Blue ribbons and gold medals. These are what we normally associate with being “first.” But for Andrena Murphy ’15, being

first—the first in her family to go to college—meant making new connections, proactively seeking advice, and learning new skills.

During high school, Murphy said, her mother encouraged her to do well but didn’t insist that she go to college. Though her mother had taken some community college courses, neither she nor Murphy’s two older sisters had obtained a college degree. And each of them had been able to find a good job without a college education.

“Nobody in my family knew what college was like,” Murphy said, “so no one could help me figure out if it was right for me.”

Murphy used her senior year of high school and the resources of her high school’s Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) college readiness program to help determine if college was the next step for her.

Through AVID, Murphy discovered Augsburg’s TRiO/Student Support Services (SSS) program. Programs like AVID and TRiO/SSS help first-generation and low-income students succeed in college. For students in high school, these programs provide preparation for college entrance exams, assistance with college research and application, and information about the financial aid application process. On college campuses, these programs help students find resources and support to complete their degree.

Murphy applied for and was accepted to Augsburg’s TRiO/SSS program. She attended TRiO’s Summer Bridge program in July and August 2011 to begin her Augsburg career. Summer Bridge is a five-week residential program in which students take introductory religion and public speaking courses and attend academic support seminars, workshops, and other activities to help provide for a smooth transition to school in the fall.

“It was fun to be in an atmosphere where I could keep learning through the summer,” Murphy said. She appreciated getting a head start on classes, learning what college was like, and meeting her classmates and professors. This summer, she will be a residential peer mentor for Summer Bridge and will share some of the lessons she has learned with the incoming TRiO students.

During the past academic year, Murphy met regularly with her TRiO/SSS adviser to update her academic plan and to talk about the challenges of balancing school with family time, social life, volunteering, and her job. She said that her time management skills and even her eating habits improved in her first year of college. She also learned how to make connections with professors and to reach out to them for advice. “That’s something I never did in high school,” she said.

Murphy also was involved with the Bonner Leader program during the school year. Through Bonner, she served as a youth development and enrichment coordinator at Kaleidoscope Place, an after-school program for elementary and junior high school students.

Murphy officially will enter the Education Department this fall. She’s excited about her education classes and about becoming an elementary teacher one day. “When I look back, there were a few teachers who really made a difference for me, and I want to do that for someone.”

STUDENT STORIES

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Balancing academics and athletics can be demanding for college student-athletes. For Brandon Bukowski ’12, a double major in biology and chemistry with his sights set on medical school, managing academics and a hockey schedule was challenging. But Bukowski shone in the classroom and on the ice, graduating summa cum laude with honors in biology and leading his team as one of the top hockey defenders in the conference.

Bukowski came to Augsburg after three years playing junior hockey with the Tri-City Storm in Kearney, Neb., and the Fargo-Moorhead Jets in North Dakota. Chris Brown, Augsburg’s men’s hockey coach, had been in contact with Bukowski since high school, but Bukowski was interested in playing for a Division I school. “I never thought Augsburg was for me, but I was impressed with the hockey team and the strong science program,” he said.

Studying biology while playing hockey required support from his coaches and commitment to time management. “In hockey, science majors are not common,” Bukowski said. Some of his courses required 12 hours of lab work each week, but he said his coaches always found a way to make his schedule work. “At Augsburg, the coaches emphasize that we are students first and athletes second.”

At Augsburg, students interested in pursuing graduate school are encouraged to participate in faculty-led research in order to prepare them for advanced study. For two summers, Bukowski conducted research with biology assistant professor Jennifer Bankers-Fulbright through Augsburg’s office of Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO), which funds 10 to 12 weeks of summer research for more than 30 students each year. Bukowski and Bankers-Fulbright studied a bacterium that is responsible for substantial mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Bankers-Fulbright said she appreciated Bukowski’s enthusiasm and dedication. “Brandon has a very strong work ethic and this, combined with his intellectual curiosity and drive, made him a valuable part of my lab,” she said.

Bukowski also participated in Mayo Innovation Scholars, a program involving Mayo Clinic Ventures and the Minnesota Private College Council. As a member of a team including undergraduate science and business majors and an MBA student, Bukowski researched the efficacy of a potential product and conducted market analysis for the product.

