U of M Mortuary Science Update By Michael LuBrant, Program Director
Dear Colleagues, Greetings from the Program of Mortuary Science at the University of Minnesota! We hope that this message finds you and your families safe and doing well. As I am sure you can imagine, the pandemic has impacted the lives of our students, faculty, and staff in many different ways. And yet despite the challenges that have come our way as a result of COVID, I am pleased to let you know that our program remains strong, even during these difficult times.
Enrollment I am very excited to share with you that our enrollment has increased significantly from trends we observed over the past several years. This year, 36 new students entered the program. Our total enrollment is now approximately 60 students. We believe that a number of policy changes we implemented over the past year, including now offering Spring Semester admission, have helped us to increase our numbers. Very high job placements rates for our graduates are also seen as contributing to an increase in enrollment trends. We are encouraged by the strong interest in our program and continue to work hard with fellow funeral directors to recruit the very brightest and best students into our profession.
Faculty This fall we welcomed several new instructors to the Program. Louise Wojchik is now teaching our human anatomy lab coursework. A 2012 graduate of our program, Louise is a licensed mortician with extensive experience in funeral directing, embalming, and restorative art.
8 MFDA Bulletin • FALL 2020
For the past several years Louise has worked “next door” at M-Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center in the autopsy suite. At M-Health Fairview, her work involves overseeing decedent affairs and teaching medical school students who observe her perform autopsies during their rotations.
I am very excited to be teaching embalming and restorative art theory this semester, and continue to serve as director of our clinical rotation program.
Louise also continues to support funeral homes with difficult case embalming and restorative art work.
Teaching Modalities
Lynne Schriver-Sheedy and Patrick Sheedy: The daughter of a funeral director and program alumnus, Lynne graduated from our program in 2000; she is a licensed mortician and has worked with our students as a preceptor for the past 20 years. Lynne has extensive experience making funeral arrangements and conducting funeral services. Lynne’s husband Pat holds both a Ph.D. degree in religion from Marquette University, and also a JD (law) degree. Pat has extensive knowledge of religious traditions and has taught at several colleges and universities. Lynne and Pat will be co-teaching our Death and Dying Across Cultures and Religions course this year, as Rev. Gloria Roach Thomas has taken leave for health reasons. Michael Mathews continues in his 44th year with the program teaching coursework in the sciences, mortuary rules and regulations, and funeral practice. Also continuing in their work with us: Judge Douglas Meslow is teaching business and mortuary law, and Carrie McGhee serves as our instructor for our business and funeral arrangements coursework. Carrie is also assisting me with the operation of our clinical rotation program. In support of on-campus clinical instruction, Tim Tarmann is teaching our embalming and restorative art labs.
For more information about all our faculty, please visit: https://med.umn. edu/mortuaryscience/faculty
As many of you may know, as a result of COVID much of our teaching work is being conducted via distance education at this time. We are grateful to have access to technology including Zoom, Canvas, and other software that allows us to teach remotely. Given the importance of “hands on” learning activities, we continue to teach embalming, restorative art, and human anatomy labs on campus. Likewise, we have received permission to run our clinical education coursework at funeral homes, and have several students out on rotation at this time. Our faculty, staff, and students have all been working together closely to ensure that our learning this fall will be a positive experience for everyone.
Student Financial Aid – National Board Exam (NBE) Scholarships As you are probably aware, each year I write our friends and alumni asking for their financial support of our program. As you can understand, COVID has placed incredible financial stress upon our students and their families. For many students, this year there were unexpected financial barriers in coming up with funds to pay for the NBE, which as you know is required for licensure. In discussing with students how we could help them, I was asked if there might be a way of supporting the $570 cost of the NBE. In consultation with students,
