Normal School Index THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017
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Celebrating Truman’s 150th Anniversary NEWS | Utilities upgrades save Truman millions Page 6
FEATURES | 150 years of Truman to look back on Page 7
The Index’s original 1909 masthead SPORTS | Coach Mike Cannon’s winning tradition Page 14
New student enrollment increases for fall 2017 BY NICOLAS TELEP News Text Editor
Photo by Brently Snead/TMN Faculty Senate meets in the Student Union Building’s Alumni Room Thursday, Aug. 24.
Academic programs changed in response to state requests BY BRENTLY SNEAD Managing Editor Janet Gooch, executive vice president of academic affairs and provost, announced curriculum changes at the Faculty Senate meeting Thursday, Aug. 24. Truman State University’s Sustainability and Environmental Studies certificate program was designated as inactive, meaning the course has been taken off the course list and will be unavailable to future students. Gooch said they hope to generate more action in the program in the future. Gooch also announced the Russian and art history majors have been transferred to inactive status. Future students will not be allowed to declare either as a major, though students who are currently majoring in Russian or art history will be allowed to finish their degrees. The biology master’s program was switched to inactive status as well. Gooch said the undergraduate program for athletic training will become an entry-level master’s degree program. Gooch said just because a course is made inactive does not mean it will be completely eliminated, and for now these are only recommendations made by herself, the deans and the department chairs. Gooch said the changes were made in response to a request from the Missouri Department of Higher Education for information on certain programs within Truman. These changes were conducted by Gooch in collaboration with the deans and department chairs.
New student enrollment at Truman State University increased by about 5 percent for fall 2017. The number of new degree-seeking undergraduate students at Truman is 1,496 this semester, up from 1,417 in fall 2016. Of the new students, 1,331 are incoming freshmen, and 165 are transfer students. There was also an increase in the total number of applications the University received. Regina Morin, vice president of enrollment management, said the University had expected to remain about the same size. She said the larger number new students offset the large number of students who graduated last year. The majority of the growth was from Missouri students. Morin said this is unsurprising because Truman is more affordable for in-state students. “It would be natural that Missouri would be where the gain is,” Morin said. “[Parents and students] are looking for the best value for the investment.” Morin said a number of factors went into the increase in new student enrollment. One of the factors was a change in FAFSA requirements allowing students and parents to fill it out Oct. 1, earlier than previously allowed. Morin said this gave students an earlier idea of what attending a certain school would cost, giving them more time to consider their options and visit campuses. Morin said there was a coordinated effort on behalf of the admission office, the financial aid office and information technology services to get finan-
Total new students for 2017: 1,496
cial aid letters out in a timely manner, so students could have a better idea of what it would cost to go to Truman. Morin also said admission officers are trained to have knowledge of financial aid and FAFSA, which gives them an opportunity to work with students and families on a more personal level. Additionally, Morin said joining the Common Application made Truman more accessible to students. This is Truman’s second year using the Common Application, and for the first two years it was the only public school in Missouri to join the Application. Morin said the model of the Common Application with an essay fit well with Truman’s admission approach, but the University did not want to join the Application if it required students to submit a letter of recommendation from a counselor or teacher. The University joined when that requirement was lifted. Morin said being a school available through the Common Application with no application fee made more students aware of Truman and consider it as an option. New technology also played a role in attracting more students, Morin said. The new system for oncampus housing — StarRez — and a customer relationship management system — Slate — made communication and access easier and more user-friendly. Morin said Slate allowed admission counselors to communicate more personally and specifically with certain groups of students, and StarRez was able to get the housing application and registration process into the hands of students more easily. See ENROLLMENT, page 3
Transfers New Freshmen
1,263
Up from 1,417 last year
1,331
Gilchrist postpones retirement after unsuccessful VPSA search BY SPENCER FOUST Staff Writer
Following a failed search to find a replacement, Lou Ann Gilchrist, vice president for student affairs, postponed her retirement for this fall semester. University President Sue Thomas approached Gilchrist as the search was nearing completion without success, and the decision was relayed to Truman students via email Aug. 19. Another search will begin next week. Gilchrist was in the position for nearly 17 years, and though she had plans for retirement, the decision to stay was not a dramatic one for her. Despite not playing a direct role in the search process, Gilchrist said she was informed of its progress. Gilchrist said she knows she is not the first person to stay on staff later than expected. “[Thomas] let me know how things were going, so it wasn’t really a surprise when she asked if I would be willing to stay,” Gilchrist said. “I actually offered earlier that if things wouldn’t work out, then I would postpone my retirement to stay on.” There are only two positions the Board of Governors chooses — the University president and general counsel. All other positions are under the authority of the University president. While Thomas might sign-off on whoever takes the position, she does not
necessarily hand pick a candidate. That responsibility lies with a search committee. The makeup of a search committee often depends on the position being filled, Thomas said. In this case, two students were placed on the committee because the position was filling a role in student affairs. The search began with advertising, Thomas said. It’s one of the primary costs of the search, the budget for which has not been made public. Following that, members of the committee reviewed résumés. Thomas said those finalists who were brought to Kirksville could not accept the position, and their names cannot be revealed for confidentiality reasons. Thomas said two of the candidates could not take the position because of personal conflicts. “Having a failed search is always disappointing, but not anything that throws the campus for a loop,” Thomas said. “We’re actually in a very good position with Dr. Gilchrist agreeing to stay on. It allowed us to be able to move forward and relaunch the search without any transition issues or backlogs of that sort.” As a new search committee prepares for next week, Thomas said those who were on the previous committee were invited to continue serving. Others from the committee had conflicting schedules this semester. As of Wednesday, Aug. 23,
Thomas said the head of the new search committee remained undecided. Senior Jordan Webber, who served on the committee, said it was a surprise when Thomas sent her an email offering her a role because she had never been on a search committee before. Qualifying candidates were interviewed via Skype, Webber said, and finalists came to Kirksville for a face-to-face interview. Webber said the city is sometimes found to lack the resources certain candidates might want if they are to relocate their families. Where Truman is great for some, Webber said, Kirksville isn’t as great for others. Webber said she was surprised to see how many different qualifications the members of the committee considered when looking at potential candidates. She said one characteristic she was when looking for in a candidate was experience regarding mental health issues. Another concern Webber said the majority of the committee was focused on was the University’s budget. Following the budget cuts that hit public universities all across Missouri, Webber said it was important to the committee that the next vice president for student affairs be able to handle those changes to the department’s funds.
No Issue Next Week Our staff will be taking the week of Labor Day off. A new issue of The Index will be available on Sept. 14.
VOLUME 109 ISSUE 3 © 2017