Campus Duo: Tom Reburn & Melissa Dingmann

Although the two offices may appear different, the admissions and financial aid offices work together to get the job done for all students. Tom Reburn and Melissa Dingmann agree that a good relationship between those offices is important, and they might just be the perfect pair to represent that.

“Tom brings in the students, and then we help the students through until graduation,” Melissa explained. 

Both Tom and Melissa came to MSUM in the summer of 2017, just a month apart, so they were able to navigate their new positions together. Through Tom and the admissions office, Melissa said she and her team in financial aid are able to connect to different students, faculty and programs; and Tom said he gets crucial information from financial aid and can share that with whoever needs it. 

“The style of our communication, I feel [has] a lot of mutual respect between the two of us, and there’s a lot of value of starting at the same time,” Tom said. “There are challenges of that too, both being new and trying to discover things together, but by discovering things together you grow this mutual level of communication. We have very free-flowing communication.”

The two have only ever worked in university settings throughout their careers, aside from their first dishwasher and babysitter jobs. In their time at MSUM, they’ve created the respected and trusted working relationship they have today.

Would you want to swap places for the day?

Melissa Dingmann (MD): Absolutely not, admissions is great, but I am much better suited behind a computer doing transactional things.

Tom Reburn (TR): Ditto, I agree. We’ve joked about that, but we’re both good at our roles and we’re there for a reason. But if there was a prize, and I had to go through one day and I would win a plate of cookies… I would do it for one day, but no one would like it.

Melissa prefers her desk, but Tom may be persuaded…

If you could give each other a superpower, what would it be?

TR: Some way to inject knowledge into a lot of minds, because I think the hardest thing with financial aid is having to communicate. I wish there was some way that she had a magical megaphone that could talk to everybody, every parent of every senior in high school at the same time and say ‘Do the FAFSA, it's free! Fill out the scholarship application, it takes 20 minutes!’

MD: I like that, I’d take that! I was thinking for Tom, maybe duplication. So, 5 students turn into 10 students, which turns into 20 students.”

With powers like these, this duo could really get stuff done!

What’s the best part about working with each other?

TR: I enjoy that we have this mini cohort feel. We got to start so close to the same time so we’ve been learning MSUM together for three years now, and I feel that there's been respect and trust. 

MD: I would agree, I really appreciate having a colleague like Tom.

Like the rest of the community, this duo has faced extra challenges this year, yet having someone who they can rely on makes all the difference. Thank you to Tom and Melissa for the work you do at MSUM!