Although students can easily find something to complain about, Ashland University has spent the last few years acquiring the necessary building blocks to form a brighter future.

Enrollment is on the rise, retention is at least becoming less of a critical issue and money is being added to the budget – half a million dollars’ worth – instead of jobs and funds being cut.

Over the last decade, four new buildings – Schar, Dauch, the Rec Center and the Dwight Schar Athletic Complex – have popped up on campus, along with the renovation and expansion of Kettering, and two more buildings are in the works.

Speaking of new buildings, one of them is for our new college. The Schar College of Nursing, formerly owned by MedCentral but now a part of AU, has brought the university new students, a new degree and even a cadaver lab.

AU has developed its own brand, with a new slogan and logo to reinforce the message, and even if “I am Ashland” hasn’t exactly worked its way into every Eagle’s heart, it IS stuck in all of our heads.

The point is, Ashland University has made great efforts in recent years to better itself and make a name for itself in the world of higher education.

In a way, it’s the university itself that’s proclaiming “I am Ashland” as it tries to draw in new students and stand out in people’s minds.

It’s easy to be critical, but at the end of the day, AU deserves credit for working hard to build a better foundation for the future of the school and its future students.

As Provost Dr. Frank Pettigrew told the Collegian in a recent interview, “We’re in a great period of time for the institution.”

Of course, nothing is perfect. As students and faculty who frequent the Center for the Arts, Andrews Hall or Kates are quick to point out, not all buildings on campus are shiny and new.

By this time of year, everyone’s sick of Convo, and talk of what next year’s tuition will be – higher, presumably – is already creeping into everyday conversations.

The dorm rooms are small, the bathrooms are gross and good luck getting permission to live off campus.

The latest gripe is WiFi, or the lack of it. Although improvements have been seen in recent weeks, many students are still struggling to get Netflix to load or restarting their computers just to get the Internet going.

But at the end of the day, these are not reasons to transfer schools or write off Ashland when talking to future college students.

Sure, no one wants to fight with their Internet after a so-so dinner at Convo and a day of classes in one of the buildings everyone else on campus looks down upon.

But any change worth making doesn’t happen overnight; AU learned this when its new website premiered with glitches galore and outrage all around last spring.

In terms of the big picture, however, Ashland University’s recent growth has been slow and steady, and the numbers suggest that its tactic is working. Again, enrollment is up, retention is stabilizing, and there doesn’t seem to be any signs of another decline.

Ashland University has the potential to become one of the best schools in the state someday, even if none of the current students will be around to see it.