I usually don't cover GSU but I did want to meet the person whose responsibility was so awesome, it's overwhelming.
GSU had undergone lots of transition in its presidential leadership. When former president Horace Johnson resigned, Pogue stepped in while the University of Louisiana system searched for a president.
But that system's board of supervisors have tabled that search while the school undergoes accreditation.
During his visit today, Pogue shared 11 goals he has for the university. Among the top was growing enrollment. The school has hired a marketing firm from Chicago to help with the school's image. The goal is to raise enrollment from 4,600 students to between 7,000 to 8,000 students.
Not only will the number of students returning to class (retention) have to increase, but the number of first time, full time freshmen will also.
Now THIS is where it gets interesting.
Pogue talked about recruiting qualified college students. That means, the student will have to have a 2.0 grade point average, or a 20 ACT composite score, or be in top 5 percent of their class. The student can only be in ONE developmental class (that means scoring more than 18 on the English ACT and more than 19 on the math ACT)
Caddo's average ACT scores in English are 20.3 and in math 19.5. However there are some schools that have scores hovering around the 15 point score.
Pogue isn't the only college president to comment on wanting better prepared college freshmen to admit. But with that pool of students already courted by local schools, LSU, Tech, and Texas schools, GSU will have to do something out of the box.
Like open an office in Shreveport.
"We want to have an office here," he said. "I don't see a campus here but an office to have applications for admission."
Pogue said the idea was still in the planning stages but he wanted the office, staffed by alumni, to open before the Tech vs GSU game in September.
The office would get a piece of the campus in Shreveport, with information for anyone who wants to apply or wants to know more.
Others schools have something similar and have had varying degrees of success.
We'll keep y'all posted when we know more about the Grambling office in Shreveport.
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