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Homecoming Convocation, held Friday, Oct. 12, at 10 a.m. in Hoversten Chapel, will honor our Distinguished Alumni, First Decade, and Spirit of Augsburg awardees along with our 50-year club members and faculty and staff emeriti.

The First Decade Award

Jasmina Besirevic-Regan ’97 came to Augsburg from Bosnia and majored in sociology. She continued at Yale University, earning both an MA and PhD. Since 2004, she has served as the dean of Trumbull College, one of Yale’s undergraduate residential colleges. Jasmina has published numerous papers and teaches an undergraduate seminar at Yale on genocide and ethnic conflict.

Spirit of Augsburg Award

Beverly Nilsson, professor emerita of nursing, taught at Augsburg from 1977 to 2001, serving as department chair from 1978 until her retirement. Bev was instrumental in founding the bachelor’s degree nursing completion program, establishing the Augsburg Nursing Center at Central Lutheran Church, creating Augsburg’s Rochester Program, and developing Augsburg’s master’s program in cross-cultural nursing. She continues to volunteer at the Nursing Center and serves on the Advisory Council.

Distinguished Alumni Award

Dr. Bruce Amundson ’60 has been a leader in the Peace Corps, Job Corps, and in rural community health programs in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. He has worked with over 400 rural U.S. communities to assist them to strengthen and salvage critical local health services. Presently he works to advance the integration of medical care and mental health care in Washington State. Bruce has been a long-time advisor to members of the U.S. Congress on healthcare issues and is an active member of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Distinguished Alumni Award

Jim Pederson ’56 has a long and notable list of posts with the State of Minnesota, House of Representatives, and Public Safety. He has advised clients on legislative strategy and legislative relations. For 15 years, Jim has been a consultant for the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board, playing a key role in the restoration of the Stone Arch Bridge and creation of a Northeast Minneapolis Firefighters Hall and Museum. His volunteerism extends to his church and community.

The Homecoming Convocation’s recognition of distinguished members of the Augsburg community is only part of the festivities planned for Homecoming 2007. .

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B.S., social work, with a minor in religion

Patrick Flood, a 2008 graduate, reflected on his four years at Augsburg…

“During opening convocation in 2004, the freshmen marched to the chapel as professors lined the path, clapping and welcoming us. They didn’t know us yet but they were there to support us. After four long years, many of those same professors once again lined up on Commencement day, clapping and congratulating us on a job well done. I couldn’t have imagined on that first day what the impact of this would be.

How I became an Auggie: It was important for me to stay in the ELCA family, since my mother is a Lutheran pastor. Attending a small private liberal arts college in an urban setting also appealed to me. (What really sold me, however, were Augsburg’s skyways and tunnels that make life much more comfortable in the dead of winter!)

Augsburg highlight: During my junior year I had an opportunity to study abroad by taking a spring semester course—Social Work in a Latin American Context—through the Center for Global Education (CGE). The program was centered in Cuernavaca, Mexico and focused on experiential learning, global perspectives, and social and economic justice. During the semester I took a Spanish language class, three classes in social work, and completed an internship at Las Palomas, a local nursing home. … I learned a lot about the differences between our cultures. In Mexico it’s much more traditional for the elderly to be cared for by their children; they become part of the nuclear family structure. The number of elderly in nursing homes is much lower than in the U.S. The Augsburg impact: Conversations with professors and students had a very positive influence on me. My religion class with Professor Mary Lowe challenged my thoughts and beliefs. Her enthusiasm rubs off on students and pushes them to think critically and analytically about the Bible and how that can translate into bigger issues.

Next steps: Although I am a social work major, I was a student worker in Augsburg’s Institutional Advancement office for four years. I learned about the importance of giving back to the community through philanthropy and stewardship. Because of those experiences and one-on-one mentoring, I’m interested in pursuing an entry-level job in development. Wherever life takes me, I feel well prepared for the journey, thanks to Augsburg.

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In 2006 Soiseth heard about the three-year-old Street Pastors program and trained as a street pastor leader in Wrexham, Wales. She led her team on patrol once or twice a month, from around 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Recently, with her move to Chester, she also serves as a Chester lead street pastor and will alternate patrols and voluntary time between the two locations.

In September she wrote about street pastor work for a community ministry blog in Chester. With permission, we’ve reprinted excerpts from it.

Call

Historically, I have consistently been involved in faith, community, and political organizations, either working with people, programmes, or the community in developing a voice and making a difference.

