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Recovery Campus magazine interviews StepUP’S Patrice Salmeri

Pratice Salmeri on the coverAs Augsburg’s new executive director for recovery advancement, Patrice Salmeri will work to reduce stigma associated with substance use disorder recovery, inspire additional universities to provide recovery programs, and work with StepUP Program alumni, among other duties. Salmeri has led Augsburg’s pioneering StepUP Program for the past 15 years, and Recovery Campus magazine featured Salmeri in a story about the transition to her new role and the current climate of recovery in higher education.

In the article, Salmeri explained that while she’ll miss daily interaction with StepUP students, she is truly “looking forward to focusing more attention on the alumni and the value they bring to our community as well as advocating on local, regional and national levels.”

 

 

 

Dave Conrad: New leaders should learn to listen

“Leaders may get so wrapped up in making decisions they forget to just sit down and talk with their staff members,” wrote Dave Conrad, Augsburg College’s assistant director of the Rochester MBA program, in his latest column for the Rochester Post-Bulletin.

A problem exists, according to Conrad, that new leaders can believe their first priority is to develop new game plans independently rather than to get to know staff members to solve problems collectively. Read Conrad’s column, “New leaders should learn to listen,” for tips on how to create an effective workplace communication system.

MPR talks with President Pribbenow about Auggie Plan

Minnesota Public Radio logoThis month, officials from Augsburg College and Anoka-Ramsey Community College launched the Auggie Plan, a guaranteed pathway to a four-year degree for community college students who meet minimum GPA requirements and who complete general education coursework on their way to enrolling at Augsburg College.

Students in the program can take a range of liberal arts courses with the knowledge the courses will be accepted by Augsburg. Listen to Minnesota Public Radio’s story, “How Minnesota colleges are teaming up to give students a cheaper path to 4-year degrees,” which included an interview with President Paul Pribbenow.

Steve Wozniak event delights audiences, garners coverage in Star Tribune

Steve Wozniak chatting on stage with Phil AdamoThe Minneapolis Star Tribune recently published an article covering Steve Wozniak’s Scholarship Weekend presentation at Augsburg College. Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple, Inc., spoke about innovation, creativity, and education in an increasingly connected world.

“My whole life has been teaching myself things that were not learned in school,” he told a packed auditorium. “More important than learning, more important than knowledge, is motivation.”

Wozniak’s comments centered primarily on the early days of his career at Apple and the importance of continually revisiting challenging tasks.

According to the Star Tribune, “Looking back, Wozniak said part of his success came from simply forcing himself to put pencil to paper, over and over again. ‘Creativity is a willingness to think very differently,’ he said. ‘Not knowing how to do something means sitting down to figure it out.'”

Read Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak speaks at Augsburg on the Star Tribune site.

Auggie joins advisory board for First Lady Michelle Obama’s college opportunity campaign

Kitana HollandAugsburg College student Kitana Holland ’19 has been named to the inaugural Student Advisory Board for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Better Make Room campaign, which celebrates education and elevates the voices of Gen-Z students. As one of only five college students selected to the 17-person board, Holland will advise a new public awareness campaign designed to improve college access, college persistence, and college graduation on campuses nationwide.

Holland and her fellow board members traveled to the White House on Friday, January 6, to attend the First Lady’s School Counselor of the Year Ceremony.

Holland is a first generation college sophomore from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, majoring in sociology and a minoring in religion and leadership studies. While at Augsburg she has served as a senator in the Day Student Government, an URGO research assistant, a LEAD Fellow, an Auggie tour guide, and as a member of College Possible and TRIO. Through these experiences, she has used her creativity, relationship-building skills, and process-thinking strengths to positively influence her community.

According to a news release about Better Make Room, Holland is driven by her motto, “If the opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” and aspires to help first generation, low-income, and underrepresented high school and college students push through barriers to attain a college degree.”

KSTP’s Political Insider program features Andy Aoki

Andy Aoki on set at KSTPThis week, Andy Aoki, department chair of political science and Sabo fellow at Augsburg College, was a featured analyst on Political Insider, a weekly news segment broadcast on KSTP.

Aoki joined Larry Jacobs, a University of Minnesota faculty member, and provided input on a variety of local and national political stories including Minnesota’s health care affordability issue and confirmation hearings for President Elect Donald Trump’s cabinet members.

Alumni trip to Germany featured in Star Tribune’s Protestant Reformation anniversary coverage

Minneapolis Star Tribune - logoThis fall, Augsburg College hosted alumni, faculty, staff, and community members for an international travel experience that took participants to the Czech Republic and Germany, which is in the midst of a tourism boom accompanying the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The travelers visited Wittenberg, the long-time home of Reformation catalyst Martin Luther, and ventured to historic sites to learn about the origins of the Lutheran faith from Augsburg College Religion Department faculty members Hans Wiersma and Lori Brandt Hale.

Star Tribune reporter Jean Hopfensperger and photographer Jerry Holt accompanied the group to chronicle how Minnesotans are observing the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in the “Land of Luther” in addition to the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” given that religious, arts, and cultural organizations across Minnesota are planning special events and exhibits to mark the occasion.

As Hopfensperger wrote, “Luther’s legacy is particularly deep in Minnesota, and not just because of his followers’ enduring embrace of hymn fests — often followed by Jell-O and hot dish. One in four residents trace their namesake faith to the monk from Wittenberg.”

In a Star Tribune story, Augsburg alumnae Carol Pfleiderer ’64 and Kathleen Johnson ’72 described their excitement with the trip itinerary and the ways it reflects and builds upon their understanding of their faith.

The Rev. Mark Hanson ’68, the College’s Executive Director of the Christensen Center for Vocation, was among other alumni quoted in the article. He described some of the ways the Lutheran church is using the Reformation anniversary to foster Lutheran-Catholic dialogue and to make the church accessible to all people.

Read, “Minnesota Lutherans at forefront of new Martin Luther revolution” on the Star Tribune site.

 

Bill Green discusses the history of civil rights in Minnesota, appears on KIMT television

kimt_2014Augsburg College Professor of History Bill Green spoke to a crowd at the Rochester Art Center about what he learned while researching Minnesota’s history of race relations. Green is the author of the award-winning book, “Degrees of Freedom: The Origins of Civil Rights in Minnesota.”

KIMT-TV covered the event and interviewed Green, who described similarities and differences between the challenges faced by organizers of the state’s early Civil Rights movement and those involved with the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement.

Twin Cities media announce Heid Erdrich’s Winter Book

Pioneer Press - logoThe Minnesota Center for Book Arts‘ 26th Winter Book features poetry and prose by Heid E. Erdrich that explores the complex conversations between artists and viewers. Erdrich is a poet, writer, filmmaker, and mentor for students in Augsburg College’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program.

The Winter Book, “every-blest-thing-seeing-eye,” explores conversations between artists and viewers, imagining the varied experiences of viewing artworks in a gallery, according to a Pioneer Press article published before the book’s launch party.

Read Minnesota Center for Book Arts celebrates Heid Erdrich’s Winter Book on the Pioneer Press site.

Andy Aoki appears on KSTP’s Political Insider program

Screen Shot 2015-02-06 at 1.39.40 PMThis week, Andy Aoki, department chair of political science and Sabo fellow at Augsburg College, appeared on Political Insider, a weekly news segment on KSTP.

Aoki joined Joe Pescek, a Hamline Univeristy faculty member, and provided input on a variety of local and national political stories including President-Elect Donald Trump’s social media commentary and a potential career move for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison.