The University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts announced it is pausing multi-year contracts for academic professionals and administrators, or P&A, for the current fiscal year in an email sent to staff Monday. 

The email cited substantial financial challenges for the pause, including renewals of multi-year contracts. 

CLA employs 620 academic professionals and 70 administrative employees, according to institutional data from 2024. P&As help conduct research, teach students, direct programs, offer counseling, manage budgets and outreach programs and oversee departments.

Janet Bouyer, the University’s chief human resources officer who sent the email, said the college hopes to move forward with this process in the next financial year. 

In 1980, P&As made up 6% of the entire University, but today they make up 25%, according to the P&A Senate. Over the last decade, the University saw a decrease in tenured or tenure-track professors. 

The email did not say if the University will pause semesterly or one-year contracts for P&A.

Bouyer did not respond to questions prior to publishing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents adopted a policy of restricting institutional speech to be approved by President Rebecca Cunningham in a 9-3 decision at its meeting March 13 and 14. 

Regents also toured the Cedar Creek Reserve, the Urban Research & Outreach Center and Elmer L. Anderson Library for their Outreach and Active Learning Day to connect with University researchers and other professionals. 

Protesters gathered at the March 14 meeting against the new policy regarding institutional speech, and one protester was arrested for trespassing by University police. 

Institutional Speech

In a 9-3 decision, the Regents approved a resolution introduced at the February meeting restricting institutional speech at the March 14 meeting.  

The resolution states that all official communications from the University must be approved by the president. It also states the University will not comment on issues that address matters of public concern unless it concerns the mission of the University. 

Regents Robyn Gulley, Bo Thao-Urabe and Mary Turner voted against the resolution citing concerns that students, faculty and staff may be silenced. 

The resolution has been seen as controversial by members of the University community. In reaction to the Board, the University Senate wrote and passed a resolution against the policy’s adoption. More than 100 people were in attendance at the meeting, most protesting the resolution. 

One protester was arrested for trespassing, according to Lieutenant Erik Swanson. Board Chair Janie Mayeron spoke in support of the policy, saying that all forms of communication can have consequences for the University. 

“The fundamental and underlying question presented by this resolution is what role should the University be in addressing and resolving these critical issues?” Mayeron said. “Is it our role to provide for more and to foster discourse and debate on how to resolve these critical roles to decide to debate itself?”

Regent Gulley said the feedback she received was largely against the resolution. She was concerned with the chilling effect this resolution may bring, and that it may cause people to self-censor at the University. 

“It’s our work to ensure that our experts can speak about what they know,” Gulley said. 

Regent Turner said she has spent her career fighting for nurses’ rights to have a voice and is concerned that the policy puts democracy at stake and voted against the resolution.

“I cannot go against beliefs that I’ve held my whole life,” Turner said. “All of our freedoms, all of our voices in whatever means that is, whether it be freedom of speech, academic freedom, freedom to assemble are at risk right now, and we need to resist this.”

Regent Mike Kenyanya said he supports the resolution because it does not impact individual speech. He said because there is no challenge to individual freedom that the resolution would benefit the university, unifying its position. 

Outreach Day

For their Outreach and Active Learning Day, the Board toured the Cedar Creek Reserve, the Urban Research & Outreach Center and the Elmer L. Andersen Library.

Mayeron said the goal was to get regents into the field for research, teaching and outreach to show them what the University is working on.

The Regents began their day touring the 5,500 acres at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in East Bethel. The Center is home to research in the College of Biological Sciences looking at the possible long-term effects of human-driven environmental change.

Regents then toured the Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) in North Minneapolis. UROC opened in 2009 and has been conducting research in North Minneapolis since. 

Board members had the opportunity to explore several programs offered at UROC, including free classes for seniors in artificial intelligence, nutrition and a research study focusing on back and neck pain. 

Community partners Bill English and Sondra Samuels talked with the Board members about the different programs that are assisted by UROC. Samuels is the director of Northside Achievement Zone, which helps students through support like early childhood education and housing assistance. 

The Boards’ final stop was at Anderson Library on the Twin Cities campus’ West Bank, home to the University archives. The Board also toured the caverns, which hold 1.5 million volumes, including books, documents and other materials. The archives are two stories high and the length of two football fields. 

Archives and Special Collections Director Kris Kiesling said the libraries serve around 10 thousand research requests each year. 

“We were all just so impressed by all of the work that our faculty, staff and students do on a daily basis across the state, and the meaningful impacts it has, locally, regionally and globally,” Mayeron said.

For the first time in five years, the University of Minnesota shared governance met in-person on Thursday to discuss institutional speech and core curriculum. 

The University Senate and Faculty Senate met in the Cowles Auditorium in the Humphrey School. The University’s Duluth, Morris and Rochester campuses met on their own campuses, using Zoom to join the meeting. 

University President Rebecca Cunningham said meeting in-person was an example of how the world has recovered from the pandemic. 

This meeting followed an emergency meeting of the University Senate on Feb. 27 where senators approved a resolution requesting the removal of the Board of Regents resolution on institutional speech. The resolution was introduced at the February meeting and was met with backlash. 

Senators discussed their concerns with the resolution and administration’s involvement.

Institutional Speech

At the emergency meeting, Senator Teri Caraway said the discussion began on Feb. 7 when Senate members learned a resolution related to institutional speech would be on the Board of Regents agenda. 

The Senate pushed a resolution asking the Board to work with the University Senate on this project and allow for more discussion on the topic before creating any policy. Of the 210 voting members, 63 senators co-signed the resolution. 

Eric Van Wyk, chair of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee, said the task force, led by Phil Buhlmann, was charged with reviewing institutional speech at the University this summer.   

“Many of us were shocked and confused to see the Board’s resolution,” Van Wyk said. 

The resolution says the Board’s plan directly conflicts with the position of all shared governance and asks the Board to retract it.

Van Wyk said there are three concerns with the Board’s resolution — process, content and first amendment violations. He said he was concerned about how the Board operated on the resolution. 

“All those meetings, all those discussions, all that consultation, it’s the shared understanding that is being discarded by the Board’s resolution,” Van Wyk said. 

The Faculty Consultative Committee wrote a letter to the Board asking for clarity on the resolution on Feb. 13. They questioned how the Board views issues like academic freedom and the role of the University Senate. 

Several members of the Faculty Consultative Committee, including chair Jennifer Goodnough, met with three members of the Board to express their concerns over the Board’s plan.

Goodnough said she liked that her voice was heard, and that it was a moment for the Board to listen. 

Carrie Booth Walling, director of the Human Rights Program, said the resolution would be disastrous for the program. Walling feared any communication released by her program could be seen as political speech. 

Graduate student Cal Mergendahl said they were concerned about overstepping by the board.

“The board is not designed for policy like this,” Mergendahl said. 

Michael Gallope, the College of Liberal Arts Assembly vice-chair, said they are concerned about what the Board resolution means for the entire institution. 

“I fully support academic freedom and the shared governance process,” Cunningham said during the meeting. “I appreciate that those two are in conflict right now.” 

Cunningham said she had no involvement in the Board’s decision. The Senate’s resolution passed and was communicated to the Board. The Board will discuss the resolution at the March 14 meeting.

Core Curriculum

The faculty Senate debated a proposed update to core curriculum on the Twin Cities campus. The plan was first introduced to the Senate in December and was discussed at the February Senate meeting. 

The plan would require each student to choose a focus area — equity, environment, civic life or well-being. The students would take three courses in that focus area and then take a multidisciplinary synthesis at the end.

The multidisciplinary synthesis requires students to apply material they learned in their focus area courses and accumulate in a group project. The class will be taught by regular faculty and academic professional staff at the University. 

Core curriculum taskforce chairs Kathryn Pearson and William Durfee presented the changes, addressing concerns previously discussed like the implementation of the plan.

Pearson said if the plan passed, then a task force would be assembled to begin the implementation process. 

Koryn Zewers, assistant budget director, said the budget office will not create any estimates for the curriculum changes. She added that revenue and expenses should not drive these issues. 

A faculty member asked Vice Provost Rachel Croson if any deans had voiced concerns about this plan. Croson said her feedback focused on the opportunity being given to each college and discipline. 

“We need to be making curriculum decisions that are focused on student interests,” Croson said. 

Senator Nathaniel Mills questioned the need for a new curriculum. He said the current curriculum is not outdated and updates are being consistently made. 

Other senators said the plan feels minor and is too specific. 

Former Undergraduate Student Body Vice President and student representative on the committee Sara Davis said the plan allows students to pick something that aligns with their future path. She said the plan will support students, allowing them to dive deeper into their major. 

Hubbard School Director Elisia Cohen asked the Senate to think critically about implementation of the plan, citing how budget issues could make this plan difficult.

The final vote on the plan will occur on April 3.

The University of Minnesota created a new center, the Midlife Academy, for middle-aged individuals looking to further their education and hone skills for their current career or to switch careers.

The program is separate from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University, which is for adults 50 and older, for additional courses without a clear end goal. 

The Midlife Academy’s first course will start May 6 and end June 12.

Kate Shaefers, director of the Midlife Academy, said universities do a great job educating young adults, but they are missing support for older generations. 

“There is a gap during those midlife years, and there’s a lot of turbulence, the world of work has changed dramatically,” Shaefers said. “People are needing to navigate careers in very different ways than they may have anticipated.”

The Nexel Collaborative is a national organization that supports colleges and universities developing programs similar to the Midlife Academy. 

Bonnie Zavon, the Distinguished Career Institute manager at Stanford University and project manager for the Nexel Collaborative, said programs like these are necessary for this demographic. 

“There are a lot of resources for young people getting their college degree, going into their next step,” Zavon said. “There is no transition for people after several careers moving to what’s next.”

A Gallup poll in 2022 revealed the average expected age of retirement in the U.S. is 66, compared to 60 in 1995. The poll also reported the percentage of adults retiring between 55-74 is declining by at least 5% overall. 

“People are needing to rethink, what does it mean to be in your 50s and managing a career?” Shaefers said. “And people are anticipating working longer, but they don’t always want to stay in those jobs. So they’re having to figure out, what work fits with the life stage I’m in?” 

Courtney Burton, an instructor at the Midlife Academy, will be teaching the first class, “Jump Start to What’s Next,” to help students figure out the next step in their career and education.

Burton said the class size will be small, under 30 students, to help establish a community, and added that this is an exciting time. 

“It’s so fun being back to school, taking classes with young people, that’s a real joy and a benefit to the school having some people with life experience on campus,” Zavon said. 

Chris Farrell, the senior economics contributor at MPR, said at an event hosted by the Academy that the event is for people who want to earn more money. 

“If you’re creative in your 20s and 30s, you’re going to be creative in your 70s and 80s,” Farrell said. “The sort of inevitable decline that people talk about that’s so embedded in our culture, is just a stereotype, it’s a prejudice, and there’s so much resource that pushes against that.”

Farrell said it can be difficult to transition from a previous career after being established in a career for a long time. He said this program will help adults with that transition. 

“This is cliche, but it’s lifelong learning,” Farrell said. “You can get people to roll their eyes really easily when you say the term lifelong learning, but the fact of matter is that is what we’re talking about.”

Shaefers said she hopes the new program will inspire students to connect and learn from others.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved three new certificate programs for the fall 2025 semester at their Feb. 13 meeting. 

The College of Continuing and Professional Studies (CCAPS) will offer certificates in sexual health education and real estate, while the College of Design (CDES) will offer a certificate in design thinking. 

The programs still need to be approved by the Higher Learning Committee before the next academic year. 

Sexual Health Education

CCAPS will offer a post-bachelor certificate in sexual health education, similar to the existing human sexuality certificate already offered by the college. 

Ritu Saksena, the CCAPS senior associate dean, said they developed the new certificate program after students expressed an increased interest in sexual health education.

“Last year we had a host of listening sessions for our students in all of the graduate programs,” Saksena said. “It was me and my staff wanting to hear directly from students, what was it that we could do and improve and just to better the students’ experience overall.”

The certificate works in partnership with the medical school. The 12-credit graduate program will introduce a new course focusing on the different perspectives and practices of sexual health education, Saksena said. 

Students will receive a certification from the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists after completing the program.

Real Estate

Peter Hilger, a CCAPS instructor and director of the construction management curriculum, said CCAPS offers several courses in real estate that are very popular among students. The certificate will focus on property sales and management. 

Real estate has become an increasingly popular subject, and it made sense for the program to take place in CCAPS, Hilger said.

“The college has been the house for the U’s applied programs and specialties, like construction,” Hilger said. “That’s a very specific discipline, things like services management, IT infrastructure, these are all directly connected and endorsed by (this) industry.”

The college has offered courses on real estate, including a course about real estate finance, since 2015 and they have maintained nearly full enrollment, Hilger said. 

CCAPS is not the only home to real estate courses. The Humphrey School, the department of Urban Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and the Carlson School of Management all offer courses in real estate. 

Hilger said the program will focus on several skills outside the working environment. 

“In the classroom, we’re teaching time, cost and quality,” Hilger said. “That’s the fundamentals of project management.”

The 19-credit program includes no new courses, as it will be outlined by preexisting courses in the college.

Design Thinking

Design thinking is the newest program in CDES, according to Juanjuan Wu, the associate dean for academic programming in CDES. The undergraduate program is designed for students from all disciplines. 

“It’s intended to provide a foundation of graphic design to students without going through a four-year program,” Wu said. “So it’s supplemental and it’s meant to be. They take this graphic design program to enhance their credentials.”

The design thinking course contains two required, pre-existing courses — principles of design and foundations of graphic studio.

Electives include typography, storytelling and design, color and design, illustration and text, and image history of graphic design. 

Wu said the program was created to understand the needs of the changing design industry. 

“Think about what programs would be attractive to the next generation of students,” Wu said. “In terms of the direction and what modalities might appeal to them, might reach them, might have a broad impact.”

The certificate will be fully online, as the college has been exploring online classes since they are often more appealing to students, Wu said. 

“The future is really, really deep-rooted in the design discipline and people are thinking that it is going to be effective if we’re going to teach online,” Wu said.

They hope to appeal to students across the world with online options.

A new core curriculum including a required multidisciplinary synthesis for all undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota will be introduced at the Faculty Senate meeting in March. 

If approved, the curriculum would be implemented for the incoming class of 2027.

William Durfee, the co-chair of the committee in charge of reorganizing the curriculum, said the synthesis would be similar to a capstone but with less work.

“This proposed change is designed to enable students to seek connections in the things outside their major,” Durfee said. “Tie it all together into more integrated, rather than these disconnected pieces.”

The current liberal arts requirements include seven diversified core courses — arts and humanities, biological sciences, historical perspectives, literature, mathematical thinking, physical sciences and social sciences. 

The new plan requires six foundational courses — scientific thinking, qualitative reasoning, the past and present, the search for meaning, societies, cultures and communities and creativity and imagination. 

Students will select one focus area — civic life, environment, equity or well-being — and will take three courses in that subject. After completing that, students will take a final course with students who have chosen the same focus area.

The Multidisciplinary Synthesis is taken during a student’s final semester as the cumulation of the liberal education (LE) courses, Durfee said. 

“This one is brand new,” Durfee said. “This boundary is quite exciting in my mind. Yeah, I mean, I’m excited about lots of points about this I think are interesting, impactful and hopefully fun.”

Durfee introduced a previous version of the core curriculum plan at the December senate meeting, but several changes have been made since. After the bill was discussed and feedback was received, an entry-level synthesis requirement for first-year students was removed.

“The Multidisciplinary Synthesis course expands learning because individual courses to some extent stand by themselves,” Durfee said. “And this provides an opportunity for students to do something with all that information and put it together.” 

Durfee said students can reflect on their liberal education without the course, but making it a requirement in the future will enhance students’ education. 

“The goal is to provide students with an opportunity to make connections,” Durfee said. “And all the things that they learned in their focus area, and the concept ideally is in this focus area, which could be ethics or. To apply your environment. If you are a student, you’re learning different angles.”

At the University senate meeting Feb. 6, faculty members expressed their discomfort with the wording and logistics of the proposed multidisciplinary synthesis. 

Michael Gallope, professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature and vice-chair of the CLA Assembly, said he believes the plan is contrary to the spirit of liberal education. 

“The undergraduate degree has two main parts, it has the major which is about depth in a specific field of study, and it has breath, which is what LE is,” Gallope said. “LE ensures that every student has a range of different topics and disciplines and ideas that they’re exposed to. We use it to foster critical thinking and ethical reasoning.”

Gallope said he is concerned the proposal creates a mandatory minor for students. He believes that students should be able to study ethics and civic life without it being a requirement. 

Professors like Penny Edgell in the sociology department disagree with how the plan attempts to sort subjects. She said when speaking in support of the proposed curriculum, people will often say they are moving away from disciplines not engaging with other disciplines.

Disciplines are not silos and often work collaboratively, Edgell said. She added this work happens not because professors are required to, but helps to better understand a field study when engaging with experts in another field of study.

Edgell said she is worried the proposed framework connects to the broader culture of attacking academic expertise more generally.

“There are a lot of issues with this synthesis class,” Gallope said. “I’ve heard few faculty say that they are enthusiastic about teaching it because it’s very standardized and I think it would be quite challenging (to teach).”

Gallope said he was concerned the University would be forced to hire more adjunct faculty, which he said is a bad idea. 

“It seems exciting on paper, but currently on the whole Twin Cities campus we do not have the classes to support this.” Gallope said. “And my worry is that there’s a mismatch between what the curriculum wants to require, and where faculty expertise actually are.”

Gallope said there are not enough professors to teach the multidisciplinary synthesis sections. 

The new provost will be responsible for the curriculum if it passes the senate, Gallope said. It will be a difficult transition if the new provost is working on this at the beginning of their term.

Eva von Dassow, a professor of Classical and Near Eastern Religions and Cultures, said the curriculum could drive students away. She said the changes would make courses voided of definable subject matter and disciplinary content.

The piece is expected to be voted on at the March 6 University Senate meeting. If it passes, an implementation taskforce will most likely be set up for the 2027 class, the first with the requirements, Durfee said.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents discussed institutional speech and expansions to academic health at the Feb. 14 meeting. 

University President Rebecca Cunningham and Essentia Healthcare CEO David Herman

presented new plans for healthcare after it was announced Jan. 24 that the University would be working with Essentia Health. 

The Board introduced a resolution on institutional speech stating the president is the primary spokesperson for the University, and statements addressing matters of public concern or interest are no longer permitted.

Protesters gathered in the boardroom vocalizing their discomfort with the resolution. 

Institutional Speech

Students for Democratic Society (SDS) interrupted the Board meeting over concerns of academic freedom regarding the proposed resolution for institutional speech. 

The resolution defines institutional statements as communications issued in the name of the University and its departments and units. 

This policy is connected to a national trend of institutional neutrality which has become increasingly popular as students and universities have become less favorable towards political statements. 

Schools like Yale, Northwestern and John Hopkins University have adopted policies of institutional neutrality. 

The Board of Regents policy would require individuals to make it clear that they are not speaking for the University when discussing matters of public concern. 

Regent Douglas Huebsch said institutional neutrality is necessary for our University because the University is not a political source, and its goal is to remain neutral. 

Regent Robyn Gulley was concerned the resolution was too vague. She said it does not differentiate between units, departments and centers while trying to address a specific issue. 

“We could use a scalpel, but we use a bulldozer,” Gulley said. 

Regent Mike Kenyanya said he was grateful for the feedback, but they did not have enough time to process every comment.

When the board ended its discussion, protesters began to chant statements supportingacademic freedom and institutional speech in the boardroom. They shouted “defend academic freedom” and “stop the attacks on free speech.” 

SDS released a statement explaining the protest on Instagram. 

“It is clear that this new proposal is an attempt to control messaging coming out of the University,” SDS wrote. “It should not have to be said that no University president has the expertise to decide what statements should or should not be released.”

The resolution will be voted on at a later meeting. 

Academic Health

Cunningham and Herman presented their plan of “a bold new vision for healthcare” at the meeting. 

The plan is an integrated strategy the University is beginning with Essentia that focuses on increasing care across the state and addressing “urgent healthcare needs,” particularly in rural communities.

“We are talking about a newly proposed vision that would fundamentally enhance the structure of healthcare,” Cunningham said.

Herman said Essentia values the connection a healthcare provider has with their patients and wants to implement that level of care across the system.

Regent Ruth Johnson spoke in support of the plan, saying it brings a clear solution for practitioners in the state. 

“The people of Minnesota and the legislatures in Minnesota care about their communities. Communities increasingly have a presence there and provide services,” Johnson said. “I believe that the legislators and the citizens of those areas will support the university and a greater level of discussion.”

Regent Penny Wheeler said there is hope that future conversations with Fairview will take place. 

Fairview’s role in the new plan has not been made clear yet, after the Star Tribune reported that Fairview has said it does not want to work with Essentia. 

Most college students do not want colleges making political statements, according to an Inside Higher Ed survey. 

The survey from Inside Higher Ed found that 54% of respondents disapprove of political statements from the universities they attend, specifically after major political events like President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Fewer than a quarter of respondents said universities should release a statement, according to the survey. 

These results show students are leaning more toward institutional neutrality. However, at the University of Minnesota, President Rebecca Cunningham has made it a priority to respond to issues as she released two systemwide emails regarding federal policy changes.

What Do Students Think?

Clara Jünemann, the vice president of Undergraduate Student Government, said it can be difficult for students to understand what is happening on campus, or they feel disconnected from campus administration. 

“I get emails almost daily like from a department or an administrative email, and they’re usually relatively long and contain somewhat complex information,” Jünemann said. “I think a lot of students care, but it’s hard to understand what to read, what to know.”

The Twin Cities campus has over 56,000 students, according to University Institutional data. Across the entire campus,  students with a multitude of individual values listen to one president. 

“I think in general, it can be hard for students to relate to what administration and administrative officials are saying on this campus,” Jünemann said. “I think it’s hard reading an email that comes from administration, they’re disconnected from students.”

Jünemann said often there is a disconnect between what is said in professional communication and the day-to-day operations at the University.

“What I’ve heard, speaking to students around campus a lot of times, emails from administration feel performative, like they’re doing it not necessarily to connect with students, but because they have to,” Jünemann said. 

The performative nature of communication harms students’ interest in what the administration has to say about current issues.

“The messages that they do send often have a very administrative and professional tone,” Jünemann said. “I think it lacks an ability to connect with (students).”

Academic Freedom and Political Statements

Academic Freedom has been the center of several task forces at the University and reviews things like tenure faculty and administrative hiring. 

Eric Van Wyk, the chair of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee (AF&T), said all political comments are protected by academic freedom. 

