Connections
A Newsletter for the Viterbo College Community
Vol. 12 No. 5 September 21, 1998
Viterbo College announces 1998 record enrollment
The number of students attending Viterbo College stands at 2,098, representing the culmination of a decade-long trend of historic enrollments. Record enrollments for fall semester were posted for undergraduate, graduate and total enrollments.
These figures were reported by the registrar’s office and are the official statistics used for state and federal reporting purposes.
Total enrollment has increased from 1,067 students reported in 1988, to the 2,098 figure reported today. The number of full-time students is at 1,396, more than double the 652 figure of a decade ago.
Other aspects of the 1998 fall enrollment picture reveal that Viterbo has:
• ten years of consecutive record full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment, from 790 in 1988 to 1,630 in 1998;
• for the first time on the “official” count day, has more than 2,000 students registered;
• for the first time, an expected enrollment of more than 2,500 students in classes by the end of fall semester based on rolling graduate enrollment.
“Our classroom usage is at maximum capacity, and our student housing situation is similar,” said William Medland, Ph.D., president of Viterbo College. “Unless we create additional classroom space, our on-campus full-time enrollment has stabilized and must be capped. In fact, we may be projecting some decreases in the number of on-campus students due to capacity problems. The reality is that we neither expected nor desire to continue this unprecedented expansion which has been going virtually non-stop since 1988.
“Our niche is to provide students with an individualized education in a environment which stimulates personal and intellectual growth and development. Being the ‘right size’ is imperative for our concept of living and learning.”
“Our undergraduate programs have done very well,” Medland said, “and the figures do not fully take into account the tremendous growth we are experiencing in our graduate program in Iowa and all throughout Wisconsin. We expect that 500 more graduate students will be registered for Viterbo graduate courses during this fall semester.
“Without the collective effort of our faculty and staff, we would not have been able to manage this tremendous growth,” Medland added. Our growth in students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels is primarily the result of the perceived quality of a Viterbo degree.”
1998 Enrollment
Undergraduate Graduate Total
Full time 1,377 (652) 19 (0) 1,396 (652)
Part time 413 (370) 289 (45) 702 (415)
Total 1,790 (1022) 308 (45) 2,098 (1067)
* Figures in parenthesis represent 1988 enrollment figures
St. Francis Day celebration
On Mon. Oct. 5, all 11, 12 and 1 o’clock classes are cancelled so everyone may attend the Founder’s Day, Feast of St. Francis of Assisi celebration. Mass begins at 11 a.m. in Maria Angelorum Chapel, St. Rose Convent. Lunch will follow in Marian Hall Dining Room.
Complimentary lunch tickets may be picked up at MC front desk from Wed., Sept. 23 through Tues., Sept. 29.
Bits and pieces
NCA Review: Open session for students: 3:10 p.m., Oct. 5, Robers Conference Room. Open session for faculty, administration, Tues. Oct. 6.
Watch for schedule of NCA Review in next week’s Connections.
Please direct all Campus Phone Directory updates to Marcia at MC front desk.
Notice: Copies of the student handbook and calendar are available at MC Front Desk. Copies for students are available at the SGA office in the student union.
Casual Dress Day
Sept. 25 Jeans Day
Employee Assistance Center (EAC) is for all Viterbo employees and their families. For more information contact Franciscan-Skemp (608) 791-9530, (800) 493-3960.
For 24 hour Security needs call x3911.
Class cancellations: Teacher class cancellation line: 796-3080 or 796-3190. Students call for class cancellations: 796-3200.
Viterbo people
Ward Jones, Biology, will present a seminar entitled "Understanding Immunotherapy" during Gundersen Lutheran's program "Directions in Cancer Care" to be held Sept. 23, in La Crosse. Ward is one of six presenters (other presenters are Gundersen Lutheran and UW Hospital and Clinic physicians.) The program is an educational day for cancer patients, families, healthcare providers, and interested public. For more information, call 782-7300 ext. 3697.
An essay by Lyon Evans, English, on Alfred Kazin will be published in the Sept. issue of The New England Quarterly. Kazin, a distinguished literary critic and man of letters, who died on his 83rd birthday in June, was a member of Lyon’s dissertation committee.