His academic skill earned Bukowski Auggie awards as the men’s student-athlete with the highest grade-point average in 2011 and 2012. On the ice, he was a four-year letter winner, appearing in 85 career games with 14 assists and 15 points, and the team qualified for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason playoffs three times during his tenure.

Bukowski plans to apply to medical school next year and wants to become an orthopedic surgeon. For the summer following graduation, he has applied to a Med Scribe program at Emergency Physicians Professional Association (EPPA) in which he would shadow a physician and learn about the medical field by documenting patient history and observing exams.

At the annual Auggie Awards, the Augsburg College athletic programs roll out the maroon carpet to celebrate team and individual successes. For the promotional posters, Augsburg College photographer Stephen Geffre shows student-athletes in formal wear participating in their sport. .

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“Nathan Schott’s life is an inspiration to me, and I’m humbled and honored to receive a scholarship in his name, a scholarship that is about future possibilities, not past liabilities.”

These are the words of Alexandra Stoiaken ’13, recipient of the inaugural Nathan R. Schott Scholarship. Nathan Schott came to Augsburg as a first-year student in September 2009. His time at Augsburg was short, but significant. He touched the lives of faculty, staff, and students like Alexandra. He had a unique ability to make connections within the Augsburg community.

Nathan was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at the age of six. He passed away at the end of his first year of college. Yet Nathan continues to make a difference in the lives of Auggies, present and future.

Teri and Chuck Schott, Nathan’s parents, established the Nathan R. Schott Scholarship to honor Nathan’s life and to give other students an educational opportunity in a supportive community. The scholarship provides support for students who, like Nathan, participate in the Center for Learning and Adaptive Student Services (CLASS) program. CLASS provides services and accommodations for students with attentional, learning, and physical disabilities.

“Augsburg was the right place for Nathan,” Nathan’s father, Chuck, said. “He had a feeling of belonging, and this was a place where he could participate and contribute to the makeup of the community.”

Teri Schott, Nathan’s mother, added, “The scholarship is a chance to see that the spirit of Nathan continues. It means he’s still a part of this place.”

“[Nathan] always had a ready smile for me when we passed in the halls,” Stoiaken said. “There was real joy in his life, and he shared it easily.”

Stoiaken, who manages life with cerebral palsy, said she was inspired by Nathan. “By receiving this scholarship, I will always endeavor to make Nathan and his family proud. Like Nathan, I will never allow my disease to define me. I will live life to its fullest, finding inspiration wherever I can.”

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In A Room of One’s Own, writer Virginia Woolf asserts that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” This critical feminist essay, first published in 1929, examines the obstacles that women writers faced in a literary tradition that was, at the time, dominated by men.

It was in a room of her own, a quiet space where she could remove herself from the distractions of college social life, that Erika Hammerschmidt ’04 began to write her first book while she was a student at Augsburg.

A private room is beneficial for students with Asperger’s syndrome (AS), an autism spectrum disorder that affects a person’s ability to socialize and communicate with others. Students with AS are characterized by poor social skills and restricted interests, but they typically possess great knowledge in specific areas and have extensive vocabularies.

Hammerschmidt was diagnosed with AS at the age of 11. “In some ways, having Asperger’s is a gift,” she said. “I have a good memory and a gift for logical thought. And I can get very focused.” As a student, however, Hammerschmidt said she was easily distracted and had trouble concentrating on schoolwork because of anxiety she felt about her social life.

Augsburg’s Center for Learning and Adaptive Student Services (CLASS) program, one of the student support resources available in the Gage Center for Student Success, helped Hammerschmidt deal with the social aspects of college. “They helped me get a single room, a ‘room of my own’ as Virginia Woolf wrote. It helped me get started on a lot of projects and stay focused on them.”

The ability to focus helped Hammerschmidt complete her book, Born on the Wrong Planet. First published in 2003, it is a collection of poems, short stories, and essays using alternating voices to illustrate the complexities of Hammerschmidt’s life with Asperger’s. A revised edition was published in 2008 by the Autism Asperger Publishing Company.