When the St. Margaret’s vicar in Wrexham started talking about Street Pastors during a service, I immediately experienced a ‘call.’ Not a lightning bolt, but it was made very clear that this (street pastoring) was something I needed to do. I realized I was being asked to take a leap of faith despite not knowing how the new initiative would take me.

After training and graduation, I was out on the streets in my street pastor uniform talking and explaining to people, door staff, vendors, police, and emergency personnel what a street pastor is and does.

Community

When I mentioned to people at the time that I lived in Wrexham, the response was universal, ‘nothing good comes out of Wrexham … .’ I knew it would take more than a marketer or one person to make a difference. It would take the ‘Urban Trinity’—police, civic partners, and church—coming together in agreement on community initiatives and protocols, as a means for it to work.

Street pastors are now recognized, respected, and welcomed in the community by pub/club goers, police, emergency personnel, door staff, street vendors, CCTV, and visitors. They have witnessed and experienced our commitment, tenacity, unconditional positive regard, and passion for what we do.

We’ve been accepted as part of their community for not only sticking it out when it is raining, cold, and miserable, but, more importantly, for listening, being authentic, and providing practical assistance—not preaching ‘heaven and hell,’ but getting back to basics of what it means to be a ‘caring’ community and how diversity can bring together unity.

Hope

I can’t begin to tell you all the stories I have heard on the street in my role as street pastor. … about the drug dealer, or the rugby player, or the person we picked up off the road just before a car came round the corner, or the person who had been involved in a cult, or the alcoholic, or the soldier. But they are just stories about people you don’t know. What I do know is that Street Pastors makes a difference in our community. I make a difference. We make a difference.

From a human perspective, getting back to basics with the above is a step in not only providing a community with hope, but also it can be a difference between life and death for that person we talk to on the street. … A good deal of our work is ‘working in the moment where that person seems to be at that time.’ Street pastoring works. I truly feel blessed and privileged every time I go out into the street.”

Street Pastors is an inter-denominational church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to care, listen, and dialogue. For information, go to

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Division III athletics is all about balancing. It’s about finding time to focus on both academics and athletics while still having time for family, friends, and hobbies. Augsburg’s Jordan Berg is a great example of what it means to be a Division III athlete.

A Gaylord, Minn., native, Berg is currently a senior and captain on the Augsburg football team. At the conclusion of his junior year, Berg had already broken every Augsburg record for passing in a single season and was closing in on most of the school’s career records. This season Berg has succeeded in becoming the greatest passer in school history, throwing for more than 6,500 yards in his career—a feat even more impressive when you consider he will only play football for the Auggies three seasons, as he transferred to Augsburg after one year on scholarship at the Division II University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Berg has been named Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Offensive Player of the Week twice in his career as well as being named to the D3Football.com Team of the Week. He was selected as an All-MIAC second-team selection in 2007 and is currently on pace to break the all-time MIAC passing record of 7,290 yards held by Alex Kofoed of St. John’s.

“One of the reasons that Jordan is so successful is his preparedness,” says offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Drew Privette. “He is prepared on the field, in the classroom, and in his social life. If we have a quarterback’s meeting and Jordan also has a big test in one of his classes, he’ll find a way to reschedule the meeting, so he can take care of his first priority, his academics.”

Not only has Berg seen great success on the field, but he also excels in the classroom. Berg is a physics major with a 3.8 GPA. In 2007 he was one of five Augsburg football players to receive MIAC Academic All-Conference honors. Berg has taken full advantage of the liberal arts education at Augsburg, taking classes ranging from chemistry, physics, and calculus to creative drama, American Sign Language, and Christian Vocation and the Search for Meaning.

Berg’s adviser, Professor Jeff Johnson, chair of the Physics Department, says, “Jordan is an old-fashioned student. He works hard and really does well. Jordan does whatever it takes to learn the material and is very successful in what he does.”

In addition to his academic and athletic achievements, Berg is a self-claimed “motor head.” He loves working with and rebuilding engines and has completely restored his own Harley-Davidson motorcycle. This love for Harley Davidsons and the lifestyle that goes with motorcycles has also grown into a passion for drawing. Berg can often be found sketching a hot rod during class or in his free time. In fact, Berg designed the custom paint job on his Harley, was asked to design t-shirts for the football team, and has created a new Auggie logo for the Augsburg Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Additionally, he has been asked by his coaches to paint a mural in the football locker room. One of Berg’s more unique talents is that he designs tattoos. He has designed two for himself and a few others for teammates. He takes great satisfaction in being able to take an idea and put it to paper and really see the design come together.

