Marshall’s Smith optimistic about future enrollment at the school – WV MetroNews

GLADE SPRINGS, W.Va. — School leaders at Marshall University are enforcing plans and highlighting key industries of success within the institution to hopefully attract more students.

Marshall University’s Board of Governors (BOG) met with school officials during their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday at the Resort at Glade Springs. University President Brad Smith told the board that the school has a plan to address a declining enrollment over the past 13 years, and address a fiscal deficit of $28 million.

“We’ve been working very hard every day to strengthen our day-to-day execution, but we declared very early on, this is not a turnaround, it’s a transformation,” Smith said Tuesday.

The “Marshall For All, Marshall Forever” game plan was introduced last spring, an effort to build on life-long learning for students at Marshall. The plan

Marshall’s President said school officials work has involved executing a “strategic enrollment management plan.” This plan covers 10 different student groups including veterans, adults, and metro and transfer students. Part of the goal for the plan is to increase access to more than just high school seniors, according to Smith.

“We’re trying to create a tailored experience for each of those 10 student groups,” Smith said, who said the number of online, metro, and transfer students are above previous trends for 2024.

Smith expects a strong enrollment in the years ahead.

“Our year-over-year retention of students is trending up right now at 2.8% above where it was last year,” Smith told the BOG.

Smith said the university has six areas where they believe they can find great success for their students in finding future employment. He said these areas show promise for the campus, the community, and even the nation.

The six areas listed by Smith that Marshall is excelling in are: cyber security, health sciences, advanced manufacturing, advanced energy, aviation, and entrepreneurship.

“If West Virginia wants to be successful in the 21st century, it has areas that it can actually compete in where other parts of the country cannot.”

The industry with arguably the most success and a promising future at Marshall is cyber security and forensics.

The state legislature during its special session this week passed a bill to allocate $45 million to the university for a 78,000 square foot building that will house 13 labs dedicated to the cyber security industry. The building is planned to be built across the street from the Old Main building on campus. It would be just the second facility like it in the nation as far as a university being a “hub” for cyber security curriculum in the U.S.

“Our students continue to demonstrate that Marshall University has one of the most distinguished programs in the United States,” Smith said about the cybersecurity program.

President Smith also touted increasing enrollment numbers for other listed industries, especially in aviation.

The Board of Governors also approved the naming of the proposed academic health system to “Marshall Health Network, Inc.” and approved a resolution for the President to proceed with naming discussions for baseball spaces.

Board members also received reports from Provost Dr. Avi Mukherjee, Student Body President Walker Tatum, School of Medicine Dean Dr. David Gozal, and Shared Governance Committee Chair Dr. Robin Riner.

The board said the report given by the president was “impactful.”