Not long ago, Florida A&M University would have pulled out all the stops to recruit Sasha Rodriguez.A senior at Lecanto High School in Citrus County, Rodriguez was one of 800 National Achievement scholars named last week, meaning she is among the brainiest black students in the country. And in considering where to go for college, she loved the thought of a historically black school - like Spelman College in Atlanta or Howard University in Washington - but also wanted to stay close to family.
FAMU, in Tallahassee, might have been perfect.
Recruitment
FAMU enrollment continues to drop
FAMU losing more than 500 students per semester
Shrinking enrollment a major concern
Ouch. That hits where it hurts. How could this happen? Will Ammons resatore this recruiting program? FAMU ought to be the Harvard for black students. One theory is that, with One Florida, it was necessary for UF to steal FDAMU's students, and that Jeb Bush supported it every step of the way so that his anti-affirmative action policies did not look bad. UF's stealing our students!!!! I hope that the legislature will stepo in and prohibit them from offering scholarships to undercut FAMU's mission.
ReplyDeleteCause as they said Humphries was the recruitment for FAMU. Humphries came to my school recruiting at least 3 times once every year. When the last time you seen Bryant or Gainous do that. We have to work harder now to restore FAMU back to its glory days and beyond.
ReplyDeleteAlso I'm not sure if I agree with the above competition what drives people to improve and not get complacent. We still have something that those big mostly white schools don't have. An African American culture that students can learn more about their culture and feel comfortable in. An environment they don't have to worry about having to deal with any racial BS. Smaller class size where you can actually know and interact with your professor. I know that's why I came to FAMU in the first place back in 1993 because I wanted to be around my people and feel more at home. We need to rebuild our schools, programs, reputation, and have a aggressive recruitment department. UF is now lacking AA professors badly from what I hear. That the kind of things students need to be informed about as they making their decisions. I would never want to limit a student’s options or scholarships cause they black that not going in the right direction at all. We just need to get off our ass and get better and aggressive.
UF didn't steal anything!
ReplyDeleteUF simply took advantage of our weakness and out hustled us. Like the other poster said, we have an atmosphere that no one can match. We need Ammons to be on the recruitment trail like Hump used to be and we'll be fine. We need to go on the offensive instead of the defensive.
ReplyDeletethis is so embarrassing.thanks cassie!
ReplyDeleteThe whole recruitment team needs to be axed. That Lamar-Kennedy lady does not know what she is doing; Ms/Dr June; Julia Bronson, that admission's guy; and the recruiters and scholarship folks and the rest of this bunch who have brought a whole new meaning to recruiting.
ReplyDeleteThis has got to be our lowest point ever. Even Lewis and Gainous did better than Castell and her brew (crew).
I was appalled by the effort the law school made to recruit me. UF and FSU both made more of an effort to contact me and make me feel at home, and offered me more scholarship money. After going to the admitted students day, I am confident that quality of programs is in a far different league than FAMUs.
ReplyDeleteMs. Kennedy-Lamar is a fu*king joke!
ReplyDeleteA better headline would have been, "Castell kills recruitment!"
ReplyDeleteDid anyone see this Op. Ed. on the Democrat's website? This is one of the kind of stories FAMU should be putting on display.
ReplyDeleteGreat Read
ReplyDelete*************************
Originally published April 16, 2007
This is why we need schools like FAMU
We used to just dismiss those who do not understand the mission of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). However, since we are removed from history a bit, we must explain why it is imperative that HBCUs exist.
My brother and I grew up in a single-parent home that for much of our childhood was uninhabitable. My mom, brother and I lived in one room. We took baths out of buckets, and my mother cooked on a hot plate.
Still, my brother and I did very well in school, being in the gifted program and achieving in other academic pursuits. During our teenage years, our mother had several massive strokes, and we ended up taking care of her and still trying to succeed in school. When it was time to go to college, we were not accepted by anyone but FAMU. Furthermore, FAMU did not just accept us, but gave us full scholarships. No other colleges or universities reached out to us, but Dr. Frederick Humphries and Mr. Rudy Slaughter came to us themselves and saved us from fates unknown.
