MAC summer enrollment up
The Mineral Area College Board of Trustees were told of a welcome uptick in student enrollment when it met in regular session Thursday afternoon in the VanHerck Boardroom on the school’s Park Hills campus.
Presenting the 2018 summer and fall enrollment reports, Dean of Students Jean Merrill-Doss said, “In many months where my cup has been upside-down but I’m still trying to be positive, this time it’s actually right side up and nothing’s spilling out yet.
“For summer enrollment we’re currently at 702 students enrolled in 3,900 credit hours, so we’re up 83 students and about 500 credit hours compared to where we were last year. We do have the summer Pell Grant available this year for the first time in a few years, so I know Financial Aid has been doing a tremendous job trying to get that word out to students.”
Merrill-Doss described the community college’s current enrollment initiatives as “huge.”
“We’ve been having tables out in the concourse area just trying to grab anybody that walks by who’s not enrolled to enroll,” she said. “They’re actually doing an event at College Park housing tonight to try to capture some students there.
“Fall is up as well — not as much, but it’s up. We have 687 students enrolled in about 8,000 credit hours, so we’re up 13 students and 375 credit hours. We’re going to take every single one of those. Hopefully our efforts are paying off and we’ll be able to continue that.
“I think as of this morning we had about 1,100 currently enrolled students who had not registered for fall. So, we are beginning the strategy to work on that particular group of students. We’re letting students know the money is there because for the last few years we did not have summer Pell Grants available. We’re hoping that will help.”
Following Merrill-Doss’ enrollment report, MAC President Dr. Steve Kurtz announced that the 2018 Central Methodist University commencement ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. May 19 in the Bob Sechrest Fieldhouse.
In other action, the board heard reports from Phi Theta Kappa, the MAC Foundation, Classified Staff and Faculty Forum. There was an update given by several faculty members on festivals, fairs and competitions involving MAC students and/or held on the school’s campus and local radio personality Mark Toti was recognized for covering the trustees meetings for more than 30 years.
Dr. Kurtz gave his monthly State of Missouri report on legislative activity in Jefferson City, and at the end of the meeting presented the Strategic Plan Progress Report.
The next regular session of the board of trustees takes place at 2 p.m. May 10 in the VanHerck Boardroom.
“We’re letting students know the money is there because for the last few years we did not have summer Pell Grants available.” — Jean Merrill-Doss, MAC dean of students
Mineral Area College President Dr. Steve Kurtz, standing, presents the school’s Strategic Plan Progress Report near the end of Thursday afternoon’s monthly meeting of the school’s board of trustees.
Mineral Area College Director of Development Kevin Thurman presents the April MAC Foundation report at Thursday’s board of trustees meeting. He has been away from the job for an extended period of time undergoing treatment for cancer.
MAC Board of Trustees President Jerry Sullivan, left, presents an enlarged photo of the school’s employees to local radio personality Mark Toti who has covered trustees meetings for more than 30 years.
Kevin Jenkins is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-518-3614 or kjenkins@dailyjournalonline.com
