Wednesday, January 10, 2007

214 STUDENTS RETURN TO MTSU JAN. 16 ‘REINVIGORATED’ FOR SPRING

Date: Jan. 10, 2007 Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919


(MURFREESBORO) — Students and faculty will return to campus in droves by Tuesday, Jan. 16, as MTSU spring semester classes get under way.
Enrollment could top 21,000, which would be a record for a spring semester, enrollment services officials said just after the winter break.
“Spring runs 5 to 7 percent below fall enrollment,” Dr. Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for enrollment services, said.
On Jan. 9 and after one purge for non-fee payment, 20,192 students had registered for classes, an increase of 844 from the Jan. 9, 2006, headcount of 19,348, she said. Final spring enrollment totals will be announced on or after Jan. 29 when MTSU submits the number to the Tennessee Board of Regents.
“We’ll have more students returning (from the fall semester) in the spring,” Huddleston said. “Attendance at CUSTOMS (Dec. 2 orientation) was slightly less than the previous year. Even though there were fewer people, perhaps others have done individual advising and registration, and we have more students being retained.”
Prospective students still can register for classes through Wednesday, Jan. 17, and students can add classes through Friday, Jan. 19, Huddleston said, adding that students can drop any or all classes.
“We all expect that we will be reinvigorated during a break and will come to the new semester ready to make a wholehearted commitment to MTSU and its academic programs,” said Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost.
“The new year is a great time to make specific resolutions and commitments to visit the writing center, take a workshop in study skills, sign up for a library orientation workshop and schedule appointments with your spring faculty,” Gebert said.
It’s also an excellent time to discover or get reacquainted with various campus services offered to students.
“We’d love for faculty to be reminded that the Academic Support Center (contact is Laurie Witherow at 615-898-2339) will help students connect to the academic resources on campus, and (it) will also help students who are considering changing their majors or who haven’t declared one yet,” said Dr. Deb Sells, associate vice provost for academic support services.
“Student Support Services,” added Sells, “is a federally funded TRiO program providing academic support to low income, high risk and first generation students.” The contact is Crickett Pimentel, director, at 615-898-5443.
“We expect to have some very promising academic progress on the part of our student-athletes to report,” Sells said. “We’ve had amazing progress this year with the Student-Athlete Enhancement Center.” The contact is Jim Rost, director,
at 615-904-8492.
Another helpful avenue is Disabled Student Services (the contact is John Harris, director, at 615-898-2783).
For students who have not decided on a career or major, a visit to the
Career Center will be most profitable, Gebert said, adding, “Our new EXL program and classes are under way, providing students with classes that have an extra experiential learning component.
“January is a good time to take stock of where you are in your career, your academic program and your life. If students have not been involved in extracurricular campus activities, there are many opportunities that will enrich your academic skills as well as your personal life.”
Gebert encourages students “to make full use of the campus for their academic and extracurricular endeavors, including the Boston Brass (7:30 p.m. Jan. 22 in Wright Music Building’s Hinton Music Hall), “Ramona Quimby” (7:30 p.m. Feb. 23-24 in Tucker Theatre) and “Mozart on Stage” (7:30 p.m. Feb. 16-17 in Hinton Music Hall), and there will be basketball, baseball and other athletic activities.”
Spring break will be March 5-10, April 25 will be the last day of classes, study day will be April 26, final exams will be April 27-May 3 and two commencements (times TBA) will be held Saturday, May 5, in Murphy Center.
Summer ’07 priority registration on WebMT will be held March 19-23, with summer and fall registration unavailable March 24-April 8. Summer registration will resume April 9, and fall priority registration on the new RaiderNet system is set for
April 9-20.
Starting with summer classes, schedule books no longer will be printed. Students will need to register will be their adviser and use PipelineMT.
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Editor’s note: Sources for this story include:

Dr. Sherian Huddleston (enrollment services), 615-898-2828
Dr. Bob Glenn (student affairs VP/enrollment services provost), 615-898-2440
Dr. Kaylene Gebert (academic affairs VP and provost), 615-898-2880
Dr. Deb Sells (academic support services), 615-898-5342
Laurie Witherow (academic support center/advising), 615-898-2339
Crickett Pimentel (student support services), 615-898-5443
Jim Rost (student-athlete enhancement center), 615-904-8492
John Harris (disabled student services), 615-898-2783
Dr. Jill Austin (experiential learning or EXL), 615-898-2736

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