Campus Update Ep.44 | Charlotte Wahle
Published Tuesday, November 07, 2023
Description
Charlotte Wahle, director of admissions, was our guest for the KMHL Campus Update on these week's episode. Wahle, spoke to us about new programs that can help students with tuition costs for those who qualify. She also discussed the Southwest Guarantee, the North Star Promise Scholarship, and other SMSU scholarships available for current and new students. Charlotte also pointed out that tuition is frozen through Spring 2025 and that students can apply for free in November.
More details on all the programs are available at www.SMSU.edu/go/free.
For more information about admissions please contact Charlotte Wahle via email at Charlotte.Wahle@smsu.edu or via phone at 507-537-7207.
Transcription
00:00:00 Josh Goblish
As we kick off our SMSU campus update, joining me in studio as per usual, Mr. Bill Mulso, the VP for Government Relations, Communications and Marketing. Bill, good morning.
00:00:09 Bill Mulso
Good morning, Josh.
00:00:10 Josh Goblish
How we doing today? How'd
00:00:12 Josh Goblish
You like to have forecast.
00:00:13 Bill Mulso
Well, I liked one aspect of it. I like the fact that the winds are out of the southeast. If you could have that in my backyard and then turn it around the other direction, kind of the northwest from my front yard, yeah.
00:00:23 Bill Mulso
I'd appreciate that better.
00:00:24 Bill Mulso
But I would like to give the neighbors.
00:00:24 Josh Goblish
And why is that?
00:00:26 Bill Mulso
Their leaves back.
00:00:29 Josh Goblish
Well, good luck with that. So we'll see if Mother Nature cooperates with that to or, you know, you could just do the neighborly thing and go.
00:00:34 Josh Goblish
Out there and pick them up this afternoon.
00:00:35 Bill Mulso
Blow him over there.
00:00:38 Josh Goblish
It'll do it as well. Also joining us in studio is Charlotte Wahle, director of admission and ask Miss You, Charlotte, how you?
00:00:43 Josh Goblish
Doing today I'm pretty.
00:00:44 Josh Goblish
Good. That's good to hear. How do you like that forecast? Do you like it a little bit cooler? Would you rather it be like?
00:00:49 Josh Goblish
85 and Sunny no, somewhere in between.
00:00:52 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah, my birthday's in October. So I like that. Like mid-fall. You know, you bundle up with a scarf and a sweater, but once I have to break my.
00:01:00 Josh Goblish
Winter coat out, then it's no good. Yeah, no good. Well, that's gonna be just around the corner here in just a bit. So winter is coming. We'll have to get geared up for that. But today we're gonna be learning a little bit about you and then talking about some tuition.
00:01:13 Josh Goblish
Some scholarships, things of that of that nature, but first.
00:01:16 Josh Goblish
Well, tell us a little bit about yourself, kind of a bit about your background and your role here at us, miss.
00:01:21 Charlotte Wahle
You. Yeah. So I moved to Marshall in fall of 2018. I am originally from Portland, OR moved around a bit over the years. My folks are back in Oregon. So. So.
00:01:35 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah, my husband is a Mankato alum, Marty Wahle, head, swim coach. And so initially, that's what brought us to Marshall was the creation of the women's swimming and diving team. And then I was lucky enough to get a job in the admission office, and it's just kind of been. The rest is history, I guess. But I stepped into my role as the director of admission in.
00:01:53 Charlotte Wahle
May and essentially now I'm. I'm not on the road anymore. My face is not in in most of the high schools. I just get to facilitate supporting my team and making sure that they're going to be able to support our our future must things and their families as they go through the college process and and come into SU.
00:02:11 Josh Goblish
So kind of go through a little bit of background from the office of admission because you started out like you said kind of going around to all these schools. How?
00:02:19 Josh Goblish
Did you work your way up?
00:02:20 Charlotte Wahle
Right place, right time, no.
00:02:23 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah. So I I started out doing primarily travel and then I I I gradually added in a lot of the event planning and this past spring I worked on our new Mustang days, which was our new student registration program. And so when the director of admissions position opened up, I just thought I'd put my hat.
