Numbers for the class of 2017 are up compared to this time last year. The incoming freshmen will see slight changes to this year's general education system.
James Townsend, vice president of enrollment and marketing, explained that the numbers weren’t finalized, saying, “it’s generally recognized that May 1 is when students need to decide where they are going.” So far, 130* incoming students have paid deposits to secure their place at Goshen College.
The increase comes amid a larger push from admissions to recruit students. “The admissions staff has put in over 15,000 miles on the college cars just on recruiting trips,” Townsend said. “We were at more events and participated in more [college] fairs.” He explained that the college has also increased international recruiting, taking trips to India, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the Middle East.
The incoming first-years will be the second class to receive iPads from the college; they will also be the second cohort to pass through the new Goshen Core general education requirements.
The biggest change was in the removal of the one-hour Learning Community class. “We covered too many topics, but there wasn’t enough content,” said Ross Peterson-Veatch, associate academic dean. “We are going to go deeper into the topics that first-year students said were the most relevant.” The change had overwhelming support, receiving support from 78 percent of this year's first-years. "We also thought that was a good idea,” said Peterson-Veatch.
The iPad will still play a key role in the incoming classes’ life at Goshen College.
ITS director Michael Sherer reaffirmed that the iPad will continue to be used by the campus community. One change that upperclassmen will notice is a low-cost lease program for iPads. Older students will be able to rent iPads like they might a book, which will help the college as it continues to ramp up campus-wide iPad usage.
“We need to standardize the iPad across the campus so that it can be used pedagogically," he said. Sherer also explained that the college is also looking to add more support staff to better serve students. He also explains that while there is a lot of emphasis on using the iPads in the classroom, their functionality in professional and non-classroom settings should be emphasized.
“You can’t make brilliant use of the iPad without ever opening it up in a classroom. It can act as a professional reference bookshelf, professional tools, emulation and remote control functions,” explained Sherer. “The iPad can emulate a camera, voice recorder, and also official audio tools. That’s where you get value: when you can buy a five-dollar app instead of a 180 dollar piece of equipment.”
* Originally the story was printed and posted online with an inaccurate count of 200 students with deposits. This 200 student number represent's admission's goals for the fall semester and not the current number of students who have already made their deposits. We at The Record apologize for this inaccuracy and any confusion it may have caused.
