Radford president cites rising retention and nursing-degree milestone; highlights health center and AI work

President Denelovich reported to the Radford University Board of Visitors on June 5 that commencement this spring conferred degrees to more than 1,400 students, including 258 first-generation graduates, and that the university awarded a record 350 Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees. "That is a record for this university," he said, framing the nursing milestone as part of the university's effort to address regional health-care needs.

Denelovich also told the board he expects about 8,000 students on campus this fall. He said freshman deposits are down from last year but the decline is being offset to some degree by increased deposits from transfer students and strong growth in graduate applications. He cautioned that official retention rates will be finalized in the second week of fall term but said current tracking shows retention roughly four percentage points higher than last year.

Why it matters: Radford's enrollment and retention figures shape tuition revenue, hiring and academic planning. Higher retention improves financial stability and can reduce pressure to increase class sizes or cut programs.

Denelovich outlined several programmatic priorities tied to that stability. He announced the launch this fall of the New River Valley Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, with 25 committed 10th-grade students for the initial cohort who will take university-embedded courses. He described the university's plans to build a regional Center for Rural Health that will coordinate partners across major regional health systems to bring medical, mental and dental services—and hands-on clinical training for students—into the surrounding communities.

On technology, Denelovich highlighted Radford's work on artificial intelligence in teaching and faculty development. He described participation at the ASU GSV summit and said Dr. Samantha Style, director of the campus AI sandbox and a Google GSV fellow, is developing peer-led faculty cohorts and student-faculty projects to integrate AI into the curriculum.

Denelovich closed his report by thanking the cabinet and board and saying, "go Highlanders." The board did not take any final votes tied to the president's report during the meeting; the report was received for information and used to frame subsequent committee discussions.

What comes next: University officials said they will finalize retention statistics early in the fall term and continue outreach to potential freshmen and transfer partners.