Lynn Ratkey represented the Indiana Mizzou Crew in Columbia.
Leadership Weekend at Mizzou offered an opportunity to meet alumni and students from around the country.
Thursday night brought Alumni Association Student Board (AASB) members together with alumni in the field for a networking session. Students learned how to introduce a topic for discussion with alumni (what to say in an elevator) and this alum learned that the competition for student leadership positions at Mizzou starts as a freshman on campus!
Friday brought new alumni faces together to discuss Alumni Association goals for the upcoming year:
- Partner with the 16 Schools and Colleges
- Combine annual giving and membership
- Participation in the One Mizzou campaign
The goal is to have 45,000 Alumni memberships for 2014. At this time, only 17% of living alumni are members of the association, although we have over 270,000 living graduates. What I found interesting was that Mizzou magazine goes out to ALL the graduates of the university, whether they are active members of the association or not.
The Alumni Association is looking for ideas to get young alumni (5 years out and less), working graduates on campus, and legacy parents (parents of students on campus) involved and active with the Association in special ways.
Gary Link gave us an update on the state of athletic affairs, citing academic integrity, social responsibility and competitive excellence as his office’s goals. We have 11 women’s teams and 9 men’s sports teams. Our facilities are in upgrade mode (with all of the cranes in place). Currently we have 10,000 members contributing to the Tiger Scholarship Fund.
One of the most interesting sessions was meeting with Dr. Ann Korschgen, who is charged with Enrollment Management. Currently, we have the 2nd largest freshman class with an average score of 25.7 on the ACT exam. Mizzou was the fastest growing public college from 2001-2011. We have a six-year graduation rate of 70%. The campus population is made up of 27,000 undergrads, with a total enrollment of 35,000.
Essentially, she explained to us that with the birthrate falling in the Midwest, we need an increased presence in out-of-state markets as well as the tuition that those students bring to Mizzou! We are seeking high ability students in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas and Texas with recruitment representatives in Chicago, Dallas and Minneapolis. We have four recruiters out there, with Alabama having 35! Obviously they are trying to turn their athletic successes into academic futures! In an effort to stand out, Mizzou’s out-of-state Mark Twain scholarship has risen to $10,000, for eligible high school seniors that are in the top 50% of their class and a score of 27 on the ACT or 1220 on the SAT. Currently in Indiana, we have 66 students attending Mizzou.
Looking forward, Mizzou will be celebrating its 175th anniversary February 11, 2014! Watch for activities the entire year of 2014!