Enrollment, retention and progression were on the minds of Albany State University faculty and staff members for the 2015 Faculty and Staff Conference. As another academic year is set to begin Monday, August 17, participants discussed ways to excel.
 
Interim President Arthur Dunning opened the two-day conference Thursday, Aug. 6,   with a keynote address that focused on the university’s successes and challenges, pinpointing recruitment and retention efforts campus wide.
“Everyone has a hand in recruiting and retaining students,” Dunning said to more than 500 faculty and staff members. “We’ve made some changes, and I think we will have some success in the years to come.”
 
A few of those efforts include the surge of funding for need-based scholarships and the ASU partnership with the Dougherty County School System, Albany Technical College and Darton State College to improve student success.
 
ASU also welcomed a number of new faces this year for key leadership roles, including a new financial aid director and associate provost for enrollment management.
 
“The conference was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to come together and share in the successes and challenges of the university,” said Paul Bryant, associate provost for Enrollment Management. “We are all dedicated to strengthening collaborations and continuing to move forward in a more effective way.”
 
During the conference, many faculty and staff members contributed to the university’s “Rams in the Roses and Beyond” fundraising campaign, which has now reached more than $100,000 in funds garnered for the ASU Marching Band to travel to the 2016 Tournament of Roses Parade. The ASU band is the only Georgia band invited to participate in the New Year’s Day parade -- where more than 80 million viewers are expected to watch in more than 200 countries. The Roses parade is a precursor to the nation’s oldest bowl football game, the Rose Bowl.
 
The ASU faculty and staff also heard from speakers, conducted planning and discussed their impending future: when several thousand students are expected to return for a new academic year, beginning this week with move-in days and student orientations.