Incoming large freshman class requires MU to make changes

Several new residence halls have opened and classes have been refigured.

By Angela Case

Published April 30, 2009

Freshman enrollment at MU has increased steadily in the past several years, and the trend is expected to continue this fall.

Admissions Director Chuck May said in an e-mail as of last week, 13,273 first time college students have been accepted for the fall semester, as compared to 12,327 for fall semester 2008. There is usually a large difference between the amount of students accepted to the university and those who actually enroll. The opening day enrollment this year was a record 5,812 students.

May said there are several factors that contribute to increased freshman interest in the university.

"Academic programs, size, location, cost and atmosphere are the primary selection criteria that students take into consideration when choosing colleges," he said.

Michael O'Brien, dean of the College of Arts and Science, said students choose the university that offers a strong, affordable education.

"You've got to have a great product," he said. "Students want a great education, and it's got to be affordable."

O'Brien also cited newly built and renovated facilities, including the residence halls and Student Recreation Complex, as well as the quality of culinary options, as assets to freshman interest.

"Look at the food in the dorms," he said. "I go there every once in a while to eat. It's great food."

Increased freshman enrollment poses many unique challenges for the university.

For fall 2008, the Residential Life Department added extended campus options to accommodate increased enrollment. About 400 of these extended campus spaces will be available again for the upcoming semester, as compared to a total of 700 available spaces last year, Residential Life Director Frankie Minor said.

Additionally, the renovation of Defoe and Graham residence halls and the addition of three new mid-campus residence halls Hawthorne, Galena and Dogwood, will increase the number of on-campus spaces available by about 350, Minor said.

He said the Residential Life Department is monitoring freshman enrollment to guarantee that a sufficient number of beds are available for the fall.

"Right now, the predictions are that the incoming freshman class will probably be as large if not maybe a little bit larger than the current freshman class," he said. "We're continuing to monitor the situation. I can't rule out the possibility that we may have to add additional beds to the 400 spaces in extended campus."

The College of Arts and Science, where many freshmen complete their general education requirements, has also made adjustments to deal with increasing enrollment in the last few years.

"We increased the number of sections, hired additional faculty and moved things around," O'Brien said. "It was a lot of shuffling to make sure it worked, but I think it worked like a charm, given the fact that we've got very flexible faculty, grad students and staff and a lot of discussion sections."

Enrollment in large lecture classes is sometimes expanded to fill the capacity of the hall, O'Brien said. For subjects that are impossible to teach to large groups of students, though, the college adds new sections when necessary, rather than increasing the size of small recitation and discussion type classes.

O'Brien said the college is prepared for a surge in enrollment next semester.

"We think we've got it pretty well covered," he said. "Applications are up, deposits are up, etc. So we're looking at another record enrollment this year, but we've gotten pretty good at planning for these things."