Abby Peschges/Winonan

President Scott Olson hosted two open forums entitled “Hopes and Dreams” with faculty, staff and students to focus on the improvement of Winona State University Thursday and Friday.

These forums were meant to create a dialogue to determine where and how the university can improve.

“There are so many things we do right, but greatness means asking the question, can we be even better,” Olson said.

One attendee, Cristeen Custer, assistant vice president of marketing and communications, said, “President Olson’s intentions to invite people to bring forward lots of great ideas are genuine and refreshing.” She also said, “The best solutions are when people have a part in shaping them.”

The presentation began with a few words from Winona State’s president.

“Winona State has 154 years of incredible distinction, and the strongest get to dream of what they want to do next,” Olson said.

He continued with a metaphor that the university’s future is like a block of marble, and we need to sculpt it and find our own Michelangelo’s statue of David.

Topics discussed at the forum included class structure, parking, graduate studies, sustainability, growth, and connections with high schools and employers.

Olson said, “We are looking to find the ideas that are transformational.”

One topic discussed multiple times was how the university can grow in size and quality. Olson said should not only decide where Winona State grows, but how it grows.

Graduate studies, attraction to non-traditional students, and resources for new and existing faculty were amongst the ideas of growth.

“Winona State is so healthy we can have those hopes and dreams,” Olson said. “We need to find the things we don’t have that point to the future.”

He said Winona’s changes cannot be undone, only expanded.

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