Berg says his mother has been his inspiration. She has always encouraged him to be involved with the creative arts. And although she is not always keen on flames and skulls, she does like that he designs tattoos and was thrilled to find out he is enrolled in a creative drama class this fall.

“Jordan is a unique blend of character, artist, and student-athlete. He is gifted in each of those areas and it is a joy to work with such a colorful and outstanding individual,” says head football coach Frank Haege. It’s just all part of the balancing act.

Kelly Anderson Diercks is Augsburg’s assistant athletic director.

Photo Caption: Auggie quarterback and team captain Jordan Berg ’09 embodies the essence of an NCAA Division III athlete–an athlete, scholar, artist, and motor head.

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Vang liked Augsburg’s small campus atmosphere and was intrigued by a presentation given by Richard Webb, a counselor for Augsburg’s TRiO program, a U.S. Department of Education program that helps first-generation college students overcome class, social, and cultural barriers to completing their education.

“My family is on welfare,” Vang said, “but Richard talked about financial aid and told us that we could go to Augsburg if we wanted to. He helped us understand that a college education was possible.” In fact, Vang became the first in her family of eight children to attend college.

She came to Augsburg in the summer, before many of her classmates, for TRiO’s Summer Bridge program, a five-week residential program that introduces students to the college experience with classes, academic support seminars, workshops, and social activities.

As a TRiO scholar, Vang must not only maintain a 3.0 GPA each term, she also meets regularly with her TRiO counselor to discuss her academic progress and financial issues. TRiO students complete all of their financial aid application paperwork on their own, an often-daunting procedure many of her peers delegate to parents. Vang is grateful for this experience because she is now helping one of her older sisters complete college and financial aid applications.

For two years, Vang has worked as a caller for the Augsburg Fund in Augsburg’s Office of Institutional Advancement. Through her conversations with alumni, Vang has received career advice and has learned more about Augsburg traditions and history. “I learned that Homecoming used to be huge here,” she said, “and there were a lot more dances and royalty and parades during the year than we have now.”

To date, Vang and the student caller team have helped raise more than $114,000 for the Augsburg Fund. To learn more about the Augsburg Fund and other ways to support students like Mai Yer Vang, go to .

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Photo by Paul Nixdorf

In a summer 2007 community theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof, Janet Paone ’83 played Golde. Golde’s husband, Tevye, was played by John Vaughn, a Northwest Airlines pilot.

Four months later, she underwent transplant surgery and received a kidney that was given to her by Vaughn. Paone remains amazed at how this whole series of events evolved.

Since September 2005, Paone had appeared in the cast of Church Basement Ladies, playing Mrs. Vivian Snustad, in the comedy based on the book Growing Up Lutheran, by Janet Letnes Martin ’68 and Suzann (Johnson) Nelson ’68. While Paone had lived with reduced kidney functioning since birth, it worsened into renal failure, and her doctors put her on the transplant list.

Paone turned down out-of-town gigs, and a friend told her about the Fiddler production, a show she had done as an Augsburg student and loved. When she got to know Vaughn, he asked about her illness.

“Oh, I need a kidney,” Paone said offhandedly.

“Well, you can have mine,” Vaughn replied.

Paone took this as purely a casual remark, but Vaughn persisted. He told her he would contact the clinic. Preliminary tests showed him to be a potential match, to be confirmed with a battery of testing. They became close friends.

Four months later, Paone’s regular check-up indicated she had reached a crisis point and would have to start dialysis until a transplant became available. After Fiddler, she and Vaughn had gone their own ways, and she thought he might have reconsidered. She set a date for dialysis.

But the very next day, Vaughn contacted her with news that he had finally been able to schedule the battery of tests. He asked how she’d been. She told him honestly, and added, “Is that kidney still available?”

“I just started crying,” Paone says. “The timing was crazy.”

Vaughn was a good match, and on November 27, after several heart-toheart talks with him, Paone received the kidney he donated. She says he told her that the true gift she could give him in return was her good health.

Paone’s recovery went remarkably well, and she was back on stage in the winter, continuing her role as Mrs. Snustad in Church Basement Ladies 2: A Second Helping. She and Vaughn have remained in close touch since.

What Paone now faces are thousands of dollars in medical bills, with few resources to cover them. A month after surgery, several friends in the theatre community began talking about a fundraiser, and a planning “posse” formed, including several Augsburg classmates. Katie Koch ’06, assistant to the director at the Guthrie Theater, knows Paone well and served as coordinator.

