Chapter 6
Campus Environment

 

6.2 Campus Environment

The expansion of the campus has enabled SVSU to serve all stakeholders in new ways. As discussed previously, the university has experienced growth in numbers as well as a shift in its student population. This has resulted in new residences and expanded support services to help students achieve academic success and adjust to life on campus. At the same time, services for students who commute have been maintained and enhanced. Formerly, many commuter students came and went from classes without lingering. As noted previously, night classes were as important to the schedule as daytime offerings. Students often took classes in the morning and evening, and went to their off-campus jobs in between. While that pattern still exists, it no longer predominates, and student life centers on the campus itself, even as the region has become more aware of what the university offers.

Admissions

SVSU’s admissions policies and practices are consistent with its mission and goals described previously. Freshman and transfer student applications for admissions are reviewed by members of the staff of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

Freshman admission requires an acceptable ACT (or SAT) score and a minimum high school GPA of 2.50. Those with a minimum 7-semester GPA of 2.00 may be admitted if test scores and extracurricular involvement indicate they likely would succeed in college. (High school graduates age 22 or older are not required to take the ACT or SAT). SVSU, along with the other 14 public universities in Michigan, requires that all admitted students meet core requirements: 4 years of English, 3 years of math, 3 years of social science, and 2 years of natural science. (Students who do not meet core requirements must complete them during their first year of study at SVSU.) As discussed previously, freshman enrollments have steadily increased.

Admissions policies and practices are reviewed periodically. For example, research in 1999 indicated that most entering freshman students who did not satisfy minimum high school GPA and ACT Composite scores did not succeed academically, despite developmental courses and academic support services, and either left the University or were dismissed after the freshman or sophomore year. Therefore, a new minimum set of admissions criteria was instituted to ensure all students were capable of academic success at the university. In addition, each of the graduate programs has instituted similar reviews to ensure that admissions policies and practices are inclusive in nature and provide necessary information to assess each student’s commitment and ability to succeed.

Transfer students are admitted with a minimum GPA of 2.00 in all college courses taken. (A student with less than a 2.00 may be admitted on probation and must achieve a 2.00 the first semester in residence.) Transfer student enrollments, which have reflected the decrease in community colleges enrollments in the State of Michigan during the past ten years, are just now beginning to increase. The number of transfer students enrolled for the 2003 Fall Semester of 2003 was 597, near the recent average of about 600 students. The University does not expect this pattern to change significantly for the foreseeable future, particularly until community college enrollments of university-bound students become more stable.

Admissions criteria in the graduate program are established by members of the faculty.
Graduate student enrollments have increased from 861 students in the 1995 Fall Semester to 1588 for the 2003 Fall Semester. These increases have derived primarily from significant growth in the three graduate programs in the College of Education. Other enrollment increases are due to the introduction of three new graduate programs in the Colleges of Arts and Behavorial Sciences and in Science, Engineering & Technology. In recent years this growth has stabilized to approximately 3.5% for the Fall Semester. The 2003 Fall enrollment was 95 students or 5.6% less than for 2002. While this appears to be an aberration (the essential shortfall being returning students), task forces have been formed for each of the graduate programs to determine what enrollments will be sustainable for the future.

A significant factor in the enrollment growth of the University has been the increase in the number and quality of First-Time-In-College (FTIC) students who have enrolled each Fall Semester, as comparisons between Fall 2003 and Fall 1995 (the years available in the current enrollment database) illustrate:

FTIC Students

Fall 2003

FTIC Students

Fall 1995
Number of students
1181
807
Mean GPA
3.21
2.92
% with high school GPA
3.5 or higher
36.6
22.8
Average ACT
Composite Score
21.28
20.86

Number of Presidential Scholars
(high school valedictorians/salutatorians)
102
33
Figure 6-1

This improvement is also evident in the fact that the FTIC average ACT Composite score has exceeded the national average for the past two years. The Fall 2003 average of 21.28 (the national average is 20.8), shows a significant increase over the average Fall 1995 ACT score of 20.86.