Kudos to...
Ed Hansen, 1998 Viterbo ADVANCE Program graduate, has accepted a new position with Trane Company, beginning in October, as Operations Manager in Fort Smith, Arkansas, a new Trane acquisition which manufactures air conditioning and heating systems for hospitals. The ADVANCE Program wishes Ed and his family much success in this exciting new promotion.
Mike Butters, May 1998 ADVANCE Program graduate, retired from the Air Force in August after 20 years of service. Mike and his family moved to Saratota, Florida where Mike began a new position with AG Edwards one of the largest investment firms in the United States. The ADVANCE Program wishes Mike and his family great success.
Have news about your department or students accomplishments? Share your achievements with the campus community by sending us a note via “Connections.” We’ll help you spread the word.
Arts & Entertainment
Viterbo fine arts foyers/lobby lighting project completed. The FAC is a much brighter place thanks to Janet Hoeschler’s gift used to complete a lighting project in both foyers and new fixtures in the FAC lobby and stairwells. Other aesthetic and safety improvements were included in the $100,000-plus project.
“We are very grateful to Janet for providing the lead portion of this gift. The renovated areas are used on hundreds of occasions by numerous groups and the improvements are going to allow us much more flexibility in scheduling events,” Kenna Christians, V.P. of Institutional Advancement said.
Barnes & Noble Book Fair. The Preparatory School of Arts will be holding a book fair at Barnes & Noble from 5-9 pm. Thurs. Sept. 24. Proceeds go towards the scholarship fund which enables needy students to take private lessons in piano, strings, or voice. Students from the Prep School will be performing during the fair. Watch your mailbox for a voucher to present at any cash register. Barnes & Noble will contribute 20% of the sale to the Prep School’s Scholarship Fund. It’s a great way to support this worthy cause and purchase books or gifts for yourself. Questions? Contact Judy Stafslien, x3767.
The Art Education dept. at Viterbo announces Afterschool Art Workshop for eight Tuesdays, Oct. 13-Dec. 1, from 4:30-6 p.m., in FAC 319.
The Workshop is open to children between the ages of 5 & 12. Classes are taught by Art Education students and staff. Cost is $25. To register call Judy Stafslien, x3767.
Campus Ministry News
This week: Sanctions Awareness Week sponsored by Social Justice.
Sunday Mass is at 4 p.m. at the College Church.
Remember to sign the Habitat for Humanity Board in the back of church. The board will be used in a house this fall. Help others to help themselves.
The College Church is open each day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. In addition to the main church there is a meditation area at the opposite end of the church’s front/main entrance. Please feel free to use either area for personal quiet time.
Viterbo soccer needs your support
The men’s and women’s soccer teams are in action this weekend. Game times:
• Saturday, Sept. 26: Both teams take on MCC foe Marycrest International University, the women at 1 p.m. and the men at 3 p.m. at Dairyland Athletic complex.
• Sunday, Sept. 27: The women take on Loras College at 1 p.m. and the men host Carleton College at 3 p.m. Both games are at Dairyland.
Employee campaign flying high
A sincere thanks to all employees who attended the “Takeoff” of the 1998-99 Employee Campaign. More that 130 employees returned their pledge cards. Congratulations to S. Rochelle Potaracke who won the grand prize drawing of two airline tickets compliments of Carlson Wagonlit Travel of La Crosse.
For those of you who have not yet responded, there’s still plenty of time. Remember, it’s not how much you are able to contribute, but rather the fact that you did. Please turn in your pledge cards. The campaign closes Wed., Sept. 30. Thanks for your support!
—Barry Fried
Pilot, Employee Campaign
Academic technology center offers courses
Thurs. Sept. 24 10-11:30 a.m. World Wide Web Development
2-3:30 p.m. World Wide Web Development
Fri. Sept. 25 10-11:30 a.m. World Wide Web Development
Tues. Sept. 29 9-10:30 a.m. Network Orientation
Wed. Sept. 30 10:30 -12 noon Network Orientation
Thurs. Oct. 1 9-11 a.m. Microsoft Excel
1:30-3 p.m. Microsoft PowerPoint
World Wide Web Development will teach you the basics to create and edit WWW pages using Netscape Communicator, and create a functioning web page for your class or office.
