Freshmen success rates are rising, faculty positions are filling, the number of improvements for reaccreditation are decreasing and Mississippi State University is continuing to be the “people’s university,” President Charles Lee said Monday.
In the general faculty’s first meeting this school year, Lee discussed last year’s accomplishments, and set goals for the university for this year. The endeavor to be the “people’s university,” which Lee has repeatedly listed as one of his goals for MSU since becoming president, is the driving factor to many of these ambitions and achievements for the school, Lee said.
Last year found more freshmen going to class and more coming back for a second year of college. In 1997, 24 percent of freshmen were categorized as having “severe attendance problems” because they had four or more absences in a single class prior to midterms. Last year, the number was down to 11 percent.
The university recently became one of nine universities to receive a national retention excellence award for the number of freshmen who returned for a second year. The freshmen retention rate last year reached 81 percent, up seven percent from 1997.
Another accomplishment that Lee noted was that the university has filled 70 full-time instructional faculty positions for this fall, which is up from the 33 hired for the fall of 2002.
The university is also working to fill open administrative positions. The recent appointment of Dr. Peter Rabideau as provost and vice president for academic affairs filled one of the open spots, but there are still four more open.
One of the open positions came after the resignation of Dr. Jimmy Abraham who was serving as the vice president for student affairs. The search for his replacement will begin Oct. 1.
Other positions open are vice president for research, vice president for finance and administration, and executive director of extensions. Rabideau heads the renewed search for a vice president for research, and Dr. Sandra Harpole chairs the search for the vice president for finance and administration. Both of those searches are already underway. The search for a new executive director of extensions will begin October 1.
The university is also focusing on reaccredidation, Lee said. Every 10 years MSU has to make improvements to reaffirm its accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. For six months faculty members have been working toward the university’s reaffirmation, which will be finalized in December.
In the self-study done toward reaffirmation, MSU saw a decrease in the number of recommended improvements, Lee said.
“We had 17 recommendations this year, as opposed to 39 ten years ago,” Lee said. “If we continue to do it this way, then we’ll be down to zero pretty soon.”
Other accomplishments included in Lee’s discussion were the increase in the number of students working toward graduate degrees, the increase in Meridian enrollment by almost 10 percent, electronic classrooms being used and new campus facilities that will be opening soon.
One of the goals that Lee said he hopes for is for the university to gain better federal relations.
The way to do so is through having better focus and coordination, marketing the university’s capabilities to agencies and congress, increasing the faculty awareness of opportunities, focusing on a few specific initiatives, reducing costs of advocacy efforts and recognizing changes in the role of congress, Lee said.
Lee also proposed initiatives like working with the automobile industry, the furniture industry, bio-energy technology and wildlife and fisheries to help stimulate economic growth in Mississippi.
As part of the goal to remain the “people’s university,” Lee said that there will be changes made in recruitment policies. The university wants to reinforce the fact that all students who want to attend college, regardless of their ACT scores, are welcome at MSU, Lee said.
The offices of academic affairs and student affairs will create a “recruitment and retention task force” to help develop the new recruitment plans.
“We are interested in the exceptional students, but other students as well. Our programs here are committed to helping all students who have the desire to learn,” Lee said.