00:02:41 Charlotte Wahle
Into the ring and I was.
00:02:42 Charlotte Wahle
Lucky enough they took a chance.
00:02:44 Josh Goblish
No downtown. It looks like, you know, I've noticed these the free tuition signs and billboards around town. Can you tell me more about these?
00:02:52 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah. So especially with the billboards, our goal is to kind of catch folks attention, get them to ask that question. What do you mean free tuition? What is out there? And we've done sort of that umbrella term to make sure that folks.
00:03:04 Charlotte Wahle
There's a bunch of different ways.
00:03:06 Charlotte Wahle
That they can get additional aid and scholarships to hopefully add up to, if not free, tuition, then a lot closer. So there's a variety of different initiatives going on there.
00:03:17 Josh Goblish
And can you tell us about the Southwest Guarantee?
00:03:19 Charlotte Wahle
Yes. So as miss you has always had merit scholarships that we award to students based on GPA or ACT. But we've changed the name to really make sure that folks know that the scholarships awarded through the Southwest Guarantee are guaranteed.
00:03:37 Charlotte Wahle
Before the student even applies, they can know they count on that money. They don't have to do an extra application, they get those scholarships automatically, whichever is higher. Their ACT score or their GPA, whichever would make them eligible for the most money.
00:03:50 Josh Goblish
And can you tell me about SW Scholars day?
00:03:52 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah. So to me it feels like it's just around the corner, but it isn't actually until January 22nd. So that's going to be an big on campus scholarship competition. Any student with a 3.6.
00:04:06 Charlotte Wahle
Or a 28 or higher. Anybody at that criteria or higher is going to be eligible to come and compete on campus for some of our top scholarships from students nationwide. They can compete for up to $20,000 and then our local students. We have partnerships through the president's Regional Scholars Program. And so those students.
00:04:26 Charlotte Wahle
So you have the opportunity to compete for a.
00:04:28 Charlotte Wahle
Right.
00:04:28 Josh Goblish
And what kind of competitions are we having? It's not like a boxing match.
00:04:31 Charlotte Wahle
Is it? Yes, that's pick the walkout song, no.
00:04:37 Bill Mulso
You put the sumo.
00:04:38 Bill Mulso
Suits on.
00:04:38 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah. I mean really like.
00:04:40 Charlotte Wahle
To some degree, it is a scholarship competition. We know the students are coming there to get the scholarship, but on our end we want to make sure that they have a really good time on campus, that they get to meet the Mustang.
00:04:49 Charlotte Wahle
Family. Other students that have been really successful in high school and kind of learn about what are the opportunities for these high achieving students. So during the course of the day, they'll have 130 minute interview with a small committee made-up of faculty, staff and alumni.
00:05:06 Charlotte Wahle
And then the rest of the day is theirs to choose whatever kind of concurrent sessions we have going on here, from Brett Gal, the director of the Honors program, listen to a student panel, attend a mock lecture. We're going to have, I promise you a very fancy catered lunch. I'm already looking forward to whatever the dessert is, so it, even though it's a competition, the goal is not to make it something overly stressful.
00:05:28 Charlotte Wahle
We're using the.
00:05:29 Charlotte Wahle
Is impact, not achievement. So the students that win both the $20,000 and the full ride scholarships, it's not just going to be somebody that.
00:05:38 Charlotte Wahle
Has a 4.7 or a 36 on the ACT, although it might be. We're looking for somebody that's really going to come and enrich the Mustang family and the SU community because they're bringing a passion.
00:05:49 Bill Mulso
You mentioned you talked about the full ride scholars. I think this is probably the 4th or 5th year now that we've.
00:05:54 Bill Mulso
Done that where those students come from.
00:05:56 Bill Mulso
Over this few years.
00:05:56 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah, it's actually been really cool. They come from all over. So we've had three students from Marshall High School over that time. We've had two from Hancock High School, but we've also had Wilmer.
