N O RT H W E S T
MISSOURIAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022
MARYVILLE, MISSOURI
NWMISSOURINEWS.COM
VOL. 110, NO. 21
@THEMISSOURIAN
Water quality still among top community complaints
ADDALYNN BRADBURY PHOTO EDITOR
Councilman Tye Parsons speaks at the Feb. 14 City Council meeting hosted at Maryville Public Safety. The City Council announced construction on the South Main Corridor Improvement Project. Phase I is moving along 30-60 days ahead of schedule.
Construction on South Main ahead of schedule, Phase I set for fall completion SIDNEY LOWRY News Editor | @sidney_lowry
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ince 2017, City Council has been taking the heat from Maryville community members about the water quality. Five years later, residents are still coming before the Council to express their concerns. Resident Billy Mires kicked off the Feb. 14 City Council meeting by addressing the Mozingo watershed quality. “I think that we can all agree, basically, you have an issue with the water, basically, coming out of your lake and into the sink,” Mires said. Mires said the is currently attempting to put 227 acres of his land into the Conservation Reserve Program and the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative in an effort to put in saturation buffers that would ultimately improve the
water quality. Signed into law in 1985, the CRP is a partnership with the Farm Service Agency from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in which, in exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers agree to remove environmentally sensitive land that will improve the environment. In Mires case, he is focused on improving the water quality on his land. As the deadline for applications for the CRP approaches in the beginning of March, Mires called on the Council to reach out to state officials and let them know Maryville has an ongoing water problem, one that has been in the center of its government for years, in order to find more support in fixing the issues. “I would like to fix the problem, but I’m only one guy and I only have so much money,” he said.
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I would like to fix the problem, but I’m only one guy and I only have so much money.” -BILLY MIRES
SEE COUNCIL | A4
Grad enrollment continues to rise, makes Northwest history SIDNEY LOWRY News Editor | @sidney_lowry
ADDALYNN BRADBURY PHOTO EDITOR
Freshman Mya Southwell hands a lamp to a family member during Freshman Move-in Day Aug. 15. Despite having almost 30% of growth in graduate student enrollment compared to last spring, Northwest has seen a decline in first-time freshmen in the fall semester.
Higher education enrollment fell another 2.7% this past fall, while Northwest’s enrollment hit a new record high. Northwest’s spring 2022 census shows the highest spring overall enrollment in University history with 7,218 students, a 5% increase in enrollment compared to last spring. As enrollment across the nation continues to fall, Northwest seems to be hitting peak enrollment numbers every census since 2017. So, who’s to credit? Despite the decline in undergraduate and first-time freshman enrollment, in the past few years, the University has seen an exponential growth in graduate students, who make up 36% of
overall enrollment. One-third of the graduate programs Northwest offers are online programs, but Associate Provost of Graduate and Professional Studies Greg Haddock said online graduate students make up more than half of graduate students. “The indication that we’re still growing is that we are in a second year of a spring term, where a spring term actually has a larger enrollment than the previous fall,” Haddock said. “That’s not typical at the graduate level; it certainly isn’t typical at the undergraduate level.” Haddock said the plan for graduate enrollment was created around seven years ago to increase international graduate enrollment and online graduate
enrollment, as well as to make sure there was an enrollment strategy to make up for gaps. He credits part of the rise in graduate enrollment this year to international students taking interest in online programs through Northwest. “Half of the enrollment growth has also been graduate international growth that started in the fall, and it continued into the spring. And it is very welcome to see that interest in our programs. It’s actually flattering,” Haddock said. While graduate enrollment is up overall, the master’s programs saw a 4.6% increase in first-time students, and the specialist programs are down 4%.
SEE ENROLLMENT | A4
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