Meredith Herald
Volume XV, issue 14
We attract bright, talented, ambitious students. Naturally we’re a women’s college. January 13, t996 \ ^7-
On the
inside:
Spring semester brings new faces to MC
□ The 23+
and WINGS
programs are
explained.
Page 2
□ Meredith
welcomes new
Residence
Directors.
Page 2
□ Civil Action
is not much of
either, says
reviewer.
Pages 4
Meredith Herald
at
Meredith College
3800 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 760-2824
FAX (919) 760-2869
Email:
carterd@meredith.edu
□ Students from all
around transfer here
for the Spring semester.
Lisa Gilliam
Arts & Entertalnmeni Editor
Approximately 25 to 30 new
transfer students, including
women from Kentucky. Flori
da, Michigan, and New York,
jusi began their first semester
here at Mereditli College.
Transfer orientation for this
spring of 1999 began on Mon
day, Jan. 4. Students go
through much of the same ori
entation as new students who
begin in the fall, but at a much
fa.ster pace. From 9 a.m. to 11
a.m. resident students gathered
for check-in in the Johnson
Hall Rotunda. Commuters
were to arrive at 1:30 p.m. The
opening session and family ori
entation began at 2 p.m. fol
lowed by a reception for fami
lies and Introduction to Cam-
pu,s Life E'air
New freshmen then had their
first academic advising se,ssion
while tran.sfer students met
with the registrar. The evening
concluded with a dinner for the
transfers with their student
advisers and student organiza
tion presidents. Transfer stu
dents do receive student advis
ers just as new students do in
the fall. Transfers will then join
the advising groups from the
fall, led by that student adviser.
The next day, Jan. 5, began
bright and early for the new
students. Conferences with fac
ulty advisers began at 8 a.m,
Meredith College
welcomes spring
1999 transfers!
followed by registration at 11
a.m. Commuters and residents
then split up for lunch over a
campus information session in
the Dogwood suite.
At 2 p.m, the students met
for the Honor Code Ceremony
in Kresge Auditorium.
Students could then go to the
Technology info session, fit
ness center orientation and
CamTel office to get photo Ids.
Stephanie Helms Harris,
Director of Commuter Life and
Special Services here at
Meredith, says that transfers
come to Meredith for many dif
ferent reasons. Harris says that
among the reasons are that
some people need to lake a
semester before college to take
things into perspective. Some
are not satistled with their cur
rent institution and some peo
ple want to benefit from the
more personal attention that
Meredith has to offer.
Harris also hopes that cur
rent students here at Meredith
will “try to make an effort to
reach out to them to become a
part of Meredith and validate
their decision for coming
here.”
She says that it’s often hard
er for transfer students to adju-st
because there is not the
“euphoria” of the orientation of
the fall when there are hun
dreds of new students.
Transfer students do have at
least one activity to look for
ward to each month and that is
monthly activities sponsored
by Special Services. Harris
says transfer students can find
out about their monthly activi
ties from their student advisors,
transfer newsletters, and flyers
around campus.
Maintenance conducts holiday overhaul
□ Facilities Services
augments and repairs
over 15 areas.
Tory Hoke
Feaiures Editor
Any student caught up in com
plaining about poor water pres
sure or showers that take time to
heal should make note of the
efforts Facilities Services made
over winter break to keep Mered
ith’s campus in top condition.
While most students were enjoy
ing a lengthy winter vacation, the
maintenance staff was taking
advantage of their absence to
make major improvemenis and
repairs.
The adverse weather condi
tions complicated existing
grounds projects and added to
Facilities Services workload, as
they had to take time from a
loaded schedule to clean up
Christmas-day ice storm damage,
including over 100 fallen limbs.
The holiday storms added work to
the already massive task of leaf
clean up.
While winter weather demand
ed clean-up efforts, maintenance
prepared for spring by planting 25
trees, 250 shrubs and over 1000
bulbs. Astute members of the
campus community noticed that
the grounds lost some old, ill or
otherwise troublesome trees like
one at the Poteat exit of Barefoot
and one near the line of shrubs on
the Weatherspoon side of the
Brewer House Day Care Center.
In the residence halls, mainte
nance crews contracted the refin
ishing of about 20 bathtubs in
Vann and Carroll, putting the final
touches on reassembling them
just in time for returning stu
dents.
Staff checked the halls for
lighting, plumbing and repair
problems, and repaired an under
ground leak in a main campus
water line that developed over
break between Faircloth and
Poteat.
Underclassmembers returning
with vehicles will be happy to
note that maintenance has
installed new steps in the Blue
and Green parking lot.
Both Facilities Services and
Campus Security encourage com
ments from those that use the
B&G lot about how to make the
lot as safe as possible, whether
improvemenis are necessary in
steps, landscaping or lighting.
In other campus projects,
maintenance replaced pipes and
valves all over campus to prevent
further leakage. Crew members
also painted Jones Chapel and
areas of Belk Dining Hall, com
pleted a “2 circuit” lighting pro
ject in Harris, began insiallaiion
of a new patio at the library and
secured a contractor to make win
dow replacements in Brewer
House. The replacement of those
31 windows are tentatively sched
uled for March and will noi inter
fere with existing programs and
services.
Members of Merediih’s dance
program will be happy to hear that
maintenance has also secured a
contractor lo work on ihe floor of
Weatherspoon’s dance lloor.
Graduation
statistics
are strong
Sue Ki-arnry
Dean ol Enrollrnenl Planning
and Instltulional Research
Meredith College is
pleased to report graduation
stati.stics for the .students
who entered as full-time,
first-time freshmen in Fall
1992.
In accordance with federal
guidelines, the report reflect.s
the percentages of students
who finish within six years.
However, it is significant to
note that most Meredith
graduates earn their bac
calaureate degrees within the
traditional four-year period.
Fall 1992 Cohort
Number of Entering Students
375
Graduating in 4 or less years
58,7%
Graduating in 5 or less years
66.7%
Graduating in 6 or less years
68.8%
Meredith’s graduation
rates are strong when com
pared to national .statistics.
Based on data published
by the American College
Test (ACT) in 1998, the
average percentage of stu
dents attending selective pri
vate institutions who gradu
ate within five years is
64.1%. For those attending
selective public institutions,
the fjve-year graduation rate
is 49.9%.
The overall five-year
graduation rate for students
attending public and private
institutions, without regard
to selectivity, is 52.1 %.
A more complete report is
available from the Office of
Enrollment Planning and
Institulional Research, the
Office of Admissions or the
Office of the Registrar.