Student senate had a meeting last Thursday to meet with special guests President Dr. Fred Finks, Provost Dr. Frank Pettigrew and the vice president of faculty senate, Michael Hudson.

Finks opened the meeting by discussing and updating students on various topics. One of the first topics was MedCentral and the future of the nursing programs.

“The nursing program will give us a springboard to do some great things,” Finks said. “It will be a really exciting opportunity.”

Finks then touched on plans for campus after the demolition of Miller Hall. The university will launch a $150 million campaign to create new buildings, programs and scholarships.

Finks also reported that freshmen-sophomore retention dropped to 69.7 percent; this is a slight decrease from last year’s 69.91 percent.

Sophomore-junior retention stands at 85 percent and junior-senior is 92 percent. Finks said the university hasn’t really started to initiate retention programs.

“We hope to start recruiting better students,” Finks said. “The better the student; the more likely they are to stay here.”

Finks also announced that the university hopes to undergo a $450 thousand project to revamp the wireless network over the summer.

Hudson and Pettigrew reported that faculty senate will be looking at the new global competency requirements very soon.

Pettigrew reported that the Accent on Success program has been finalized.

“We feel very good about [Accent on Success],” he said. “There are exciting things happening on the academic front.”