The “Kidney Kabaret” played at Augsburg on April 21, with many actors and musicians stepping forward to donate services, time, and talents, which also included technical support for sound and lighting, and event decorations.

A silent auction offered more than 125 items from theaters, restaurants, churches, sports teams, and radio stations. The program acts were all friends, co-actors, and colleagues of Paone from past theater productions. WCCO’s Frank Vascellaro and Dale Connelly, from Minnesota Public Radio, co-hosted the evening.

Special guest Dr. Mark Odland, Paone’s transplant surgeon, was introduced, along with staff from HCMC’s kidney transplant program. Vaughn was recognized and lauded for his gift of life to Paone.

More than $15,000 was donated, and the Janet Paone Transplant Fund was set up at U.S. Bank with the help of Auggie classmate David Young ’82. Sponsors for the event were Curt Wollan and TroupeAmerica, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, and Augsburg.

Following her kidney transplant in November 2007, Paone faced thousands of dollars in medical bills, with few resources to cover them. Within a month, friends in the theatre community began talking about a fundraiser, and a planning “posse” formed, with several Augsburg classmates stepping forward. Katie Koch ’06, assistant to the director at the Guthrie Theater, knows Paone well and served as committee coordinator. Dorian Chalmers, fellow Church Basement Ladies actress, organized and ran the silent auction. Others included Deb J. Pearson ’83, Darcey Engen ’88, Kari Logan ’82, Doug Flateau, and Linda Twiss, at TroupeAmerica.

The “Kidney Kabaret” played at Augsburg one night only on April 21, with many actors and musicians stepping forward to donate services, time, and talents, which also included technical support for sound and lighting, and event decorations.

The silent auction offered more than 125 items from theaters, restaurants, churches, sports teams, and radio stations. Items included a bicycle purchased to donate by employees of Penn Cycle, a Minnesota Twins bat signed by Joe Mauer, a bowling evening with the Church Basement Ladies in costume, air time with Ian and Margery on FM 107.1, and quilts, photos, and baskets from Paone’s childhood neighbors and church, Abiding Savior Lutheran in Mounds View.

“Donations even came from people who didn’t even know Janet, but saw something advertised or on a call board,” Chalmers mentioned.

The program acts were all friends, co-actors, and colleagues of Paone from past theater productions, most recently from Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding and Church Basement Ladies. WCCO’s Frank Vascellaro met her at Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding and was happy to co-host the show with Dale Connelly, co-host of the Morning Show on The Current, and parent of a theater student at Irondale High School, where Paone has directed theater for more than 20 years.

Highlights included the Church Basement Ladies cast, Those Lutheran Ladies, fingerstyle guitarist Tim Sparks, opera singer Andy Wilkowske, and Irondale theater students, coached by Paone. The show ended poignantly with a reprise of Vaughn and Paone singing “Do You Love Me?,” as Tevye and Golde.

The reason for the evening was not forgotten, as special guest Dr. Mark Odland, Paone’s transplant surgeon, was introduced, along with staff from HCMC’s kidney transplant program. [Janet Paone ’83 (center) with kidney donor John Vaughn reunites with the Hennepin County Medical Center kidney transplant team, led by Dr. Mark Odland (back row, third from left).] Vaughn was recognized and lauded for his gift of life to Paone. He continues to advocate for donors and encourages others to make the same decision.

More than $15,000 was donated, and the Janet Paone Transplant Fund was set up with the help of Auggie classmate David Young ’82, branch manager at U.S. Bank’s St. Anthony Falls Office. (The fund is accessible at any U.S. Bank office.) Sponsors for the Kidney Kabaret were Curt Wollan and TroupeAmerica, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, and Augsburg.

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A student’s passion for research

Brian Krohn originally came to Augsburg to study film, but after only one semester without any science classes, this lifelong scientist felt “so deprived” that he officially changed his major to chemistry.

Even so, he was unsure where the degree would lead him. “I thought with a degree in chemistry, I could only be a teacher or a pharmacist,” he said.

Then in the summer of 2006, Krohn received a grant from Augsburg’s Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) program. It was support to conduct research, one of his passions. He and his adviser, chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg, were both interested in biodiesel, so Krohn set out to find a more efficient way to produce the fuel.

Krohn describes the research process as difficult but exciting. “You have to really dig into the whole process and read all the literature to join into the conversation about your topic before you can figure out what you can contribute,” he said. Whereas most undergraduate researchers “do what they are told, like calibrate a machine all day,” according to Krohn, he had more freedom to explore and experiment.

