June 8, 2005 – Susan Hammons

Foreign, first-time freshmen enrollment up for summer at SFA

NACOGDOCHES — More foreign students and first-time freshmen are attending Stephen F. Austin State University, statistics for the first summer semester released today show.

Additionally, more students are seeking certification to teach the visually impaired, taking physical activity courses, studying to gain alternative admission to the university, studying fashion merchandising and interior design or seeking a master’s in English.

The number of foreign students enrolled in summer 1 is 59, compared to 37 in summer 1 2004, a 59.5 percent increase. This semester 93 first-time freshmen enrolled, compared to 83 in summer 1 2004, for a 12 percent increase.

The College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts increased both undergraduate and graduate students this semester, compared to summer 1 2004. The College of Fine Arts enrolled more graduate students, while the College of Sciences and Mathematics increased undergraduates.

Overall enrollment for summer 1 is 4,844, a 0.5 percent decrease from 4,870 in summer 1 2004.

Karyn Hall, assistant director of institutional research, said decreases in sophomores, juniors and seniors led to overall enrollment being flat. Those decreases continue to reflect smaller fall 2003 and 2004 entering classes after increased admissions standards went into effect.

“Our increased recruitment and retention efforts will help us increase overall enrollment in the future,” Hall said.

Stepped up recruiting activities are reflected in more first-time freshmen this semester, said Monique Cossich, executive director of enrollment management.

“The communication flow, expanded print and electronic communication and advertising are not targeted to just one semester,” Cossich said. “Students who show an interest in SFA and want to enroll in summer are given the same recruiting materials as a student interested in a long semester.”

Dr. Bob Herbert, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said the foreign student increase reflected recruiting efforts by Dr. Leon Hallman, director of international studies and programs, a climate receptive to foreign students at the university and word of mouth. An example of the power of the latter in attracting international students, he said, was that 11 students from Swaziland now attend SFA, compared to only one a year ago.

“I think we’re going to continue to see the number of international students rise,” Herbert said.

For summer 1, the College of Education enrolled 1,143 undergraduates, compared to 1,068 in 2004, a 7 percent increase. The college also enrolled 735 graduate students, compared to 690 last year, a 6.5 percent increase. Human services and principal preparation programs saw increases in graduate students, while human sciences and kinesiology reported undergraduate increases.

“We really have worked on partnerships with school districts, community colleges, and education service centers, not just in Texas, but out of state as well,” said Dr. John Jacobson, the college’s dean.

Bill Bryan, chair of the Department of Human Services, said a program for people seeking certification to teach the visually impaired usually attracts 30 graduate students in the summer but this semester enrolled 60. Most of the distance education course participants are special education teachers, who in addition to Texas, live in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Washington, he said.

Bryan said graduate enrollment in a “blindfold” course, in which prospective orientation and mobility specialists visually simulate what their future students experience, also doubled this summer.

Bryan’s department has worked with 20 education service centers in Texas. “They’re doing a huge amount of recruiting for us,” he said.

Jacobson said secondary education also added a principal preparation course in Center and increased the number of students in Carthage.

Students desiring to become more physically fit increased demand for physical activity classes and led to more undergraduate students in kinesiology, Jacobson said. “With the media attention on obesity, the public has had this heightened awareness,” he said.

Lynda Martin, chair of the Department of Human Sciences, said her department recently began an ambassador program in which SFA students visit with students in their local high schools and invite high school students to view special projects at SFA. This led to increases in fashion merchandising, family and consumer sciences, food nutrition and dietetics, and interior design enrollments this semester.

The College of Liberal Arts enrolled 612 undergraduates this semester, compared to 578 in summer 1 2004, a 5.9 percent increase, and enrolled 66 graduate students, compared to 54 last year, a 22.2 percent increase.

Pathways, an alternative admission program now in its third year at SFA, has continued to grow and is partly responsible for the undergraduate increase in liberal arts.

“I think it’s the success of the kids in the program,” Herbert said. “They work really hard, and I am proud of them.”

Herbert said about 75 percent of the students who enter this “academic boot camp” are successful in the structured living and learning environment and are admitted to the university in the fall.

Aggressive recruiting for the Master of Arts program in English and international graduate students studying English led to more graduate students in liberal arts this semester, he said.

Dr. Richard Berry, dean of the College of Fine Arts, attributed an increase of 13 graduate students this semester in fine arts to more students in the online master’s degree program in music.