[SuperJon]

I was reading the interview with Jerry Jr from the Liberty Journal, and the last question really stuck out with me.:

What do you have planned for the future?

This will be the first year that we have had to cut off fall enrollment early. We are thinking about slowing growth just enough to let us catch up by building the academic facilities we have put on hold during the period of rapid growth we have had for the past six or seven years. As we continue to grow, we want to make sure that we retain academic excellence. We don’t want to fall behind academically or spiritually. We are seriously looking at capping growth and using that breather to improve academic facilities. We’ve grown so fast a lot of departments are just bulging at the seams. We’ve built dorms. We’ve built food services. We’ve built classrooms. All the support facilities — like library space, labs and student centers for social activities — have lagged behind. We’ve been sprinting. We need to jog for a while.

http://www.liberty.edu/libertyjournal/i ... &ArtID=164

It's a great interview as a whole, and we could probably have a thread for almost every question that was asked, but this one stuck out in my mind. What do you guys think?

[TDDance234]

I would agree one-hundred precent. Capping enrollment can only HELP at this point. Capping enrollment means higher test averages, higher quality student and allows Liberty play catch-up in the facility department.

I know the dream is 25k and that is what we'll always shoot for, we just have to be prepared to not bust completely at the seam.

[Fumblerooskies]

This is smart management. Let things settle down (I feel we will continue to grow, but it will be slow growth). This will allow existing programs to build quality, as opposed to building quantity as the expense of quality. That lessens the pressure on program administrators to "admit one and all" and then finding out later that quality and academic integrity may have suffered at the expense of numbers. The infrastructure, the building of new dorms, new axillary services, roads, 3rd floor DeMoss, etc, can all be done right, within the framework of a new 5 year plan. Politically, this makes sense too, as it may calm some of the fears of the town council and candidates.

[bigsmooth]

very nice read. Jr. is just so solid. a great man to lead our university.

[Sly Fox]

This is the same growth cycle we have experienced since the schools inception ... hyper growth followed by period of mild to moderate growth and then right back to warp speed.

[badger74]

The number of HS grads will decline the next few years so it's a good time to take a break from growth and focus on other things like facilities and faculty. A wise move.

[Purple Haize]

I am a little misty eyed right now so, forgive me if my type smudges. This is the best idea there could possibly be. LU has done a fantastic job bringing in students, but now it is time to take care of the infrastructure. Faculty and staff are very overstressed and I am sure they will appreciate the opportunity to catch their breath and reorganize and replenish. Plus, it will be great to take care of finishing the buildings, firming up the communications and finally coming to grips with a usable traffic flow strategy. (Which may actually mean more money spent!)
On the whole it is great business. Students have several schools to chose from. It is important, nay VITAL, that the facilities and experiences LU provides be top notch. And I have no doubt that it can be!

[Knucklehead]

I've said for a while that Jr. is the perfect fit for this role. He will do great things for LU at the right Pace.

[scuzdriver]

Do they still have an age limit for moving off campus? Wouldn't that relieve some of the dorm problems if they lowered the age for moving off? Just wondering.

[jcmanson]

Yes they have an “age limit”, but if you want to move off you can pretty much move off without any problem. I only lived on campus my first year, asked to move off after that and they let me. This was in 2003 so I can only imagine it’s still the same if not even more relaxed.

[thepostman]

I was just reading the other day in the champion about how they have been allowing more students who don't meet the age requirements move off this semester in order to give more space on the dorms. So they are making it easier for students to get off now

[Fumblerooskies]

they are making it easier for students to get off now

[ALUmnus]

I believe this is what cheerbren was referring to.

[Schfourteenteen]

I was just reading the other day in the champion about how they have been allowing more students who don't meet the age requirements move off this semester in order to give more space on the dorms. So they are making it easier for students to get off now

Yep - Being close to 21, having a decent GPA, plus any special thing(like being in the Nursing Program - they do alot of work) can get you off.

Now Im not saying that a 19 yr old Nursing major can move off
Because they asked us not to

[SuperJon]

I've been off-campus since I was 19. They work with you if you have special circumstances.

If you're in good academic standing, and don't have too many reps, they'll likely let you move off.

JDub and Bryson both just moved off and they're 20 and 19.

[Schfourteenteen]

I've been off-campus since I was 19. They work with you if you have special circumstances.

If you're in good academic standing, and don't have too many reps, they'll likely let you move off.

JDub and Bryson both just moved off and they're both 19 still.

Did they send you an email telling you not to tell anyone?

[SuperJon]

Told me on the phone when we were handling all of it before I got up here. Mine was something you can't really fake though. I'm a real estate appraiser and there's no way to run an office or keep confidential work files that I could go to jail if they were ever lost or got out in a dorm room. I kinda had no choice.

[Schfourteenteen]

Told me on the phone when we were handling all of it before I got up here. Mine was something you can't really fake though. I'm a real estate appraiser and there's no way to run an office or keep confidential work files that I could go to jail if they were ever lost or got out in a dorm room. I kinda had no choice.

Makes sense