Eventually his work led to the discovery of a process that converts animal feedstock to biodiesel. Gyberg advised Krohn to contact alumnus Clayton McNeff ’91, a chemist and vice president of SarTec, a company specializing in yucca-based products and CEO of ZirChrom Separations, a chromatography company. McNeff, his chief scientist at SarTec Ben Yan, and Gyberg took Krohn’s idea and created the “Mcgyan” Process (from their three names), an efficient and environmentally friendly method that will allow McNeff’s new start-up company, Ever Cat Fuels, to produce more than three million gallons of fuel per year at a first-of-its-kind biodiesel plant in Isanti, Minn.

Krohn says it was his research and connections through Augsburg, not the discovery itself, that opened doors for him. In fact, he said this opportunity might never have been available if not for McNeff’s ties to the College. “It’s almost unheard of that the vice president of research would sit down with an undergraduate student and his old professor,” he said.

A professor’s connections to industry

It’s an event, says chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg, that probably wouldn’t have happened anywhere else in the world.

He’s referring to senior Brian Krohn’s research, his relationship with Clayton McNeff ’91, and the partnership that ultimately yielded the invention of the Mcgyan Process. Gyberg, who is beginning his 42nd year teaching at Augsburg, has supervised many student research projects over the years beginning with Richard Olmsted ’69, the husband of current Augsburg chemistry professor Sandra Olmsted ’69, in the summer following their junior year.

Krohn began his research by poring over hundreds of abstracts of research on biodiesel. Eventually he found two examples of projects that had been somewhat successful, which had suggested that solid-state strong acids might be effective catalysts for conversion of plant oils to biodiesel. Gyberg knew that this material was used as a bonded solid stationary phase in chromatography, so they attempted a conversion using a batch process that had been used since World War II. Gyberg summed up the results: “It didn’t work.”

Then Gyberg recalled a seminar given four years earlier by McNeff on zirconia-based stationary phases used for liquid chromatography and the ease with which it could be bonded with various substances. Gyberg contacted McNeff, and Krohn and Gyberg went to present their research to McNeff at SarTec Corporation. They asked for some bonded strong acid zirconia and again tried a batch process experiment with no success.

“Here is where the confluence of events occurred that would not likely have happened anywhere else,” said Gyberg. McNeff’s ZirChrom Corporation is a world leader on zirconia and its properties. McNeff and fellow scientist Ben Yan had been working on oven-heated zirconia-based high temperature liquid chromatography. It occurred to McNeff that pressurized, heated, continuous column catalysis using solid-state acidified zirconia might work—and it did, the very first time. The Mcgyan Process was born.

“It would appear that this is only the beginning,” Gyberg said. Research continues, with SarTec and Augsburg investigating algae growth as a feedstock source for biodiesel as well as other reactions that are possible for new types of biofuels that have not been possible to synthesize before.

Gyberg is also working on a project with a University of St. Thomas engineering professor who believes that in three years all biodiesel will be made using the Mcgyan Process. They are developing a “pickup bed biodiesel plant” that the individual farmer could use to make his own biodiesel fuel. This would also benefit Third World countries where jatropha, a weedy bush that grows on noncropland and needs only about eight inches of rain or so a year, is readily available. Jatropha can produce about five times more plant oil a year for biodiesel than soybeans, and the Mcgyan reactor is the only one that can completely convert the oil efficiently and cleanly to biodiesel with virtually no waste and no pollutants.

Rather than spend his summers on the golf course or on the lake, Gyberg supervises research because, he says, “It keeps things interesting and exciting, keeps one up with current science, and keeps the mind sharp.” He adds, “One of the great pleasures over the years is using my background and experience to work with students, some of whom are smarter than I am.” Gyberg says students are fortunate to be able to do research at Augsburg, since faculty there can spend more time working with students than at large research institutions.

A chemist on the cutting edge

In March 2008 at a press conference at Augsburg College, Clayton McNeff became somewhat of a media sensation in the biodiesel world. He is vice president of SarTec Corporation, and together with his chief scientist Ben Yan, his former professor Arlin Gyberg, and Augsburg student Brian Krohn, McNeff announced a discovery they said would revolutionize biodiesel production and lessen or eliminate the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.

This was the first public announcement of the Mcgyan Process and the biodiesel fuel it can produce more efficiently, less costly, and without harmful byproducts than existing processes. He went on to announce that the group was already successfully producing 50,000 gallons per year at a pilot plant, and even powering the plant with it. Through a new company, Ever Cat Fuels, a new large-scale production plant is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2009 that will yield three million gallons per year, using non-food grade corn oil from ethanol plants and free fatty acid waste products from the current conventional biodiesel industry.

