Amy Klobuchar in the hall of ISELF
Joined by faculty, administrators and St. Cloud State University business partners, Sen. Amy Klobuchar held an information session to learn about the impact a five-year $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will have on students at St. Cloud State and five partner community colleges.
The grant will help more low-income college students to complete their bachelor’s degree at St. Cloud State University in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The Academic Collaboration and Coordination Model to Ensure Student Success in STEM (ACCESS STEM) partnership earned the $5 million Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) grant to provide scholarships and support to students at St. Cloud State and four partnering Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (Minnesota State) community colleges.
Klobuchar’s visit included a tour of the Integrated Science and Engineering Laboratory Facility (ISELF) and a discussion with St. Cloud State faculty, administrators, grant writers and St. Cloud State student Jonathan Chunh.
Also joining the discussion were:
- John Bryant, of GeoComm
- Brad Goskowicz, of Microbiologics
- Patti Gartland, of the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation
- Dave Kleis, St. Cloud mayor
- Lori Kloos, interim president of St. Cloud Technical & Community College, a partner on the grant
Read more: NSF awards St. Cloud State $5 million for student scholarships in STEM
From the discussion
“The projects that we’ve done with SCSU have really positioned us well in the industry. … A third of our employees have SCSU diplomas, half of our management team. We see this is a key feeder for the organization, without this school, without it we wouldn’t have developers, we wouldn’t have GIS folks.”
– John Bryant, GeoComm
“More than a third of our employees come out of ST. Cloud State across all different schools as well. STEM is of course a critical area for us. … We have this beautiful river of talent that flows right by our front door.”
– Brad Goskowicz, Microbiologics
“The faculty is very relaxed around here. They’re strict enough where you’ll know you need to get something done. … But it’s not like they’re not personable, You can talk to them, and if you need help … shoot an email and they’ll help you out.”
– Jonathan Chunh, St. Cloud State University student
“How do we make this place feel like they belong — like I am a STEM person? … This grant will help us find those intervetions that are going to work so we can continue to make the students feel like they belong here — connecting them constantly. That’s exciting for me.”
– Melissa Hanszek-Brill, St. Cloud State University professor and grant team member
“The grant — one of the bigger components is doing research to understand the factors that influence retention. The finding from our research is not just going to be benefiting the STEM students in our institutions, the five institutions, but it’s going to be benefiting STEM students across the country.”
– Latha Ramakrishnan, St. Cloud State University interim associate provost for research and dean of Graduate Studies
We’re really energized by expanding partnerships that we’re putting into place … we have such an increasing student of our recent immigrant population and they’re looking for those better opportunities. This is such a rich and diverse place in St. Cloud we want to give them these opportunities and this grant provides the perfect pathway to do that.”
– Lori Kloos, St. Cloud Technical & Community College interim president
