Catawba College faculty and staff who gathered for their annual fall conference on August 10 learned that the institution will soon welcome its largest class of first-time freshmen since 2001. Three hundred and eleven first-year students will join the campus community and push the total headcount enrolled in the traditional day program to 967.
In the School of Evening and Graduate Studies, 301 students are currently enrolled.
Seven hundred and twenty seven of the 967 day students will be housed on campus, pushing the housing capacity available in the 13 residence halls. A non-traditional housing venue, Heath Hill, was brought online over the summer to help meet the demand and will provide beds for 10 upper class students.
College President Craig Turner, entering his second academic year at the college, encouraged the faculty and staff to engage in teamwork. He restated his seven strategic initiatives for the institution: to increase and stabilize enrollment at between 1150 and 1250; to complete a comprehensive review of all academic programs, curricula, and course offerings; to complete a comprehensive review of all non-academic programs, processes, and procedures; to examine and reorganize where necessary academic and non-academic structures; to focus on balanced annual budgets with small surpluses by stressing cost-cutting and cost-saving while gradually increasing tuition revenue; to increase marketing budget and expand marketing efforts; and to eliminate all deferred maintenance.
Turner cited comments made more than a decade ago by Jim Brewer of Winston-Salem, then outgoing chairman of the College Board of Trustees. Quoting Brewer, Turner said that having a "common purpose has been an elusive concept at Catawba," but noted that common purpose should be grounded in "quality, value, relevance and stewardship." (A complete transcript of Turner’s remarks is available online at www.catawba.edu).
While some athletes and resident assistants have already returned to campus, first-year students are slated to move in on Saturday, August 15 to begin five days of orientation. Upper class students move back on campus Tuesday, August 18, with the first day of class for the new academic year scheduled to begin Thursday, August 20.
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