Case’s vision yields record enrollments
Increase by 70 percent, with more students headed
to Case for fall 2005
May 2, 2004 | For more information: Susan
Griffith 216-368-1004
Case Western Reserve University’s vision to build a powerful
learning environment for its undergraduates has yielded one of its largest
incoming first-year classes. Fall 2005 first-year enrollments are up
70 percent, with 1,152 students indicating they plan to come to Case
to begin their university education in the fall.
“Very few universities or colleges can report this kind of increase
in admissions that Case experienced this spring,” said Christopher
Munoz, Case vice provost for undergraduate enrollment.
Since the arrival of President Edward M. Hundert, M.D., two years
ago, the university has begun implementing a new vision that restructures
the research university and invests millions in new interdisciplinary
learning at Case. Part of that vision is that no major research university
can be powerful without a strong undergraduate program. The Case vision
focuses on boosting graduate and research programs in addition to the
undergraduate education programs; reshaping the campus environment,
building a strong academic medical environment that focuses on solving
real world problems through community partnerships, advancing institutional
values and culture and developing the resources of faculty, staff, alumni
and community partners.
The environment, according to the president, will transform the students
through their experience at Case. With the undergraduate education foundations
in place through a new program called SAGES, the enrollment reflects
the response of students seeking this transformative experience.
Kate Pollard, of Westfield, Ind., turned down Dartmouth College and
Emory University to come to Case. “Case stood out for a variety
of reasons,” she
said, pointing out the appeal of the science and
music programs as well as opportunities to participate
on the varsity swim team.
The new class will have more out-of-state students like Pollard, more
women and more students seeking degree programs in the arts and humanities.
Dramatic enrollment increases were across campus with arts and humanities
up 103 percent over 2004, engineering (89%), management (91%), sciences
(50%) and undecided (69%). The mean SAT score of 1347 is an increase
over the 2004 average score of 1324.
Munoz attributes part of the increase to casting a wider net out to
more than 100,000 students interested in a four-year education at a
major research university and then targeting these students with special
mailings and communications streamlined to their interests.
Praising the Case faculty, Munoz said faculty participated in new ways
to meet potential students and tell them about Case and the experience
they will encounter during their educational experience here.
The new learning and new living options are an integral part of the
Case vision for the incoming students, according to Munoz.
SAGES DRAWS STUDENTS
When students arrive on campus in the fall, the incoming class will
experience a new kind of education through SAGES (Seminar Approach to
General Education and Scholarship). Piloted for the past three years,
all incoming students will participate in the seminar-based program
regardless of their major. Classes will be taught by faculty from arts
and sciences, dental medicine, engineering, law, management, medicine,
the Mandel School of Social Sciences and nursing.
During visits to campus, students experienced mini-SAGES classes such
as one based on Pulitzer Prize-winning comic artist Art Spiegelman.
Given Spiegelman’s new book, In the Shadow of No Towers, the students
discussed topics related to 9/11 and then attended a public lecture
by the artist to give them an opportunity to experience campus life
at Case.
The seminar-based program builds mentoring and advising relationships
between students and world-class researchers and leaders in their disciplines
that will last their four years on campus. Students will participate
in seminars that combine exploration, engagement and excellence in writing,
thinking and research skills in their first three years, with a culminating
Senior Capstone experience in their fourth year that can range from
staging an original play to undertaking a scientific research project.
SAGES incorporates the vast cultural resources of University Circle
and the Cleveland community in the classes.
For instance, SAGES students learn about popular music in a class at
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and taught by popular music
experts like Warren Zanes, education director at the Rock Hall. SAGES
mobilizes the expertise of teachers on and off campus to expose students
to a wide range of experts and viewpoints.
During their years at Case, the new students will have opportunities
to live in the new $126.4 million, environmentally-friendly North Residential
Village complex on East 115th Street. The first phase called Village
at 115 is scheduled to open this fall. The complex offers a variety of
housing options from individual living quarters to nine-person apartment
units, many with kitchens and living rooms. University life in the complex
will be enhanced with such facilities as a Starbucks, fitness center,
small library, indoor bicycle storage, laundry rooms, wireless Internet
connections and a convenience store. The housing is nearby athletic
fields and a 1,200-car garage.
Many factors brought new students to Case. Opportunities to study in
fields like engineering and the arts attracted
Emily Longstreet of Fayetteville, N.Y. “I’m coming to Case
because it’s the only place
I can be a dancing engineer.” She will have a mentor in Case’s
associate professor of theater and dance, Gary
Galbraith. He is an engineering alum from Case, who became
a principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance
Company in New York.
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally
recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering,
Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
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