Educational Development Digest: January 2026

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By Catherine Ford, Program Director for Educational Development, Minnesota State

A typical Minnesota State student does not exist. Per Minnesota State by the Numbers, of the 270,000 students in our system, 69% are taking courses for credit from a greater Minnesota college/university. Thirty eight percent (38%) are students from underrepresented groups, 19% first generation students, and 28% Pell eligible. Additionally, 28% of students are age 25 or older and 23% are PSEO students (typically under age 18). These numbers do not clearly address the intersectionality of students.

How often do we give intentional thought to how these characteristics may connect to our students when we begin to prepare our next term’s courses?  What perspectives and experiences might your students bring to your course? How might your course impact your students’ overall experiences?

In fall of 2025, a cross functional team of Academic and Student Affairs staff developed four student personas to support exploration and greater understanding of students’ strengths, needs, and goals (Student Personas). Initially intended for planning an event or initiative, grounding meetings in student experiences, or reviewing policies, the use of these diverse student personas grounded in data can be extended to course or class meeting preparation or design by keeping students at the center of your planning (Baaki & Maddrell, 2020; Kerr & Kelly, 2024; Lilley, Pyper, & Attwood, 2012).

Design experts agreed on five design process areas that would most significantly benefit from persona use: (a) audience focus, (b) product requirement prioritization, (c) audience prioritization, (d) the challenging of assumptions, and (e) the prevention of self-referential design (i.e., a way of helping designers realize how the audience is different from the designer).

Baaki and Maddrell (2020, p. 79)

These benefits are in alignment with the intended outcomes of the Student Personas Tool use in both academic and student affairs. Design is not limited to instructional technologies, institutional communication, or resource marketing. Design extends to the curriculum planning (content and schedule) for either online or in-person courses, access to content and resources, assessments or assignments, and instructional approaches.

Although the Student Personas Tool currently does not offer a specific curriculum or assignment specific activity, you can ask similar questions to keep the student experience in your course at the forefront. For example,

• What are all the ways this persona would or would not engage in the offerings you are providing?
• What are the barriers or struggles the student personas may encounter in your course?
• What are the strengths these student personas may bring to your course?
• What solutions may be needed to support each student persona engagement with your course?
• What are some ways you can put these personas at the forefront when designing both the large and small components of your course? 
• Where and how can you streamline or connect related academic services related to your course for the student personas?
• Does this student persona inspire a change, addition, or modification to an existing aspect related to (or not) your course design or delivery? 

As you engage in this reflection, you may be wondering about specific approaches or strategies to support additions or revisions. Universal Design for Learning (written about in the October 2024 Educational Digest) offers strategies that support Multiple Means of Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expressions. This is in addition to the NED’s Culturally Responsive Teaching, Academic Equity, and Empathy by Design short course, which provide additional guidance on how to keep students at the forefront of pedagogical selections in your course.

The Student Personas Tool is available on ASA Connect site within the Student Success Resources section. Check it out!

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By Elizabeth Harsma, Program Director for Technology Integrated Learning, Minnesota State

Personas are a useful support for teaching decisions. Getting to know your specific students helps you further tailor your instruction each semester. One strategy to help you get to know your students is a ‘welcome’ or ‘get to know you’ survey the first week of class. 

Quick Start

To get started fast:

1. Select the Welcome Survey: Class Name, Semester Template link.
2. Select Duplicate it.
3. This will create a copy of the sample form in your MS Forms account.

Create a Form

Use Microsoft Forms to create your survey:

1. Go to https://forms.office.com.
2. Sign in with your StarID and complete multi-factor authentication.
3. Select New Form.
4. Add a title and description.
5. Add your questions.
6. Preview the form to test it.

Share a Form

To share the survey link with students:

1. Select Collect responses.
2. If you want students to sign in with their StarID, choose Only people in Minnesota State can respond.
3. Select Copy link.
4. Share the link with descriptive text, such as: Take the Welcome Survey – Class Name, Semester.

Sample Questions

Tell students why you’re asking these questions and assure them the survey is private and only you will review it (Pacansky-Brock, 2020). Here are some examples:

• What would you like me to call you?
• Do you have any tips for pronouncing your name? (You can allow audio or video responses.)
• I may leave feedback in video format. Is that okay?
• When you use the LMS, will you mostly use a phone, laptop, or something else?
• In one word, how do you feel about this class?
• What might interfere with your success in this class?
• What are your life goals?
• How can I support you?
• Anything else you’d like to share or ask? (Pacansky-Brock, 2020)

Note: This article was written by humans and edited by Microsoft Copilot to apply accessible plain language guidelines.

Accessibility is essential for students with disabilities and improves usability for everyone. The Web Accessibility Perspectives Videos from W3C show how accessible design impacts real people and enhances learning environments.

Personas help us understand diverse user needs by putting a human face on accessibility challenges. They remind us that behind every guideline is someone trying to learn, participate, and succeed. Explore the videos to get a better understanding of accessibility.

View more digital accessibility tips.

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By Megan Babel, Communications Coordinator, Minnesota State

Looking for a space to collaborate with colleagues across Minnesota State, not just your campus? The Minnesota State system office can create ENTPR (Enterprise) Team Sites for faculty and staff who want to share resources, exchange ideas, and have ongoing conversations within their field of study or discipline.

Why request an ENTPR Team Site?

• It’s systemwide, not tied to any single campus.
• Perfect for building communities of practice and fostering collaboration across institutions.
• A central hub for sharing documents, hosting discussions, and staying connected.

How to request a Team Site

• You’ll need at least one colleague from another Minnesota State institution.
• Email ned@minnstate.edu with:
  • Your names and institutions
  • The field of study or discipline for the site

Before requesting a new site, view the current list of systemwide ENTPR Team Sites to see if one already exists.

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