Thursday, January 27, 2011
www.msureporter.com
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Snow not a problem for Master of social work program city and university
Storms have not affected removal plans
accredited at MSU First in MnSCU system
GRACE WEBB
staff writer
wale agboola• msu reporter Crews have been working around the clock this winter to keep paths clear for students and faculty on campus.
ELENA SHUFELT
news editor
Even with the large volume of snow that has already accumulated this winter, the city of Mankato and Minnesota State Mankato haven’t had problems moving it out of the way for drivers and pedestrians. Director of Public Works Mark Knoff said his department, which is in charge of snow removal for the city, still continues to follow its standard snow removal policy. “Obviously it’s a significant impact on our budget — the amount of snow we’ve had to remove,” Knoff said. He added that financing for snow removal comes from the general fund, which can come from many areas including government aid and taxes. “It also requires us to go back and do some widening of streets just given the sheer volume of snow,” he said. He said they have had to haul out more snow from the downtown area than in past years. Snow is moved to various allocated locations
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throughout the city, but Knoff said this year hauling hasn’t been a big issue. Though each storm is different because of time, type of snow and amount, Knoff said the department assesses each storm and decides what is best for the city based on that information. This is why, for example, sometimes salt is put down before a storm and other times after. Knoff said Mankato has 23 routes it needs to plow during or after each snowfall. Separate equipment is generally used to clear trails and sidewalks about an hour after nearby streets have been plowed so snow isn’t just moved back and forth into open areas. Main roads are cleared before residential streets and alleys to help with traffic, Knoff said. Monks Ave, Parkway Ave and Stadium Rd are the three hills in Mankato generally closed after heavy snowfall, and others are only closed if something happens such as debris falling into the road.
Knoff said public works and public safety determined those roads needed to be closed after looking at the number of accidents on them and the residential streets that have access to them. “We ended up spending a lot of time in the past almost constantly having a truck go up and down those hills just to keep them open, and it just wasn’t cost effective to do that,” Knoff said. At MSU, Physical Plant Director Mike Lexvold said if a storm is during the day, MSU uses its general staff, but it does have the ability to call people in if a storm comes overnight. Brooms are usually running throughout the day to keep paths clear for students around campus, he said, but a separate crew comes in from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. to help remove snow from a storm. Crews try not to pile snow in parking lots to avoid taking up space for students. However, Lexvold said the green lot next to the Performing Arts Center often
Minnesota State Mankato now offers the first accredited master of social work program in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. The MSU Department of Social Work has been working since 2001 to create such a program. It began by collecting data from alumni, social workers and social worker administrations on whether the university should offer a master’s degree. “We found out there was definitely a need,” said Nancy Fitzsimons, director of the MSU Department of Social
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Accreditation/ page 7
Building a home PAGE 3
Snow / page 7
inside
Work. Jihan Ali is one of the graduates of the new master’s program. She said it was good to hear the program had become accredited. “I was very excited because it was two years of my education, so it was good to know that… my degree wouldn’t go to waste,” Ali said. Ali said southern Minnesota needs more social workers and that this newly accredited program will open doors to university students. “Other than MSU, the closest school that has a social work program that’s accredited is the U of M,” Ali
photos by angela kukowski • msu reporter
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