YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY Semester opens with 6.3% more students

The university soon will appoint a new marketing director.
By RON COLE
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Enrollment continues upward at Youngstown State University this year with a 6.3 percent boost in the number of students.
The university recorded 11,603 students on campus when spring semester opened Monday, up 683 students from the first day of classes last January.
"This is very good news and a solid affirmation of the strategies that we are using to build enrollment," YSU President David Sweet said. "Key to these strategies has been the personal contacts made to new and returning students by YSU's faculty and staff."
YSU officials credited the increase in part to a media campaign titled "Your Success is Our Goal" and a telephone blitz, in which potential students were contacted with information about programs and services.
"This solid increase shows that the university is getting the message out to prospective students regarding the value of higher education, particularly in the current economic climate," said Dr. Thomas Vukovich, interim executive director of enrollment services.
President's priority: Sweet has made enrollment a priority since taking YSU's helm 18 months ago.
In the fall, the student population went up nearly 4 percent, only the second time in a dozen years that has happened. It was the biggest fall semester enrollment increase since 1990.
The momentum poured over into the new year. YSU reports increases in all categories of students: undergraduate enrollment up 5.7 percent or 558 students; graduate students up 11.5 percent or 125 students; incoming students, which includes freshmen, transfers, former and new graduate students, up 17 percent.
Sweet is expected soon to appoint a new university marketing director to head an image campaign aimed at further increasing enrollment.
YSU has hired Marcus Thomas public relations, which has an office in Austintown, to direct the campaign, which is expected to include a string of radio, television and print advertisements.