Network Orientation will teach you how to set up your computer so that you can share files and folders with others in your office or across campus.
To register call Jeff, x3285.
What’s new at Viterbo
The Mission Effectiveness committee recently devised a program of orientation of Viterbo’s origins, identity and mission for new personnel.
This year an invitation is extended to the entire Viterbo community. Sign up for one, two, or all three of the sessions. Spouses also invited. This is a refresher course for old-timers and an introduction for those recently hired.
The program includes dinner at 6 p.m. at St. Rose Convent, then presentations at the Franciscan Spirituality Center from 7-8.
You are in for a real treat! Don’t miss the opportunity! Please RSVP to Wayne Wojciechowski, x3085 a week before the respective event:
Yoga & Jazzercise
There’s still time to enroll in the VEHIP sponsored Yoga and Jazzercise classes. Yoga is offered at noon on Wed.; Jazzercise is offered at noon on Mon. & Wed. Contact Marsha Momoi-Piehl, x3930, if you are interested in participating.
Web update
Web pages for the School of Education and Graduate School of Nursing are now up and running.
Check ’em out!
news you’ll notice
by Mark Franz
It was another busy and productive summer in the Computer Services department. The completion of the Murphy Center network wiring project in May signaled the beginning of the connection of numerous offices and classrooms to the campus network for the first time. Work is scheduled to begin for the installation of network wiring in the FAC on Oct. 12. The project is expected to be completed by Dec. 15. I will work with the FAC staff and the wiring contractor to minimize the inconveniences of dust and noise that accompany this project.
The Title III grant will be covering the cost of the network wiring for the FAC. In addition to the wiring project, the academic departments targeted to receive desktop computers from Title III funds include the nursing dept. (about one-half of the full-time faculty), English and education.
Student technology fees funded a significant number of hardware acquisitions for the campus. A synopsis of those items includes: new computers for open student use/database searching in the front of the library, replacement of the original Title III computers in MC201 and movement of the older units to MC304; completion of the upgrade of the MAC lab (MC305); upgrade of the memory on all IBM-compatible computers to 64 MB of RAM; and for second semester, the completion of a 20 unit MAC lab in the fourth floor FAC Zoeller Resource Center. In terms of software, we have upgraded all of the student labs to Office 97(IBM) or Office 98 (PowerMAC). We will complete that same process for faculty offices as time allows.
The department experienced the departure of two members during the summer—Amy Panka and Jeremy Shawley. Both positions have been filled. We welcome Jeff Poulin as Microcomputing Systems Specialist (2nd shift) and Dean Sanderson as Programmer/Analyst. We are in the process of catching up on projects that were put on hold during the time it took to fill the open positions. The main projects on which we are catching up are related to the redistribution of the computers that are designated for faculty/administrative offices, in addition memory/software upgrades for those same computers.
A paragraph in the license agreement with Microsoft shows that we are able to offer the entire MS-Office Pro package to college employees For Free for use on their home computers Subject To Certain Restrictions. We will make this software available starting Oct. 5 on a check-out basis through the library.
We are still working to restore the high-speed modem pool for Internet access. In the interim, the slower speed modem pool has been operating reliably.
There are more items "in process" that I will share with you during the semester. I intend to use the newly developed Computer Services web page to make this information more readily available. Watch for upcoming information on how we will implement this process.
Construction Update
The Health Science Center site, at 14th, Pine, Badger and Oakland Streets, is a hub of activity. An immense hole, the foundation of the six level building, consumes most of the northernmost area of the block. Viewers from the chain link fence gain a genuine appreciation for the size of the new Health Science Center.
Concrete columns and perimeter footings were started Aug. 24 and should be completed in three weeks. The structural floor began Sept. 8. Contractors will also be working at the northeast corner of Angell Hall lot, tying in services between UW-L and the site, until the end of Sept.
HSC on Web Web surfers worldwide are tuning in to 24 hour coverage http://www.uwlax.edu/SAH/LHMSC/skycam.html HSC project, construction details, programs and services are featured and updated continuously.