University Public Safety Wins Statewide Engaged Campus Award
Published Thursday, April 18, 2024
The Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact recognizes outstanding work in civic and community engagement through the Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact Awards. Southwest Minnesota State University’s Social Support Collaborative (SSC) was selected as the statewide winner of the 2024 Engaged Campus Award for Community Collaboration. SMSU representatives on the SSC are Mike Munford and Joyce Tofte of the University Public Safety office.
Out of 51 colleges and universities, this award recognizes a collaboration co-created with community organizations, leaders, and/or partners that is deep, reciprocal, and transformational. The 2024 Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact Presidents’ and Engaged Campus Awards Ceremony will take place on Friday, April 19 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.
The Social Support Collaborative (SSC) was founded Fall of 2022 after identifying a need for students to be able to connect with supportive resources in the community. As the student body, staff, and faculty needs extend beyond the campus, a collaborative effort was necessary to provide continuity and accessibility to services.
The collaborative consists of University Public Safety at SMSU, WoMen’s Rural Advocacy Program (WRAP), New Horizons Crisis Center, and Western Mental Health Center. The four agencies work closely together to support the Southwest Minnesota State University campus by providing services in crime victims' rights; domestic violence; parenting time and safe exchange; human trafficking and exploitation; sexual violence; general crime; chemical dependency; mental health support services; and much more. Many of these services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Social Support Collaborative representatives include Jory Dove, Western Mental Health Center; Davis Moseng, New Horizons Crisis Center; Julie Kosen, WoMen’s Rural Advocacy Program; Mike Munford, University Public Safety; and Joyce Tofte, University Public Safety and New Horizons Crisis Center.
The continuous flow of new students to the campus, many of whom are new to Southwest Minnesota and the greater Marshall area creates a unique need for this collaborative to ensure students have access to the abundant number of resources available to them during their time at SMSU. The success of the SSC is based on the reciprocal relationship with on-campus partners to ensure the unique needs of the campus are being met.
As awareness of services increases, the collaborative can evolve and transform to meet the needs of the campus community, be it prevention-based programming, policy review and advisement, volunteer/internship/work opportunities through the partnering organizations, or services based upon major campus events or major events that have a significant impact on campus life.
SSC members meet monthly to plan and execute outreach and training events, discuss barriers to services, work to increase accessibility to services, and support the overall safety of the campus community.
Congratulations to Mike Munford and Joyce Tofte and their collaborative partners from New Horizons Crisis Center, Western Mental Health Center, and WoMen’s Rural Advocacy Program.
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