Gina Monson, Admissions, was elected chairperson of the MN ACT Executive Council at the annual ACT conference in Bloomington. Two hundred Minnesota school counselors, principals and educators attended. Council initiatives include supporting state education reform, utilizing educational research to shape policy, address education needs of P-16 students and academic preparation for higher education. Monson also presented with the University of Minnesota director of admission on Maximizing Student Success in Secondary to Postsecondary Transitions.
Two faculty from the School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership presented their “No Flu 4 U” project at the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) in Los Angeles Feb. 12. Gina Aalgaard Kelly and Carolyn Townsend presented their collaborative project to prevent influenza on the MSUM campus by promoting the flu vaccination by offering the vaccination clinics on campus in November. The collaborative project included students and faculty in School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership (i.e., nursing and community health students), staff, Hendrix Health Center director Carol Grimm, Lynn Peterson, who is the Peer Education Program Advisor, and student wellness educators at the Hendrix Health Center.
Last Spring School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership faculty wrote a grant application to APTR to attend and participate in the Institute for Inter-professional Prevention Education September 4-5 in Washington, D.C. Townsend and Aalgaard Kelly attended the institute. Other schools included Duke University, University of Florida, University of North Carolina, Creighton University and George Washington University. The feedback was invaluable for our project as we began launching our first endeavor for inter-professional education in our school and community. Through a variety of promotional and education planning the successful clinics took place at MSCTC and the CMU in November, where vaccines ran out by mid-afternoon.
The Counseling and Student Affairs program hosted its annual Alumni Social on March 12. Approximately 65 people attended. A silent auction was held in conjunction with the social and raised $401 for a Counseling and Student Affairs scholarship. In addition, the establishment of the Carolyn Schwenke DeLorme Professional Growth Scholarship for School Counseling was announced. This $500 scholarship will be awarded to a deserving school counseling student each year.