• Enrollment up: A total of 5,562 students enrolled as of the official census date Sept. 25, 2017, including a 16.2 percent growth in the number of new freshmen. The total includes 5,321 undergraduate students and 241 graduate students and represents an overall increase of 3.2 percent over 2016-17 official enrollment. The number of new freshmen increased from 854 last year to 992 this year. Fall 2017 international enrollment was 119 students from 34 countries.
     Additional marketing and enrollment management efforts plus the addition of six new sports contributed to the enrollment growth. Missouri Western added men’s and women’s cross country last fall, and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field this semester. Another area of growth was in dual credit enrollment, with about 18 percent more high school students taking class for credit at Missouri Western compared to last year.
    In addition to attracting new students, Missouri Western continues to meet its goals for retaining current students.
  • Kayla White ’17 graduated with a physical therapist assistant degree and earned the rare feat of a perfect score on her national licensure exam from the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy – 800/800.
  • The student chapter of The Wildlife Society was recognized as the International Student Chapter of the Year for 2017, the third time Missouri Western has been chosen and the highest

    Student chapter of The Wildlife Society with its latest award

    honor that can be given to a student chapter. It is the only chapter in Missouri to ever be selected for the honor. Each year, the students volunteer thousands of hours with Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge, Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Share the Harvest program, which supplies venison to families in need.
    The chapter also partnered with Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph to restore a variety of native wildflowers to their field surrounding the hospital. Cary Chevalier is the group’s advisor.

  • Brittany Losensky ’17, was the winner of the 2107 Trails West!® poster competition. The Allied Arts Council of St. Joseph sponsored the regional contest and poster submissions were open to the public. Losensky was part of the Graphic Design IV class that submitted over 30 entries.
  • Students in the fall Journalism Broadcast Lab debuted the first student-produced sports show at Missouri Western in September 2017: Griffon Update Sports. Bailey Ketcham, a convergent journalism major, served as the producer/host; Amaree Martin, a communication major, served as producer/director; and Gannon Cornley, journalism major, hosted with Ketcham.

Griffon Update Sports ran bi-weekly throughout the semester, highlighting all Missouri Western
sports and featuring games, players and coaches.

Students also continued Griffon Update, which highlighted people, places and events on campus
and in the region. Dr. Robert G. Nulph is faculty advisor for Griffon Update and Griffon
Update Sports.

  • The Chamber Singers were selected to perform this month at the Missouri Music Educators

    2017-18 Chamber Singers

    Conference and In-service at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri. This is the highest honor a choir can receive from the state. It is the Chamber Singers’ first appearance in a decade.

  • Gary Clapp, associate professor of chemistry, is helping to coordinate a $2 million 21st Century Learning Communities five-year grant to provide laboratory experiences for five rural school districts in Missouri.