[266] Excitement, Anticipation Await MTSU's Spring Semester

Release date: Jan. 13, 2011

News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu


Excitement, Anticipation Await MTSU’s Spring Semester

(MURFREESBORO) — Academics and celebration will be essential elements as MTSU enters 2011 and a new year of excitement and anticipation.
Spring-semester classes began today for more than 24,800 combined undergraduate and graduate students registered for classes and the university’s full- and part-time faculty. Seniors’ academic studies are building toward the two commencement ceremonies set for Murphy Center on Saturday, May 7.
The campus community also is making preparations for its Centennial Celebration, which officially begins Friday, Sept. 9, with the Centennial Gala at Murfreesboro’s Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center. A new Centennial website, www.mtsu.edu/centennial, will provide details of ongoing projects throughout the year, along with the March 2011 Alumni Record and the revamped MTSU magazine.
Spring 2011 enrollment should surpass that of spring 2010, when 23,653 students were registered for classes, representing a 5 percent increase from 2009’s 22,516-student total. As of midnight Jan. 12, 24,343 students were registered for classes, an 8.19 percent increase from the same time in 2010. The numbers change daily. Census totals will be submitted to the Tennessee Board or Regents sometime after Jan. 26.
The new semester features a full schedule of activities for students, faculty and staff. A sampling includes:
• daily campus tours for prospective students beginning Monday, Jan. 24, with 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. tour times (615-898-5670 or www.mtsu.edu/admissn);
• College Goal Sunday on Sunday, Jan. 30, starting at 2 p.m. in the Business and Aerospace Building, when financial-aid personnel will assist students with questions on Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms, scholarships and the like (www.mtsu.edu/financialaid/cgs.shtml);
• the 10-week Honors Lecture Series, “Celebrating Creative Scholarship,” kicking off on Monday, Jan. 31, with University Provost Brad Bartel’s presentation, “The Mother-Goddess Figurine Problem of the European Paleolithic,” at 3 p.m. in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Honors Building (www.mtsu.edu/honors/Spring_Lecture_Series.shtml);
• the 38th annual Groundhog Day Luncheon on Wednesday, Feb. 2, for MTSU baseball starting at 11:30 a.m. in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room (call 615-898-2103 for tickets);
• the launch of MTSU’s Black History Month activities with the annual Unity Luncheon on Thursday, Feb. 3, at 11 a.m. in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room (call 615-898-2591 or e-mail bwunder@mtsu.edu for tickets);
• free First Friday Star Parties beginning Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 102 of Wiser-Patten Science Hall (call 615-898-2130 for more information);
• a Spring Career Fair in Williamson County on Tuesday, Feb. 8, and an Internships and Summer Jobs Fair at Murphy Center Wednesday, Feb. 23,, both sponsored by MTSU’s Career Development Center (visit www.mtsu.edu/career for details);
• the University Honors College’s second President’s Day Open House, set for Monday, Feb. 21, starting at noon in the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building (call 615-898-5464 or e-mail lclippar@mtsu.edu for more information);
• the second National Recreational Sports, Fitness and Wellness Day Health Fair on Tuesday, Feb. 22, in MTSU’s Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center (call 615-494-8704);
• a School of Agribusiness and Agriscience Career Fair in March (call 615-898-2523 or visit www.mtsu.edu/abas/ABAS_Career_Fair.shtml for final dates and event updates);
• Admissions’ Spring Preview Days on Saturday, March 26, and Saturday, April 30, both starting at 9 a.m. (www.mtsu.edu/admissn);
• the annual Scholars Week, set April 4-8 and culminating on Friday, April 8, with a poster session in Murphy Center (visit www.mtsu.edu/research and look for “Scholars Week”);
• the School of Music’s full schedule of concerts and events (www.mtsu.edu/music and find “Concert Calendar” Link); and
• numerous MT athletic events (www.goblueraiders.com).
Spring semester 2011
• January 13 Classes began
• January 17 Martin Luther King Holiday – no classes
• March 7 - 13 Spring break
• March 11 University holiday
• April 27 Last day of classes
• April 28 Study day-no classes
• April 29 - May 5 Final Examinations
• May 7 Commencement
• May 9 Deadline for Final Grades

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Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree — the only one in Tennessee — as a model program. MTSU recently unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.

For MTSU news and information, go online to mtsunews.com.