Meghann Anderson
Staff writer
The University is amid a re-bid to be a host school for the Governor’s Scholars Program this semester.
The program allows upcoming high school seniors to live on one of three Kentucky college campuses for five weeks out of the summer.
President Randy Dunn, Bob Jackson, vice president for Institutional Advancement, Dan Lavit, assistant dean-director of Distance Learning, and Warren Edminster, Honors Program director, met with the executive director of GSP and his administrative secretary in Frankfort, Ky., before Christmas to gain feedback on past proposals.
Don Robertson, vice president of Student Affairs, said GSP administration chooses which schools host the program after looking at bids from other colleges.
He said it puts the University in a better position to recruit these students.
“You get 300-plus rising high school seniors from across the Commonwealth that haven’t been to Murray State,” Robertson said. “Exposure makes a big difference. It causes them to take another look at Murray State.”
Edminster said only three universities become host schools for GSP students, making the process of host selection very difficult, as is often the case for the students competing for entry spots.
Bids are renewed every three years, and because the University became a host in 2010, the new bid will host scholars from the summers of 2013 to 2015.
Edminster said the host schools will be announced at the end of May or early June.
“You have more staff working on campus during the summer when the University sees less activity,” Edminster said.
He said the students are not graded for their work done at the University while at GSP and do not receive any college credit, but are here for academic exploration.
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