A national survey released last week showed that transfer students are less likely to get involved on campus.
Some Western officials say, while that may be true, they don’t track involvement based on where students come from.
The National Survey of Student Engagement reported transfer students participated in fewer activities, interacted less with faculty and rated their [...]

A car caught on fire this afternoon in Parking Structure 2.

Officials said they don’t know how the fire started. No injuries have been reported.

Mailboxes will be filled this week with a new kind of student refund.
Western, with the help of a financial services and payment company called HigherOne, has started mailing out debit cards that students can use to manage their leftover scholarship, loan or grant money.
The cards will eventually replace the paper residual check system.
Bursar Belinda Higginbotham [...]

Western is one step closer to finding out how much in state money the university will get for the next two years.
The Council on Postsecondary Education approved a “modest” budget request for higher education in 2010-2012 during its meeting on Friday morning, according to a CPE press release.
The request, which includes state funding for Kentucky’s [...]

A case involving a former Western staffer who claims she was forced to retire early has been moved to Franklin Circuit Court.

Elizabeth Esters, who worked as staff assistant to President Gary Ransdell and secretary to the Board of Regents, is suing Western for $44,617.80.

The lawsuit was dismissed from Warren County Circuit Court this morning, said Deborah Wilkins, chief of staff and general counsel.

With a family at home and her own law practice, Bowling Green resident Jennifer Brinkley decided to get her master’s degree in criminology online. “It is the best way to get this degree,” Brinkley said. After graduating from Western as a broadcasting major, Brinkley went to the University of Kentucky for law school and has operated her own law office for the last 2 and 1/2 years. BRIAN POWERS/HERALD

There’s been a slight drop in students making schedule changes after administrators tacked on a bigger price tag to the add/drop fee.

In April, the Board of Regents voted to increase the fee for adding or dropping a class after the first six days of each semester from $20 to $50 starting this fall.

So far, there’s been about a 10.3 percent decrease in students adding and dropping classes.

With thousands of alumni back on campus to celebrate Homecoming, Western could reap the financial benefits.
Homecoming isn’t designed as a fundraising tool, but the “feel-good” atmosphere on campus often leads to more donations for Western, said Tom Hiles, vice president for Institutional Advancement.
“The main emphasis is welcoming alumni back to campus,” Hiles said. “… The [...]

Health Services received 700 more doses of swine flu vaccine Wednesday.

The second shipment arrived late last night, said Terri Cunningham, marketing coordinator for Health Services.

Formal discussions of raises for two of Western’s administrators have been pushed back.

The Board of Regents voted on Friday to postpone proposed raises for Athletics Director Wood Selig and Dean Kahler, associate vice president of Enrollment Management.

The raises — about $34,000 for Selig and about $19,000 for Kahler — will be discussed again at the next board meeting on Jan. 26 and 27 in Frankfort.