Leader-Telegram from Eau Claire, Wisconsin • 59

Page5 Schools focus on retention in face of enrollment decline On Campus 100,000 95,000 90,000 ACTUAL 85,000 80,000 75,000 70,000 65,000 college-age population will shrink 18 percent between 1980 and 1990, with most of the drop 11 percent occurring during the first half of the decade. By 1985, there will be 1.7 million fewer 18- to 21-year-olds than there were this year. This expected decline in enrollments has many ramifications, but it all comes down to one area: money. Universities get staff and money based on their enrollment. Therefore, the fewer students expected at the university, the less staff and money university officials can expect.

Discussing the exact numbers con best of all the state schools, declining from 7,095 in 1979 to 6,832 in 1987. Charles Bauer, assistant chancellor for budget and development at au Claire, basically agTeed with the. projections, saying Eau Claire officials believe enrollment will be 9,721 in 1987. However, "that's not the bottom of the trough," Bauer said. In another 12 years or so, Bauer said, enrollment could be at 9,000, with a small increase expected by 1995.

"We can still be an Butstanding institution with fewer students," "Bauer said when asked if the projections could signal a lessening of the quality of education at Eau Claire. "We were outstanding at 5,000 and we can be just as good at 9,000. 1 don't think there's a great deal of magic in a particular number you come up with. The thing that is critic is there be a relatively good match between the number of students yflu have, the academic program and the resources (of the university), both operating (bndget) and facilities." He said: "If you have got a good match, you are in good shape." But the effects of the expected decline in enrollment will be fejt-on the Eau Claire campus, nonetheless. "Faculty and staff positions are allocated on the basis of enrollment," said John Morris, vice chancellor for 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 ACTUAL WISCONSIN BIRTH POOL EXTENDED TO AGE 18 IN YEAR INDICATED By Doug Hell Leader-Telegram staff University officials are trying something relativelynew in their attempts to lessen the impact of what is expected to be a severe decline in enrollment in the next decade.

Officials, faced with projections that show the entire university system could lose between 8 percent and 10 percent of its enrollment by 1987, are trying as hard as they can to keep freshmen and sophomores at their respective institutions. Those trying to cope with the projected enrollment declines are keenly aware that most institutions lose some 60 percent of any one class by the end of the four-year stay. And they also are aware that the majority of those who leave a university do not do so because of poor academic performances. Enrollment at colleges and universities started leveling off in the mid-1970s following about 25 years of uninterrupted growth. This was the product, of course, of the "baby boom" generation born after World War II, which meant that from 1959 to 1970, enrollment grew from 3,471,000 to 7,978,000.

By 1970, 34 percent of those 18 to 21 years old were enrolled in degree-credit programs in higher education, compared with 23 percent in 1960, 15 percent in 1950 and 11 percent in 1940. But that growth is coming to an end simply because there is an expectation that fewer persons of the traditional college age will be available to go on to higher education. The Census Bureau, for example, projects that the country's UW-Eau Claire chart school has for finding jobs for its graduates. Most of the majors, Enger said, cerning enrollment projections is a risky business. The projections agree that enrollment will decline, but there is a difference of opinion as to the size of the decline.

Richard Delourit, vice chancellor at UW-River Falls, cited one projection made in September 1979 that showed enrollments at every state institution would decline by 1987. At'Eau Claire, for example, enrollment was projected to decrease to 9,825 from a 1979 enrollment of 10,629. (All figures cited will be in the form of "head counts," which counts both full- and part-time students as one. The other form of measuring enrollment uses a term called "full-time equivalent," which takes the number of credits into account when determining enrollment. This measuring device more weight to full-time students.) The same projection has River Falls slipping from 5,128 students in 1979 to 4,263 in 1987.

Stout is projected to do the academic affairs at Eau Claire. Morris said the university has a "planning figure" that shows enrollment could "bottom out" at Eau Claire at 8,300 in 1992. "That's about a 20 percent drop in enrollment," he saiaV Retaining those already enrolled in the university, Eau Claire's Bauer said, "represents great potential" in attempts to offset the declining enrollment. Attempts are being made to keep students from dropping out, Bauer said, "by providing them the services they need when they are vulnerable as freshmen and sophomores." Bauer said many of those who leave do so for non-academic reasons. River Falls' Delourit agrees.

Two of every 3 students who leave River Falls, he said, are in good academic standing. Therefore, River Falls has embarked on an ambitious program to help students who are doing well in their studies but have other problems. One of the reasons students drop out, he said, is "they had a false perception of what university work is before they get here. When they get to the university, they don't see they are getting what they want." To help keep these and other troubled students, Delourit said, academic advisers are trying to make students "feel at home" at River Falls. "We are trying to get people to relate," he said, "be at home." The goal is to increase the retention rate by 5 percent.

"That's the goal 5 percent," Delourit said. "Frankly, my goal would be 10 percent" but 5 percent is more reasonable. "If we Can achieve 5 we will be doing quite well." are tied to specific jobs. The school has "highly specialized majors, generally not found in other colleges." And, Enger said, "employability of the graduate seems to be a concern among high school students today which is putting it mildly." Furthermore, Enger said, employers are being more careful about the academic background of those they hire, and employers like what students are taught at Stout. Enger 'envisions that Stout will see more money as the 1980s progress.

He said there will be a "gradual shifting of money from overfunded institutions to such universities as Stout." But Stout isn't about to. rest on it laurels, Enger said. The school recruits in 500 high schools a year, mostly in Wisconsin. "What the recruiter is trying to do," Enger said, "is make sure the potential student who wants to come to Stout is particularly interested in our major fields of study." It is a requirement at Stout, Enger said, for students to declare their majors at the time of admission. Each major has a quota, he added.

But there are indications that un-versities such as River Falls and Eau Claire are trying to keep students in school. "Faculty and sta ff positions are allocated on the basis of enrollment. we could suffer as much as a 20 percent drop in positions and dollars." John Morris, vice chancellor for academic affairs, UW-Eau Claire "I assume, then, we could suffer as much as a 20 percent drop in postions and dollars." In actual numbers, Morris said that 20 percent reduction could mean jthe loss of 100 of the current 600 faculty and staff members at Eau Claire. Therefore, Morris said it is necessary to take steps now to ensure that the cuts can be made if the situation warrants. "It is necessary as we plan for the late '80s to try to avoid making tenure commitments that the traffic won't bear," Morris said.

Delourit also said that staff will have to be cut at River Falls if the projections hold true. "That's going to be a real problem," he said. "I hope it's not going to happen." While officials on other campuses are bracing for what looks like a difficult decade, Stout officials are trying to find ways to help with another problem: too many students want to go to school there, and there isn't the money to educate them all. This year, according to spokesman John. Enger, there were an estimated 2,000 students "who wanted to come here but couldn't." The reason they had to be turned away, Enger said, is "we simply don't have the money to hire the personnel to teach them." The reason that Stout is so popular centers around the reputation the the MENU OF IP if iV7 ml f.f fc-W.

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