THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
MARYVILLE, MISSOURI
NWMISSOURINEWS.COM
MAKAYLA POLAK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Northwest students smile for the Hy-Vee Smile cam during the Bearcats versus Central Missouri game Sept. 16. This is one of the first Family Weekends since COVID-19.
VOL. 111, NO. 6
@THEMISSOURIAN
MAKAYLA POLAK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Northwest students and families brave the rain while tailgating in the grass lot before the football game.
DAKOTA WEAVER PHOTO EDITOR
Northwest students and families fill up on all-you-can-eat pancakes by Chris Cakes in celebration of Family Weekend. The rain did not stop families from coming out to enjoy activities put on by the Student Activities Council.
DAKOTA WEAVER PHOTO EDITOR
Northwest student and family fill out form for the free street sign while protecting themselves from the rain. The street sign making station was one of six events SAC put on for families.
Family Weekend returns with a maskless lineup of events KIERSTEN HELM Missourian Reporter | @TheMissourian
F
amilies from far and close gathered on campus Sept 1618 to spend time with students and gain the Bearcat Nation experience since COVID-19. Northwest has many traditions, such as being home to the Missouri’s Arboretum, Walk-Out day and homecoming, but Family Weekend focuses on bringing families together. There were many challenges across campus, such as COVID-19 that brought many changes to the beloved Family Weekend. However, this year, families were delighted to be back on campus that their students love so much — regardless
of the rain. The weekend was filled with free entertainment for families across campus. Friday night kicked off Family Weekend with Caribbean Night sponsored by the Students Activities Council. At the Memorial Bell Tower, families could play games and listen to live music by 1st Klass, a duo from Barbados. This duo brought a steel drum and shared freestyling capabilities. In an email to the Missourian, Student Involvement Coordinator Isabelle Talkington mentioned how 1st Klass was first discovered by SAC at National Association of Campus Activities conference “This was my second year in this position for a Family Weekend, so I cannot speak to 2020. I feel that this year
had so much excitement, and people were eager to participate. Last year was also a very fun year especially coming out of COVID,” Talkington said in an email. Saturday was a busy day with many options of events for families to participate in. For the early risers, there was a 5K run sponsored by Northwest’s athletic trainers. This was followed by an all-youcan-eat breakfast from Chris Cakes, where a record number of families were served a hot breakfast. This breakfast was free to families and sponsored by the Office of Student Involvement. SAC sponsored a street sign making station before the game started. Maggie Calfee is a junior this year and doesn’t remember much about family weekend
her freshman year. As Maryville locals, her parents, also Bearcat Alumni, have always made it a priority to go to the football games. Calfee mentioned she could even spot her mom in her seat from across the football field. This weekend, the Bearcats won 24-7 against the Central Missouri Mules. “It was fun spending time with my family, and it was a really good game,” Calfee said. Also at the football game, The Swink family was named Family of the Year, during halftime. Henry Swink, a sophomore international business major, nominated his family. Swink was awarded a $750 scholarship sponsored by Campus Dining.
SEE FAMILY | A4
Graduate students help set record-breaking enrollment SIDNEY LOWRY Managing Editor | @sidney_lowry
After students have settled into their fall classes, Northwest census reports another record-breaking overall headcount for the University thanks to increasing graduate enrollment numbers along with international student enrollment. The University outlined in a press release that the headcount for this semester is 8,505 students, increasing just over 8% from last fall, making the the fifth consecutive fall semester where Northwest has seen an overall increase in enrollment. Director of Academic Success and Retention Allison Hoff-
mann said she gives credit to the increase in online graduate enrollment to being able to meet students where they’re at. “I think, you know, when we’re looking at students who are wanting to go on to pursue a master’s degree, many of them are what we would call place bound, which means they’re going to be in the place where they’re working and living or have a family or something like that,” she said. “So the online and the flexible route is an important component for them.” Online graduate students make up 82.6% of the University’s overall online headcount. With dominating online enrollment, Northwest’s graduate program,
including Online Professional graduate students, has seen enrollment grow by nearly 2,000 students since fall 2018.
Over
82% of the University’s overall online headcount is made up of online graduate students.
The Online Professional programs were first introduced in fall 2017, and graduate students now make up nearly 37.6% of the University’s overall enrollment. Associate Provost of Graduate and Professional Studies Gregory Haddock said the growth of the Online Professional program comes from working not only with Academic Partnerships, the University’s online program manager for Online Professional, but also working with other departments throughout Northwest. “Earlier last year, it was a total of over 200 people that made this successful,” he said. “So the point is, this was not the graduate
school, it was not Northwest online, it was not one leader … it was 37 staff in about 14 offices, 122 faculty, 47 adjunct faculty were directly related to this growth.” International student enrollment has continued to grow since the halt of international travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an increase of almost 18% to 855 students. International students now make up 10% of the student body, with students coming from 36 countries — majority from India, Nepal and Nigeria.
SEE ENROLLMENT | A4
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