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“line-height: 120%;”>A recent Ashland University press release has

touted the fall 2010 freshman class to be one of the largest

incoming classes in the past 15 years. However, at a time when

going to and staying in college is tougher than ever, the question

for AU administrators and faulty is how did the school bring in

such a large sized class-and how will they work to retain

them?

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“line-height: 120%;”>Colleen Murphy, vice president of marketing

and enrollment management, addressed these questions with

assistance from Thomas Mansperger, director of the Office of

Admission, and Kathy Stone, director of Student Success and

Retention.

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“line-height: 120%;”>“President Finks has identified retention as a

university goal for this year and a priority for the next 10

years,” Murphy said.

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“line-height: 120%;”>According to Murphy, the Student Success and

Retention university committee is working to analyze data to

predict and address several factors that contribute to students’

success at AU, such as high school GPA, financial needs and when

students apply for admission.

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“line-height: 120%;”>“Our goal is to reduce a student’s number of

risk factors, thus helping them to be successful and persist at

Ashland University,” Murphy said.

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“line-height: 120%;”>The efforts of the Student Success and

Retention committee will reflect the current, large-sized freshman

class, which is comprised of 630 new students.

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“line-height: 120%;”>According to Murphy, AU has been reaching out

to more and more prospective students over the past two years,

gathering around 25,000 student inquiries this year compared to

10,000 inquiries in 2008.

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“line-height: 120%;”>“As the inquiry pool grows, we take things one

step further by looking deeper at these students to determine their

fit with Ashland University,” Murphy said. “We may then adjust how

we communicate to the student.”

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“line-height: 120%;”>Murphy said that along with the addition of

three summer visiting programs and the appeal of the campus and its

facilities, the university’s marketing has played a big role in

attracting students.

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“line-height: 120%;”>“I do believe that marketing played a positive

role in this class,” Murphy said.

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“line-height: 120%;”>She also said the look and content of all the

messages sent to prospective students and their families remained

consistent. 

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“line-height: 120%;”>“The university also did a lot with search

engine optimization, which allowed students and their parents to

find us using the Internet,” Murphy said.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Murphy also cites advancement in student

contact, pointing to the improved student calling program and

revamped tour guide program as being “vital part[s] of recruiting

students.”

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“line-height: 120%;”>Murphy also emphasized the establishing of

connections and relationships between students and the university

within the first six weeks of classes via admission representatives

and resident assistants.

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“line-height: 120%;”>These efforts have been attempted through

initiatives that echoes sentiments expressed by President Dr.

Frederick Finks during his all-institutional meeting at the

beginning of the school year, according to a press

release.

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“line-height: 120%;”>“I believe that making connections and

relationships is critical in getting students to be successful and

to stay at Ashland University,” Finks said at the

meeting.

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“line-height: 120%;”>According to Murphy, AU’s fall-to-fall

retention rate for the 2009-2010 academic year was 69.91%, with

around 30% of freshmen not returning to AU.

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“line-height: 120%;”>“Ashland’s retention remains at or about the

national average,” Finks said in a recent interview with the

Ashland Times-Gazette.

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“line-height: 120%;”>“However, I am not pleased with average. Our

whole campus is focused on retention this year.”

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“line-height: 120%;”>Murphy said that incoming freshmen

participated in online assessments to measure their academic

motivation, their general ability to cope and how receptive they

are to support services.

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“line-height: 120%;”>These College Student Inventories, or CSIs,

were completed by 428 students and will be used by professional

advisors and the Accent on Success faculty to address potential

academic, attendance and behavioral issues.

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“line-height: 120%;”>“Our goal is to reach out to students who

might be experiencing problems early in the semester and provide

the support that they need to be successful,” Murphy

said.

“line-height: 115%;”>According to Murphy, a goal of 625 new

freshmen for next year will be maintained with the addition of 64

nursing students and plans to enroll 116 transfer students,

including those in the Dwight Schar College of Nursing

program.