Message From the Interim Provost
So Much to Celebrate!
Last Thursday was a great day for Southeastern's 92nd birthday party. The sky was blue and the Student Union Breezeway was decorated with green and gold
balloons, banners, and a table full of green and gold cupcakes! Students and faculty enjoyed the sweets and the comradery.
To help document the celebration there was also a "bucket list" station with a blank
poster and green markers where students could record an idea for, "92 things you want
to do at Southeastern before you graduate."
There were a variety of responses including such things as "Visit Turtle Cove," "climb
Pottle," "take a selfie with Dr. Crain," "build a computer," "win a national championship"--
the responses were as diverse as our students. It was so energizing to see our students
scramble around the poster to read what others had written and to share a thought
on something that could make the time at Southeastern even more memorable. These students
know that Southeastern is a great place to be.
Today is another day of celebration. We have some wonderful news about enrollment! Thanks to the efforts of so many dedicated faculty and staff our numbers are up! We could probably make a list of 92 things that contributed to these increases, but
let's just celebrate the results. The following are excerpts from a recent press release.
Southeastern Louisiana University today reported its enrollment of 14,308, including
the largest class of incoming freshman students in 10 years. Incoming freshman students increased by 4.5 percent from 2,617 to 2,737, accompanied
by growth in new transfer students by 24.5 percent from 428 to 533; and new graduate
students by 6.1 percent from 198 to 210. In addition, both new and continuing undergraduate
and graduate student categories, as well as the total course hours taken by all students,
increased.
Southeastern's freshman to sophomore retention rate saw a substantial increase from
62.6 percent retained from 2015 to 2016 to 65.9 percent retained from 2016 to 2017,
a 3.6 percentage point increase in first to second year retention.
I know these numbers are not where we want them to be but they do show that our efforts
are making a difference. We are all Southeastern -- and at 92 we have new energy and
more exciting days ahead!
So, to all of us, Happy 92nd Birthday! Let's have the best year ever!
