Scrubs Camp Success at St. Paul College

Of the 57 students who attended St. Paul College’s Scrubs Camp July 20-23, 2015, nearly all said that participating in the camp on St. Paul’s campus helped them visualize themselves at college, see themselves applying for a job in the health care industry, and focus on career goals.

This overwhelmingly positive response to the Scrubs Camp experience is one more encouraging sign that Anchor Partners can grow a more local workforce.  The Partnership’s goal is to increase the collective percentage of Anchor employees who reside within the Central Corridor zip codes  by 5% in five years. Opening pathways to health careers is a key strategy in pursuing this goal. 

The camp included 12 different hands-on sessions, including anatomy/physiology, medical devices, stem cell, simulated birthing, medical lab, and lessons in empathy through the use of aging suits, and 2 field trips to employer sites.

More than 65% of the St. Paul College Scrubs Camp attendees were students of color.  Four Central Corridor zip codes were represented among campers, and approximately 74% of students received a scholarship to cover the $385 cost to attend the 4-day camp.

Watch our video of the 2015 Scrubs Camp!

New Freshman Seminar: Transit 101

Augsburg College is incorporating public transit into all freshman seminars for the college’s approximately 450-student freshman class this fall. The intention: develop students’ familiarity with public transit so that students will feel comfortable using transit during their college years and beyond.

Augsburg College students explore light rail transit.

The Central Corridor Anchor Partnership is committed to boosting transit use by students and employees by 5% in five years.  “By bringing transit experience into our curriculum, we are hoping to reveal to our new students how our campus is connected by transit to great urban amenities,” explained President Paul Pribbenow.  “Transit promotion is also an important element of Augsburg’s Climate Action Plan.” 

Transit experts have identified new students as an important market segment to reach during a formative time of transition.  Metro Transit has agreed to provide each incoming Augsburg freshman will receive a Go To card loaded with $20 on August 31, City Service Day.

Some of the money on the card will go toward paying for public transit trips during the freshman seminars. The students get to keep the balance, and have the unique option to gain $40 more in value by adding $10 to their Go To card by October 1.

Anchor Partners Re-commit to Securing Regional Prosperity

Formed in 2012, the Central Corridor Anchor Partnership is a group of colleges, universities, hospitals, and health care organizations located near the Green Line in Minneapolis – St. Paul. We have invested greatly in our physical infrastructure to serve our patients, students, and employees, and are anchored to the health, vitality, and growth of the neighborhoods around us.

The opening of the Green Line is an occasion for us to collaborate to spend more of our procurement dollars with Central Corridor businesses, hire more residents from Central Corridor neighborhoods, and increase transit use by our students and employees. Partners convened on May 12 and re-committed to these goals, while seeking to take our initiatives to greater scale and impact. We believe that these strategies will not only make our organizations stronger, but also bring more prosperity to the Twin Cities region. 

Paul Pribbenow, President, Augsburg College and Chair of the Central Corridor Anchor Partnership