Since graduating from Augsburg, Hammerschmidt has continued writing in the Minneapolis apartment she shares with her husband, John Ricker, whom she met at Augsburg. In 2011, the couple co-authored Kea’s Flight, a science fiction novel that Hammerschmidt said is “like [George Orwell’s] 1984 for autistic people.”

The couple also speaks about living with autism spectrum diagnoses to special education students, teachers, and parents of children with autism. In 2005, they were featured speakers at the Annual Autism Society of Minnesota Conference.

Learn more about .

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The Augsburg students teaching English in Thailand pose outside of the Wat Benchamabophit, a temple in Bangkok.

The Augsburg Choir U.S. Tour

The Augsburg Choir, under the direction of Peter Hendrickson ’76, toured the Midwest in May. With stops in Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming, the choir performed nine concerts and had opportunities to connect with potential Auggies and their families as well as alumni and friends of the College.

Teaching English in Thailand

This was the fifth year that English professor Kathy Swanson and her husband, Jack, took students to teach English in Thailand as part of a short-term study abroad course through the Center for Global Education. In addition to teaching for 10 days in the village of Prachuap Khirikhan, the students learned about Thai culture and history, sailed on the Gulf of Siam, rode elephants, and tried to stay cool in the 120-degree heat.

International Management and Finance in Germany

For four weeks in May and June, a group of German students and professors from Karlsruhe, Germany, paired with Augsburg students and assistant business professor Marc McIntosh to study international business practices.

The group met for two weeks in Europe, visiting the European Parliament in Strasbourg and witnessing firsthand the financial crisis that was occurring in Europe at that time. They also went to the Frankfurt stock exchange and experienced the volatility in the financial market as a result of the crisis, McIntosh said.

Then, back in the U.S., the students visited three companies with strong ties to Germany and gained insights into how to do business in overseas markets. Finally, the students participated in an intensive business simulation game with teams competing to maximize shareholder value through the launches of multiple product offerings.

Political and Civic Engagement in Egypt

Political science professor Joe Underhill and Mohamed Sallam, director of Pan-Afrikan student services at Augsburg, led students to Egypt in May to study youth movements and social change. The group visited cultural sites, villages, an ecotourism resort, and a Bedouin camp, observed the historic presidential election, and examined ongoing efforts to rebuild the country in the wake of the 2011 revolution. The combined political science and history course, Political and Civic Engagement in Egypt, was a faculty-led study abroad program coordinated through Augsburg’s Center for Global Education.

An excerpt from Underhill’s blog:

Election day is notable for its calm. Everyone is voting and waiting; my sense is that people are still feeling that they are in a dream, not sure that this can really be happening, and wondering if they will wake up in the morning to find the military back in power, or in fact with a leader they have chosen. The city is quieter than usual, less traffic and crowds, with people staying home to vote.

Read more of the for more about the elections, the extreme traffic in Cairo, and sharing a plane ride with former President Jimmy Carter.

Social Service in a Global Context: Namibia and the U.S.

During July, a group of 25 Master of Social Work (MSW) students studied in Namibia and South Africa accompanied by Lois Bosch, professor and MSW program director, and Nancy Rodenborg, associate professor and chair of the Social Work Department. The group visited social service agencies, hospitals, schools, and other venues.

Auggies abroad in 2012-13 (including summer 2012)

• 28 students participated in summer programs in Austria, Ecuador, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Namibia, Norway, Jamaica, Jordan, Spain, and the United Kingdom
• 41 students took part in summer short-term faculty-led programs including programs in Egypt, Germany, and Thailand
• 27 students will study abroad in fall semester
• 6 students will study abroad for the full 2012-13 academic year

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As I recently watched our almost 1,000 graduates of the Augsburg Class of 2012 walk across the stage to receive diplomas, I couldn’t help but be proud of their many accomplishments and successes as Augsburg students. Our remarkably diverse graduates—from various backgrounds, of various talents, on their way to various professions—are the most tangible signs of our strategic commitment to the success of all our students.

