Great Northern Corp. (CONT’D FROM PAGE 1 )
“It’s an opportunity for students to better understand and grow in appreciation of each other’s majors, skills and methodologies. It’s a chance for them to challenge each other and compromise in order to develop a package that meets the needs of the customer, just like in industry,” said Meisner, Packaging Program Director. He compared it to a right-brain-meets-left-brain ap- proach to solving a problem. “It’s structure versus free form. It’s learning ‘how do you make a great idea work.’” Collaborating On A Common Objective The Great Northern course is co-taught by Meisner and Shinde, Professor of Graphic Design in the School of Art and Design. Meisner has taught at UW-Stout for 15 years, and Shinde for 20 years, and both have more than 25 years of experience in their fields. “This partnership is making an essential difference in improving the quality of education for our students,” Shin- de said. “It supports applied learning, career focus and in- terdisciplinary collaboration, the core components of UW- Stout’s DNA.” Although this is their first formal collaborative course, Meisner and Shinde have taught similar courses, where students designed packaging for Great Northern, 3M and Target. The Great Northern course, however, allows them to work toward a common objective with shared lectures and labs. Great Northern structural design manager Johnson and CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
The company provided $100,000 in funding toward the sponsored course, to be held four times over four years. Funding supported a co-teaching model, course approval and course development, including objectives and outline, evaluation methodology, registration criteria and promo- tion. Chancellor Katherine Frank and Davis met recently at Great Northern’s headquarters in Appleton to discuss the experience. They also met with Jeff Michels, President of Great Northern’s packaging and in-store business units, and Brad Cain, UW-Stout intern and recent hire, who gave a tour of the facility’s Design and Testing Lab. “Our relationship with Great Northern and ability to design curriculum in collaboration with our industry and business partners intended to best prepare our students for what they will encounter in their professional lives and make them most competitive on the job market exemplify what is distinct about a UW-Stout education,” Frank said. “We are incredibly thankful to John Davis and Great North- ern for their generosity and ongoing support of students, faculty, and the UW-Stout learning experience.” The inaugural collaborative experience kicked off this fall, as 24 students sat down together to work in cross-dis- ciplinary teams. The course serves as an advanced design selective for graphic design students and a senior cap- stone for packaging students.
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Bassford Packaging is the Southeast’s premier contract manufacturer of corrugated pads and partitions. As we celebrate 60 years in business, we continue to develop new and improved products to serve our customers.
Let us know how we can serve you! 229-242-5977
www.bassfordpackaging.com plant@bassfordpackaging.com
Valdosta, Georgia
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December 6, 2021
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