Rush: MSU working to better serve New Ulm and southern Minnesota

MSU president says university is growing in size, reputation and support

By CHRIS VETTER

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Minnesota State University, Mankato is making a stronger effort to enter the New Ulm area and serve all of southern Minnesota, according to its president.

Richard Rush says the improvements and outreach at the university in the past couple of years benefit all of southern Minnesota. Rush wants New Ulm residents to see and experience those benefits.

"It's important for us to be evident in the community, and show we support them, as they support us," Rush said during a noon discussion Tuesday with the Rotary Club in New Ulm. "We're trying to cover all of southern Minnesota."

The best way to know what a community needs is to tour the cities near the Mankato campus, Rush believes.

"The university belongs to you, and we want to know how it can serve the community better," Rush said.

However, Rush acknowledges the university has room to improve.

"We have not served New Ulm in the best possible way the last couple of years," he said. "We know that, and we're trying to correct it."

One way is through improved class offerings in towns close to the campus. The university offers distance-learning and Internet classes, and also brings college-level classes to smaller towns near Mankato. In New Ulm, subjects such as history, math, speech and English are offered this fall through the university's Center of Continuous Living, which was established last year.

There are approximately 850 Minnesota State alumni living or working in the New Ulm area, said Karen Wright, media relations director with the university.

Minnesota State University, Mankato is growing in size, reputation and support, Rush told the Rotarians. After a lull in the mid-'90s dropped attendance to 10,800, the university has rebounded with a current enrollment of 12,700, Rush said. That is still far below the college's peak of 16,000 students.

"We're not going to do that again," Rush said. "It wasn't good for the students or the faculty."

The university is also expanding. The new Taylor Center recreational facility is open, and a new fieldhouse is under way.

"We need one more academic building," Rush said. "We have to offer students quality. And access to anything other than quality is access to nothing at all."

A drop in state funding has put pressure on raising tuition, Rush said. On the plus side, students who decide to attend the university as freshmen usually return the next year, he said.

"Our retention rate is among the highest in the state, almost 90 percent," he said.

Rush also spoke on new initiatives within the university, such as getting more students to use and operate laptop computers. He pointed to the strong wireless engineering program at the school.

"We're one of the real leaders in the world in this," he said. "Our goal is to be a wireless campus."

Rush offered people a chance to tour the campus and see the upgrades. He said he wants all of southern Minnesota to be proud of the school.

"It's a real jewel," he said.