THE
NICHOLLS WORT H Thursday, September 22, 2011
Volume 57 Issue 6
Lagniappe | page 10
Sports | page 7
Editorial | page 14
Retention rates increase By Kami Ellender staff writer
photo by maryna fowler
Zeringue Hall shines its lights at sunset Tuesday.
Moving On Up
Demand for campus living exceeds regular capacity By Ashley Falterman editor
With the demand for housing exceeding the regular capacity by at least 200 students, the University is working to accommodate all applicants by putting two students in each private room, using rooms that have not been remodeled and also looking into future plans of building new housing for at least 200 students. According to Eugene Dial, vice president for student affairs, one of the biggest problems is the number of people who apply for housing late. About 200 housing applications are received between the last week in July and the second week in August. “Regular capacity for housing on campus is 1,149. Right now we
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have 1,405 students living on campus,” Dial said. It was the University’s understanding that the repairs and construction in Calecas Hall would be completed by the week before the start of the fall semester. “When the repairs were not completed on time, we had to use rooms that were not finished and also open up Babington and Ellender Halls,” Dial said. Members of Housing and Physical Plant Operations met Sept. 6 to discuss the repairs needed. By Oct. 1 the finalized plans will be ready to bid out to contractors. The remaining repairs and construction of Calecas will begin in December and will be finished by the fall of 2012. Calecas will look like a new building when done, Dial said. “The
roof is new, the windows are new, the walls will be redone and the built-in closets and desks will be replaced with more modern sets.” The older buildings are being kept open for students who cannot afford the more expensive rooms in the newer buildings. “For those students who cannot afford the more expensive ones, we will try to provide the best place we can in the older buildings by remodeling them,” Dial said. “One of the things we are going to have to do as an institution is figure out how we are going to accommodate students next year. We will not have enough room to house everyone that would like to live on campus. We may have to result in approaching local hotels and renting them out as facilities,” Dial said.
Between now and November, the University will determine what type of housing will benefit students the most. New housing options may include another set of dorms like Scholars and Zeringue Halls, another apartment building like La Maison du Bayou or even the possibility of Greek housing, Dial said. The location of the new housing is another question, Dial said. “If we build in the green area near the new dorm, then we have to think about the added parking that would also be needed. Another option is to move the softball field, we could build near that area and then convert the rest to parking,” Dial said. The projected date for the new construction project has not yet been determined.
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According to the initial enrollment data for fall 2011, the academic capability and retention of students at the University is increasing. Laynie Barrilleaux, vice president of academic affairs, said that the administration’s attitude toward the LA GRAD Act is to treat the goals as opportunities. Gov. Bobby Jindal announced the GRAD Act in February 2010. The GRAD Act gives colleges and universities increased independence and flexibility in exchange for a commitment to meet clearly defined statewide performance goals, including raised graduation rates. “We were doing these things long before the GRAD Act came out, but it does force us to watch the numbers and be conscious of things on a day-to-day basis,” Barrilleaux said. “We are taking this time to show the state what we have been doing and the progress we have made.” According to the University web site, the retention of first-time freshman students is 70 percent, which exceeds the GRAD Act requirement of 68.1 percent. Also, the average ACT score for firsttime freshman students is 21.7, exceeding the national average by 0.6 points and the Louisiana average by 1.6 points. Renee Hicks, executive director of planning and institutional effectiveness, said the retention rate is based on students who began class last fall and are enrolled again this year as of the 14th class day. “We got to set our goal for see ENROLLMENT page 6
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