News from Mayville State University in North Dakota -- Tom Seymour Awarded

Mayville State Alumni Association Awards Luncheon
Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 11:30 a.m.

MSU Campus Center Luckasen Room

Enjoy a delicious meal and celebrate the achievements of the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients. Broc Lietz, William Rindy, and Thomas Seymour are this year's recipients.

To add to the festivities, the MSU Concert Choir will perform and lead the audience in singing the Alma Mater and the Comet Fight Song.

RSVP by September 30 to alumni_mail@mayvillestate.edu or 701-788-4750.


Mayville State University’s First-Day Headcount Enrollment Is Up by 13.5%

First-day figures show that Mayville State University is experiencing significant enrollment increases in all categories this fall. The first-day headcount enrollment is 824. This represents a 13.5% increase over the first-day headcount for the fall of 2008, and the largest headcount at Mayville State since 2005.

The first-day enrollment numbers are preliminary. Official final fall semester 2009 enrollment figures will not be computed until mid-September, when all North Dakota University System institutions calculate final enrollment data. Fall Semester 2009 classes began at Mayville State University on Monday, August 24.

“It looks as though our freshman class will increase appreciably this year,” said MSU President Dr. Gary Hagen. “We expect this will be the largest freshman class at Mayville State since the fall of 2005. This is very exciting, and we are confident that our new programs and initiatives geared toward retaining students will be beneficial.”

Through a new program which began last fall, freshmen at Mayville State have the opportunity to enroll in a course developed especially for them. The course, Seminar on Success (SOS), is a one-credit class designed to help students become acclimated to the university and community, and to teach skills that will help students achieve their goals while attending Mayville State, and beyond. The course is one of the benefits of the U.S. Department of Education Title III grant that Mayville State was awarded in the spring of 2007.

The increase in the number of freshmen is contributing to the fact that the number of full time students enrolled and the full time equivalent figures are up considerably, according to first-day figures. The number of full time students enrolled has increased by 22% when compared with fall 2008 first-day figures, and the full time equivalent has increased by just over 18%.

“We’ve initiated a number of campus projects over that last couple of years that are making a difference at Mayville State. These include not only physical plant improvements, but program offerings and changes in the way our programs are delivered. We are making great strides toward providing meaningful and flexible educational opportunities for the people we serve,” said Dr. Keith Stenehjem, MSU Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Mayville State is in the midst of several significant physical plant projects, including the construction of a new coal-fueled heating plant and an addition to the science and library buildings that will provide a new home for the Division of Education and Psychology. In addition, the university’s largest residence hall will be renovated to provide apartment-style living arrangements for students.

Mayville State University, the nation’s first Tablet PC campus, is a personable rural campus. Featuring technology-enriched education in which full-time, on-campus students are issued a Tablet PC notebook computer, MSU is nationally identified for teacher education, the largest academic program on campus. Business administration and computer information systems are also popular majors on a campus known for the personal attention provided to its students. Newest programs include clinical lab science, fitness and wellness, sports management, communication, and a teaching major in early childhood education.

The mission of Mayville State University is to educate and guide students, as individuals, so that they may realize their full career potential and enhance their lives. This is done in an environment that reflects that university’s tradition of personal service, commitment to innovative technology-enriched education, and dynamic learning relationships with community, employers, and society.