UMC Strengthens Undergraduate Experience
“It’s all been a part of a strategic effort to attract and serve the kinds of students who traditionally do well at the college level,” says Don Sargeant, Chancellor of the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC). “As a campus we’ve made some policy and program changes that will have a very positive effect on our students’ overall college experience.” Sargeant is referring to changes in academic policies that affect this fall’s incoming students.
This year the Crookston campus changed its admissions policy, moving the institution from open enrollment—where the only requirement was a high school diploma or GED—to what are considered ”traditional” college admissions requirements. UMC’s updated policy requires incoming first-year students to have a high school rank within the top half of their graduating class or an ACT test score of 21 or higher.
In addition to the changes in admissions standards, UMC has refined its academic policies to more efficiently identify students who may need academic help. “We want students to succeed. We also understand that early identification of students who may need academic support and then working with those students is key to that success,” says Doug Knowlton, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
With that in mind, UMC inaugurates its First Year Experience (FYE) Program this fall. The program is designed to deal more effectively with student issues. The goals are to offer greater student support, to encourage peer learning, to reinforce interdisciplinary connections, and to involve faculty and staff more actively in students’ lives.
As part of FYE, UMC is piloting the Living and Learning Program, involving a group of first-year students who will live together on the same floor of a residence hall and who will take required courses together. Knowlton adds, “It’s commonly known that students who find ways to fit in on campus from day one are much more likely to return each semester and ultimately graduate. While we already believe that the friendly, personalized atmosphere at UMC has historically been a reason students choose UMC, we do want to build on that and constantly improve.”
The academic policy changes, coupled with the declining number of high school graduates in the region, will likely lead to a slight dip in enrollment when fall semester classes begin on Tuesday, August 28. Russ Kreager, Director of Enrollment Management, projects that UMC will have an enrollment of approximately 1,120 full-time degree-seeking students, down about five percent as compared to last year.
Administrators, faculty, and staff remain optimistic, however, viewing this as a short-term bump on the road of a long-term quest for improvement. "These initiatives will help us improve the quality of the services and academic programs offered to our students in nearly every aspect and will definitely move UMC toward the ultimate goal of becoming an exemplary polytechnic university,” says Sargeant.
Posted 08/27/2001
Contact: Andrew Svec,
218-281-8435