Bac Totrong/photo@bgdailynews.com Students walk through Downing Student Union on Monday, Western Kentucky University's first day of the spring semester.

Western Kentucky University bustled with activity Monday as the spring semester got underway. 

The major change students will notice on campus is the disappearance of the North Wing of the Kelly Thompson Complex for Science, said Bob Skipper, media relations director for WKU.

“It was taken down over the break,” he said. 

The university won’t release this semester’s enrollment numbers until next week, but “we have heard that it’s very strong,” said Beth Laves, associate vice president for extended learning and outreach.

“Certainly, our efforts at retention have been making an impact,” she said.

Dozens of students starting at WKU for the first time this semester attended a three-day spring orientation last week called Practical Application for Student Success. 

“This is our first year to do this,” Laves said. “We’re excited about this program. We had 80 to 100 students (participate). We expect it to grow quickly. We have more and more students who start in the spring.”

PASS has a different audience than the MASTER Plan orientation offered in the fall for incoming freshman, because those who start in the spring tend to be transfer students, commuters or international students, she said.

WKU’s winter term ended last week with an enrollment of 2,015 students, which is about 10 percent of the student population, Laves said. That’s down a little from last winter term, mirroring the 1.4 percent loss the university experienced last fall.

“Winter term always follows fall enrollment,” Laves said. “As fall enrollment goes, so goes winter term normally, so it was down slightly.”

This was the 10th year for winter term, which provides an additional opportunity for students to take classes they need to graduate on time, Laves said.

“Most of the time, it’s juniors and seniors trying to get the credits they need to graduate on time,” she said. 

A growing number of winter term students are taking online classes, with 1,420 – or about 70 percent – of this year’s winter term students enrolled in an online class, Laves said. In addition, 155 of this year’s winter term students studied abroad and 65 were in study away classes, which offer academic opportunities off campus but within the U.S.

Students ended that first day of class with some winter weather, which caused a delayed start on WKU’s Glasgow campus.

On days with snow and ice, people can check www.wku.edu to find out about any campus closings, or students and faculty can sign up for text alerts at www.wku.edu/emergency. 

— Follow faith/general assignments reporter Laurel Wilson on Twitter at twitter.com/FaithinBG