As we move through the fall 2021 semester, our Office of Student Success continues to work diligently to create a transformational advising system that shepherds students in their educational journey and empowers them to learn, grow and develop as individuals and future professionals. Our team frequently connects with students to help them engage with the support systems that are designed to maximize the student experience. The team also partners with instructors to encourage reporting student challenges, prompting effective outcomes and enhancing academic success rates.
Our newest major, health and well-being, admitted its second class of students in August. It has been more popular than anticipated and enrolled more than 340 students in just two years. Students who desire to enter professional programs in healthcare, such as nursing, physical therapy, athletic training, occupational therapy and chiropractic, enter the Bachelor of Science track and take additional math and science courses. Students who wish to work in non-school based health-related organizations, such as hospitals and community centers, enter the Bachelor of Arts track.
CPASS currently has our largest enrollment in College history, with 1,547 students. To put this number into context, enrollment has increased 21% at the undergraduate level over the past four years and a total of 31% overall. This increase is the result of vigorous recruitment efforts and consistent focus on student retention.
Staff and faculty hosted prospective students and their guests on Oct. 23 at Discover WVU, a full day exploring all things WVU. On Friday evening, activities ranged from exercise sessions at the Student Recreation Center to Dine with WVU. Saturday’s festivities featured financial aid presentations, walking tours, lunch, admissions and housing pop-up offices, a fall festival in Woodburn Circle, information fair and the first Mountainlair Green games.
Open house events and academic sessions highlighted our programs and our fantastic staff and faculty. We met soon-to-be students at our welcome session and then broke out into major-specific presentations with program coordinators. We showed off our building and chatted about student organizations, networking opportunities and hands-on learning as stepping stones to student academic and career success.