Dr. Gayle Ormiston, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, reported total enrollment is essentially steady, with 13,324 students this year compared to 13,321 at the same point in the fall 2015 semester. Approximately 300 late registrations are expected to be added before the end of this semester. Last year’s final student enrollment was 13,631.
Ormiston added that the university’s retention rate, or the percentage of students who returned to Marshall, is up about two percent. This marks the third straight year of retention gains.
The board’s approval of a development firm is the first step in exploring the possibility of a public-private partnership that would provide new housing, parking and academic facilities near the university’s health sciences campus in Huntington’s Fairfield community.
According to university officials, the recent opening of the School of Pharmacy, the growth of the School of Medicine, and the development and expansion of several new post-graduate training programs has attracted more than 1,000 graduate, professional and post-graduate students, giving urgency to the need for expanded facilities. Also under consideration is the possible relocation of the School of Pharmacy from the VA Medical Center in Spring Valley to the main health sciences campus.
At today’s meeting, university officials emphasized that selection of a development team does not obligate the university to undertake any specific project and that the first order of business will be to conduct a study to determine the need for housing and additional parking. If the university and developer decide to move ahead with the project, the university will work with community members and other stakeholders to ensure they are part of the development process.
In other business, the board approved revisions to university policies related to discrimination and harassment and student rights and responsibilities. They also approved an intent to plan a new degree program—a master’s of pharmaceutical sciences, and accepted a report on tuition waivers and an investment earnings update.