WELCOME!

It is my pleasure to welcome you to Winona State University! I have been here three years now, and I am more excited than ever about what we have to offer our students and the community we serve. You join us as we are completing the celebration of our Sesquicentennial Year. A lot has happened since 1858 when the University was founded. We are exploring what our history can teach us, and we are looking ahead and thinking about what the next century will bring. We are glad to welcome you to WSU at such a special time.

WSU is recognized as a national leader in higher education. We continually strive for inclusive excellence in every aspect of University life. Our mission is to educate and enlighten our citizenry as a distinctive institution: A community of learners improving our world. I encourage you to become familiar with our mission statement. You will see it on banners all around campus. Pause a moment as you walk by those banners—now carrying our sesquicentennial flame—and think about helping us become a community of learners who can, indeed, make a difference in the lives of others. I believe that this mission will inspire you and guide you along your exciting journey at WSU.

We set high expectations for ourselves—administrators, faculty, staff, and students. We expect students to be dedicated to active learning, standards of excellence, cooperative learning, and personal growth and development. We expect you to take your education seriously. By incorporating these fundamental expectations into your daily life, you will contribute to your own success as well as the success of the University. In return, you can expect our faculty and staff to take you seriously and to help you find your own path that will bring meaning and purpose to your experience here. (To learn more about the University’s expectations, visit www.winona.edu/handbook/expectations.htm.)

You are joining WSU as we undertake a grand challenge, to enhance the experience of all our students. For three years, the campus community has been thinking about what it means to be educated in the 21st century, what you will need to know as you prepare for life in a rapidly changing world, and how we can join you in that journey. By our own actions and how we live out our values, we want to show you what it means to live responsible, productive, and creative lives, inspired by what we learn and by the people we meet.

I hope your time at WSU will be both challenging and inspiring. May your time here offer you many wonderful experiences that you will cherish in the years to come, as you, in turn, reach out to enrich the lives of others.

Best regards,

Judith A. Ramaley, President