The overall enrollment for Iowa State may have increased for the fall semester, but minority enrollment fell almost 1 percent.

David Bousquet, director of enrollment, said the numbers not only include new minority students, but also those who didn’t register for another year at ISU.

There have been many discussions about the campus climate and how the university helps make minority students feel welcome.

Although minority enrollment was down this year, Bousquet said increasing minority enrollment is an objective of the enrollment office.

“There is quite an extensive effort underway, which is dispersed throughout the university, that touches a wide range of students,” he said.

Thomas Hill, vice president of student affairs, said the university is constantly working to increase minority enrollment.

Neither Bousquet nor Hill could give any reasons for why minority enrollment did not increase this year.

“It wasn’t increased this time not because we didn’t want it to,” Hill said. Some strategies are in the works, he said, to get more minority students to ISU.

But he said it may take time for the university “to see the fruits of the labor.”

Bousquet and the enrollment office also have some strategies of their own.

“We’re recruiting rather aggressively in a number of areas,” he said. “We do recruit in Iowa and aggressively out of Iowa.”

Some of the enrollment office’s target areas for recruiting minority students include the Chicago area, Denver and other major Midwestern cities.

In attracting minority students to ISU, Bousquet said they promote many programs through the Minority Student Affairs office, Dean of Students office and the colleges.

One of the programs targeted toward incoming freshmen minority students is Carver Academy.

The students stay in the residence halls and take summer-school courses for college credit.

In addition, there is also the LEAD Program through the College of Engineering, where minority students in engineering have mentors and receive guidance.

The Early Success Program helps freshmen minority students adjust to college life by helping students with time-management and study tips.

For minority students still in high school, ISU offers an Upward Bound Program to help prepare those students for an higher education.