FAMU's mission is different. It is not to blindly admit black students but to take those diamonds that have been roughed up by the factors of life, polish them off, and allow them to shine for the world to see.
That's what FAMU did for us. We no longer live in shotgun houses. We are no longer hungry. We are both married, graduate-degree-holding professionals. We have children who will never know the suffering we experienced. We have full, blessed lives. Thank you, FAMU, for helping to give Darryl and me the abundant lives we were destined to live.
KIMBERLY SCRIVEN BERRY
kimsberry@hotmail.com
Good article on President Ammons
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070416/NEWS/704160375/1039
Recruitment is not about getting numbers, it is also about getting quality students. This FAMU administration has failed miserably. In addition to recruitment, retention matters greatly. In the instance of the law school and other professional schools on campus, students are leaving after only a short time. That speaks volumes since the education at the law school is the least expensive in the state. If something is so bad that no one wants it no matter how inexpensive it is that is a horrible reputation to build on.
ReplyDelete4/16.. you want UF to be prohibited from offering scholarships to black students?
ReplyDeleteLOL isn't that the OPPOSITE direction we want to take as a society?
Whoa! Wait! What do I see on the horizon?? It's a man! And the man is walking on water!! He has come to save us from ourselves! He is going to save us from the ravage of ourselves. His name is Ammons, James Ammons. On a serious note here, if James Ammons doesn't deliver, I fear that the brother will meet the same fate, er, hate, that has been cast upon his predecessors.
ReplyDeleteFAMU's mission is historical and not with the times. A state publicly funded institutions should not be race specific. FAMU should be for all colors not just one. I for one will be speaking out! Time will change FAMU the tide is turning.
ReplyDeleteUF prohibited from recruiting black students. This is the mentality that keeps FAMU in the dark ages and consequently a poor academic institution.
ReplyDeleteUF prohibited from recruiting black students. This is the mentality that keeps FAMU in the dark ages and consequently a poor academic institution.
ReplyDeleteHow is this any different from letting FSU take its engineering school. What if FSU just have FAMU 2/3 of the $10 million budget and the building, since FSU has 2/3 of the students and faculty anyways, and split to start its own COE? Why should FSU and FAMU continue to have a relationship when so many FAMU students and faculty see their mission as nostalgia for black folk?
when are you haters going to get it. FAMU's mission originally was set up to be Black Only, but we have not made it a secret that white folks can apply. Ask the volleyball and baseball teams.
ReplyDeleteIf 3000 white kids with 1400 SATs applied to FAMU every year for the next 5 years, FAMU would become whiter than Ole Miss. The only thing that keeps FAMU so black is the FEAR of white kids of being a Minority for 4 years out of their 75 years of life. Oh it's real.
Hello you can't prohibit another publicly funded institution from recruiting students. This board is bordering on ridiculous. FAMU needs to change they are heading in the wrong direction.
ReplyDeleteFSU was set up for women, and UF for men. Publicly funded institutions change with the demands of the state. If you want to stay black, go private. But if you are publicly funded you have an obligation to be a school for all races. FAMU will change. The question is not if, but when.
ReplyDeleteFAMU hasn't had a recruiting program since Humphries left. I don't know why this is news. It's as if the media wants to find every negative story about FAMU to put on the front page. Once a permanent administration is put in, then the school can go about recruiting. Honestly, recruiting shouldn't be the first thing on the university's mind...getting its house in order should be primary.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how any school can steal another school's students...that's just crazy. If a student has good grades and extra curricular activities, then like an athlete, he/she will have a number of institutions to choose from for his/her education.
^^^^^
ReplyDeleteone job of a leader is to delegate power so all of these things can and will happen concurrently.(recruitment, fiscal prudence, R&D,figurehead, structure and order and productivity) I look forwad to dr. ammons coming home...fall 07 will be magical!
FAMU offers more leadership roles for black students than they would find at a predominantly white university.
ReplyDeleteBut some of those bright students thinking of coming to FAMU might have realized the kind of students they would be around: Nearly half of them would be underprepared and undermotivated, and could not provide that bright student with the kind of steel that sharpens steel.