“One component of it is someone’s freedom to discuss matters of public concern and know that that doesn’t affect employment and the work that you do,” Van Wyk said. 

Van Wyk said a world without academic freedom would be bleak.

“Controversy isn’t a goal, it’s something that may arise because people are exploring different ideas or have different understandings of those ideas, and those differences may be seen as controversial,” Van Wyk said. “It’s not the goal to be controversial, it’s the goal to be honest.”

Van Wyk said that the conversations at the University level should not be shunned when they impact University operations. He said there are challenges facing the University, and people look to (Cunningham) as the leader to respond to these issues. 

“Currently, there are challenges to the mission of this University and its nature, and so the extent to which the President chooses to address those is up to her,” Van Wyk said. “I think people would be looking for a strong statement that defends the mission and integrity of the work people do.”

“I think it’s part of a president’s job to defend the mission of the institution, and if that mission is challenged, then a vigorous defense is required, and that’s what people would expect to see,” Van Wyk said.

Virtual Reality labs in the University of Minnesota Health Science Library allow students in mortuary science to explore end-of-life situations. 

Professor of Mortuary Sciences Janet McGee has required the simulation in her class since the Fall 2023 as a part of their soft skills training. 

“We are working to integrate more technology into our program, and this seemed like a great way to do it,” McGee said. 

The VR lab opened at the University in 2021. Currently, 20 classes use the technology because of the unique, immersive experience, Charlie Heinz, the lab director, said. 

“You can get this level of immersion with any other medium, you could watch a movie, but with virtual reality, it’s wrapping the whole thing around you in all directions, so if you get a much greater sense of it,” Hertz said. “So there’s nothing quite like that in terms of it.”

Mortuary sciences students are required to complete the Albert Lab, which allows them to experience the life of a 74-year-old with hearing loss and macular degeneration, an eye condition that causes a loss of vision in the center of vision. 

The lab takes students through a day with Albert, to a medical appointment where he can not understand documents he signs, and to a birthday party where he zones in and out of consciousness due to a lack of focus. 

“It helps students see the full end-of-life experience,” McGee said. “In that sense, it empowers us to be more empathetic and present morticians when we have a greater understanding of what our client families may have experienced leading up to making funeral arrangements. It also helps us anticipate needs more effectively.”

The mortuary science department uses a lot of different technologies in the classroom to build skills like embalming, but the use of VR has a different purpose. 

“The purpose is for students to experience embodied learning, to see what it might be like from the client family perspective,” McGee said. ”It’s another way to help students build empathetic listening skills.”

Soft skills, including communication, are key to the student’s future success, McGee said. 

Students like fourth-year Sara Harbour say it is a valuable skill. 

“We’re also trained in the humanistic side of things, the process of grief and being in arrangements for a couple hours with families whose loved one just died, navigating those emotions and family dynamics,” Harbour said. “We have the medical side of it, but then we have the personal side of it too, so.”

Another simulator is available in the lab that simulates the dying process. The Clay Lab is not yet used in the classroom, but the Minnesota Daily had the opportunity to try it. The simulation is disorienting, beginning with a visualization of the internal organs struggling to work. The subject, Clay, is dying of respiratory failure at home.

The experience shows his wife and children struggling to say goodbye, but the story is difficult to understand as Clay goes in and out of consciousness. His vision also gets weaker as time progresses, with less and less of the experience visually accessible to the user. 

When Clay passes, the simulator continues, only from a different perspective, allowing the user to watch Clay leave his home from a bird’s eye view. 

The VR lab has walk-ins available from Monday through Thursday 12-5 p.m. and is also available by appointment.

University of Minnesota Professor Maria Gini was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring after 40 years in the Computer Science Department. She was the first woman in the department.  

Mats Heimdahl, the Computer Science Department head, has worked alongside Gini since 1996. 

“She’s always been outspoken, opinionated and always willing to help people,” Heimdahl said. “A good resource to get the lowdown on what to do and what not to do, and she’s serving the same role now, and it’s almost 30 years later.”

