{"id":2886,"date":"2016-09-22T07:30:06","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T11:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=2886"},"modified":"2016-09-22T07:30:06","modified_gmt":"2016-09-22T11:30:06","slug":"what-a-larger-student-body-means-for-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2016\/09\/22\/what-a-larger-student-body-means-for-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"What a Larger Student Body Means for Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY: SEBASTIAN DUNCAN – STAFF WRITER<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

With 401 first-year students, the Centre College class of 2020 is the largest in history. Riding a wave of new scholarship programs, Centre\u2019s successive classes are often touted as diverse and increasingly qualified.<\/p>\n

Some of Centre\u2019s upperclassmen have voiced concerns about the college\u2019s population growth and its sustainability. However, according to Centre\u2019s administration, an increase in student population was planned in advance and is a positive force on Centre\u2019s campus. The enrollment growth is aimed at making Centre a more diverse and vibrant school, with greater national influence.<\/p>\n

According to Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Bob Nesmith, a plan to increase school size has been in play for a while. \u201cWe have grown as a result of an intentional choice, dating back several years, to become a college of about 1,425 students,\u201d Nesmith said. \u201cThat decision was reached through a planning process that included faculty, staff, students and trustees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nesmith stated that Centre started enacting a plan in the mid-2000s that would increase the student population from 1,200 to 1,500 students. This growth would occur under the condition that Centre\u2019s faculty, staff, and facilities could support a larger student body.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2012, we evaluated our progress, our capacity, and our potential for further growth\u201d, Nesmith said. \u201cWe determined that we could grow to around 1,425 students without major facility changes, and we judged that it would make Centre better if we could do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

The administration’s goal was to make the college a school of 1,425 students by 2016 or 2017. That goal has been met with the class of 2020, which has brought the student body to 1,430 students this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, right now, we are \u2019at our mark\u2019 with our current enrollment,\u201d Nesmith said. \u201cOur class goal for Fall 2017 will keep enrollment more or less stable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nesmith believes that Centre\u2019s growth in the past decade is an exciting and positive change for the college. A larger student population will increase the college\u2019s potential for national and international influence, and it should improve Centre\u2019s community as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are more vibrant, more dynamic, more talented, more diverse, and more national,\u201d Nesmith said. \u201cWe have a broader array of opportunities, academically and extracurricularly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nesmith also added that he thinks Centre\u2019s new numbers will make \u201cthe work of [his] office easier, not harder.\u201d \u201cWe are a more interesting, more engaging, more vital college community,\u201d Nesmith said. Nesmith believes that Centre\u2019s community will attract more talented and intelligent individuals to campus. This includes prospective faculty members in addition to students.<\/p>\n

Since Centre has reached its goal for student population growth, the size of the college should continue to stay stable for the moment.<\/p>\n

However, some adjustments have been made to deal with Centre\u2019s larger student body.<\/p>\n

According to Director of Student Life and Housing Ann Young, changes were made over the summer to accommodate the class of 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe [purchased] two houses for student use, and moved some staff members around to gain more student bed space this summer\u201d, Young said. \u201cIf we continue to have the numbers we did this year, we will need to make some other accommodations.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the moment, student population growth won’t be an issue that the housing and facilities offices will have deal with in the near future. Since the size of Centre\u2019s population will remain stable, there will continue to be enough space, staff, and faculty to support all of Centre\u2019s students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must admit, it was an incredibly busy summer; when you are as full as we are, any movement of students has a domino effect and you don\u2019t just move four, you move eight, or twelve,\u201d Young said. However, she has a very positive attitude to her increased workload.<\/p>\n

Young views the increase in student population as a positive change for Centre\u2019s community. \u201cA large first-year class and a great retention rate of last year\u2019s students is a great problem to have,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n

Although the record-setting size of the class of 2020 has increased the workload for some staff working in facilities and housing, it has been mostly a positive change for Centre\u2019s community.<\/p>\n

Staff, faculty, and facilities will continue to support students as well as they have in the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY: SEBASTIAN DUNCAN – STAFF WRITER With 401 first-year students, the Centre College class of 2020 is the largest in history. Riding a wave of new scholarship programs, Centre\u2019s successive classes are often touted as diverse and increasingly qualified. Some of Centre\u2019s upperclassmen have voiced concerns about the college\u2019s population growth and its sustainability. However, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}