Isn't there some way to provide the black experience and at the same time challenge bright students more?
Too many of those bright black students arrive here and keep BS-ing the same way they BS-ed through high school -- tossing off hasty work at the last minute and not causing any trouble in class.
Unless we maintain a critical mass of really bright students, there's little reason for a really bright student to come here. Humphries was close to doing that. It was beginning to work in those departments where the bright kids congregated.
Recruitment, are you listening? And can we compete for top talent against all the other schools with their well-funded programs, financial aid that works, buildings that get repaired, grounds kept clean, classroom equipment that works, teachers that come to class and speak English, parking facilities, access to culture beyond black culture, and, f'chrissake, lower humidity?
It's tough.
Well RATTLERS, it's time to get ready to transfer to the HBCU that have stole all the reputation away from FAMU.
ReplyDeleteJackson State University
Don't beleive me, just take a look at whats going on over there. It's FAMU golden years all over again.
Jackson State University profile:
ReplyDeletePlease tell me what's the right picture with these figures that FAMU have yet to compete with.
2006-2007 FACTS AND FIGURES
Jackson State University
Office of Institutional Research and Planning
P. O. Box 17147
Telephone: (601) 979-2615
Telefax: (601) 502-2629
www.jsums.edu/oirp
JSU is the fourth largest state-supported institution in
Mississippi. It was founded in 1877 by the American Baptist
Home Mission Society. In 1979, Jackson State University
was designated the Urban University of the State of
Mississippi. It is accredited by the Commission of the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the
bachelor’s, master’s, education specialist, Doctor of
Education and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. JSU now offers
43 bachelor’s, 36 master’s, 3 specialist-in-education and 11
doctoral degrees.
The Campus is located at:
1400 John R. Lynch Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39217
Hinds County
Office of Institutional Research
ENROLLMENT PROFILE, FALL 2006
All Students 8,259 100%
Full-Time 6,354 77%
Part-Time 1,905 23%
Full-Time Equivalent (F.T.E.) 7066
Freshmen 1,964 23.8%
Sophomores 1,258 15.2%
Juniors 1,266 15.3%
Seniors 2,036 24.7%
Total Undergraduate 6,524 79.0%
Total Graduate 1,735 21.0%
Women 6,307 64.3%
Men 2,952 35.7%
African American 7,719 93.5%
Caucasian 342 4.1%
Hispanic 22 <1%
Asian/Oriental 31 <1%
Native American 4 <1%
Other 141 1.7%
ACADEMIC DATA BY SCHOOL
ENR: Enrollment, Fall 2006
DEG: Degrees Awarded, 2005-06
ENR DEG
College of Liberal Arts 1,806 259
21.9% 22.2%
College of Science, Engineering
& Technology 1,797 236
21.8% 20.2%
College of Education & Human
Development 1,749 346
21.2% 29.6%
College of Business 1,362 186
16.5% 15.9%
College of Public Service 766 142
9.3% 12.1%
Undeclared 746
9.0%
College of Lifelong Learning 33
0.3%
TOTAL 8,259 1,169
STUDENT FEES, FY 2006-07 (per year)
In-State Tuition $4,182
Out-of-State Tuition $9,482
Dormitory Room (double occupancy) $3,178
Meal Plan (20 meal plan) $2,096
FACULTY, FY 2006-07
Full-time Teaching Faculty
(Headcount) 354
Number Tenured 116 33%
Average Salary
Professor $67,661
Associate Professor $58,621
Assistant Professor $52,549
Instructor $38,858
STAFF, FY 2006-07 1,593
Administrative 121 7.6%
Faculty (Employees
holding faculty rank) 528 33.1%
Other Professional 401 25.2%
Clerical 218 13.7%
Para-Professional 73 4.6%
Skilled Craft 27
TOP FIVE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS:
Biology 803
Elementary Education 513
Business Administration 505
Accounting 312
Criminal Justice 297
TOP FIVE GRADUATE MASTERS PROGRAMS:
Public Health 93
Early Childhood Education 79
Computer Science 66
Sociology 60
