MAPCS includes student body presidents of the 17 private Minnesotan colleges, along with an additional representative from each school. MAPCS meets about four times a year to discuss common issues and collaborate on solutions. Hauger commented on what a unique opportunity it was for St. Olaf to host such a meeting. "Being able to have conversations about how to support the student bodies of these institutions and to be able to look critically at how we do things was a great opportunity for us," he said.

Attendees briefly discussed a nationwide concern rising tuition costs. The discussion centered largely on the struggle to obtain and provide student work. As students are becoming more actively engaged at school, it is becoming more difficult for students to work both on campus and off-campus. It seems the primary and increasingly universal issue is a supply of both on-campus and off-campus work, which cannot meet the demand.

In regards to security issues, private colleges as a whole have made moves to make campuses more secure, such as adding more public safety personnel or installing more blue lights on campus. Hauger mentioned a recent initiative by the college to create an innovative text message system as an immediate way of alerting the student body in the case of an emergency. Students could be texted with in moments of an incident, therefore drastically improving alert time of the emergency response service.

The student body presidents also discussed the reactions racial issues at college campuses -- such as recent racially charged threats at St. Thomas and the implications of some students' Halloween costumes at Hamline -- as well as how student governments should respond. Hauger said that "St. Olaf has been blessed and haven't had many issues with this," and that there is a community of inclusiveness at St. Olaf that works with a variety of students to foster good relations on campus.

The next MAPCS meeting will occur in February and will be held at Concordia in St. Paul.

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