SII’s Freshman Enrollment Grows by 50 Percent
A year and a half after USF President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. replaced the leadership of the St. Ignatius Institute, the number of freshmen entering the program has increased by 50 percent. Thirty-six freshmen were admitted this year, up from 21 students last year.
“This places freshmen enrollments back where they were before the changes took place,” said Paul Murphy, assistant professor of history, who assumed the directorship of the institute in January 2001.
Student retention has also improved, Murphy said. Previously, SII had one of the university’s highest attrition rates. Of the 59 freshmen who entered the institute in fall 2000, only 31 remained in the program by January. In contrast, the number of freshmen admitted last fall has remained steady. Although a few left the program, others joined, increasing the class size from 21 to 24.
Shalendra Sharma, associate professor of politics who teaches in the institute, credits Murphy’s leadership in strengthening SII. “What has kept the institute together is Paul Murphy,” Sharma said. “Under tremendous pressure he was able to keep it together and the students respect him.”
Upon becoming director, Murphy said his priorities were improving class scheduling and continuing to increase the number of full-time faculty. (About 28 percent of the institute’s faculty are part-time instructors.) He also brought in distinguished visiting faculty, including Terrance Walsh, S.J. a professor from the Gregorian University in Rome, who currently teaches a course on medieval philosophy.
Murphy said he also hopes to make a stronger recruitment effort this year by visiting Jesuit high schools. This year’s large freshmen class was admitted despite no on-site visits last year. Murphy also initiated the high-profile Catholic Studies Lecture series, that brought San Francisco Archbishop William Levada and New York Times religion reporter Peter Steinfels to campus last year.
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