Teaching 60
Social Work 59
Industrial Arts Education 59
DOCTORATE DEGREE PROGRAMS:
Education Administration 57
Higher Education 44
Environmental Science 41
Early Childhood Education 37
Chemistry 33
Clinical Psychology 34
Business Administration 29
Public Administration 27
Social Work 26
Public Health 18
Urban & Regional Planning 14
BUDGETED REVENUES, FY 2006-07
Tuition & Fees $36,306,916
State Appropriations $49,329,376
Sales & Services $421,565
Other Revenue $13,252,605
Total Education and General $99,310,462
Auxiliary Enterprises $14,000,000
TOTAL REVENUES $113,310,462
BUDGETED EXPENDITURES, FY 2006-07
Instruction $40,344,862
Research $942,884
Public Service $503,526
Academic Support $8,594,508
Student Services $12,960,652
Institutional Support $15,014,135
Operation and Maintenance $9,870,443
Scholarships and Fellowships $8,411,317
Mandatory Transfers $2,668,135
Total Education and General $99,310,462
Auxiliary Enterprises $14,000,000
TOTAL EXPENDITURES $113,310,462
RESIDENCY
MISSISSIPPI RESIDENTS 6,966 84.3%
Top Five Counties:
Hinds - 3,767 Copiah - 157
Madison - 445 Warren - 154
Rankin - 308
OUT-OF-STATE RESIDENTS 1,220 14.8%
Top Five States:
Illinois - 227 Tennessee - 84
Louisiana - 159 Georgia - 83
Texas - 98
FOREIGN 73 0.9%
Top Two Countries:
India - 14 Canada - 7
REGISTRATION TYPE:
First-Time Freshmen 898 10.9%
Returning Students 4,541 55.0%
Readmitted Students 316 3.8%
Transfer Students 611 7.4%
First-Time Graduate Students 482 5.8%
Returning Graduate Students 1,246 15.1%
Transient Students 14 <1%
Non-Formula Students 145 1.8%
Other 6 <1%
FALL 2006
DORMITORIES
ON-CAMPUS RESIDENTS: 1,925 23%
Designed
FEMALES Capacity Housed
McAllister/Whiteside 488 409
Transitional Hall 432 324
Alexander West Hall 398 333
TOTAL 1,318 1,066
Designed
MALES Capacity Housed
W.E.B. DuBois 392 315
Alexander East Hall 388 344
Dixon Hall 302 200
TOTAL 1,082 859
GRAND TOTAL 2,400 1,925
FAMU law school - a disaster. The bar passage rates are out. FAMU is second to last at 52.4%. The state average is 70.9% FIU, established the same year as FAMU, is first ion the state, with 94.4%. Why are so many FAMU students failing the bar exam? This is embarassing. Ammons must take charge.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the bar exam excludes backs from practing law. The bar exam, not FAMU, is the problem.
ReplyDeleteGo!!! To Jackson State University!!
ReplyDelete"On the REAL PROW, for Excellence with Caring!"
The law school is not a disaster. Things are going to get better. We just need to fill some critical slots and teach to the bar exam. Don't worry. Things are going to get better.
ReplyDeleteThe law shocol jus tneeds to get rid of all those non-academic high salried people from insutry who have no clue about scholarship, and who put more energy in trying not to meet the criteria rther than buckle down and do it.
ReplyDeleteThere is one Diva wanna be who tries to get what she wants through her looks. Too bad looks can't write for her. And she ain;t that cute.
11:46--so now it's the "bar exam" and not FAMU" What the duck are you saying? Oh, yeah, I see: put it on something (or someone) else for our failures. Good solution. You must be one of Castell's favorite people: blame, blame, blame. When all other logic fails, blame, blame, blame and point, point, point. The bar exam. Yeah, right. So the American Bar Association makes a separate examination for FAMU test-takers?? You're probably one of those people who never look in the mirror and always seek to blame someone or something else for your problems, errors and failures. I betcha.
ReplyDeleteWe just need to fill some critical slots and teach to the bar exam. Don't worry. Things are going to get better.
ReplyDeleteIf we "teach the bar exam" we are certain to be a failure. What law school is successful with such a strategy? Certainly not FSU or FIU. They don't "teach the bar exam."