The fourth and last stop of the Montana College tour is Montana State University located in the wonderful town of Bozeman.
Most impressive academically at MSU was the Academic Advising Center. Freshmen, undecided about their majors, are designated as ‘exploring students’ and assigned advisors in the center. These great advisers help students enroll in freshman classes that not only will fulfill requirements in most majors, but also, provide options for career exploration. I was so impressed with this program, I’d encourage all students enrolling at MSU to consider declaring themselves ‘undecided’.
A unique program at MSU, Champ Change, is designed to encourage students to get involved in on campus activities. The lure of the mountains is so strong that many students succumb to leaving campus for their non-academic activities. That’s ok, but on-campus involvement is more highly correlated with student success. So, the Champ Change program awards points for students attending lectures, concerts, sporting events and participating in intramural games or residence hall activities. Earn enough points and you can earn a $1000 scholarship.
We met the impressive Career Center Director who has a research based, developmental program, which if students took advantage of, would be very beneficial. The students on the panel we met with weren’t familiar with the Career Center.
I knew Montana State had a well-known and well-respected Engineering program. I was less familiar with the Photography and Film school. We met with a faculty member from the Film program who told us about the ‘Montana Mafia’ currently influencing the film industry in Los Angeles! Students can enroll in the fill program as freshmen, about 200 do. However, there’s room for only 48 students in the junior level courses. Very selective.
The tour ended at MSU. The week provided me with knowledge of Montana Colleges and lots of new friends.
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