In July the Star Tribune described the Mcgyan production process as immensely appealing to countries and companies around the world because “it can be cost effective and environmentally friendly—and it’s portable.” The goal is for farmers to be able to produce the biodiesel they need to run their farms completely on site. More than 35 countries have contacted SarTec inquiring about the technology.

Algae is a large part of McNeff’s vision. He refers to it as the “holy grail” of biodiesel production because it can be grown utilizing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from bioethanol and coal-burning power plants, and it can potentially yield enough oil for biodiesel to replace all U.S. petroleum needs without competing for food crops or cropland. SarTec, in partnership with Augsburg and Triangle Energy, is pursuing this research with grants from Great River Energy and Xcel Energy.

McNeff is a 1991 Augsburg chemistry graduate, who pursued his PhD in analytical chemistry at the University of Minnesota. He joined SarTec, the company founded by his parents where he first worked as a high school student, fostering his love for science.

In 1995, as he became known for his expertise with zirconia, McNeff co-founded ZirChrom Separations, Inc., along with Steven Rupp and University of Minnesota professor Peter W. Carr. Carr has won numerous awards in the field of analytical chemistry and has been announced as the recipient of the 2009 American Chemical Society Award in Analytical Chemistry.

In 2002 McNeff was awarded the Tibbetts Award from the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. This award was given in recognition of McNeff’s achievement in innovation, research, and business that contributed to the commercial success of ZirChrom Separations.

McNeff considers the success of the experimentation leading to the Mcgyan Process as “serendipity,” but it’s a success that can extend far beyond their projected goal of three million gallons per year and be licensed worldwide to companies seeking more efficient and sustainable fuels.

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Marty Alemán has a passion for public health. She is one of Augsburg’s Rochester location nursing faculty, and she believes that “greater community and social awareness make a better citizen and a better nurse, no matter where they work.”

Thus, it seemed fitting that she, along with the Augsburg nursing program, was chosen by the Center Clinic in Dodge Center, Minnesota, a small, rural, volunteer-staffed clinic, to receive their Social Awareness award at their annual appreciation event.

From her office at Olmsted County Public Health, Alemán coordinates a number of the county’s public health nursing positions. As the Community Health II nursing instructor at the Augsburg Rochester location, she integrates her knowledge of public health and connections to community health agencies with the course content to be a catalyst for transformation in the lives of most of the Rochester Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) students. She loves it. She loves introducing her students to a side of health care that few of them have ever seen.

Community Health II is Augsburg’s only BSN course with significant clinical hours outside of the classroom; all 48 hours must be spent in community health settings. Alemán notes that about 90% of Rochester BSN students are hospital nurses. “Some students have only worked in surgery where they see a very limited view of patient care. Community health nursing is not such a controlled environment,” she says. It stretches and challenges the students.

AlemĂĄn helps students to navigate the challenges of a different healthcare culture and to connect the dots of relevance between their work in a large hospital to social justice in the community. To that end, she raises questions within the context of diversity about the uninsured, about poverty and patient needs upon dismissal from the hospital, and about the community resources to meet those needs. She also encourages students to consider health issues in public schools such as drug and alcohol abuse, sexual activity, bullying, and obesity.

Clinical hours bring the questions of the classroom into the realm of experiential knowledge. Students integrate these experiences, comparing them to their currently held beliefs, and seeing things first hand rather than in text. They return to class and talk about the experiences and how their current belief systems are being challenged.

For their clinical hours, students may choose from a number of cultural immersion options or community health settings in Olmsted County or in the county where they reside. AlemĂĄn is fluent in Spanish, having spent four years early in her nursing career living and working in Ecuador, and has coordinated and led immersion trips and home stays for students in Nicaragua and Guatemala.

It’s obvious that Alemán has a special place in her heart for arranging student placements in county community health settings. She encourages them to divide their time among a variety of agencies and clinics. Her students can be found at the Good Samaritan Medical Clinic, Migrant Health Clinic, Christ United Methodist Church Health Fair, the county jail, and working with church parish nurses.

The Center Clinic, directed by Jan Lueth, who is also a public health colleague of Alemán, is a favorite placement for Alemán and her students. Lueth welcomes the students and describes the clinic as “a small non-profit agency staffed by volunteer nurses, nurse practitioners, and Mayo doctors and residents that provides family planning and limited healthcare services to the uninsured and underinsured, many of whom are Latino.”