00:06:09 Charlotte Wahle
We're bass. Nope. Westbrook. Walnut Grove, Granada. Huntley E chain. Oh, darn it. Can you tell that I'm not from Minnesota? I should have just used the acronym, right? AJ in high school. So, yeah, it's really been all over, which has been. I got to go and give out those full ride scholarships as a surprise. And that's been fun.
00:06:14 Josh Goblish
Grenada. Grenada it's OK. It's OK. You are close.
00:06:30 Charlotte Wahle
Helped me to improve my Minnesota geography, although apparently not how to pronounce the names.
00:06:35 Josh Goblish
You were close. You know, I think, Swami, he actually up until last year, he called the Granada as well. So he's been here his whole life and he still got it wrong.
00:06:40 Bill Mulso
Really, really cool.
00:06:43 Charlotte Wahle
So don't feel too bad. And also can we just acknowledge the fact that sometimes we take names that exist in the rest so well to something else and we change them.
00:06:51 Josh Goblish
What's wrong with New Prague?
00:06:52 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah, I where I went to school in Wisconsin, there was a town that was called Berlin, not Berlin, Berlin, Berlin, Berlin.
00:07:01 Charlotte Wahle
I was.
00:07:01 Bill Mulso
But that's Wisconsin. They don't even.
00:07:02 Charlotte Wahle
Like just?
00:07:03 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah, that's true. That's true.
00:07:04 Josh Goblish
Quite want to go down to the Berlin alley.
00:07:06 Josh Goblish
And go Berlin.
00:07:08 Josh Goblish
Anyways, we also want to talk about the North Star Promise Scholarship program. I know nothing about that. So for somebody like me tell me more.
00:07:17 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah. Let me educate you. So that's actually the initiative coming from the state of Minnesota. So students attending SSU will benefit from it, but it's not our own program. So any student whose family meets the financial criteria for that program will then be eligible for free tuition.
00:07:38 Charlotte Wahle
And fees at any Minnesota State public university Community College or tribal college.
00:07:44 Josh Goblish
And what's with the OR what's new? With tuition going on right now? Anything going on? Too crazy?
00:07:49 Josh Goblish
What's going on?
00:07:49 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah. So the Minnesota State system has a tuition freeze, so we're not going to see increases in tuition until the spring of 2025. So you know that that's going to help families because they know they can kind of predict what the cost is going to be going forward as they're budgeting for that, there's not going to be a.
00:08:04 Charlotte Wahle
Surprise increase in tuition.
00:08:07 Josh Goblish
In addition to the programs, what are some other ways estimates use helping make college affordable?
00:08:13 Josh Goblish
That's a great question, right?
00:08:14 Charlotte Wahle
Yeah. What am I missing? I'll feel like I.
00:08:15 Bill Mulso
Well, think the big thing is you.
00:08:16 Charlotte Wahle
Covered a lot.
00:08:17 Bill Mulso
Know the scholarships.
00:08:18 Bill Mulso
Tuition freeze. This new program, Northstar promise are all different ways that we're trying to make that available on top of the existing financially programs that are out there. You've got state and federal.
00:08:33 Bill Mulso
Grants that are out there, obviously we've got different types of loans that are available for.
00:08:37 Bill Mulso
Students that that hopefully don't create too much burden on families. So I think the big thing is there's a wide variety of things. And so that's where we really encourage families to, you know, start the admission process early but then take advantage of the learning opportunities that are out there about financial aid and all the opportunities that exist in the process.
00:08:58 Bill Mulso
You kind of need to.
00:08:59 Charlotte Wahle
Follow. So yeah, I don't. I don't know that there's maybe more new initiatives, but we are going to try to be more intentional this year about making sure that folks know.
00:09:07 Charlotte Wahle
The kind of opportunities that have always existed. So, for example, when students are on campus competing during SW Scholars Day, we've worked closely with the music department so that students can audition for our music scholarships while they're already there on campus. So those are not new scholarships. We want students to know that they exist, and B, that they don't have to be a.
00:09:25 Charlotte Wahle
Music major to get those.
00:09:27 Charlotte Wahle
Forensics, for example, North Star Mutual just created a scholarship for some of our students on campus, so.
