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WKU Freshmen Get First Taste of College Life This Week

Kevin Willis

WKU's freshmen are learning what it's like to get up for an 8 a.m. class. The M.A.S.T.E.R Plan orientation program for first-year students is underway Monday at the campus in Bowling Green. Students will attend sessions dealing with issues like time management, study skills, and getting along with people who look and think differently that you.

WKU's associate Vice President for Enrollment Management, Brian Meredith, says the school tries to do all it can to convince first-year students to attend M.A.S.T.E.R Plan.

"They're signing what's known as the 'Committment to Commencement', that they'll do everything they can to go to class and get involved. And we will match that effort with our support--mentoring, tutoring, anything like that over those four years to get them graduated," said Meredith.

Meredith says schools that have grown their enrollment over the years like WKU have the challenge of convincing prospective students they'll receive individual attention on a growing campus. 

Another issue is handling incoming students who will need to enroll in remedial classes. WKU's Coordinator of College Readiness, Sharon Hunter,  says the university makes every effort to communicate with incoming students who will need to take remedial coursework.

"We let students know where they are, so that when they come to college hopefully they're already prepared. If they're not, we'll meet them where they are. We know that if we can get a student through their developmental or supplemental work in the first year, we double their chances of graduating with a baccalaureate degree in six years," said Hunter.

Fall semester classes at WKU begin Monday, August 27.

Kevin is the News Director at WKU Public Radio. He has been with the station since 1999, and was previously the Assistant News Director, and also served as local host of Morning Edition.
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