In a press release on Friday, Jan. 12, Marshall announced the “One of the Herd” initiative for the 2024 Fall Semester.

In an interview on Jan. 18, a Marshall University official explained the purpose of the initiative and how it will assist graduate students.

“Every year, we have a number of students who finish their graduate degrees and are looking at graduate schools,” said Carl Mummert, the assistant provost for graduate studies. “The goal of this, of the One of the Herd waiver, is to make that a little bit easier- make that transition smoother by giving them $500 in their first semester going from a bachelor’s to a master’s.”

Mummert also said the initiative was developed as part of a collaboration between multiple offices within the University. After a series of meetings going over proposals and budget analyses, the initiative was approved.

“The goal of this is specifically to help our undergrads and to help them think about Marshall as an option,” Mummert said. “Either to move directly into grad school or to stay here if they are considering going somewhere else.”

Mummert said that while the waiver is automatically applied and requires no application process, there still are requirements to be met.

“There are two requirements for this to apply,” Mummert said. “A student would need to graduate from Marshall this academic year, and they need to start a master’s degree program at Marshall in the fall or this semester, but no later than the Fall 2024 Semester.”

Mummert said the semester will serve as a testing phase.

“During fall of 2024, we’ll analyze how the program did,” Mummert said. “How many who could have remained, how many did come for a master’s program – we’ll compare that with the data from previous semesters, and then, we will evaluate the waiver. We could increase, change it, we could broaden it.”

A representative of the Brad D. Smith Graduate School of Business said he thought the waiver would be a great asset for students.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” said Wes Spradlin, the associate director of graduate programs, in an interview on Jan. 18. “I think that it could also maybe be a good selling point for students who are kind of on the fence if they want to start their master’s right away or maybe get out and get some work experience.”

Spradlin said that master’s degrees have become more important in recent years, being required for advancement in some industries. In some cases, they have become the new standard over a bachelor’s degree.

Mummert said that a master’s degree is great for expanding the knowledge of one’s chosen field.

“An undergraduate degree, although everyone has a major, an undergraduate degree is a pretty broad degree,” Mummert said. “A graduate degree is much more focused. That allows you to get a much deeper set of skills and knowledge in the area that you have chosen.”

Mummert said that graduate students give a lot to the University in the long term.

“Graduate programs bring an additional set of students, which helps support the diversity we are looking for at the University,” Mummert said. “The students, especially in, say, student affairs, work in graduate assistantship positions, which support the campus.”