Academic Advising
Our advisors and counselors empower students to develop a vision and a plan for their academic goals. We are your personal advocate while you are at Minnesota North College from the day you walk through our doors to the day you walk out as a graduate and beyond.
Welcome to Academic Advising
What we do.
Once you have been accepted to Minnesota North College, you will be assigned an academic advisor or counselor based on your program of study and/or TRIO/SSS eligibility. They will help you build a personalized academic plan and provide information and referrals to help ensure your success.
When you have a question and don’t know who to ask or where to turn, we’re here to help. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss any questions concerning your academic experience.
How We Help Students
Assist with selecting a degree or program.
You can explore your career goals to find a program that matches those goals. We’ll discuss our over 100 programs to give you insight into what aligns with your talents, passions, and career objectives. Explore our programs.
Assist with selecting and registering classes.
Select classes to take each semester. Sometimes, planning your class schedule and registering can be overwhelming. Our advisors will help you register for classes.
Assist with keeping you on track for your degree.
Stay on track with completing degree requirements. We’ll help guide you throughout the year to assist with your final educational goals and how to keep on target.
Assist with making a great college experience.
Navigate your college experience and access college and community resources. Beyond academics, we’re here to help you have a fantastic experience at Minnesota North. We’ll cover all the various ways to make your experience the best it can be.
Assist with transferring to another college.
Transfer to another college or university. We’ll help you understand the steps and process for transferring. If you’re interested in transfer information, view our transfer student page or our transfer pathways.
Placement
How we can helpwith placement.
Minnesota North College’s course placement process determines a student’s readiness for reading, writing, and mathematics courses. It is used to assist a student with the selection of appropriate courses to help assure a student’s success. All degree-seeking students are required to satisfy course placement. Course placement can be determined using one or a combination of the following information:
- High school GPA – valid within the last 10 calendar years
- Scores form ACT, SAT, MN Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) – valid within the last 5 calendar years
- Standardized score reports from Advance Placement (AP), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), and International Baccalaureate (IB)
- Completion of college-level coursework from an accredited U.S. college or university
- Accuplacer test scores
- Self-Guided Placement – if you don’t have a valid high school GPA or other score reports mentioned above.
You are EXEMPT from all assessment requirements if you:
- Have an associate or bachelor’s degree or higher, or
- Have completed courses at another college/university (i.e., Comp 1 and college-level math)
High School GPA:
- Students must have a 2.6 cumulative GPA or higher in order to be considered college-ready in reading and writing.
- Students must have a 2.8 cumulative GPA & have passed Advanced Algebra (Alg II) with a C- or better to be considered college-ready for math.
If students do not meet the high school stand-alone GPA, multiple measures are evaluated for placement.
College Level Reading Placement Measures:
– High School GPA 2.60 or higher
– ACT Reading score of 21+ OR 19-20 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.5+
– SAT Evidence based reading and writing test score of 480+ OR 440-479 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.5+
– MCA Reading score: 1047+ OR 1042-1046 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.5+
– Next Generation Reading Accuplacer 250+ OR 236-249 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.5+
– Guided self-placement
College Level Writing Placement Measures:
Engl 1231 – College Composition 1
– High School GPA 2.6 or higher
– ACT English score of 18+ OR 16-17 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.5+
– SAT Evidence based reading/writing score of 480+ OR 440-479 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.5+
– MCA – there is no applicable MCA score for college writing placement
– Next Generation Reading Accuplacer 250+ OR 236-249 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.5+
– Guided self-placement
College Level Math Placement Measures:
Math 1220 – College Algebra • Math 1225 – Trigonometry • Math 1300 – Precalculus
– High School GPA 2.8 or higher with Alg II (Advanced Alg). Grade C- or better
– ACT MATH score of 22+ OR 20-21 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.7+
– SAT MATH score of 530+ OR 520-529 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.7+
– MCA score 1158+ OR 1152-1157 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.7+
– Next Generation Accuplacer Adv. Alg. & Functions test 250+ OR 236-249 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.7+
– Intermediate Algebra Accuplacer 60+
– Math Guided self-placement
Math 1200 – Liberal Arts Math • Math 1215 – Statistics • Math 1100 – Math for Elementary Teachers (if needed for major) • Math 0300 – Intermediate Algebra (not a college level course)
– High School GPA 2.3-2.79
– Next Generation Accuplacer Advanced Alg & Functions 230-249
– Next Generation Quantitative Reasoning, Alg & Stats 250+
– Intermediate Alg 40-59
– Next Generation Arithmetic 280+
– MCA score 1150+ OR 1146-1149 & HS cumulative GPA of 2.7+
– Math Guided self-placement
Calculus 1 – Math 1311
– Next Generation Advanced Alg & Functions test 276+
– ACT math score 27+
Meet the Advising Team
Advising staff by campus.
