In this Issue Labor Day pg. 4
Vol. 44 Issue 3
“Gold Game” pg. 7
Thursday, September 5, 2013
THE
SHIELD www.usishield.com
Student profile: Majority remain close to home at USI This year’s students come from 91 Indiana counties, 39 other states and 64 countries. The majority of first-year students are from the Evansville area – 22.5 percent hail from Vanderburgh County. Up 12 percent from last year, 989 graduate students are enrolled. Female students make up 61 percent of the student body, while 25 percent of students are nontraditional.
First-Time Student Numbers 130 Northern IN 151 Out of State 198 Central IN 14 International 75 Marion 1,709 Total 756 Southern IN 385 Vanderburgh
Enrollment drops Data contends with university’s explanations By JAMES VAUGHN News editor Enrollment dropped again at USI, falling below the 10,000 mark for the first time since 2007. The number of students enrolled this fall is 9,908 – a 5.4 percent decrease from last year. “USI has continued to raise academic standards, admitting only those students most likely to succeed at our four-year university,” Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications Kindra Strupp said in a statement Tuesday. “It’s just the right thing to do.” Last year, 1.2 percent of students who enrolled were conditionally admitted. This year, conditional admits account for “just over one percent” of enrollees, according to Saturday’s news
Conditional Admits
Year
Enrollment Numbers
8.8 % 7.7 % 6.6 % 7.1 % 2.5 % 1.2 % ?
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
9,939 10,126 10,516 10,702 10,820 10,467 9,908
release. Planning, Research and Assessment Manager Joseph Wingo said the university hasn’t run
an official number for this year’s conditional admits, but he provided percentages for the past six years.
The most significant decline in conditional admits occurred in 2011, when it fell from 7.1 to 2.5 percent. USI’s enrollment
peaked that same year at 10,820. Conditionally admitted students may not meet all requirements for regular admission to the university and “must agree to a prescribed course of study and advisements,” according to USI’s Academic Bulletin. “Ten years ago in 2003 the freshman class as a whole had an average grade point average of 2.95. Today, that average GPA is up to 3.22,” Strupp said in the statement. Last year’s average GPA was a 3.2. “The result of higher standards has contributed to lower enrollment but, overall, has increased the strength of the student body and a degree from USI,” Strupp said in the statement. The Office of Admissions referred all questions to Strupp.
DATA on Pg. 3
BOT student appointee ‘loves representing students’ By DENNIS MARSHALL Staff writer
The first legacy recipient of the presidential scholarship is now a member of the USI Board of Trustees. A political science major from Worthington, Ind., Brenden Davidson said his mother is his role model. “All my life, she really instilled in me the virtues of discipline, responsibility and hard work,” Davidson said. “The lessons I’ve learned from my mother are the ones I still use today. That’s given me my fundamen-
Brenden Davidson
tals, my solid foundation, and I couldn’t do what I am doing today if it wasn’t for her.” His mother attended USI. She met his father and had Davidson
while she was a student at the university. She was also a recipient of the presidential scholarship. He said he fell in love with USI the moment he stepped foot on campus. “The campus was beautiful, the people seemed really nice and the administrators I met were great,” Davidson said. “I have a lot of passion for USI and I love representing students. I have the students’ best interest in mind, and I think that was the reason I was chosen to serve on the board.” A selection committee inter-
viewed qualifying applicants and chose a select few. The qualifying students’ names were then sent to the governor’s office, where he made the final decision. “One of the main reasons why I wanted to do it was because I feel like I’ve been involved in a wide variety of activities as well as organizations since coming to campus,” Davidson said. “That wide range of interest I have I think spreads out and reaches a lot of students.” The valedictorian of his high school class, he is now serving his second term as Lambda Chi
Alpha Fraternity President, and this past summer he was elected chairman of the council of presidents for his fraternity, which means he oversees all of the fraternity’s presidents on the entire continent. He also serves as a justice on the Student Government Association court. Davidson said his ultimate job on the board of trustees is to get good information from students and monitor the overall feelings on campus, as well as relaying information from the board to the students. Davidson said he has always had a passion to help people, but
DAVIDSON on Pg. 3 The Shield is a designated public forum.
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