As some students look forward to hibernation during winter break, others plan to be in class five days a week for Winter Term.

Western officials, with the help of more aggressive advertising, hope they can keep those students with Winter Term dreams when classes start Jan. 4.

The Division of Extended Learning and Outreach has increased promotion of information about Winter Term deadlines and fee penalties this year to keep more students in Winter Term classes, said Alicia Bingham, DELO administrative assistant.

Leah Frazier, an Academy of Math and Science senior from Russell, was taking senior-level math and science courses as a sophomore in high school — and she was bored.

Frazier said her mother laughed when Frazier told her she was applying to the academy.

“She said there was no way I was going to leave her two years early to go five hours away, but when she saw this place, she said, ‘You need to be here,’” Frazier said.

Frazier is one of 10 students from eastern Kentucky enrolled in the academy. There are 122 academy students.

Tim Gott, director of the academy, said recruiters are especially focused on getting more students from the eastern part of the state.

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 [...]

Students wait between classes at the Glasgow campus. Campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtown and Owensboro account for nearly a fourth of the total enrollment at Western, according to the Fall 2009 Total Regional Campus Enrollment Report. ARIANA MCLAUGHLIN/HERALD

Western officials have plans for 83 facilities-related projects in the next six years, but it could be two years before officials can move forward on any of them.
On Oct. 30, the Board of Regents approved a six-year capital plan that lists plans for construction, renovation and other projects through 2016.
But last week, President Gary Ransdell [...]

Students can turn their overdue book fees into good deeds at Western’s libraries this month.

The libraries are accepting canned food in exchange for overdue book fines through Nov. 20, said Paula Bowles, Library Public Services senior circulation assistant.

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

New degree programs will be at risk if Western fails to meet diversity guidelines.

Richard Miller, associate vice president of Academic Affairs, said Western won’t get to add new degree programs if the school doesn’t meet at least five of the eight objectives set by the Kentucky Plan for Equal Opportunities.

The Kentucky Plan for Equal Opportunities is a statewide agreement between the state’s Council on Post-Secondary Education and public secondary education institutions, he said.

Rick Deem spends 12 hours a week teaching in Gieben, Germany where he’s on a Fulbright scholarship.

Deem, a Western graduate from Fort Knox, is one of two Western students to receive a Fulbright in 2009 and represents an increase in the number of students applying for and receiving national scholarships, said Amy Eckhardt, director of the Office for Scholar Development.

A Fulbright provides students opportunities to study, teach and conduct research in a different country.

It’s just one of the many national scholarships Western students are winning, Eckhardt said. Other national scholarships Western students claimed in the past year include the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the Department of Defense Science, Math and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship and the Morris K. Udall Scholarship.

From left, Montez Gary, 46, with her daughter Jessica Gary, 18, a senior at Franklin High School in Franklin Tenn., take in a view of the hill during a bus tour of Western’s campus on Tuesday. ALEX SLITZ/HERALD

High school students touring campus probably don’t know the shortcuts to the top of the Hill or how [...]