The sphere of MU’s influence is expanding both in its student body and its geographic reach due to this year’s freshman class.
As of the first day of classes, 6,560 freshmen were enrolled at MU, a record high and a 6.4 percent increase from 2011. Total enrollment saw a 2.8 percent increase and total out-of-state enrollment grew by 11.6 percent, according to the Division of Enrollment Management.
Record-breaking freshman classes have become the norm, and MU’s entrance into the Southeastern Conference for athletics has opened up a new region of the country from which to attract students.
But though freshman class sizes can increase by hundreds, available on-campus housing for students cannot be built at the same rate.
“It takes us, from concept to opening a brand new residence hall … three years, at least,” Director of Residential Life Frankie Minor said.
The newly announced Virginia Avenue South residence hall will hold 330 beds but is not a cure to all issues that come with housing students, Minor said.
His department also has to deal with returning and transfer students who want on-campus housing. Those students, combined with freshmen who missed the priority deadline, can number far more than the additional beds the new hall would provide.
As of Aug. 15, 5,836 freshmen had contracts with the Department of Residential Life, and every one of them had a living space. However, some adjustments had to be made, such as converting study rooms in Hudson and Gillett halls, which were student rooms before renovations, back to their original purpose.
Some students have also been assigned to share a room with student staff members who normally have their own rooms. The arrangements are temporary, Minor said.
“What’s going to happen is we begin to identify no-shows or we get cancellations … then we’ll start moving those students out of those temporary spaces,” he said.
Residential Life has had to institute a cap to the amount of contracts it offers, a limit which has decreased by half since it was introduced.
Though there has been some dissatisfaction from returning students, housing freshmen remains Residential Life’s top priority because they have to get accustomed to a new environment, Minor said.
“(As a returning student) you know your way around, you know where all the buildings are on campus, you’ve kind of got it down now,” he said. “So that’s why we focus on the freshmen, because they’re just much more vulnerable.”
Though Residential Life can’t directly affect enrollment, the department is in constant contact with the MU offices that can, especially the Office of Enrollment Management.
“There’s a group that meets every week … and talks about enrollment (and) shares pieces of information,” Minor said. “So we’re constantly sharing data back and forth, doing our best to say, ‘Here’s what I think the freshman class is going to be based on my set of data. How does that compare with your set of data?’”
MU is still working to expand its student body, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Ann Korschgen said in an email.
She said MU recently had a record-high graduation rate and that MU provides students with good experiences and educational opportunities.
Korschgen also said Residential Life was able to work well with the Office of Enrollment Management.
“They’re totally open to working with us,” Korschgen said. “I can’t think of any domain in which we’re at cross purposes.”
Overall, Residential Life is embracing a booming student population, Minor said.
“Personally, I am supportive of making a Mizzou educational experience available to as many students as the institution can reasonably manage given its resources,” he said in an email.