Dear Members of the Methodist University Community,
Welcome to Methodist University! Whether you are at MU for the first time or returning to us after the summer, welcome to all!
This is my favorite time of year. I love the energy of a new fall semester, the discovery of changes made on campus over the summer, the excitement of fall athletic competition, and the gradual seasonal change toward beautiful North Carolina Autumn.
Speaking of changes made on campus over the summer, I hope you notice the improvements to Berns Student Center and to other campus facilities. But, our biggest change that will improve the experience of our students is the creation of the One Stop in Davis Memorial Library. We are almost finished furnishing the space now.
The One Stop pulls together a wide range of services for students in a single location, including academic advising and success planning, career advising, class registration, tutoring, writing center, accessibility and disability services, student employment, internships and experiential learning, and student billing and accounts. Students are able to easily register online for an appointment or to drop in for a visit. We also are creating even more student study and gathering spaces in the One Stop so that students have a bright, beautiful, airy and safe place to spend time between classes.
I wish you all a wonderful semester, filled with both academic success and fun. To be even more successful and to have even more fun, I strongly encourage students to get involved: apply for a paying job on campus, join a student club or organization, attend sporting events and cheer for your fellow Monarchs, check out the interesting and thought-provoking programming in our weekly CIRCUIT at Matthews Ministry Center, play an intramural sport, perform in a choir, or work out at Nimocks Fitness Center. There is so much to do at Methodist University.
Speaking of success, I want to congratulate the Men’s Golf Team and Coach Steve Conley on winning their 13th NCAA National Championship! And congratulations also to Coach Conley, who has led the team to all 13 National Championships, on receiving his 8th Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award! We are a very proud of our golf program’s success. In 2021, the Women’s Golf Team won its 26th NCAA National Championship.
Finally, I want you to know you have made a great choice to enroll at MU. In a major national study of thousands of colleges and universities, Methodist University ranks in the top 16 percent nationally in terms of economic mobility of graduates. Economic mobility is a measure of how much a student’s economic situation improves after graduating. In that same study, MU ranks 12th out of North Carolina colleges and universities (there are more than 100), in the top 12 percent of selective private colleges and universities nationally, and No. 1 in our athletic conference, the USA South.
We are proud of these rankings, and we hope you are reassured by them. The rankings illustrate that we have very strong academic programs at MU, that MU graduates are finding good jobs, and that attending MU is helping graduates to significantly improve their economic wellbeing. MU is a great investment in your future!
So again, have an excellent semester! And please take a moment to stop and talk with me when you see me around campus and at events. I want to hear from you about how you are doing at MU.
Best wishes to all!
Stanley T. Wearden, Ph.D.
President
Methodist University