BGSU draws approximately 85-89 percent of its total enrollment (including BGSU Firelands) from Ohio. Any shift in Ohio’s population is eventually reflected in student population. What’s in store for BGSU as the state’s demographics continue to shift?.
What do you see as the most potentially significant effects of these demographic shifts for the University?
10:53 pm - 8-29-2008
As a classified staff member at BGSU, I’m surprised at just how much we don’t cater to non-traditional students. I’m a secretary for a graduate program and we don’t offer any evening office hours. Many of our students are non-traditional, part-time students and some of our required courses are only offered in the afternoon, not in the evening.
With assistantship funding getting tighter and tighter, I expect we’ll see many more students who will be attending on a part-time basis and who will also be holding down full-time jobs.
For some of our non-traditional students, letters of reference from people in academia are a stumbling block in the applicaton process. They’ve been out of school for so long that their former professors have retired or wouldn’t remember them. Taking the GRE can be intimidating after being out of school for many years.
We will need to offer a different set of services to attract older students.
We will need to find new ways to do business with our students.
We may need to look at the application process and the time-to-degree limits and adjust them according to our new student population.
On the other hand, many non-traditional students have increased focus and motivation.
I feel very fortunate to have been able to participate in the Strategic Planning process at BGSU as a member of the “Change Team” appointed by President Ribeau. I really hope my fellow classified staff members will participate in the process that will be unfolding during “Charting Our Future” week. I’ve learned that no one on this campus is a “justa” – just a secretary, just a groundskeeper, etc.
9:51 am - 9-9-2008
Being a Non-Traditional student returning to school was a tramatic experience in it self. The larger campuses were intimidating so I decided to enroll in BGSU Firelands.
I agree, taking the placement test alone was one tough thing for me as I have been out of school 33 years. Things have changed in that time with Technology being the biggest part of it. I had to train myself to navigate around the simple basics of the computer and get tutoring from the Learning Center just to write an essay. This process alone was a major step for me and other Non-Traditional students alike.
I would like to see a short training session on the basic use of technological gadgets such as simple email and use of the BGSU home page, also just a short training period for the use of the calculator. Just these two simple things can make life and the transition back to school so much easier and make the college experience so much more enjoyable.
11:09 am - 9-9-2008
I’ve been here three years as an instructor. I, too, have been surprised to learn how much more we could be doing to tailor educational opportunities to the needs of non-traditional students in terms of programs and course times.