Friday, November 06, 2009
MSUM hosts MnSCU leadership summit
Last spring, MSUM dealt with the worst flood in Red River Valley history. Students worked hard to save the city, and through their effort, were
successful.
The 2009 flood was a time of chaos, hard work and dedication. It provided MSUM students, faculty, administration and staff with flood protection knowledge, as well as firsthand experience on how to save the city by sandbagging.
On Monday and Tuesday, MSUM hosted the MnSCU Leadership Summit in the CMU Ballroom. Attending faculty shared flood experiences and insight with surrounding college administrators.
This event, which included all 32 MnSCU presidents and campus emergency managers, focused around the theme of the 2009 flood.
“The purpose (of this summit) is to share flood experiences and what was learned last year to help other colleges be prepared,” said Executive Director of Public Relations Doug Hamilton. “We met to discuss something that requires a massive response. We know the potential for this (flood) incident is there.”
The event featured MSUM’s director of Campus Security, Michael Parks, who was the emergency manager during the flood. Hamilton said that Parks was perfect for the position and did a great job managing the quick response that was required.
Hamilton said that MSUM’s dedication to the flood that was not only through fervent sandbagging, but also commitment to communication reported and spread through campus media outlets.
The accomplishments of students and administration were all recognized at the summit, along with annual business dealing with budgets and other
important logistics.