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Enrollment increases for CU, PGS and GRTS

Amena Anderson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:14:03 +0000

By Amena Anderson

Overall student enrollment increased this year for Cornerstone University’s undergraduate program, Professional & Graduate Studies program and the Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.

CU’s undergraduate population increased three percent, PGS’s students by 10 percent and GRTS’s students by 19.07 percent.

Lisa Link, director of CU undergraduate admissions, said last year her team got together to create a plan of action for enrollment.

“We made a lot of different decisions last year to strategically think about new initiatives,” Link said. “Looking at scholarships, are we offering the right scholarships, are we offering the right amounts in the scholarship and really just trying to figure out if the scholarships and the programs for scholarships were comparable to other schools.”

Link said also that admissions’ counselors are traveling more and CU campus visits have increased.

“I think we have a better streamline process with campus visits, so I think that was a huge factor,” Link said. “Our visit program has grown a lot in the last two years.”

CU is also building relationships in the community by talking with pastors and guidance counselors, Link said.

After a four year decline in student population, this is the first year the undergraduate program has seen positive results.

In 2005, CU had its largest undergraduate population with 1,384 students, but the next four years resulted in an 18 percent decline, according to Registar Gail Duhon.

For Fall 2009, undergraduate students numbered 1,180 with 423 new students and 757 readmitted and returning students.

Link said she is uncertain about why enrollment took a dive, but suggests that the economy might have played a part.

“I think there’s a chance that the economy was really starting to affect us then,” Link said. “Knowing that in order to help the university sustain itself, you have to have a certain amount of tuition……with the economy kind of take a downward turn then, but yet tuition continues to increase, I think that could be one of the factors.”

The economy also was linked to changes in CU undergraduate’s retention rate this year.

“Our five-year average freshman to sophomore retention rate is 69.08 percent,” wrote Kay Landrum, director of student retention, in a prepared statement. “We had worked to increase this to slightly over 70 percent return rate for the Fall ‘08 student group, but felt the current economy affected our return rate for this fall.”

Landrum also said “exit surveys of freshmen indicated finances as the primary factor [for leaving CU].”

The director of student retention said other important factors include “academic preparedness” for a college course load “as well as a positive experience and excellent education once students arrive.”

Although the numbers were low, Link said positive changes have occurred as a result.

“We’ve had new majors get created. We have new marketing that we are sending out to students, Link said. “We are going to have a new Web site that will attract families, so maybe some of the things that we didn’t have then, we have now which will only help to keep us going higher.”

Unlike the undergraduate program, PGS and GRTS’s new student population has increased continually during the past five years.

The unstable economy has actually brought many new students to PGS, said Sandra Upton, dean of business programs.

“You have so many business leaders who are, because of the crisis, trying to reinvent themselves because they don’t know what’s going to happen or something has happened,” Upton said. “They’ve lost jobs or they’re not sure what might happen so they are attempting to be proactive in furthering their education so that they can be in a better position for new opportunities.”

The addition of the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program (TESOL), masters in business administration and the associates of science in human services programs at PGS have attracted more students, said Keith DeBoer, PGS director of student services.

Laurie Wittbrodt, PGS director of enrollment, said there has been growth within the associates of science in business studies program, and Rob Simpson, associate provost, mentioned the new PGS location in Lansing, Mich.

Although PGS is increasing in West Michigan, DeBoer said it’s decreasing on the other side of the state.

“The other side of it is, in Detroit, we’ve decreased over the last four years from approximately 300 to right around 50,” DeBoer said

But Simpson pointed out that the decrease was intentional “to take resources and put them back into this region.”

“A part of the reason is this is the market that people recognize the Cornerstone name in,” Simpson said. “They know who Cornerstone is in this market. [In] Detroit, we were one of 28 competitors and that’s how they looked at it and so here, [in West Michigan], we are one of the handful of schools and a very recognized name in this market.”

At GRTS, President Douglas Fagerstrom said 425 students are projected for next fall.

In 2005, GRTS had 223 students and, through the past five years, has increased 44.7 percent.

Fagerstrom said many factors have led to increased enrollment at GRTS including the efforts of the admissions team.

“The first thing is quality faculty and a high standard of academics with a reputation for academic excellence,” Fagerstrom said. “[In addition,] a stellar [and] outstanding admissions team working closely with our Academic Dean John VerBerkmoes. Tara Kram has been creative, she’s been flexible, and she has led her team to the three all-time high enrollments over the last three semesters.”

Tara Kram is the director of GRTS admissions.

Fagerstrom also said the urban cohorts, the development in online programs and the offering of evening classes have contributed as well.

‘Urban Initiative’ program extends to Kalamazoo

Katherine Wisen — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:19:09 +0000

By Karissa Ryan
Staff writer

The Grand Rapids Theological Seminary is taking the Biblical mandate of “Go ye….” to heart and extending their “Urban Initiatives” program to Kalamazoo.

The program will offer both a certificate to non-degree seekers, as well as a Master of Arts in Ministry Leadership degree.

GRTS first saw the need to extend its services to those in Grand Rapids, and after four years of discussing with urban leaders, the “Urban Initiative” began in the fall of 2008. Soon after beginning the program, GRTS began receiving calls from all over Michigan, including Benton Harbor, Muskegon, Lansing and Kalamazoo.

