Student Enrollment Boosts Already in Progess Developments

During a time where people are focusing on the negative aspects the growth of student enrollment at Ole Miss will bring to preexisting organizations, both non-curricular and curricular, people often overlook the many ways in which the new expanded student body can help the school grow academically. 

With over 50 already existing minors, the University of Mississippi has been working on expanding the list of minors the school offers for quite some time now.  Just last fall, the University of Mississippi added two new minors- education and math education- through its School of Education.

Cinema Student Michael Swann prepares to film.

Many of the recently added minors are even flourishing faster than expected.  The recently added Cinema minor, that has only been around for three years, had a last official count of 57 students that have declared cinema as their minor.

When asked about this count, Alan Arrivée, the minor's director, commented that this was a "really healthy number for the official list."

 He then went on to say, "Not all students make it to declare.  In fact, you can declare days before graduating." 

This official count makes cinema one of the fastest growing stand-alone minors, and the university is even working on steps to allow the minor to progress into a major eventually.  When asked about how the growth of student enrollment has contributed to the growth of the minor, Arrivée had this to say.

Cinema Director Alan Arrivée is interviewed about the correlation of the growth of the minor and the growth of students.

To play off of one of Arrivée's strong points, a growth of student enrollment brings a growth in more interests with it.  This is not to say that the only thing stopping certain minors into becoming majors is strictly based on student interest.  There are a lot of factors that go into play, such as the university's resources and the availability of faculty. 

Kelsie Luke, a radiological science major at the University of Mississippi, had this to say about how she hopes the increasing student enrollment will help shape her medical-based major:

"Maybe the increase of student enrollment will help form our department... The two-plus-two program is nice, but I am sad that I am going to miss out on a lot of my college experience by having to leave my junior year."

Her advisor Kara Parham commented that she did not know if a demand from the new upcoming class would help this or even help with establishing a nursing major, but the department is expanding. 

Starting in the fall of 2014, the university is going to offer Accelerated BSN.  Parham commented that this was "a step in the right direction." Applications and information about Accelerated BSN can be found at the University of Mississippi Medical Center's website. 

The increase of student enrollment isn't just contributing to the plans of future projects, but it is also boosting current projects.

Greek Organizations at Ole Miss Adapt to Rapid Growth of Student Enrollment

The incoming freshman class for the 2014-15 school year is anticipated to be largest Ole Miss has seen to date. Sororities and fraternities are gearing up to accommodate the large number of students who will go through recruitment. The existing Greek organizations on campus hurry to make changes before this year’s early sorority recruitment, beginning Sept. 14.

Due to the increasing student enrollment and number of students interested in Greek life, an expansion committee was created to discuss bringing new sororities and fraternities to campus. Alpha Delta Pi colonized at Ole Miss this year with over 300 new members. ADPi awaits the construction of their house on Rebel Drive.

Greek life at Ole Miss has always attracted a large number of students, however, in the past 10 years participation in recruitment has drastically increased and continues to grow. In 2004, 814 women went through recruitment. Since then, the number of women rushing has increased by 72% to about 1,400 women in 2013. This was a record-breaking number, anticipated to be one-upped in September by the 2014 rush.

In the spring of 2012, leaders of the existing Greek organizations addressed the issue of growing enrollment. Thomas J. Reardon, Dean of Students, created a council and began expanding Greek life. The council consisted of current members of sororities and fraternities, advisors, and University of Mississippi staff members.

Four sororities were chosen for consideration by the committee. These included Alpha Gamma Delta, Delta Zeta, Alpha Phi, and Alpha Delta Pi. Only Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Phi were given offers to colonize at Ole Miss. Alpha Delta Pi colonized this year and drew in over 300 new members. Alpha Phi will colonize on campus by 2015. 

“I think that other sororities will see the success of Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Phi at Ole Miss and become interested in colonizing here as well. There is a large alumni base for many sororities, including Delta Zeta, near Oxford, which would make colonization easy and exciting,” said Merrill Magruder, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at The University of Mississippi.

Magruder hopes that many new sororities colonize within the next several years. Without them, chapters will not be able to accommodate the increasing number of girls going through recruitment. Each sorority house has a maximum capacity of women that they can accommodate during the rounds of recruitment which is quickly being reached.

Madisen Theobald, Rush Chairperson for Kappa Kappa Gamma, is concerned for this year’s recruitment.

“With the increasing amount of student enrollment at Ole Miss, there will be a significant increase in cuts from the early rounds of formal recruitment,” said Theobald. She is concerned that many women who meet the criteria to join Greek organizations will be cut only due to the lack of space that the chapters have to accommodate them.

