Interim President Ashish Vaidya
Collaboration and partnership are words often used in the higher education landscape. At St. Cloud State, they are more than words: They are key factors to improving student success.
St. Cloud State University has recently established or expanded several partnerships that will be critical to helping future generations of Huskies. These partnerships add to a long history of collaborative efforts to advance student success and prepare our graduates for the future.
Higher education is being challenged on multiple levels. We are being asked – we are being challenged – to become more innovative as we go forward, and collaborations and partnerships are a strong example of how we continue to do that and find even new ways of becoming more efficient, effective and leave lasting benefits to our communities.
Our partnerships and collaborations start right here in our backyard and extend throughout the world.
We are embarking on partnerships that are bringing about synergy and symbiosis in very strategic and meaningful ways.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar experiences the virtual reality technology in the Integrated Science and Engineering Laboratory Facility (ISELF) during a visit to campus to learn about STEM efforts. Photo by Anna Kurth
One of the greatest recent examples of our collaborative efforts is the $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation Academic Collaboration and Coordination Model to Ensure Student Success in STEM (ACCESS STEM) partnership with St. Cloud State and five partner community colleges.
Upon receiving the grant, Sen. Amy Klobuchar was curious to see the great work taking place at St. Cloud State herself. 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, key university partners and St. Cloud State student Jonathan Chunh. Their words and message for Sen. Klobuchar spoke volumes to the impact of St. Cloud State’s partnerships.
From working with sister Minnesota State institutions to coordinating training efforts with emergency responders to keep campus and the community safe, our partnerships are many and our impact is broad. We are meeting workforce demands. We are helping students succeed. We are exceeding expectations. And we are making St. Cloud State an engaged university for the future.