Some of the BSN students have chosen to continue volunteering at the clinic. One student returned for six months as a paid staff member. Since the clinic relies heavily on volunteer hours to stretch their limited revenue, Lueth says their services are invaluable.

“Social awareness is an important part of our mission at the Center Clinic,” says Lueth. “We believe that awareness is the first step toward social change.” Part of the clinic’s motivation for giving Alemán and the nursing program the Social Awareness award was that “always their questions and comments challenge us to clarify what we believe and strengthen our determination to continue our mission,” Lueth says.

When asked about Alemán’s passion for social awareness, Lueth says, “only a professional like Marty, who truly empathizes and appreciates the complicated world in which our clients reside, and the positive effect that nursing students could experience by exposure to this, would have considered the Center Clinic as a possible clinical site for her students.”

She continues, saying the clinic is “a world where, like a messy closet, you can make the conscious choice to close the door, so you don’t have to look at it. But, you still know the mess is there. … Marty puts her foot in the door, so you have to look, have to experience the ‘mess’ at least for a moment.”

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STUDENTS SAY…

Comments from the “Religion and Christian Faith” travel seminar to El Salvador, January 2007

NATALIE SASSEVILLE ’09

“Going on the trip to El Salvador was like getting stuck in an earthquake—it shook me and all of my values to the core…Never before have I felt so inspired or impassioned…”

JOE SKOGMO ’08

“This trip gave me knowledge that cannot be learned in any textbook, but it is knowledge that one cannot do without in order to understand the magnitude of human responsibility, vocation, and global citizenship. Studying in El Salvador is simply the greatest practical application for understanding why our vocations matter.”

MICHELE ROULET ’09

“The people of [El Salvador] are our textbook, and their stories are frightening and funny and inspiring. To say that everyone comes back changed is to make light of the experience. People come back enriched, enlightened, and energized.”

OLEE AMATA ’11

“The concept of affecting another human being by decisions I make made me see the world differently. … As a business major, I want to learn how I can help be a global citizen when globalization is the enemy to developing countries.”

Amazing. Life-changing. Transforming. Participants are not shy about describing their experiences on trips organized by the Center for Global Education. They seek out opportunities to talk about what they learned, and they want to return. The difference is that they have not been on casual, sightseeing trips, but reflective travel; and CGE has built a reputation as a national leader in international experiential education.

While the first student seminar in Mexico took place in 1979, it wasn’t until 1982 when Joel Mugge led a group that officially established the Center for Global Service and Education. He did this in response to a request from the Lutheran Church for programs to raise awareness of international issues.

Mugge developed a new form of international education, basing the curriculum on the educational principles of Brazilian educator and theologian Paulo Freire. In this, students learn in a cycle of three phases. Initially they have direct experience in the local community, listening to the voices of people not usually heard in mainstream media, telling their own stories and stories of their communities. Then, informed by readings, students reflect on what they saw and heard. Lastly, as a group, students share their reactions, discuss issues, and formulate actions to carry with them. It becomes a continual process of “learning how to learn.”

CGE’s programs include study and travel abroad for students, faculty development in global education, and customized group travel around specific issues or targeted for specific groups. As a result of these programs, CGE has served as a catalyst in the Lutheran Church for a new understanding of global mission, putting people from the U.S. face-to-face with people in local communities around the world to learn from each other and build partnerships across faiths. CGE programs tailored for small businesses have helped their employees understand complexities in social, economic, and political issues, and the development of more responsible global citizenship.

“The goal is not to simply educate persons, but to encourage them to pursue a life of involvement that will ultimately lead to wisdom,” says Larry Hufford, a political science professor at St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas, who has led numerous study seminars with CGE’s assistance and who finds them spiritually renewing.

During the 1980s and 1990s, CGE planned travel seminars literally around the world. Study centers with resident Augsburg faculty and staff were then established in three locations—Cuernavaca, Mexico; Managua, Nicaragua; and Windhoek, Namibia. Offices and staff are also located in El Salvador and Guatemala.

CGE became known for the quality of learning their travel provided; in 1988 they were hired by the American Society of Newspaper Editors to organize a seminar for journalists to Central America and Mexico. CGE has also received Fulbright grants to organize several group projects. In 2003, the program was named the National Society for Experiential Education’s Program of the Year.

In 2001, the position of CGE director was expanded to include the associate dean of international programs. The Office of International Programs (OIP) was created, which, in addition to CGE, includes Augsburg Abroad, the study abroad office; International Partners, including European institutions in Germany, Norway, and Finland that have reciprocal agreements for study with Augsburg; and International Student Advising, providing advising and advocacy for international students at Augsburg.

