Dear Colleagues,
I want to welcome you again to Fall 2011 and share with you the exciting news that we have met our goal of 12,000 students by 2012—a year early! This is a testament to your hard work, dedication and ambassadorship. In fact, our enrollment today is 12,176, up from 12,012 on opening day Monday.
Here are some additional facts about our students:
· This is the largest freshman class ever at 1,463, an increase of 17 percent over last year.
· The freshman class is more diverse than last year, an increase of 9 percent, for a total of 34 percent of students.
· The average high school GPA is 3.48.
· The average ACT is 22.75. Florida's ACT average is 19.
· Transfer students increased by 5 percent.
· Freshman-to-sophomore retention is 75 percent.
· We have 65 total classrooms, with 83 percent holding 60 or fewer students.
· Twenty percent of our students are fully online this semester.
· Housing is at 100 percent occupancy, at 1,865 students.
I am delighted to welcome the Fall 2011 students and look forward to the many accomplishments we will make this academic year. This semester, we will finish the Academic Visioning process, make strides on updating our campus master plan, put together a team to help align planning and budgeting, work toward university-wide assessments, continue construction on a new premiere College of Business facility and the 252-bed Presidents Hall, and begin developing the next version of our strategic plan. Additionally, we will make strides in enhancing student life. If you have not seen the video describing our student life vision, please take a moment to view it at http://www.uwf.edu/imaginethis.
Above all else, we will provide a high quality education for our 12,176 students. We will change their lives as we prepare them for all the opportunities of their future. It is a wonderful time to be a part of the University of West Florida. Our academics are strong, and our horizon is full of possibilities. Thank you for making this possible. Go Argos.
Sincerely,
Judy
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