As indicated previously, an increasingly large number of these students now reside on campus. However, new technologies have also made it possible to serve a larger number of students more effectively and from greater distances. Students can apply for admission, monitor course availability, register, submit financial aid forms, and receive grades online. Interactions between faculty and students are facilitated by e-mail and course management systems such as Blackboard.

University expansion has also meant a new learning environment, including new classrooms equipped with smart podiums, conference rooms, lecture halls with distance learning capabilities, and new science laboratories and research facilities. Evening Services, which provides instructional support and facilities for adjunct faculty, has new larger quarters. Increased space has also meant improved offices for many full-time and part-time faculty and staff.

The growth and transformation of the campus is also evidenced in new energies. Student organizations have grown, extracurricular activities have expanded, and the wider community has become more involved in campus life, using university facilities for their own activities as well as participating in university-sponsored events. For example, the Conference and Events Center—a self-supporting unit, developed to handle increased demand for the use of university facilities—schedules and caters both campus and community events.

Many of these changes were possible because of community support. Through the “Creating the Future Campaign,” university alumni, faculty, and staff, as well as various community foundations, businesses, and civic groups, contributed to new building projects to accommodate this growth. Not only does the expanded physical space of the campus make the university more visible in the Tri-City area, but the organization of the space invites interaction and community engagement. A new, more visible main entrance to the campus will coincide with the widening of Bay Road, the main access highway to the campus.

Curtiss Hall, with the spacious Groening Commons, serves as a “front door” to the campus in many respects, especially for cultural events. The Curtiss Hall complex houses the university theater, a small outdoor arena, a “black box” theater, and a recital hall. These make it possible for the university to attract internationally known musicians for the Rhea Miller Concert Series and provide venues for student and faculty performances. The Valley Wind Quintet, the Student Marching Band, and Flutee, a professional artists-in-residence quartet, are among the SVSU groups that perform regularly. Practice and production facilities have been expanded.

Banquet halls and meeting rooms are available for campus and community use. Conference groups make use of the recital halls for plenary sessions, mingle in the Groenings Commons, and reconvene in adjacent meeting rooms for break-out sessions. A variety of community organizations as well as university groups use Curtiss Hall banquet facilities for their events. Legislative luncheons, the annual Martin Luther King dinner, and receptions for visiting scholars are held in these facilities.

The renovated and expanded Marshall Fredericks Gallery in Arbury Hall is connected to Curtiss Hall by a passageway that looks out on the campus courtyard. The Gallery and sculpture garden contain one of the most comprehensive collections of any single artist’s work in the world. This museum has consistently attracted the community to the university and is a frequent destination for school field trips. The University Art Museum is located in the same area as the University Art Department. Student art work is regularly displayed in the atrium and hallways that connect these units; these spaces have also proved to be gathering places for students and faculty.

Founders Hall, set apart from other campus buildings, is a smaller but no less popular site for lectures, performances, and community-sponsored events. Private parties may also rent the space.

The new Student Center, with a coffee house, convenience store, expanded bookstore, multi-function rooms, conference rooms, and an arcade room, helps meet the needs of both on-campus and off-campus students, bringing both populations together, and providing space for them to interact in student clubs, study groups, and social activities. The new Student Fitness Center allows the general campus population an environment to work out comfortably and conveniently.

As noted in the previous chapter, the renovated library also provides welcoming meeting places and collaborative work rooms for study groups, including the recently established residence-based study tables. The new café provides internet connections and offers a conversation and study center with an ambiance distinct from the regular cafes. The Roberta Allen Reading Room on the library’s new fourth floor, in addition to being an inviting reading room for students and faculty to enjoy every day, is a new venue for community cultural activities. A book club for Library Friends is being planned. The Ken Follett Papers collection, donated to the library by the author, also enhances the university’s reputation and brings to it increased community and scholarly interest.

In the new Regional Education Center, the Alan W. Ott Auditorium is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to enhance distance learning. These new facilities increase SVSU’s ability to serve as a resource center for regional educators.

While the buildings are attractive, accessible, and boast modern technology, it is what they represent that is more significant: they make the university more visible in the community and provide space for interaction, in both formal and informal settings.