Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 7, 1991 TAG: 9104070133
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE/ STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FERRUM LENGTH: Long
After Friday classes, Shipp would hit the road for a weekend of socializing with friends at other colleges and universities in the area.
Shipp, now a senior, says her weekend road trips are a thing of the past.
"You can't find a weekend when we don't have something scheduled on campus," she said.
Ferrum College - once known for its dullsville social life - has come to life with an expanded menu of on-campus films, comedy nights, dance parties, live bands, even Jell-O wrestling.
The Methodist-affiliated college even sets up beer gardens at some events for students 21 and older.
No one suggests that Ferrum College is about to become Virginia's No. 1 party school, but the improved student life is a welcome development on a campus still struggling with the transition from a two-year to four-year college.
Ferrum is offering two-year associate degrees for the last time this year. The last vestiges of its junior college past have been erased in recruiting material sent to high school seniors.
Ferrum's new slogan: A College on the Move.
"I think those people who think of us from our junior-college days better get a grip," said Admissions Director Bob Bailey.
The transition has not been painless.
In the 1970s, Ferrum was known as a place where an underachiever could earn enough credits to get into a college of choice.
In 1985, Ferrum decided to de-emphasize its associate degrees and compete with other four-year private colleges in the state.
That meant raising academic standards, shrinking enrollment by one-third and raising tuition to more than $10,000 next year.
The goal was persuading students - many of whom chose Ferrum with the idea of transfering after two years - to stick around and earn bachelor's degrees.
Ferrum spokesman Tom Rickard compared the transition to turning around an ocean liner.
"It's something that takes time," Rickard said.
President Jerry Boone has stayed the course since he came to Ferrum in July 1987.
Even in the face of a shrinking pool of high school seniors, Boone has not let academic standards slip back to the days when Ferrum was open to virtually anyone.
Ferrum now rejects one in four applicants. The average SAT score of incoming freshman has increased from 730 to 794 during Boone's tenure, Bailey said.
"I give credit to the administration for not retreating," Bailey said. "It's a bold step for them."
Gradually, Ferrum is shaking its junior-college image. The number of bachelor's degrees awarded has increased in each of the past four years, and underclassman surveyed each spring who say they plan to return in the fall has increased from 58 percent in 1988 to 67 percent this year.
Administrators say nothing has helped retention more than the emergence of a campus life.
Seniors agree.
Jay Paige, a 21-year-old business management and history major from Berryville, said campus life was "just a theory" when he arrived on campus four years ago.
"It was like a suitcase college; everyone packed up and left on the weekends," said Paige, who is student government vice president and free safety on the football team.
It's not as though students had a choice. The Ferrum campus, tucked away in the Blue Ridge foothills of Franklin County, had a cramped student center and sporadic weekend activities.
Boone understood that students needed a place to go and something to do.
The Boone administration spent more than $900,000 to build a new bookstore, expand the student center and remodel the dining hall. One freshman dorm has been renovated, and a second will get new furniture this summer.
"We want to show students we're spending money on them directly," Rickard said. "And it seems to be paying off."
Students have responded by getting involved in planning and promoting campus events. Weekend dances with live bands that once drew a few dozen students now draw several hundred, said Al Iantorno, director of student activities.
A few events even draw a handful of students from Radford and Virginia Tech - turning Ferrum's road-trip reputation on its head.
"Some people still leave on weekends," said Candice Hubbard, a senior psychology major from Richmond and student government president, "but it isn't to get away because there's nothing to do here."
FERRUM COLLEGE/ AT A GLANCE/ Location: Franklin County/ Enrollment: 1,150/ 1990 Graduating class: 140/ 1990 Freshman class: 385/ Number of majors: 31/ Most Popular majors: Business administration, agriculture, environmental studies, history, psychology and social work
1991-92 tuition, room and board: $10,800
by CNB