Sept. 3, 2014

By Kimberly Wethal

Chancellor Richard Telfer said he is ready to “roll up his sleeves and get to work” during the 2014-2015 State of the University Address.

Telfer began his address  on Aug. 25 by stating that UW-Whitewater had made progress since his last address a year ago. Enrollment, student retention rate and number of returning students to campus are at its’ highest in years.

“When I spoke to you last year, we had just registered our highest first-to-second year retention rate,” Telfer said. “I am happy to report that the preliminary numbers for the retention rates of the students that started in the Fall of 2013 and have now come back for the Fall of 2014 will be over 80 percent.”

This is the second highest retention rate in history, falling just short of the retention rate of students who started in the Fall of 2011 at 80.3 percent.

The university also had its second highest number of applicants for enrollment this fall, with the number totaling 6,800. In turn, the university will welcome a freshmen class of 2,100 students.

“This will be one of the five largest classes ever,” Telfer said. “The incoming class has a higher average ACT score than the previous year, or the previous year, or the previous year. What I’m trying to say is, we have a rising trend of seeing an increase of ACT scores of the students coming to UW-Whitewater.”

The incoming freshmen class is coming to UW-Whitewater with an average 3.25 GPA.

Telfer said he feels the rise in average ACT scores and high school GPA’s are a “good indicator of the strength and health of UW-Whitewater.”

During the address, Telfer focused in on the experience of students and staff members through the themes of welcoming, inspiring, challenging, accomplishing and supporting, which are common responses when Telfer asks students why they chose Whitewater. Personal testimony videos were shown from past and present students and staff to drive his message home.

“I’m the only college kid in my neighborhood,” senior Jordan Moncivaiz said in his testimony video about the theme of inspiring. “If I’m home for break or something, he (Moncivaiz’s brother) can say, ‘Oh, my brother’s home, maybe he can help you with your math homework or your science project.’ Because if you don’t help others, how are they going to get the opportunity to grow and become successful in their futures?”