Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
GWU V.P. Discusses 300 Extra Freshmen Students
Aired August 28, 2001 - 09:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is back-to-school time for college students across the country. Many are finding that overcrowding is a big problem.
Our Jeanne Meserve is live at George Washington University, on the campus in Washington, D.C.
Jeanne, good to see you going back to school this morning.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think I could use a little bit more education, Daryn.
KAGAN: We all could, Jeanne.
MESERVE: Classes started here -- classes started here Monday. I wasn't in attendance, by the way. They were a little more crowded than expected. About 300 more students than had been anticipated decided to enter the freshman class.
Here to discuss the reasons, the ups and the downs, is Bob Chernak, vice president here at G.W.
Thanks a lot for joining us.
BOB CHERNAK, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: My pleasure, Jeanne.
MESERVE: Three hundred more kids than you expected. What happened?
CHERNAK: It's a good problem to have. It wasn't something that we had originally anticipated, but in the admissions business, if you're going to make a mistake, it's better to be over, rather than under, so that you have a chance to correct that problem next year.
MESERVE: Is this the baby boom echo that you are seeing?
CHERNAK: It's one possibility. Here at George Washington University, we would like to feel that we're becoming more of a school of choice. Our yield this year went up from 28 percent last year, to 33 percent this year.
MESERVE: Yield being the number of people who are accepted who decide to attend. CHERNAK: Who decide to accept our offer of admission. And that's really a significant increase from one year to next, especially given all of our historical performances.
MESERVE: You say baby book echo could be one reason. What are the other possible explanations for that? One hears that kids are applying to the same Ivy League schools, and if they don't get in, there's a rush to get into schools like yours, that are considered on the next tier.
CHERNAK: That's probably true, to some extent, but I don't think that the increase to the freshman is consistent throughout all 3,000 schools in the country, because if that theory were to hold weight, then you would see a trickle-down effect all the way down to the second, third, and fourth tier.
I think that what you are seeing is that among selective institutions -- some state institutions, some small liberal arts institutions and other selective private institutions -- some increases that are starting to indicate different pattern of enrollment.
We like to think that people are coming here because the students who have been here before are satisfied with their experience in Washington, D.C. and at G.W.
MESERVE: What has the practical effect been? Has it affected the housing situation? And what about classes -- are they more crowded?
CHERNAK: Those are two good questions, Jeanne. As far as the housing, we had some pressures. Fortunately, we're here in an urban area -- Washington, D.C. -- and we had the access to be able to lease a hotel right on campus for a long duration that gave us 550 beds. And right next door to that hotel is another property where we leased another 200 beds. So it gave us a chance to accommodate all of the freshman and a lot of our continuing students.
MESERVE: And what about on the academic side?
CHERNAK: On the academic side, it necessitated some expenditures. Obviously, we had to hire 15 full-time faculty. We also have had to add adjunct faculty. But I think that, all in all, with the anticipation that we were going to be having a larger enrollment this year, a lot of people at the institution rolled up their sleeves; planned accordingly, during the summer; and in fact, we probably had the easiest opening ever in our history -- at least since I have been here, the last 14 years.
MESERVE: Good way to look at, from your perspective.
Mr. Chernak, thanks so much for joining us.
CHERNAK: Thank you very much for having me on.
MESERVE: We'll be here all day, at the campus of George Washington University, talking some more about some of the issues in higher education.
Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Jeanne, thanks so much. We'll check back with you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