Gini has been actively involved in the department since she started in 1982. 

“I don’t know where she finds the time and energy because it’s slow going, you can’t give up on things,” Heimdahl said. “She’s persistent and sort of infectiously enthusiastic about things.”

Gini was born and raised in Italy, where she earned her doctorate degree. Her mother was a teacher and she was a Girl Scout leader, introducing her to mentorship at a young age. 

“Having those experiences really helped me understand how important it is to interact with people and pay attention to them,” Gini said. 

After moving to the U. S., Gini said she was immediately aware of the diversity here and admired it. 

“Italy used to be basically just Italians, and there were very few immigrants. So when I got to the U.S. and I started seeing the bright and richness, international students, it’s something I still appreciate a lot,” Gini said. “It adds a lot of value to any group because people with different backgrounds and different cultures bring diversity and bring different ideas.”

Gini has mentored more than 40 graduate students, focusing on students of diverse backgrounds and international students. Ebasa Temesgen, a graduate student from Ethiopia, is currently working with Gini. 

“One reason that I came here is Maria, she is a professional in robotics, she’s a well-accomplished professor and that’s what I wanted to do,” Temesgen said. “Giving (students) the chance and then the opportunity to do research, to be part of the larger community, for me to be a part of this means a lot.”

Gini focuses heavily on collaborative work, especially outside of the department. She has grad students working in collaboration with the psychology department to create AI technology to help elderly care facilities. 

“She’s a fantastic mentor and somebody that really cares about people,” Heimdahl said. “She’s willing to really go above and beyond to help students, and when she sees potential in students, she’s willing to give them a chance.”

Gini said her teaching techniques are based on how she views life.

“I don’t like to tell people what to do fundamentally, it’s just not my style. Even with my PhD students,” Gini said. “So I end up having to do more one-on-one and so I end up really working with the students individually, mentor them, helping them figure out what to do with them as opposed again to treating them as employees.”

This mentality reduces stress, according to Temesgen. 

“You don’t feel like you have a boss. Instead, you have a mentor,” Temesgen said. 

Gini has participated in a wide variety of research in robotics and AI throughout her career, being cited over eight thousand times on Google Scholar.  

“She’s really active in the research community and she gives you this great feedback and then drives you,” Temesgen said. “She’s worked a lot with students directly to make sure that they get where they want to go.”

Gini’s hands-off approach has also appeared in her research with robotic systems. She worked on software that informed robots on how to organize tasks. She researched a distributed method, without a centralized system, because she disliked being told what to do. 

Her project “auctions for task allocation” is among several projects Gini has worked on at the University. 

Gini’s progress goes beyond research to actively support women in computer science. Only 25% of computer science students are female, and there are only several female professors teaching computer science at the University, according to Heimdahl. 

“It’s a typical thing that happens, you don’t think much about gender or race or anything and then you put together a committee and there are no women on it,” Heimdahl said. “Maria would come down and whack me on the head and go, ‘What the hell?’”

Gini said she never considered the gender imbalance when she was beginning, but has begun to focus on supporting young women interested in computer science. 

“It’s complicated to figure out how to break this culture. I did summer camps and they help, most of the girls end up doing computer science or computing jobs,” Gini said. “Doesn’t mean everybody has to do computer science. But I want to make sure people have a choice.”

The Presidential Award is only awarded to 25 individuals, but Gini said she is not in it for the recognition. She said the best part of this award is the chance to reconnect with people. 

“I get emails from former students when they were in my class maybe 5-10 years ago and it’s kind of cool, right? The value that I see when you get some recognition allows you to reconnect with people,” Gini said.

Heimdahl said Gini’s influence helped set the culture and operation of the computer science department.

“One day when she decides to retire, that’s going to be a big void to fill in many respects,” Heimdahl said. “Both in terms of the sort of enthusiasm and energy, but also in this notion of mentoring.”