MSU President's Newspaper Column
November 4, 2023
Personal service … our legacy and our future
“The School of Personal Service” is not only Mayville State’s motto, it’s a way of life. It’s our culture. It’s what we do every day without thinking about it. It’s symbolic communication that has been passed down to us from previous generations. Personal service is our legacy … and it is also the future for our university.
From the institution’s very beginning nearly 134 years ago, Mayville State has been a place where individuals are provided with a quality education that prepares them for careers where they can make a positive difference in the world. But that’s not all. At Mayville State, education has a value-added component in the personal service that partners with educational excellence and acts as a bonus to students.
I recently had an opportunity to see a Gallup-Purdue Index from 2014. The chart I saw demonstrated that the odds of being engaged at work are:
- 2.6 times higher if their college prepared them well for life outside of college;
- 2.4 times higher if their college was passionate about the long-term success of its students
- 2.2 times higher if a person had a mentor who encouraged them to pursue their goals and dreams;
- 2 times higher if the person had at least one professor at college who made them excited about learning;
- 2.9 times higher if their professors at college cared about them as a person;
- 2.0 times higher if they had an internship or jobs that allowed them to apply what they were learning in the classroom;
- 1.8 times higher if they were extremely active in extracurricular activities and organizations while attending college; and
- 1.8 times higher if they worked on a project that took a semester or more to complete.
Assuming the data is accurate, I think it’s fair to say that Mayville State is producing graduates who are engaged at work and in their careers, and thus making a positive difference.
At Mayville State, we are very much in the business of preparing students well for life outside of college and their long-term success. Mentors are everywhere and our faculty are without a doubt making their students excited for learning. Faculty care about their students as people and students have opportunities for internships and jobs that let them apply the lessons they’re learning in the classroom. A huge advantage of the Mayville State Experience for students is the opportunity to be highly engaged in extracurricular activities and organizations, and the culmination of many of our academic programs requires completion of a multifaceted capstone project that demonstrates their understanding of the subject area.
Being engaged at work is so important when we think about the workforce needs of our state and beyond. Producing high quality graduates who can make an impact in the workforce is a very important objective for Mayville State University. In fact, it’s one of our main focus areas. It’s something we take extremely seriously.
I am certain that the lessons of personal service our alumni learned at Mayville State are inherent in the way they live their lives. It’s important to them that they treat others with the attention and respect they deserve. Service to others is a priority, whether it’s in their work, in their families, in their communities, in their travels, or wherever they are.
I am extremely proud of the legacy of personal service for which Mayville State is well-known. Mayville State graduates are and will always make a positive difference in our world. The lessons in personal service they learned at the alma mater set them apart. This is truly a reason to be Comet Proud!