Crookston (September 2016 updates)

News and Updates

Financial aid nights underway

The Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships has started scheduling financial aid nights at area high schools. The office will also be a site hosting the MOHE Statewide Financial Aid Conference at the end of the month.

Fall 2016 enrollment highlights

Fall 2016 enrollment for degree-seeking students is estimated at 1,821. This is a slight decrease from the prior two years but still near our record-high numbers. This includes a new cohort of students taking classes at the White Earth Tribal & Community College in Mahnomen, MN.

Summer graduates

The Office of the Registrar at the University of Minnesota Crookston congratulates its approximately 50 summer 2016 graduates.

APLUS/Moodle pilot

UMC has over 80 classes participating in the APLUS/Moodle pilot this fall.

Higher Learning Commission’s Persistence and Completion Academy

HLC’s Persistence and Completion Academy provides participating institutions a structured, mentor-facilitated, four-year program aimed at evaluating and improving student persistence and completion rates. Seven faculty and staff, including Ken Myers, Registrar, and Melissa Dingmann, Financial Aid & Scholarship Director, have been selected to be part of the UMC team. The team has been actively engaged in a Data Discovery visit and is preparing for the November conference being held in Chicago where there will be roundtable discussions and feedback from the Academy based on and driven by the data compiled by the team.

Comings and goings

• After 18 years of service, Mary Feller left the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships in late August to take a position at University of North Dakota.
• Welcome back to Kayla Pahlen who returned to the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships from maternity leave at the end of August. Ivy Jeanne Pahlen joined big brother Timothy at the end of May.
• Michelle Christopherson was named Crookston’s Admissions Director this past May. She previously held the position of Director of the Center for Adult Learning. The duties and priorities of CAL, along with CAL staff, have since been disseminated to both the Office of Admissions and to Liberal Arts & Education Department.

Kudos

UMC celebrates two anniversaries this year: it’s 50th year as an institution of higher learning and 20th year of offering online academic programs