Lisa Bestul
College Counselor
lisa.bestul@minnesotanorth.edu
218.403.9224
Book an Appointment
Christina Brown
Academic Advisor, TRIO Student Support Services & Accessibility Coordinator
christina.brown@minnesotanorth.edu
218.403.9217
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Michelle Chamernick
Academic Advisor, TRIO Student Support Services
michelle.chamernick@minnesotanorth.edu
218.403.9218
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Mary Iozzo
Academic Advisor
mary.iozzo@minnesotanorth.edu
218.403.9228
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Charlene Buss
Academic Advisor/PSEO Advisor
charlene.norlander@minnesotanorth.edu
218.403.9227
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Melissa Wilson
TRIO Student Support Services Counselor
melissa.wilson@minnesotanorth.edu
218.403.9209
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Becky Niemi
College Counselor
becky.niemi@minnesotanorth.edu
218.322.2321
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Amie Furlong
TRIO SSS Counselor
amie.furlong@minnesotanorth.edu
218.322.2361
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Jackie Gallop
Academic Advisor, TRIO Student Support Services
jackie.gallop@minnesotanorth.edu
218.322.2430
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Elizabeth Gillman
Academic Advisor, TRIO Student Support Services
elizabeth.gillman@minnesotanorth.edu
218.322.2390
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Ann Vidovic
Program Supervisor – TRIO Student Support Services and Accessibility Services
ann.vidovic@minnesotanorth.edu
218.398.7306 Cell
218.322.2433 Office
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Kim Damiani
Academic Advisor
kimberly.damiani@minnesotanorth.edu
218.322.2370
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Kelly Dailey
TRIO Student Support Services Counselor
kelly.dailey@minnesotanorth.edu
218.550.2506
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Tom Inforzato
Academic Advisor/Head Football Coach
thomas.inforzato@minnesotanorth.edu
218.550.2517
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Kevin Langdon
Academic Advisor – TRIO Student Support Services and Accessibility Services
kevin.langdon@minnesotanorth.edu
218.550.2524
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Sabrina Skeens
College Counselor
sabrina.skeens@minnesotanorth.edu
218.550.2619
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Antavius Thomas
Academic Advisor/Assistant Football Coach
antavius.thomas@minnesotanorth.edu
218.550.2544
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Christopher Vito
PSEO Advisor/Head Baseball Coach
christopher.vito@minnesotanorth.edu
218.550.2546
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Jennifer Willard
Director of TRIO Student Support Services/TRIO Advisor
jennifer.willard@minnesotanorth.edu
218.550.2548
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Matt Jarva
TRIO and Technical Program Academic Advisor
matt.jarva@minnesotanorth.edu
218.550.2608
Sabrina Skeens
College Counselor
sabrina.skeens@minnesotanorth.edu
218.550.2619
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Amy Amundsen
TRIO Student Support Services Academic Advisor, PSEO Advisor
amy.amundsen@minnesotanorth.edu
218.598.9326
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Kristi Huffaker
Retention Specialist & Rainy River Foundation Director
kristi.huffaker@minnesotanorth.edu
218.598.9342
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Kate Cowley
College Counselor
kate.cowley@minnesotanorth.edu
218.235.2121
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Marcia Chambers
TRIO Retention Specialist – Academic Advisor
marcia.chambers@minnesotanorth.edu
218.235.2174
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Annette Horvat
Supervisor for Academic Resources & TRIO Student Support Services
annette.horvat@minnesotanorth.edu
218.235.2176
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Molly Johnston
Academic Advisor – Assessment – Accessibility Services
molly.johnston@minnesotanorth.edu
218.235.2119
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Shannan Harding
TRIO SSS Project Retention Assistant & Academic Advisor
shannan.harding@minnesotanorth.edu
218.235.2175
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