Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

A newsletter for faculty, staff and students

September-October 2005 • Vol. 31, No. 5

A Great Start!

By Dr. Greg Weidemann
Dean and Associate Vice President for Agriculture

Dr. Greg Weidemann

Once again, a new school year is underway and students have returned to give our campus that energy and excitement that we all miss during the summer months. If you have tried to eat lunch at the Union or find a place to park, I'm sure everyone realizes that the campus continues to grow. This fall, nearly 18,000 students have registered for classes. Our college has been a large part of that growth. Our undergraduate enrollment increased 7 percent this fall, which is well above the overall campus rate. Nearly all programs increased over the previous year. Our largest undergraduate program is now apparel studies with 211 students followed by animal science, foods, nutrition and hospitality and interior design. Graduate enrollment declined this year but remains healthy at nearly 300 graduate students.

In 1997, the Chancellor set ambitious goals for the university to be achieved by 2010. Each college developed goals for student quality, retention and enrollment that will help the university reach its goals. Annually, the college reports progress towards these goals. I have previously shared with the faculty our progress report but thought I might highlight our progress toward a few measures for 2005.

Overall, we continue to improve and are making progress toward achieving many of our goals. While our 2010 goal of 2,500 students is ambitious, our undergraduate enrollment has increased 50 percent since 1997 and total enrollment has increased 44 percent. That's a remarkable increase and a testament to the dedication of our faculty and staff and the relevance of our programs to today's students.

This past year we awarded more degrees than ever before. A major priority for the campus is to increase our six-year graduation rate to 66 percent. I am pleased to report that this past year the graduation rate for the College was 64 percent - leading all colleges!  That is a dramatic improvement over the previous year. However, we will be challenged to sustain that level and we must continue to value and nurture each and every student as an individual.

New freshmen enrollment increased 26 percent, with 209 this fall compared to 165 last fall. This is a dramatic increase towards our 2010 goal of 267. Congratulations to the faculty, staff, students and alumni involved in recruiting activities for getting the word out about what Bumpers College has to offer in our 15 diverse majors.

Eighty-three percent of our freshmen enrolled last year returned this fall. This is very close to our 2010 goal of 85 percent. Again, this reflects outstanding effort on behalf of faculty, staff and upper-class students to provide a friendly, supportive, family-like atmosphere, as well as excellent academic programs that are relevant to the needs and interests of students.

Despite our improvement, we must stay focused on continuing to improve and address those areas where we are not on track to meet our goals. In particular, we are not seeing the improvement we desire in recruiting under-represented groups.

MANAGEMENT PLAN. Our management plan is finally nearing completion. Although the plan was drafted in November, significant editing and revision was needed to ensure uniformity throughout the document. Dr. Lyles and myself are concluding a final editing before it is forwarded to our communications group for development into a final document. Once the plan is completed we will distribute it to all of our units. This plan is the product of a long process that was the most inclusive in our history and will serve as our guide for the next five years. Our intent is to revisit the plan annually as we measure our progress toward the goals established.