Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in two activities next month related to the Minnesota State Grant Program: a Thank You Note Event on March 2, and St. Thomas Day at the Capitol on March 8.
This year, 1,370 St. Thomas undergraduate students are receiving $4.56 million in need-based state grants, or an average of $3,325 per student. The Legislature already has set the program budget for the 2012-13 academic year, but legislators still need to hear from the St. Thomas community about the importance of the grant program.
“Both events will give people, especially grant recipients, the opportunity to thank lawmakers for their ongoing investment in higher education,” said Doug Hennes, vice president for university and government relations. “Legislators love to meet with students and learn more about how they are paying for their education.”
The Thank You Note Event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, March 2, in Campus Way on the second level of the Anderson Student Center, east of the stairwell. Staff members from St. Thomas Enrollment Services and the Minnesota Private College Council will be present with computers and note cards to assist people in writing notes or emails to legislators from their home districts.
St. Thomas Day at the Capitol will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, March 8. The MPCC staff, which coordinates lobbying activities at the Capitol for 17 institutions, will hold a briefing for the St. Thomas contingent. Participants then will meet with senators and representatives from their home districts. Food vouchers will be provided, and St. Thomas will run a bus between the St. Paul campus and the Capitol.
People can sign up for Day at the Capitol until March 2 but are encouraged to do so as early as possible in order to give the MPCC staff members enough time to schedule meetings with legislators; register at the MPCC's Day at the Capitol website.
Questions? Call Hennes, (651) 962-6402, or Tom Deiley, legislative senator for the Undergraduate Student Government, (651) 675-9094.