And yet, the news media and popular opinion would have us believe that there are storm clouds rising in higher education. Some even call it a “tsunami.” Students unprepared for college, students who do not persist or graduate, students who will not get jobs (or, at least, not the jobs they want), students with too much debt. And conversely, colleges and universities that do not meet student needs, institutions that are too bureaucratic and expensive, colleges and universities stuck with an “old” model of teaching and learning.

At Augsburg, we are deeply aware of these concerns. In fact, this issue of Augsburg Now includes an overview of the complex economics of higher education because we understand that topics such as this are too important to leave unaddressed. At the same time, we recognize that the markers of student success—graduation rates, academic achievement, or getting into graduate school or the workforce—also must be pursued. The story about our new Gage Center for Student Success shows just one way we are focused on ensuring that our students have the support they need to complete their Augsburg education.

So, rather than allow various social and economic trends to define our reality, we are dedicated to planning for our future in ways that are both strategic, that is, focused on what is most essential and important to our mission as a college, and also student-centered, that is, always mindful that we must do our best for all of our students.

We articulate this commitment to student success in a concept we call the Augsburg Promise. It is the relationship we form with our students to ensure their success, and it has three key components.

It is, first of all, centered in our commitment to helping our students discern and live their vocations (or “callings”). The concept of vocation—inherited from our Lutheran Christian theological tradition and embedded in the Augsburg curriculum—is not merely about self-fulfillment. It is a deeply nuanced way of helping students explore their gifts and commitments, understand the arc of their lives, and embrace how their work in the world—whatever it may be—has significance. At the heart of the Augsburg Promise is the claim that our students will be better prepared for the world because of our work together in the classroom, in residence halls, on athletic fields, and in our neighborhood.

The second component of the Augsburg Promise is our focus on academic growth and achievement in terms of both access—how our students are welcomed as part of our diverse community—and excellence—the standards we set and the support we offer to ensure that their education is of the highest order. Our students come to Augsburg with a variety of gifts and talents. Our promise to them is that this educational experience like no other will challenge them to grow as students and as citizens. So, yes, they will attain traditional academic success, and be recognized with honors and awards, but they also will experience the growth and achievement that is recognized in lives of meaning and significance in the world.

Finally, the Augsburg Promise is about equipping our students for the lives they will lead in the world. Higher education—especially an education grounded in the liberal arts—must aim at ensuring that our students are educated across a wide range of disciplines and perspectives. At the same time, a college community like Augsburg must also consider how students are formed with certain skills and habits that will prepare them for citizenship and leadership. Whether in the classroom or community, in student organizations or residence halls, on playing fields or international travel, we must have an integrated sense of how our students are “educated to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.”

That is our mission—and that is our promise so that all Augsburg students might be successful.

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Fog-covered mountains, roosters crowing at 4 a.m., dinner by candlelight, 60-foot waterfalls, and calculus. Strange components in a college class, maybe, but for seven students and two faculty members, this was reality during the 2012 spring break.

In the course MAT 496: The Calculus of Sustainability, students spent the first eight weeks of the spring semester studying coffee plantations of Nicaragua. With this knowledge, they created projects ranging from calculating the carbon footprint of coffee production to building a largescale

differential equation model that would be used while in Nicaragua.

Once in-country, students were asked by the farm families with whom they stayed for feedback and advice on an ecotourism model the farmers were creating. The farmers, all members of the GARBO coffee cooperative in the Peñas Blancas region of Nicaragua near the Honduran border, were exploring diversifying their income by inviting tourists to learn about and stay on the plantation.

So although they had prepared projects for months before arriving in Nicaragua, the students set them aside and put the needs of the farmers in the forefront. The class came up with ideas like creating a map of the cooperative and installing a water filtration system. They also suggested paving the roads and creating a store to sell convenience items to tourists as well as products grown on the plantation.

When all was said and done, the students learned that when working in a place like Nicaragua, plans can change quickly. Adaptation and the willingness to think on your feet are great skills to have when trying to apply complex mathematics in a real-world situation.

In the end, the challenge for Augsburg College—and every higher education institution—is to find a sustainable balance among these factors—state and federal government aid, institutional support, and student or family contributions—in a way that keeps higher education within reach for students of academic ability from all backgrounds.