00:09:35 Charlotte Wahle
Kind of just lifting those things up for folks and and bills, right? Making sure that folks know, ask those questions early. Our our scholarship application is actually open now. So any student that's admitted to SJSU can now be applying for those scholarships through the SSU Foundation and the university.
00:09:51 Josh Goblish
And so there's a bunch of these scholarships. But one thing that's nice is you can just fill out one application, right?
00:09:57 Charlotte Wahle
Yes. So at some schools you've got to scroll through and they may have hundreds and hundreds of scholarships, but you have to decide for yourself which ones you apply for, and then do each application.
00:10:06 Charlotte Wahle
Individually, ours is 1 big catch. All application takes you about 15 minutes. It's not super rigorous and then if there's additional criteria it will let you know. For example, if you want to do a band scholarship, you're going.
00:10:18 Charlotte Wahle
To have to come and audition. So yeah, it makes it a lot easier. Takes out some.
00:10:23 Charlotte Wahle
Of the confusion.
00:10:24 Josh Goblish
No doubt to know there are a lot of funding options available, so for.
00:10:28 Josh Goblish
The parents and these possible students, I mean, what should they know? Well, I mean, how can they?
00:10:33 Charlotte Wahle
Navigate all this. Yeah, the I think I'm often the 1st to say the college process is confusing. You know, I I still confuse myself at times and I've been working in this profession for a decade and my family found it.
00:10:48 Charlotte Wahle
Refusing, despite the fact that I had two parents that had gone on.
00:10:51 Charlotte Wahle
So we never expect families and students to know the INS and outs, everything and what we encourage them to do is ask. Hopefully you know our listeners know that SMS is a really welcoming place and we're opening our doors. But.
00:11:05 Charlotte Wahle
Even if you're not, even if I spend you is not the top of your list, you want to go to UCLA or Harvard. Our doors are open. We want to help pull back that curtain. Explain the process. They can reach out to admission@smu.edu and and with e-mail questions, my contact information is on the website. And similarly, our financial aid office is going to be a great resource.
00:11:26 Charlotte Wahle
The FAFSA is changing this year, so there's a delay on that opening until the end of December. So don't call the financial aid office right now. They won't have any answers for you. But down the road, they're going to be a fantastic resource for.
00:11:39 Charlotte Wahle
Folks as well.
00:11:40 Bill Mulso
Yeah, I think you know that and she refers to the FAFSA for those that don't know, that's the free application for federal student aid. It's the form that dictates almost everything within the financial aid process. So our director of financial aid, Natasha Bull does I know here in the Marshall Community. And I think there's several other.
00:11:59 Bill Mulso
Area community that she'll go in and she'll do a financial aid night and she's just talking about the financial aid process.
00:12:05 Bill Mulso
Yes, no matter where you're going. So it's not specific to SMSU, it's for any students and families that are, you know, pursuing this college opportunity. So take advantage of those as they come out here after the first of the year.
00:12:17 Charlotte Wahle
Right. And and so going back to that North Star promise folks are going to have to do the FAFSA to be eligible for that program. So because again, the state is looking at all the different thing ways that they can apply financially to these folks. First, before they add in this additional scholarship dollars to get them to that free tuition.
00:12:37 Charlotte Wahle
That's all.
00:12:38 Josh Goblish
Have we extended free application month?
00:12:41 Charlotte Wahle
Yes, we have. I'm so glad you heard. Yes. So the state of Minnesota does College Knowledge Month in October and application fees are waived at almost every single university. But at SSU we felt like November snuck up on us. October went way too fast and we assumed that our students and families.
00:12:42 Josh Goblish
Oh, tell me more.
00:13:00 Charlotte Wahle
Might be in the same boat, so we've extended it and now anybody that uses the promo code free, no.
00:13:08 Charlotte Wahle
During the month of November, the application fee will be waived so they can continue to apply for free. So if you had been.
00:13:13 Charlotte Wahle
Waiting. And then you're like.
00:13:14 Charlotte Wahle
Shoot, I missed that chance to apply for free. It's not too late.
