SectionsNietzel addresses state of university
Stephen Herzog
Issue date: 9/23/08 Section: News
In an effort to increase student retention, Missouri State University will be spending an additional $150,000 this year on programs designed to promote student success and engagement, president Michael Nietzel said Monday during his annual report to the campus.
"What we know from national data is that engagement is very, very important to improving your retention rates, " he said.
In the report, Nietzel announced the funding of these programs, outlined the university's accomplishments during the past year and stated goals and concerns for coming years.
The funding for the student success programs will come from the president's office, and will be focused on providing opportunities for the following:
• Graduate student conference presentations
• On-campus employment and internships
• Current student involvement in recruiting new students
• Expansion of organized student groups and activities
Fostering success
One of the university's goals for this year is to foster student success, Nietzel said during his address. This includes, among other things, working on increasing diversity, especially ethnic diversity of faculty, staff and students.
While the university has made some ground in increasing ethnic diversity among students, it is struggling to do the same in regard to faculty and staff, he said.
While the percentage of minority students has increased from 9.2 percent to 10.7 percent, the percentage of minority faculty has decreased from 12.8 percent to 12 percent and the percentage of minority staff has decreased from 5.2 percent to 4.9 percent.
The plan to increase diversity in these areas is still somewhat in the development.
"We are working on policy for being opportunistic and more successful in hiring faculty and staff," Nietzel said in his report. "We intend to bring it to the Board of Governors at the October meeting."
Nietzel said he's not yet ready to announce all the elements of that policy, but should be able to provide that information to the campus community before the October meeting.
"What we know from national data is that engagement is very, very important to improving your retention rates, " he said.
In the report, Nietzel announced the funding of these programs, outlined the university's accomplishments during the past year and stated goals and concerns for coming years.
The funding for the student success programs will come from the president's office, and will be focused on providing opportunities for the following:
• Graduate student conference presentations
• On-campus employment and internships
• Current student involvement in recruiting new students
• Expansion of organized student groups and activities
Fostering success
One of the university's goals for this year is to foster student success, Nietzel said during his address. This includes, among other things, working on increasing diversity, especially ethnic diversity of faculty, staff and students.
While the university has made some ground in increasing ethnic diversity among students, it is struggling to do the same in regard to faculty and staff, he said.
While the percentage of minority students has increased from 9.2 percent to 10.7 percent, the percentage of minority faculty has decreased from 12.8 percent to 12 percent and the percentage of minority staff has decreased from 5.2 percent to 4.9 percent.
The plan to increase diversity in these areas is still somewhat in the development.
"We are working on policy for being opportunistic and more successful in hiring faculty and staff," Nietzel said in his report. "We intend to bring it to the Board of Governors at the October meeting."
Nietzel said he's not yet ready to announce all the elements of that policy, but should be able to provide that information to the campus community before the October meeting.
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