Valley's enrollment now 1,384 students

Earl Wellborn, chief academic officer at Missouri Valley College, gives a "state of the college" address to the Marshall Rotary Club on Thursday, Sept. 21. [Click to enlarge]

Earl Wellborn, the chief academic officer of Missouri Valley College in Marshall reported good enrollment for the academic year plus a number of new projects at Missouri Valley.

"Things are going well," Wellborn said as he opened his "state of the college" address to the Marshall Rotary club during its weekly meeting on the Missouri Valley campus.

Wellborn reported a total enrollment of 1,384 students, which he said was "a good strong number."

Included in the total are 547 new students and 402 first-time freshmen. While the majority of students (63 percent) at Missouri Valley are from Missouri, the diverse student body represents 43 different states and 19 different countries. Wellborn said the college has been drawing well from the 11-county region surrounding Marshall. It also continues to draw international students and students from out of state.

Wellborn reported that the process of upgrading the residences on campus is continuing with new furniture, carpet, beds and other items.

Missouri Valley has plans to add new services in the future, Wellborn said.

"We are striving diligently to become a great partner to the community," he said. In the near future, the college hopes to offer more evening classes to better serve the community as well as exploring online and correspondence courses. Plans are also in the works to develop master's degree programs at Missouri Valley, though Wellborn said that was a longer-term goal.

The study abroad program is also growing, Wellborn said. A number of students have spent time studying in places like Sicily and London, England. Missouri Valley educators have also traveled overseas to teach in the program, he said.

Missouri Valley added an archeology program, which is new this year.

"We were fortunate to hire Tim Baumann away from the University of Missouri St. Louis," Wellborn said, adding that Bauman is already making great inroads in getting the school and the community involved in a lot of projects related to the field of archeology.

Wellborn then spoke about added security on campus, pointing out that Mark Gooden of the Marshall Police Department is now a part of the campus security team.

Wellborn also took a quick moment to recognize the 15th-ranked Vikings football team before closing his presentation.

Contact Zach Sims at

marshallbusiness@socket.net