00:13:18 Josh Goblish
So you can use free Nov.
00:13:20 Josh Goblish
Correct. There you go.
00:13:22 Josh Goblish
Also, looks like we've got an upcoming Mustang Day.
00:13:25 Charlotte Wahle
Yes, and if you miss seeing my face out and about.
00:13:28 Charlotte Wahle
I will be leading.
00:13:30 Charlotte Wahle
Our last Mustang Saturday for the fall, our final home game for football, so that is on Saturday the 11th. This Saturday and the weather supposed to be pretty good actually. So and as a reminder to folks, in addition to a tour and a presentation for myself, students get free entry into the football game and they can participate in all of our game.
00:13:39 Josh Goblish
All right.
00:13:51 Charlotte Wahle
They round up activities, so it should be a fun way to spend your sag.
00:13:55 Josh Goblish
And those game day experiences, they are pretty fun there at ask Miss you, I've been to.
00:13:58 Josh Goblish
A couple what about you?
00:13:59 Bill Mulso
Yeah, they've done a nice job of, you know, creating a a fun environment and the weather's cooperated all the way along this season. So one more time this fall on Saturday.
00:14:09 Charlotte Wahle
My son's going to be crushed when he's not allowed to go and play on.
00:14:12 Charlotte Wahle
Inflatables every single Saturday.
00:14:15 Josh Goblish
Ohh, that definitely does sound like a fun time, Charlotte Wahle, director of admission at SMSU. Anything else before we let you?
00:14:21 Josh Goblish
Go this morning.
00:14:23 Charlotte Wahle
We have a winter discover day coming up on January 20th, so another chance for folks to come. It's on a Saturday and really digging a little deeper, so I always encourage folks around here like, yes, we know you've been on campus. We know you know somebody that would just miss you, but come for an actual admissions event. It's going to give you a better idea of what it's like to be a student as miss you.
00:14:44 Josh Goblish
Very cool. Good stuff, Charlotte. Wahle, we appreciate the time here this morning and we'll talk to you again down the road.
00:14:48 Charlotte Wahle
Thanks Josh.
00:14:49 Josh Goblish
And we do kick it over to Mr. Bill and also once again VP for Government Relations, Communications and marketing with a list of events upcoming at US, Missy.
00:14:58 Josh Goblish
What do you got for us?
00:14:58 Bill Mulso
We've got a few things coming up here. Fresh check day is the day that we focus on student mental health and that will be held tomorrow, so we encourage our students to take advantage of that. On Thursday, November 9th, Tony Amato and Tom Williford will be giving a presentation on Putin and Russia at noon and BA1O2.
00:15:18 Bill Mulso
Interesting times there so.
00:15:20 Bill Mulso
Be a good program to learn what those two historians have to say. Fridays Veteran's Day be observed at SMSU, so no classes swimming dive will be at home versus Morehead at 1:00 on Friday. Women's basketball will be home at 5 versus Northwest Missouri State their home opener.
00:15:40 Bill Mulso
And then volleyball is home that evening.
00:15:41 Bill Mulso
As well, 7:00.
00:15:43 Bill Mulso
Versus Winona State and this is their last.
00:15:45 Bill Mulso
Weekend of regular season competition, so come on out here on the Mustangs will also play on Saturday, hosting Concordia Saint Paul at 2:00. Women's basketball will have a 7:00 PM game against University, Nebraska. Carney and then of course, we just mentioned football that will be at noon kickoff.
00:16:03 Bill Mulso
Versus University of Sioux Falls. Again, we'll be celebrating.
00:16:05 Bill Mulso
Veteran's day that's also senior day, so we'll recognize those seniors in our program. And then on Sunday, the corral will be hosting their fall festival of Song and that will be at 2:00.
00:16:14 Bill Mulso
O'clock at First Lutheran Church.
00:16:17 Josh Goblish
Very good. Something for just about everybody, no doubt. Bill. Also thanks for the update.
00:16:19 Bill Mulso
There's a lot going on.
00:16:21 Bill Mulso
Thank you, Josh.
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