Simpson has overcome low enrollment from last year with a large first-year student population in 2002.

As of Aug. 30, Simpson had brought 380 new students to campus compared to 299 in 2001.

“We had tremendous support from Simpson staff,” said Deb Tierney, vice president for enrollment.

Simpson staff and faculty took an interest in increasing enrollment from the past year.

The recruitment process for Simpson’s admission staff did not change drastically from last year. The staff wanted to contact as many students as possible in the short amount of time they had. As a result, campus visits during the 2001-2002 school year were up.

“If we can get them [students] to visit, we can get them to come to Simpson,” said Cole Zimmerman, director of recruitment.

When students visited Simpson, the admissions staff worked to establish a relationship with the parent as well as the prospective student. Individual attention received by Simpson students was also stressed.

“Simpson qualities speak for themselves,” said Tierney.

Quality versus quantity is the goal of Simpson recruitment.

Tierney said the standards for Simpson were not lowered in any way to achieve higher numbers. There were no set requirements for a student to enter Simpson. Admission standards are set every year according to the applicant pool.

“We want students who will thrive,” said Tierney.

According to Tierney, the excitement caused by the large enrollment would be added to future recruitments. Plans have already been made to visit high schools in the upcoming weeks.

Overall, the high enrollment is seen as a positive for Simpson. However, there were some problems that came with such a large freshman class.

Simpson offers classes with small class sizes in order for students to have more one-on-one attention. In order to keep classes small, sections of certain classes had to be added. This caused scheduling conflicts. Several first-year students had to adjust their schedules over the phone with Registrar John Bolen.

Housing was another issue that the campus had to re-evaluate. Many students were being temporarily housed.

In Kresge Hall, the second floor lounge was turned into a room to accommodate six women. However, only four women were placed there.

Originally the women were to be housed in one of the basement rooms.

Each woman received a letter a week before they were to move in telling them that while they would still have the same roommate they were originally assigned to. However, they would be placed on the second floor instead of the basement and they would have another roommate.

They were unaware that they were being moved into a lounge where they would be housed temporarily.

“At first I was worried it might be a small room, but now that I’m here I really like it, I don’t want to leave,” said Rachel Humphrey, a transfer student from Kirkwood Community College.

None of the women wanted to move after they settled in. They felt it would be a hassle to have to move their belongings so soon. Also, they had developed friendships and were comfortable with the girls on their floor.

The women do no think it was fair that they had started their experience at Simpson one way, only to be asked to move to some other location.

Simpson realized it was an inconvenience and compensated the students who were being forced to move with a $250 housing credit.