“We realized that we needed to explore bringing theological education to these city leaders,” said Douglas Fagerstrom, president of the GRTS. “The most aggressive requests we received came from Kalamazoo, so we believed that was our first venue off site.”

Students include pastors, church ministry leaders and any others who are currently involved in urban ministry.

The goal of the “Urban Initiative” program is to bring extended studies to those who are capable but who have also been limited in the past, whether that is due to financial problems, time restraints, or a location problem. This first class will consist of about 30 students, all from unique backgrounds and areas of ministry. Students will meet every Monday night for three hours at the Galilee Baptist church in Kalamazoo.

Unlike Cornerstone’s Professional and Graduate Studies Program (PGS), these classes are not condensed and will take a full semester to complete. The Master’s program will thus take six years, with each course lasting the full 14 weeks. For those not seeking a degree, the program is not quite as long.

Non-degree seekers and degree-seeking leaders alike will begin “Systematic Theology 1″ this fall. In the next few years, they will have completed “Systematic Theology 2 and 3,” “Biblical Theology,” “Biblical Hermeneutics” and “Social Ethics.” After these courses, only those wishing to obtain their master’s degree will continue.

While the program has only officially been around for one year, Fagerstrom has been involved with urban ministry leaders for the last five years while serving as president of the GRTS. He said he is “personally grateful to God that he has called us to serve those who serve the under-served in our urban population.”

He continued to share how successful the Grand Rapids initiative has been, measuring it by the colossal amount of positive feedback he receives from these leaders. Many have shared how it has already impacted their preaching.

Tara Kram, director of the Grand Rapids Theological Seminary admissions, has helped to facilitate the recruitment and the admissions of these students. She shares that in the year with the Grand Rapids cohort, it has been wonderful to see how God brings leaders from very “unique communities in and of themselves [who] normally might not have interaction with one another,” and that a benefit of the program already is the bringing together of leaders despite social or denominational class differences.

But they aren’t the only ones being impacted. “It’s important to see how urban leaders are influencing the Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and this is sometimes overlooked,” Kram said. “An even more important thing is what they are bringing to our community here.”

While the hopes are to extend the training into more communities, right now, according to Kram, it looks as though the program will simply be adding more cohorts in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. Muskegon is a possibility for January, and although Lansing and Benton Harbor have been looked into, they are on hold at the moment. But with interest expressed as far away as Detroit, this will continue to be one way that the GRTS fulfills the biblical mandate of “Go ye…”

World Journalism Institute a positive learning experience for Devaney

Tim Devaney — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:33:14 +0000

Before I really knew Manny Garcia, he pulled out his wallet and handed me one twenty dollar bill and one five dollar bill.

Then he asked for the five dollar bill back, and he gave me a second twenty dollar bill instead.

The money covered an expensive taxi story I was writing for the World Journalism Institute in Manhattan. I was the student reporter, he was the instructor. And Manny, a former Miami Herald editor, didn’t want me to go shorthanded.

That told me something about him from day one. It told me how much he cared about reporting. He was a nice guy, a gentleman, all that. But even more he had a fire for reporting, and he was passionate about passing that on to his students.

And that was true for all the professors and staff at the World Journalism Institute. WJI brought in the all the best speakers and teachers from CNN’s Clayton Sizemore to The Indianapolis Star’s Russ Pulliam. They went all out to give us first-class experience so we could succeed.

“My goal is to end up giving you the torch,” Garcia told us. “You move it forward and you keep it relevant from what you learn here.”

Anthony Bradley (Covenant Theological Seminary) taught worldview, and helped us incorporate our Christian faith in the workplace.
Michael Longinow (Biola University) was an outstanding encourager. He kicked off the journalism portion of the course with many smaller assignments to prepare us for the big project that we worked on throughout the course.
Manny Garcia (El Nuevo Herald) boosted our efforts with an investigative edge that gave more depth to our stories.
Clayton Sizemore (CNN) labored with us over our videos, as we filmed, logged, edited and produced video stories.
And Kenny Irby (Poynter Institute) placed the finishing touches on our projects by helping us complete photo stories.

Each of these professors are experts in their fields. So we learned from the best, ensuring top-notch quality. And they were constantly encouraging us to pursue excellence.

“You have to write better than they do. Not as good as, better,” Longinow told us about the fierce competition ahead. “You have to stay out on streets reporting longer than they do.”

“Come early, leave late. Be relentless,” he added. “Doesn’t mean you have to be a workaholic. Just means you have to be driven and passionate. That will gain the respect of people who don’t know Christ.”

They encouraged us to look for diverse perspectives to tell the story from different angles.

“When other people zig, you zag,” Longinow said. “The crowds going left, you go (right)….I bet there’s a story over there and I’m going to find it.”

It wasn’t easy. It was a challenge. But it was worth it.

“It’s long hours – this career is long hours – and it can be like a battlefield,” Garcia said. “It’s like a war. You’re in a war because you want to get the story. You fight the battle…It’s a battle you got to learn things. You got to learn it on the fly.”

“We’re in a tough (economic) time right now, but this is the key: People will always need information,” he added. “And that’s what you can report and give them.”