Duluth (September 2016 updates)

News and Updates

Significant discussions

Campus prioritization continues to be a significant area of work for the campus. The faculty analysis is complete and staff analysis is in progress for aligning UMD resources and revenues.

Presentations of UMD campus climate

On Tuesday, September 13, UMD Chancellor Lendley C. Black invited the campus to hear the results of the campus climate survey that students, faculty, and staff participated in last fall. The primary goals of the project were to identify successful initiatives; uncover any challenges facing members of our community; and develop strategic initiatives to build on the successes and address the challenges that impact how community members experience living, learning, and working at UMD. UMD has already scheduled and invited faculty, staff, and students to participate in one of the follow-up Idea Sessions to help build action plans based off of the challenges and opportunities identified in the climate survey.

Fall Enrollment Highlights

Overall, the fall 2016 enrollment is estimated at 10,850 total (undergraduate, graduate, professional, and non-degree students). This is down just a bit from the official 10,878 count of fall 2015.

• New freshman enrollment is up more than 6% from last fall, with 2,130 freshman enrolled for fall 2016.
• Degree-seeking, undergraduate students are up 1.5% (9,076).

Schedule of classes highlights

• 4,187 distinct classes scheduled for fall 2016 (-139 classes from fall 2015).

Transfer credit highlights

• 3,721 transcripts were received by the UMD Registrar for articulation of credit decisions in 2015-2016.
• A total of 7,926 courses were reviewed by faculty for transfer decision, recorded and programed by UMD OTR.
• In 2015-2016, academic credit was received from 25 international institutions, UMD received international academic credit from 19 institutions for fall 2016, of which 15 were new institutions for UMD.
• In 2015-2016 Reverse Transfer:
• Twelve AA degrees were awarded by Lake Superior College out of 61 student who authorized records to be sent (19.7%) which is 7.5% of the total students invited to participate. Summer AA degree results have yet to be received.
• Nine students of the 12 AA degrees awarded have received their UMN bachelor's degree, 3 have reduced the number of liberal education credits required to complete their degree (estimated student savings at the non-banded rate of $5,948), 49 students will continue in the program for fall 2016.

APLUS Live!

As of September 1, Duluth began piloting APLUS with a limited number of staff. These staff will be piloting APLUS throughout the fall semester. About half way through the term feedback will be gathered with the hope that APLUS will then have an expanded roll out to the broader campus community for spring 2017.

Fall registration cancellation due to non-payment results

Duluth originally cancelled 29 students’ fall 16 registration due to non-payment of the prior term (Spring 16 or Summer 16) from an original list of 357 students. Of those 29 students that were cancelled, 21 of them have paid their past due bill, and 20 of them have re-registered for fall 16 courses. Many thanks to Deanna Nordeen in Student Financial Services for all of her hard work!

Comings and goings

• Kathy Peterson from the Office of the Registrar accepted a promotion and is a program manager in the Office of Financial Aid. Congratulations, Kathy.
• Kris Grant has left UMD for a new job. September 19 was her last day. Her position will be posted in the future, but for now, Scott Schweikert will temporarily provide coverage.

Kudos Duluth is one of Sierra’s Top 30 Cool Schools for 2016

The University of Minnesota Duluth has once again been named a "Cool School" on the Sierra Club's List of The Top 100 Green Schools. The list recognizes educational institutions and individuals across the country that demonstrate new and innovative approaches to school sustainability, environmental initiatives, and a commitment to leading the way in energy and environmental design.