the first question is most relevant to usm.


MSU environment changing, but student body growing closer

8/10/2004 9:21:42 AM
Daily Journal

William Kibler has been vice president of student affairs at Mississippi State University since June, leading a division responsible for enrollment services, housing, financial aid, health services, student organizations, counseling, police, recreational sports and other student service functions.
Robbie Ward of the Daily Journal's Starkville bureau recently discussed MSU matters with Kibler.

Q: In the past couple of years, another Mississippi university has made a priority of having the highest enrollment in the state. What is Mississippi State doing to bring more students to campus?
A: Mississippi State University is still the largest university in the state and has been as long as anybody can remember. We expect that will be the case in the fall. We expect more transfer students than we've brought in the last couple of years. The overall enrollment still may not be any larger than this year, but we're doing a number of things to try to enhance our efforts related to recruitment.
We're developing new strategic plans to improve our recruitment throughout the state of Mississippi and surrounding states. That whole environment is changing, especially in Mississippi, where we have a declining overall population of qualified high school students. That has forced institutions like Mississippi State to look outside the state for recruiting.
The challenge is to do a better job earlier, especially when you're talking about high quality students. We've got to identify who we want earlier. We've got to market our campus better, telling the story of the better academic programs we have.

Q: What changes can students expect in student services this year?
A: I haven't been here long enough to institute dramatic changes. We've brought a new building on-line this summer that students will see - Montgomery Hall, where three divisions of students affairs are located. We've been working with the students to try to set a new tone for the campus for the fall. We've got something called The Drill on the first evening that classes start.
It's an attempt to bring all of the students, with a particular focus on the new students, together to be a community building, spirit building kickoff for the new year. It will let students begin to appreciate right away the value, history and traditions of Mississippi State University.

Q: What kind of tone for students would you like on campus?
A: We've been encouraging students during orientations to get involved outside of the classroom, to connect with the campus and build more of their out of classroom experience. Students that are effectively involved do better academically, are retained at a higher rate and have a higher rate of satisfaction at graduation.

Q: With more and more apartments built in Starkville, how does the university plan to stay competitive in student housing?
A: Our main focus in student housing in the future is on freshmen and sophomores, but to continue to make housing available for upper-class students if they desire to stay on campus. The absolute best experience for a new student is to live on-campus in a residence hall, to see what's going on with campus life.
The general trend on campuses all across the country is for students to live on campus the first year or two and then move out into the community. That's a great benefit because it's important for students to also learn things about leases and landlords and paying your bills, the kinds of things that are associated with living in an apartment.
We will be building some new facilities during the coming years that are residence halls, targeted to the lifestyles and living needs of freshmen and sophomores.

Contact Robbie Ward at 323-9831 or robbie.ward@djournal.com
 

Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 8/10/2004 8:00:00 AM, section A , page 1