University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham visited the Crookston campus on Wednesday, March 26. It was a busy day for President Cunningham who visited with students, faculty, staff and members of the community. KROX sat down with Cunningham in the Sargeant Student Center Leadership Room for a Q & A session before she had to move on to her next scheduled campus engagement.
Q: What is being done to increase the on-campus enrollment at the Crookston campus? A new program was recently added; will there be any more?
A: I can’t speak to specific programs, but I know our Crookston campus is an important campus for us and our five-campus system. We are continuing to look at ways to increase our enrollment, and I know that enrollment has been up this year and we are excited about that. We are excited about the vibrancy of this campus. I’m excited that this campus was named the number one best value in the state of Minnesota, which is so very exciting. I am also really excited that not only do we have increase enrollment but we find here that 93 percent of our students go on to find careers right after college. We prepare them here, we don’t just enroll them, we prepare them here for careers after college.
Q: Lysaker gymnasium here on campus has some structural issues with cracks and shifting of the building. With over half the on-campus enrollment in Crookston being student-athletes, is there any talk in Minneapolis of a new field house/gymnasium in the future?
A: Our extra-curricular activities, including sports are a really critical part of success for our students in preparing them to be leaders and future citizens. I have heard about the need for improved facilities here and I know that they are part of our long list of things that do need facility repairs across the state of Minnesota. We have requests in for HEAPR money for this year for the state. We hope that those funds will come through so that we can address the aging facilities we have across our system, including athletics.
Q: What are some of the challenges the Crookston campus faces and what is being done to combat them?
A: I think everyone coming out of COVID these past couple years has made an adjustment into the balance between online and residential life and Crookston has done a really great job of navigating this with increasing campus enrollment in person, but also, really focusing the online enrollment for how you reach students who might not have as much accessibility or a need to get there degree or finish their degree in a different way. I am really appreciative of Chancellor Mary Holz-Clause and how she has addressed some of those concerns. I met with some wonderful students this morning that told me why Crookston is the best place for them, the best University of Minnesota campus for them. It’s provided them the in person connections and support, and advising, in a small format, that was the right learning for them.
Q: How have cuts to federal programs affected the University as a whole?
A: We are in a time of budget uncertainty. With state budget uncertainty and a looming deficit for the state, that certainly concerns us for what our state appropriation will be this year and federal uncertainty we’re still navigating through. We are going to have to see where that lands. The university has already lost $20 million dollars in Stop Work Order Grants federally. We know some of those have affected the Crookston community here as well and we remain concerned about that and are doing what we can to address and advocate for the federal work that is being done that we know does good work in communities like Crookston. There is ongoing federal uncertainty for grants. One of the executive directives a few weeks ago that were to change our over head rate would have been an immediate reduction in funds between $100 and $130 Million for the University of Minnesota system. That surely would also affect Crookston and our ability to deliver the excellent anchor community we have here. I don’t have the answer to those yet and I know people want more certainty but, what I can say is, we do have a process on how we are taking in that information as it comes in nearly every day now, including information about the Department of Education just two days ago. We are working to sift through it and make assessments about what it means for our students. Right now, the most recent Department of Education changes, we are hoping will not impact Federal Financial Aid for students and PELL Grants but, this is something we are all going to have to stay tuned about because we know those are really important to our students.
Q: What are you and the Board of Regents doing to make Crookston better than it already is?
A: Well, I am so glad you asked. We have just launched a strategic planning process for what the future of our system should look like in 2030 and 2035, and the Crookston campus right now, like all of our system, is participating in system-wide strategic planning. We are looking to focus on what the strategic focus should be for the system and we know that Crookston is a vibrant, important part of our five campus system and I am committed to having it continue to be the great anchor institution it is for this region serving so much of Northwest Minnesota.
President Cunningham mentioned that this was her third or fourth trip up to the Crookston campus and that she is always struck by the commitment of the faculty and the passion of the students in Crookston.
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