“With more chapters on campus, more girls will be able to come home to a sorority and the sororities will each have a comfortable number of members that can share the house with ease. It is a shame that so many girls have to miss out this wonderful experience simply because we can’t take a pledge class of 300,” said Theobald.

 

Campus Dining Facing Mounting Pressure as Freshman Class Increases

The newly built Johnson Commons, seemingly ready for opening, remains closed for the time being.

Next August, the University of Mississippi will welcome a new freshman class into their small, serene campus; however, this incoming freshman class will be unlike any before it in terms of size. Ole Miss has had growing trend of incoming freshmen, and the class of 2018 is expected to continue to exceed . As exciting as this may seem, Ole Miss’s rapidly growing population has demanded many changes around campus, ranging from the building of the contemporary dorms on campus last year, to the recent building of a parking garage to facilitate students that commute to campus.

However, one aspect of campus life that still appears to be a little bit behind are the on campus dining options available to students. The university offers two dining halls that are always available to the public, but only seven fast food stores that offer food convenient for students on the go. Of those seven, five are located in the Union. This guarantees that students will be standing in line during the lunch rush and pose the risk of running late for class while waiting to eat. In some locations, such as the Papa John’s in Minor Hall, this wait occurs even when there is not a line to stand in; Amber Fulton, a sophomore accounting major, expressed frustration on the fifth of May when she had to wait twice as a result of an employee making the wrong food.

“It becomes irritating when I try and get a quick snack between finals, but there is nothing ready to be served” said Fulton. “The fact that I had to wait all over again just made the experience worse.”

Christian Robinson, a Community Assistant for Ole Miss, feels quite differently:

The "JC" that Robinson mentions refers to the Johnson Commons, one of the dining halls on campus that was expected to open at the beginning of the spring semester, though this has not been the case (This missed deadline is not the first time that the Johnson Commons construction has fallen behind).

With a large group of hungry mouths to feed next fall, there is high expectations for dining to be in order; the repercussions of having limited dining locations with an even larger student population could prove to be disastrous for the University of Mississippi.

Rising Sophomores Cut Off From On-Campus Housing

What's all the commotion on Ole Miss campus? Due to the record breaking incoming freshmen class, Ole Miss has had to take drastic measures to expand. Crosby Hall has shut the doors for rising sophomores to live in the dorm next year and is now required that all upperclassmen to live off-campus. All on-campus housing will be available to freshmen in the fall of 2014.

 The University has decided to cut off all non-freshmen for living on campus due to another record incoming class of 2014. According to UM, "the University has enrolled over 22,000 students for the first time. 3.5 percent overall enrollment increase and more than 7 percent growth on the Oxford campus. That’s up 758 students from last fall, or 3.5 percent. Preliminary enrollment figures show a total unduplicated headcount on all the university’s campuses of 22,286." The increase in enrollment is expected to continue and has been for the past couple years.  

For many years on-campus housing has always given first priority to freshmen but also made it available for sophomores too. Crosby Hall has been an all-girls dorm for freshmen and sophomores for years. It is one of the first to be filled by both freshmen and rising sophomores. Crosby has 10 floors and 455 beds that will be given to the freshmen this fall.

Many debate of whether having Crosby all freshmen is a positive or negative. This decision has mostly impacted the sophomores which are the sorority women. The 12 sororities have had a contract with the housing of Crosby each year and every floor would reserve some spots for the girls. 

As many know finding housing for next year requires acting fast because of how quickly places fill up. The current freshmen had made plans with the department of housing that they would live in Crosby for next year. There had been many rumors of whether Crosby would be an option but the department insisted that it would not be a problem. Returning second semester many off-campus housing was filling up fast and it was not until a month or so in that the freshmen got the news Crosby would not be available next year. 

Current freshmen and active sorority member Hallie Knotts explains, "I was so stressed when I heard the news and disappointed. I really wanted to live on campus because of how convenient it is. Also because I had no idea I would have to hurry and find housing off campus."

Many girls that were planning to live in the dorm had to quickly make different arrangements so they would not miss out on good places to live. Molly-Bar Trails, Highland Square, and the Retreat still had many available spots but filled quickly after the dorm was not an option anymore. 

Although, not all students think the expansion is a bad idea and see the positive side to creating more space for freshmen. Current resident of Crosby and active sorority member Maggie Durnien explains, "I do think that not having Crosby as an option is unfortunate. I loved living in the dorm again, it was so simple and easy and so glad I was able to live in it before they made changes. But I do think this is a great thing that Ole Miss is getting bigger. They need more on-campus housing for freshmen, I mean the truth is in the numbers." 

