ commitment to deepening students’ understanding of the world we live in today," said James Peterson, Ph.D., president, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter. "More than half of the Minnesota college students who study abroad come from the state’s 17 private colleges."

There are many firsts associated with UIC and the partnership:

• UIC is the product of the first partnership between a mainland educational institution, Beijing Normal University, and a Hong Kong counterpart, Hong Kong Baptist College.
• When UIC opened earlier this year, it was the first fully sanctioned liberal arts college to be created in China in more than 50 years.
• The agreement with the Minnesota Private College Council is the first UIC has reached with an American college or group of colleges.

"Reaching this agreement with Minnesota’s private colleges — our first such agreement with American higher education — signals UIC’s commitment to the liberal arts and our commitment to creating meaningful international partnerships," said Edmund Kwok, Ph.D., UIC vice president.

Located in the southeastern part of the country, near Macao and Hong Kong, UIC opened last spring and now has 1,200 students and 11 majors. Enrollment is expected to grow to 4,000 undergraduates and 500 graduate students. Along with Minnesota students studying at UIC, Chinese students are expected to come to Minnesota to study as well.

"We have a meaningful opportunity to contribute to China’s reintroduction of the liberal arts into its higher education system," said David B. Laird, Jr., president, Minnesota Private College Council. "As we’ve seen here in Minnesota, a liberal arts education has so many benefits, including the intellectual skills that are critical in our world’s rapidly changing knowledge-based economy."

Minnesota is a leading state for educational ties to China. Along with the private college’s strong academic links, the University of Minnesota has been active for more than a century, including as an educator of large numbers of Chinese students.

BRIEFS

• Brother Louis DeThomasis, FSC, Ph.D. will assume the duties of president at St. Marys University of Minnesota during a presidential search process.
• Merchants Bank of Winona joins an elite group of 50-year donors Minnesota Private College Fund.
• Hamline University was awarded $2.3 million from the Minnesota Department of Education to sharpen science teaching in schools. The Minnesota Science Teachers Education Project will run 10 regionally focused summer institutes for K-12 teachers with courses in science and teaching methods. More about the grant
• 40 students from MPCC institutions presented their research at the annual Scholars at the Capitol event on Feb. 14. Gov. Tim Pawlenty was among those who stopped by to hear first-hand about the valuable research that is being conducted in undergraduate programs at our colleges and universities.
• The Minnesota Office of Higher Education released Minnesota Measures, the state's first report on the performance of Minnesota's higher education sector. Key findings show that Minnesota ranks quite favorably on several measures but areas for improvement include four- and six-year graduation rates, number of degrees earned in critical STEM and health fields and the achievement discrepancy between students of color and white students. More about Minnesota Measures