November 7, 2017

Page 1

Popular misconceptions about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Sigma Alpha Epsilon revives a tradition to raise money for charity

OPINION • PAGE A4

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2017

SPORTS • PAGE A8

WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

VOLUME 93, ISSUE 22

New institute to address retention rate, student success BY REBEKAH ALVEY HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU

will name a couple of different states and cities in Kentucky,” Hunter said. “That has been something that has been going on for months.” WKU also offers the Tuition Incentive Program to qualified undergraduate students who are residents of specific counties in Alabama, Arkansas,

A new operation at WKU will target issues of student success, retention and persistence to graduation to combat a recent decline in enrollment and graduation. The creation of the Kelly M. Burch Institute for Transformative Practice in Higher Education, or the Burch Institute, was authorized by the Board of Regents during the Oct. 27 meeting. John Paul Blair, interim vice president for development and alumni relations, said the institute will focus on research in retention, persistence to graduation and overall student success. “As a comprehensive institution, we need to do everything we can to get students to finish what they started,” Blair said. “Private philanthropy can help university investments to hold true to our mission.” The institution will be funded by an endowment made by faculty member and former faculty regent, Barbara Burch and her husband Ken Burch. Blair said the gift honors the Burch’s late daughter Kelly Burch, who was also a student and former employee of WKU. In the meeting, Burch said there are many people on campus who care about seeing students succeed. She said the institute will provide faculty, students and staff on campus with resources and support for success. “It’s exciting to think about creating something that doesn’t have to be confined into just a single unit,” Burch said at the Board of Regents meeting. Blair said the institute will address areas of high priority to the university. Drops in enrollment and graduation and their financial repercussions have been prominent issues in the past year. According to a recent Herald article, the Oct. 27 Board of Regents meeting also addressed a 3 percent drop in enrollment which resulted in an approximately $2.3 million loss in tuition revenue for the fall semester. The loss in revenue adds to the pre-existing $10 million budget deficit. Provost David Lee has collaborated with the Burches on the formation of the institution. He said the institution fills a need for an open part of the university, across disciplines, to generate new ideas and solutions for problems in higher education. “Let’s task people with being innovators, provocateurs, people who help us as a community think of innovative

SEE ENROLLMENT • PAGE A2

SEE BURCH INSTITUTE • PAGE A3

KATHRYN ZIESIG • HERALD

Bardstown junior and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity member Thomas Newcomb holds the fraternity’s flag out of the truck window and cheers on his fellow fraternity members on Friday as they run from Bowling Green to Nashville to raise money for charity.

SEE SAE RUN • PAGE A7

WKU sees continued drop in enrollment BY EMILY DELETTER HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU

W

KU has reported a 3 percent decrease in total enrollment, according to the Fall 2017 Enrollment Report provided by the Office of Institutional Research. Enrollment has continued to decline since 2012, from a peak enrollment of approximately 19,500 during the fall 2012 semester to the current total enrollment of approximately 17,200. Sharon Hunter, director of strategic enrollment management and retention support, said one reason enrollment was down was because of affordability. Students couldn’t afford to pay their tuition bill and weren’t allowed to register for the next semester, which in turn did not allow them to return to WKU, Hunter said. The current rate for a full-time, instate resident to attend WKU is approximately $5,100 per semester. Associate vice president for enrollment management Brian Meredith said the challenge was not because WKU is not affordable, but because of the many other financial pressures students face. “WKU has a very affordable tuition compared to other schools across Kentucky,” Meredith said. “Students and

families are still bearing that cost of higher education and billing in general, regardless of where they are.” Meredith said while the economy has improved, it has not necessarily trickled down to families trying to figure out how they are going to pay for college. “More of the burden of the financials in funding higher education has been on the backs of the families paying tuition,” Meredith said. Total international enrollment also

tives to help improve recruitment efforts. The Office of Admissions has expanded their recruitment regions and territories, including an expanse in participation in the National Association for College Admission Counseling Fair, or NACAC. Regional receptions are hosted by WKU all over the state and in several cities such as Nashville, Tennessee, St. Louis, Missouri and Cincinnati, Ohio. “If you look at the WKU events page you can see recruiting events, and it

“More of the burden of the financials in funding higher education has been on the backs of the families paying tuition.” Associate vice president for enrollment BRIAN MEREDITH

dropped by 28.8 percent. International students pay an international tuition rate to attend WKU, which is around $13,000 a semester. Meredith said one reason for the decline has to do with global politics, and added that many institutions across the United States have reported a similar decline in numbers. WKU is continuing several initia-

Residents return to sorority house following crash BY REBEKAH ALVEY & EMMA COLLINS HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU Residents of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority house have moved back into the house after a drunk driver drove into the house shortly after 12:10 a.m. Friday, according to residents of the house. Residents of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority house were able to move back into the house yesterday afternoon, Owensboro sophomore Sydney Schaad, a resident of the house, said. Schaad said a crew worked all weekend to temporarily repair the front part of the house, and there is now a temporary front door that no one can get in or out of. Schaad said everyone living in the house is okay. Franklin, Tennessee, senior Keaton

Woodliff, the sorority’s chapter president, said all repairs should be completed by the end of the week. Evansville, Indiana, sophomore Austin Fleck said he was standing on the porch of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house around midnight on the night of the accident when he saw someone turn left on Cabell Drive and lose control of the vehicle. Fleck said he saw the vehicle drive over a curb and through some bushes before pushing a white car into the front door of the sorority house. Fleck said the man tried to drive away after hitting the house, but he was stopped by a driver who pulled in behind him. Fleck said he ran over to the house to see if the residents were okay. He said some girls were crying but no one, including the driver, appeared to be hurt. TYGER WILLIAMS • HERALD

SEE ALPHA XI DELTA • PAGE A2

Alvaton freshman Russell Kerr crashed into the front door of the AZD sorority house around 12 a.m. on Friday Nov. 3. Residents of the house were evacuated on Friday and were able to return on Sunday.


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