Student Government: Technology Roundtable

The Minnesota State University, Mankato Student Government held a meeting in the Ostrander Auditorium, Wednesday, Nov. 4. After roll call, they called up presentations.  

The first to present was Mark Johnson, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, about the Technology Roundtable, which is how technology information and issues are informed around the University. In his presentation, Johnson talked about the three main focuses of the Roundtable. 

The first focus is how the University can assist professors with the new Hyflex program. They want to ensure every professor has everything they and their students need to be successful. 

The next is how the University will be starting to implement a combination of D2L and Microsoft Teams moving forward with online and Hyflex classes.

Lastly, Johnson talked about the student Technology Roundtable and it’s benefits. This allows students to discuss problems they are facing with technology and what the University can do to help them reach their full potential. 

After presentations came an open forum. In the forum, a representative from Maverick Adventures talked about how they had a successful event this past weekend. 

Here, they had a bonfire in a local park and made s’mores packages for all its participants. They hope to have another event before the end of the semester. 

The athletic director, Kevin Buisman, also discussed the reopening of sports at MNSU. In his report, he discussed how the men’s hockey season is starting up soon with a limited amount of seating of up to 250 people. The athletic department is also working on trying to start up more athletics, such as women’s basketball, women’s hockey, and wrestling.

Following this, Senators Wickman, Ruiz, Bejarano, Walfoort, Flynn, Vondra, and Abera all gave reports. In these reports, topics such as Fraternity and Sorority life getting a monument on campus, the start of the student needs committee, addressing virtual learning challenges, challenges for study abroad students, were addressed and discussed.

To finish up the meeting, a resolution from the Residential Hall Senators and the Residential Hall Association was brought up. This resolution talked about providing unlimited access to the kitchen and lounge areas in the dorms, since this access is currently limited. 

The Senator’s believe this will help students who are living with food insecurity on campus, as well as the fact that on-campus students are paying for a service that is not getting utilized by them. 

If passed by the Residential Life Administration, the resolution would begin starting Thanksgiving break and go through the spring semester. 

The next meeting will be held on Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. in the Ostrander Auditorium.

Header photo: Vice President Arnavee Maltare (Maxwell Mayleben/The Reporter)