by JAY EVANS
Reporter

(WARRENSBURG. Mo.) – UCM experiencing growth in Full-time Undergraduate and Transfer students.

Four weeks into the 2017 Fall semester, The University of Central Missouri is experiencing growth in two significant areas of focus: new full-time undergraduate students and transfer students.

UCM President Charles Ambrose said, “Enrollment growth among first-time undergraduates is particularly significant when considering the heavy competition for the pool of graduating high school seniors, which has been flat or down in Missouri in recent years.

“We are grateful for the hard work of our admissions and enrollment management team who do a great job explaining and showcasing UCM’s excellent value proposition,” he said.

Mike Godard, vice provost for enrollment management, said as of the end of the first week of classes, first-time undergraduate enrollment is up approximately 5 percent compared to the opening week of classes in fall 2016. The number of undergraduate transfer students have increased by approximately 3 percent over the same period.

“We’ve done a lot more personal outreach, including telephone calls and text messages, but most importantly, we are undertaking more outreach to high schools and personally inviting students to visit UCM and meet our faculty and experience all that our campus has to offer,” Godard said.

University Director of Admissions, J.D. Gragg said emphasis of importance when recruiting is personal outreach.

“UCM is known for having a personal touch,” said Gragg. “We’ve eliminated all electronically automated e-mails, phone calls, and text messages to ensure we are making a personal connection from day one.”

Gragg also said he attributes the growth in enrollment to an increased university presence in neighboring states.

“We now have admissions representatives in both Chicago and Overland Park, as well as a representative who focuses on states such as Iowa, Nebraska, and Kentucky,” said Gragg. “Because of this, we’ve seen our numbers from out-of-state students really grow.”

A recruiting strategy focused on out-of-state enrollment potentially provides more funding.

“With some of our new resources and another year of establishing our identity in these neighboring states, we hope to see another 5 percent increase next year,” said Gragg.