 

Meghan Bunte Junior student 

Current CA of Crosby Hall for the past three years 

So why a sudden change? What can we see for the future? The plans to change student housing started in December when it was brought to Director Lionel Maten. Administrators were seeing a high increase in applications and projected that this could be another record for an incoming class. The expansion is leading to other on-campus housing that require room for freshmen. 

There are many changes going around campus due to the anticipation of the freshmen class. Ole Miss has drawn many in and the numbers are expected to increase. 

Existing Ole Miss students make room for upcoming freshmen class

Campus Creek Apartments fill up fast, but are the closest to campus

The residence halls at Ole Miss will be getting a fresh makeover next semester, in that they will be almost exclusively inhabited by freshmen. The incoming freshman class is so large that the Department of Student Housing is making some major changes to who can live in on campus next year. Every room assigned next year will have freshman priority, so that means options for non-freshman students wishing to live on campus will be limited.

The housing department has been swamped these last few weeks with droves of incoming and potential freshmen ( some as young as early high-school) wishing to tour residence halls. Kells Johnson, a marketing assistant for the Department of Housing, took a break from a day of tours to explain what this large group of freshmen means for the Housing department as well as current non-freshmen.

There are plenty of off campus locations around Oxford for students to live, however few of them are what a walking student would consider close. Campus Creek apartments is by far the closest to the main campus and is already a popular spot for students wishing to have a shorter commute, however space is limited and rooms go fast. Rooms next semester will book up even faster with large groups of newly apartment-shopping greek students.

In the past it has been the policy of many sororities to place their newly inducted sisters into a single residence hall due to the limited space in the sorority houses, however the new housing policies do not provide the sorority “communities” that they once did in Crosby hall. With Crosby now primarily housing freshmen these sophomore students will have to find living accommodations elsewhere. Kells Johnson approached the subject by stating that, “The Crosby sorority floor isn’t necessarily reserved for sorority girls and next year will be more difficult for them. Typically sorority girls will just move into their houses for easier access to classes and avoiding commuter parking, but whose to say what they will do now.”  The housing department is, however, making the right steps to ease students into the transition to off campus living by providing all the necessary information about apartment availability as well as other community resources.

The massive number of incoming students was unprecedented, and with Ole Miss hopefuls as young as high-school freshmen coming in to tour campus dorms and begin planning, enrollment doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon

Ole Miss provides huge amount of financial aid for freshmen

The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) is known as the one of the largest universities in United States. According to the enrollment fact book at Ole Miss, the number of freshmen is increasing even though college enrollment is nationally declining. Ole Miss recorded a continued higher number of students for almost 20 years. The large amount of financial aid is one of the main reasons that attract many students to choose Ole Miss.

Laura Driven-Brown tells about how many scholarships the University of Mississippi has.

According to Director of Financial Aid Laura Driven-Brown, the University of Mississippi has a hundred of scholarships and more unknown scholarships outside school are available. Driven-Brown says, “We have UM foundation scholarships, each department scholarships, Honors College and we have other scholarships, too.” 

Driven-Brown says, “I don’t know it is directly related to the increasing enrollment, however, it is important to get more students and it cause college to continue to rise. Scholarship is so important to make possible for somebody to go to school. The foundation is consistently trying to get more donors. Scholarship will help people to decide to come here, and scholarship can be offered based on the needs.”

These days, the theme of scholarship is to make sure that everyone is well-informed about how much it will be spent to go to school individually. Ole Miss sets the amount of scholarship based on the direct costs and indirect costs. The direct cost includes a housing fee, meal plans, capital improvement fee, and non-residents fee. The indirect cost consists of personal expenses, transportation fee and so on. Compared to other state universities, Ole Miss has affordable costs and this makes more people get into. 

Kylan Toohey says about why she decided to get into Ole Miss in the JD Williams Library. 

Kylan Toohey is a freshman international studies major from Madison, Mississippi. She says, “I chose Ole Miss over Emory University because I could get relatively large amount of scholarships, compared to others.” She added, “Another reason is that the Croft at Ole Miss has international studies programs better than others.”  She was planning to get into Emory University in Atlanta before getting an admission for Ole Miss. Another reason she chose Ole Miss is that she is able to go home once a month because Ole Miss (Oxford Campus) is not far from Madison, Mississippi. “It takes only two hours back home. I like that.”

Jiwon Lee, senior at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mississippi, will enter Ole Miss next fall semester. She says, “I am supposed to get a scholarship related to participation into the band and the orchestra...I am very excited to be in Ole Miss next semester.” 

The University of Mississippi is in transition to managing the increasing number of students by expanding the number of scholarships offered.