Freshman Profiles
Erin King
Frank Hartfield

Survey for Parents of First-Year Students

The Campus Link
Additional Resources for Parents and Family

About Staying Connected

Contact Us

Subscribe/Unsubscribe

Past Issues

Ted Hoef

Activities
Since my last column, a great deal has happened at Webster. We finished our accreditation visit at the beginning of the month and received very positive comments from the visiting team of evaluators. Many wonderful student events have been held, including the program Rock Your Roots: Embrace Your Culture program, which featured opportunities for students to explore food, entertainment, dancing, and costumes from all corners of the globe. This was followed by the largest concert in Webster history, a sold-out show by The Roots performing in front of 1200 students and guests from other universities. In Athletics, the golf team won their conference championship and will now compete in the national NCAA tournament. The baseball team clinched their conference championship and the softball team tied for their conference championship. Both of these teams will now play in the conference tournament for the right to play in the NCAA national tournament.

Student Involvement
This has been a remarkable year for involvement by first-year students. We had more freshmen nominated for the Mark Govoni Emerging Leader Award than ever before. The nominees included Brooke Benbenek, Nick Dunne, Tyler Holman, Frank Hartfield, Jr., Kacey Hampton, Evan Murray, and Kevin McWilliams. Nick Dunne, a public relations major from Sullivan, Missouri was selected to receive the Govoni Award, which came with a cash prize from SGA. Tyler Holman, a political science major from Jackson, Missouri, received the first year Student Alumni Association Leadership Award. Nick and Tyler were both elected to Student Government for 2008-09, joining other freshmen Kevin McWilliams (vice-president), Kacey Hampton (controller), Heath Adrian (secretary),Brian Porter (director of info technology), Hannah Ingram (senator), Amanda Hanson (senator), and Lydia Schulte (senator).

Commencement
As I write this column, I am in the midst of preparing for graduation, scheduled for May 10. Our commencement speaker this year is Robert Kerrey, president of the New School and former governor and senator from Nebraska. For more information about commencement, see: http://www.webster.edu/commencement/

Transition from Freshman to Sophomore Year
Research tells us that the largest group of students leave a university prior to the start of their sophomore year. At Webster, about 20% of freshmen typically do not return for their second year. And we find that most students decide not to come back after they finish classes in May. We try to pay close attention to why students decide to leave Webster. And in many cases we are able to resolve problems or issues if we learn about them prior to a student making the final decision to leave. If your son or daughter is contemplating leaving Webster, please encourage them to make us aware of the problems or issues they are facing. We’ll do our best to find the right resources to help them stay. Even if they have already made a firm decision, we’d still like to know why they have decided to leave. This helps us to learn from their experiences and improve Webster for the future.

Congratulations to your son or daughter for completing their first year in college. I hope they have a fun and productive summer. Hopefully, we’ll see them back here in the August.

Congratulations to you, too. Your son or daughter is now one year closer to your goal of your student becoming a college graduate.

Have a great summer.

Sincerely,

Back to top