Sept. 14, 2001
Issue4
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NMU Announces 10th-Day Figures

Enrollment and credit-hour averages have increased at Northern Michigan University this fall, according to 10th-day figures released by the institutional research office.

Total headcount is 8,302 compared with last year’s 10-day count of 8,245. The number of first-time, full-time freshmen is up by 115. Along with the increase in total enrollment comes a 3.2 percent increase in credit hours.

“All undergraduates are taking, on average, one more credit hour per semester,” said Paul Duby (institutional research). “That equates to 14,000 more credit hours per year. This encouraging trend is attributed mainly to the fact that 88.2 percent of our undergraduates are full time now; that figure has increased 10 percent over the last several years. NMU is becoming a traditional 18-24-year-old institution and non-traditional students represent a much smaller piece of the pie.”

Duby said incoming baccalaureate freshmen have an average grade point of 3.0 and an ACT score of 22.3. The latter represents the highest freshmen ACT average in Northern’s history.

“As we expand recruiting efforts in lower Michigan and other states, which we continue to do with increased success, it gets more competitive,” Duby added. “Those students have more choices and could easily go elsewhere. To attract them here, we need to establish a niche. We need to emphasize our overall messages of quality, affordability and individual attention in a high-tech learning environment.”

The number of students from Wisconsin and Illinois is up again this fall. There are also more students from the Upper Peninsula, despite declining high school graduation rates. Overall increases in undergraduate enrollment were offset somewhat by a decrease of 59 in the graduate student category. Duby said this fluctuation is due mainly to the cycles of some NMU programs, which recently completed cohorts.

Campus Response to Tragedy

Here is how NMU responded to the terrorist attacks (most recent first):

Stephen Grugin (music), announced that NMU's "Pride of the North" marching band will lead a patriotic half-time show at Saturday's NMU vs. Hillsdale football game, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Superior Dome.

•An ecumenical service was held at noon today in the University Center in observance of the National Day of Prayer and Mourning.

•The College of Arts and Sciences organized a Sept. 13 forum called “Coping with Terrorist Attacks: Campus Perspectives.” Participants included Sheila Burns (psychology); Chuck Ganzert (CAPS); James Green (philosophy); Robert Kulisheck (political science); Greg Warchol (criminal justice); Gene Whitehouse (professor emeritus, history); and ASNMU president Nathan Leach

•Classes were canceled at 1 p.m. Tuesday Many students and employees stood in line for up to two hours to donate blood at the U.P. Regional Blood Center. That same evening, the university hosted seven informal gatherings across campus to discuss the day’s events.

•ASNMU distributed yellow lapel ribbons—a symbol of peace—to those wishing to show their support.

NMU Students Join Bridge Walk

Twenty NMU students participated in the 44th annual Mackinac Bridge Walk on Labor Day as part of a state program promoting alcohol-free lifestyles among college students. Pictured (from left) are Jolene Nelson, Sandy Herland and Laurie Malecki.

About 150 students from eight Michigan colleges met at Lake Superior State University on Sunday, Sept. 2. They participated in a series of activities designed to create new friendships and foster statewide alcohol-free campus connections.

After a short night together in the university gym, they were bused to St. Ignace to take part in the bridge walk. "Our intent was that the students from the different universities would get to know each other and see that there are students from all across the state who choose safe and healthy lifestyles without alcohol," said Lenny Shible (health promotion specialist).

Four members of the NMU contingent were volunteer mentors while the remaining 16 were new students.

"It was a really good opportunity to bond with the incoming students in the mentor program," said Bethany Socier, junior, elementary special education. "When you're in a car with someone for that long you really get to know them."

The Mackinac Bridge walk was just one of many activities sponsored by a $14,000 grant that NMU received from a Michigan Department of Community Health statewide initiative called the Alcohol-Free Peer Social Mentoring Program.

Labor Day walkers had to contend with high winds, but all students from the eight participating Michigan universities completed the hike. "I think it was a wonderful success," Shible said. "Any time you can have so many students get to know each other you've accomplished something great."

NMU's mentoring program, administered by the health promotion office, is called The Link. It is part of the statewide mentoring program called Campus Connections. The Link has 10 mentors and 35 freshmen participating in the program.