Enrollment Surges at CSP

CALL Center Rebrands as Center for Student Engagement

After a decade, the Student Life Office, formerly known as the Community Action, Leadership and Learning Center Office, will transition its name to the Center for Student Engagement (CSE). The new title more clearly reflects the overall goal and mission of the center, which is to engage students during their time at CSP and provide meaningful learning outside of the classroom.

“We have always been centered on finding unique ways to encourage student engagement and we are excited for our office title to reflect this goal as well,” notes Kelly Matthias, Director of the Center for Student Engagement. “It also allows us to adapt with changing student demographics and it reflects our desire to support all of our students in getting involved at CSP.”

The CALL Center began as an office that supported servicelearning and leadership programs. While those programs remain, several other engagement opportunities have been added over the last decade. In 2012, study abroad programs were moved into the office. In 2015, clubs and organizations, the Concordia Activities Board (CAB), and Student Senate were also added to the office.

Other programs under the Center for Student Engagement include Welcome Weekend, Comet’s Cupboard food shelf, and commuter student engagement. This year, the Center for Student Engagement will also be launching CSP’s first Co-Curricular Transcript. Students will view a record of their leadership, accomplishments, involvement, experiences, and skills earned in Comet’s Connection. Despite unique challenges and unprecedented circumstances brought on by a global pandemic, Concordia St. Paul set a new enrollment record for the ninth consecutive fall semester with 5,567 students. CSP enrolled 428 more students compared to its previous high of 5,139 set only one year ago, including increases in all three student learning areas. Traditional undergraduate programs are up 56 students, adult undergraduate programs saw an increase of 361 students, while graduate programs gained 11 students. Enrollment for students learning on-campus (traditional) now stands at an all-time high of 1,756, while graduate programs saw their total enrollment surpass 2,000 students for the second consecutive year. Adult undergraduate program enrollment, which includes the bulk of online students, stands at 1,788.

CSP Enters Partnership with Charlie Academy

CSP has entered a new three-year partnership with Charlie Academy, an innovative company providing online modules for learning, leadership, and life skills. The grant provides CSP students, faculty, and staff full access to online modules and content.

Jake Wakem will oversee the Charlie Academy project and implementation in his role as director of student life education and leadership.

“The possibilities with Charlie Academy are endless,” explains Wakem. “We have an opportunity to engage students both in-person and online with innovative and engaging content. This will be the start of something special on campus.”

Charlie Academy presents a rich possibility for multi-modality learning within Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and many of our campus departments.

“CSP students have a new and unique opportunity to participate in Charlie Academy — a visionary, leading-edge leadership development initiative that seeks to build the entire student, body, heart, mind, and spirit,” President Friedrich shares. “We are thrilled and delighted to watch our student participants, traditional students, online students and graduate students, grow and flourish through this program.”

Charlie Academy is tailored for student development in any demographic and modality of learning presenting a unique

Enrollment Surges at Concordia St. Paul for Ninth Consecutive Fall Semester

opportunity for CSP.

Traditional Adult UG Graduate Doctorate