INTERNATIONALIZING AUGSBURG EDUCATION

Shortly after the arrival of new Augsburg president Paul Pribbenow in 2006, the College began to focus on internationalizing Augsburg education. OIP launched efforts to integrate study abroad experiences into the curriculum of all majors on campus, seeking to create a culture shift toward a more internationalized campus and college experience for students. The goal is a more seamless relationship between campus curriculum and study abroad. Students may choose from the semesters abroad offered by CGE or participate in other study abroad programs approved by the Augsburg Abroad office.

In addition to infusing study abroad into all majors, CGE has made it possible for all students—undergraduate and graduate— to have a cross-cultural experience. For weekend students it means only a oneor two-week course, a shorter time away from family and work than the semester program. For graduate students, it means a short-term seminar that directly links to their program work or research. For all students, the direct, personal experience in another culture is carried back into their lives and work at home.

A VARIETY OF PROGRAMS

Following are examples of programs that have been designed for specific disciplines or target audiences:

Social work in a Latin American context

This semester-long program in Mexico for social work undergraduate students was developed within a unique consortium of eight colleges and universities in South Dakota and Minnesota—both public and private. It provides a common experience for students at schools lacking the resources to create a program of their own. This experience gives future social work professionals better preparation to serve the needs of Spanish-speaking clients in their home areas.

The social work students live at Augsburg’s center in Cuernavaca. They take classes in culture with Augsburg’s adjunct faculty there, and classes in social work theory and practice with a visiting professor from one of the consortium institutions.

In 2006, the consortium was awarded the Council on Social Work Education’s Partners in Education award for “advancing education for international social work.”

Exploring health care in Guatemala

In July the physician assistant studies master’s program became the third graduate program to offer a study abroad course tailored for its students. Twelve students traveled to Guatemala for two weeks to learn about indigenous culture, and specifically to explore health practices and spirituality in Mayan cultures.

While there, the students visited clinics, learned about deep social and cultural disparities, and presented programs on healthcare topics, such as hypertension and diabetes. They learned and saw how healthcare practices can be developed with vastly fewer resources—something which may serve them well as they seek physician assistant positions in areas with underserved populations.

Before traveling, the PA students raised money to buy supplies and materials to give to the clinics, such as over-the-counter vitamins and pain relievers, stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, etc.

Lilly vocation seminars

As part of “Exploring Our Gifts,” Augsburg’s grant from the Lilly Endowment for exploration of vocation, a total of nine travel seminars have been designed with a focus on vocation.

Religion professor Bev Stratton has twice led a vocation-themed seminar—Religion and the Christian Faith (REL 480)—to El Salvador, where students have studied how powerfully the faith of the Salvadoran people has impacted their struggles for social justice. These courses fulfill the students’ keystone requirement—a seminar generally taken in their last year that pulls together their total Augsburg experience, combining the liberal arts foundation with their in-depth major, while revisiting the critical conversations about vocation.

The El Salvador group visited massacre sites, met with survivors, and heard from leaders such as Bishop Medardo Gomez of the Salvadoran Lutheran Church, who spoke about how he sees his vocation at work in El Salvador. The group also became immersed in the work and legacy of Archbishop Óscar Romero, killed in the civil war in 1980.

The Lilly seminars have given students both a cross-cultural experience and a framework to understand how Christian vocation is part of daily life. Other Lilly seminars have taken students to Namibia, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.

Hoversten Peace Seminar

Supported by the Hoversten Peace Endowment, this biennial travel seminar for Augsburg faculty, staff, and students aims to develop a strong learning community among participants. Pre-departure orientation introduces the group to each other, and living and learning together abroad strengthens their bonds. Upon return, the group continues to build community around their common experience by sharing it with the larger Augsburg community.

In August, 10 faculty, staff, and students—coincidentally, all women—participated in the 10-day “Peace and Reconciliation after Conflict: A Guatemalan Perspective.” The women learned about the history of civil war and the peace accords, heard from leaders with differing perspectives, and confronted the realities of the local communities.

The efforts to internationalize the Augsburg campus are showing results. In 2007-08, a record number of 221 Augsburg students studied abroad. As their first quarter-century came to a close, CGE director and associate dean Orval Gingerich noted in their anniversary publication that “the work of CGE is unfinished, and is perhaps more important than ever in bringing tools for critical analysis and action and ultimately hope to a new generation of students, professors, and global citizens.” Stay tuned for the next 25 years.

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