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In many ways, Rachel Hastings ’15 is a typical college student. She takes Spanish class, sings in a choir, eats in the cafeteria, and works out in the fitness center. But she is also atypical—a student who uses her ears and fingers to find her way through campus and through life. She’s training for a marathon, learning arias by ear, and spreading joy throughout the Augsburg campus. A sophomore from Maple Grove, Minn., Hastings has been legally blind since birth.

Through the Gage Center for Student Success at Augsburg College, Hastings gets individualized support services and accommodations that help her succeed. The photos that follow show a typical day in the life of this atypical college student.

By touching her right hand to the treadmill every three or four steps, Hastings keeps her position on the machine during her daily workout. Hastings has completed two half marathons and is planning to run the Twin Cities Marathon in October.

“Hi Rachel, it’s Noah,” a student says as he meets Hastings. But Noah Sievert does not need to identify himself because Hastings recognizes his voice. To her, a voice is as distinct as

a face is to a sighted person.

The complex nature of music theory means that Hastings needs accommodations for this course. Hastings took adapted music theory from assistant professor of music Doug Diamond as a summer independent study course.

Before she gets even two steps into a classroom, a classmate hops up and says, “Rachel, there is an open spot right over here.” One of the few times Hastings requires help is when she needs to navigate a full classroom with her cane.

Practicing on a baby grand piano is one of the perks of being

a music therapy major whose main instrument is the piano. Since she does not read Braille music, Hastings learns music by ear, but she has perfect pitch, which makes learning easier.

STUDENT STORIES

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For most of his life, Nic Adducci ’15 was the kid who couldn’t read or write. The kid who had to go to the principal’s office to take his pill every day. The kid with a learning disability.

Today, due in part to support he receives from Augsburg’s Center for Learning and Adaptive Student Services (CLASS), Adducci made the dean’s list with a 4.0 grade-point average. A double major in business management and psychology with minors in economics and political science, he has shed much of the stigma associated with having a learning disability and has found success at Augsburg.

In the second or third grade, Adducci was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It was a time, he said, when educators, students, and parents were just beginning to understand learning disabilities. “I was the only student in a small class with a learning disability. I was the kid who had emotional and behavior problems, and when I had a bad day, [the question] was, ‘Did you take your pill today?'” he said.

“That was the foundation for my educational experience, and that followed me everywhere I went,” Adducci said. The labels and messages followed him to the workplace where he was a project manager for an educational testing company. “I thought that I couldn’t do a lot of things because I believed I couldn’t rely on myself.”

In 2006, Adducci was told he needed to complete a bachelor’s degree as a requirement for his job. A co-worker who had graduated from Augsburg through Weekend College recommended the program, and Adducci found himself back in the classroom.

For several years, he took a class here and there while he continued to focus primarily on his work and personal life. Then in 2011, he realized he needed to make his education a top priority. He enrolled as a full-time student in the College’s day undergraduate program and moved onto campus.

That’s when education changed for Adducci, and he discovered his passion for learning. “I approached my professors and the CLASS office right away,” he said. “They really didn’t accept the ‘I’m a bad writer’ excuse I used when I was younger, and they showed me that there was a different way for me to approach learning.”

Adducci’s biggest learning-related challenge is reading. “It’s hard to concentrate and my retention is really low,” he said. The accommodations provided through CLASS include extra time to take exams, working with a notetaker in classes, and using the Kurzweil software program that reads his textbooks aloud for him.

In two semesters as a full-time student, Adducci not only raised his grade-point average and made the dean’s list, he also landed a position as a residence life adviser for next year and made an impression on his classmates and instructors.

“Nic made a marvelous contribution to the class,” said assistant professor of business administration John Cerrito, whose human resource management class Adducci took in the spring semester. “He was mature, serious, and a very positive student,” Cerrito said. “He is a real credit to Augsburg.”

At Augsburg, Adducci said, he is able to attain a level of academic success that he hadn’t ever come close to in his life. “People saw something valuable in me in areas where I thought that I would never be able to accomplish anything,” he said, “and that gave me the motivation to actually put the effort in. Then I was successful.”

STUDENT STORIES

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