Fort Hays State University - Reveille Yearbook (Hays, KS)

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Even casual summer attire provides little escape from the morning heat as students race to class. MER SCHOOL A s students left the campus at the close of the spring semester, 2,582 students began arriving for the summer session. Dressed in the usual summer clad of shorts, sandals and tank tops, students lurked on campus under a record- breaking summer heat wave. Whether it was the thought of cooling off near a swimming pool, taking advantage of the sun’s rays with tanning lotion and a glass of iced tea, or melt- ing in unair conditioned housing, the heat seemed to affect studying habits outside the classroom. ' it was harder to get motivated to do homework because it was so hot out,” Donna Ross, Meade graduate, said. Even those students who out-battled the heat and were motivated to study often had to alter their learning schedule, especially when living in unair- conditioned quarters. 4 The heat changed my studying habits during the day, Scott Showalter, Goodland senior, said. It was so hot I mainly just loafed and had to do my studying at night when it was cooler. Although the summer term lasted a maximum of two months, classes were conducted each day, Academically, we achieved as much during the summer as we did during the regular school year, Dr. Ed Stehno, professor of education, said, A majority of the summer enrollment included parents, graduate students and teachers who re- turned to earn additional credit hours. This, indicat- ed Stehno, set a definite mood characteristic of the summer session. You saw a lot of new faces, and the people brought back so many experiences that the whole class could relate to. It was a much more relaxed atmosphere. Summer School 9

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8 Summer School

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ENROLLMENT ' 8 1 ■ n the waning days of a summer so hot no one I could remember its equal, a record number of | students arrived at the campus for the fall se- mester, Clad in the attire of a summer gone by, 5,863 students entered the balmy classrooms for the start of school. In just a year the enrollment had increased by 219 students. The expansion typifies a trend which began five years ago. The fall enrollment was nicely complemented in the spring when 5,222 students were present for enrollment. Why are more people venturing to western Kan- sas for their college education? The reason cannot be precisely pinpointed because it involves a vari- ety of factors. These factors range from efforts by the Admissions Office, to a campus-wide project by faculty, staff and students. Recently, college employees have focused their attention on the need to recruit students, For the past two years there has been a conscious effort by faculty and staff members to maintain campus pop- ulation, as well as to recruit new students, Dennis Schamber, assistant director of admissions, said. The employees recognize the need to maintain the population and therefore they have been making an effort to bring students to the campus. Another factor contributing to the increase was the growing state-wide respect for the university, Some of our enrollment increase stemmed from the quality which has come to be associated with many of our campus programs, Registrar James Kellerman said. This factor lured many students to the campus. Both Kellerman and Schamber agree that current students played a major role in the enrollment ef- fort. Satisfied students are the best sellers we have, Schamber said. Students who are pleased influence not only their younger siblings but also other high school students, Along with the other factors, world affairs includ- ing inflation, unemployment and rising prices con- tributed to the increased enrollment. Early in the summer, Uncle Sam made himself known once again. This time the issue was draft registration. Even before its acceptance, the regis- tration was the subject of heated controversy. With reinstatement, the United States took a big step toward a military draft. Many men saw the necessity to make some provisions to protect them- selves from the draft, and education was one solu- tion. Although the number of young men influ- enced by the reinstatement cannot be precisely calculated, Schamber said he thought the registra- tion played a major role in the enrollment increase. During the summer, prices continued to soar higher, while more people were either released from their jobs or simply could not find employment. For some, additional education seemed to be the logical answer. With more formal education people out of work figured they would have a better chance of obtaining employment. The final reason for the increase is an area of great concern to the college. Currently in Western Kansas the high school population is showing a steady decline. On the other hand, at the university level there has been a steady increase. The ground- work for a paradox of great concern to the school is layed because Western Kansas provides the major recruiting reservoir for the college. President Gerald Tomanek offers what he thinks is keeping the enrollment steadily increasing — despite the population decrease in Western Kansas. A higher percentage of those people graduating from high school are going on to college than in the past. One of the schools feeling the increase is Fort Hays. The future holds many challenges in store for the college. Wi ll the population continue to grow? Can the efforts of the staff and faculty continue to sup- ply enough new students? To cope with some of these questions the univer- sity is already initiating new recruiting programs in the urban areas of eastern and central Kansas. In the fall students were Familiarized with the campus when the Admissions Office sponsored student bus- ses to the campus for a weekend. To keep the trend alive more programs like this have been planned for the future. If similar programs and efforts remain strong, perhaps the answers to the proposed questions will be positive, and 1982 will signify the sixth year of the population trend.