Colorado State University-Pueblo President Tim Mottet is stepping up the school’s recruiting to meet his goals of increasing student retention and total enrollment.

After his first year at the helm, Mottet said the university has improved retention, based on freshmen staying for their sophomore years, to 67.8 percent, up from 63 percent last fall. The increase of 28 to 30 more students staying for a second year translates into a dollar value of $109,000 to $200,000.

Mottet also announced that the latest enrollment projections are better than previous forecasts. He said the goal is to enroll 4,075 students this fall. School starts next week.

He has launched several initiatives to keep enrollment and retention moving in the right direction. They include a robust first-year adviser program and having advisers, deans, department heads and the student affairs office work in concert on retention.

The next challenge is to expand CSU-Pueblo’s recruitment of new students to join those already enrolled. Only one year into his tenure here, Mottet appears to be on the right track at CSU-Pueblo.