Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Fort Lewis College investment pays off on enrollment

College uses firm to attract more students

Fort Lewis College has gotten an answer to a question it asked about a year ago: Can we increase enrollment if we hire Royall: Enrollment Management? The answer is an unqualified “Yes.”

President Dene Thomas shared some numbers with the school’s trustees, who were in town this week for their bimonthly meeting. The number of students who have applied compared with 2015 at this time is up 80 percent.

“We’ve been closely watching to see if the way we’re inching up admission standards will impact the number of students we are able to accept,” Thomas said. All Colorado four-year colleges are required to meet higher admission standards by 2019. “And I’m pleased to say it hasn’t. The number of freshman admits for fall 2016 are up 154 percent over 2015.”

The most critical number is how many of those students who are accepted confirm they plan to attend FLC, and the beginning of February is a little early to know how that will shake out. But confirmations are also up, by 60 percent over a year ago at this time, an important trend for the college’s financial sustainability.

The one-year contract with Royall cost $215,000, said FLC Admissions Director Andy Burns.

“Colorado as a state is our primary market with Royall,” he said. “We do have a few secondary markets – New Mexico; Arizona; Austin, Texas; and Southern California, where we often get pockets of students.”

While the numbers aren’t as large, the trend for transfer students is also on its way up, doubling from nine to 18. Thomas was also happy to tell the board the retention of freshmen from fall to spring semester is up from 84.5 percent to 89.4 percent.

Students will see an average room and board increase of 2.3 percent beginning fall 2016, after the FLC Board of Trustees approved a recommendation by Associate Vice President of Finance and Administration Michele Peterson. Mandatory fees will remain the same, but the board approved some course fee increases, particularly for art classes. Art 101: Drawing I, for example, will increase from $10 to $75.

“That’s primarily for art supplies,” Peterson said. “The college can save students money by buying in bulk, and all students will be prepared for class. Some students have attended without having the needed supplies because there are limited options for buying them here, and they’re expensive.”

It’s not an increase to student expenses overall, Trustee Steve Short said.

“They’ll be paying more in fees, but much less out of pocket,” he said.

abutler@durangoherald.com

FLC faculty, administration clash over athletic degree

Faculty and administration at Fort Lewis College disagree about the suspension of the athletic training major, and the disagreement played out with the Board of Trustees on Thursday at the Academic Affairs Committee meeting.

Provost Barbara Morris walked the attendees through a timeline of what she called a “perfect storm,” saying she would be recommending to the board that the program be discontinued.

In January, students returned to campus to learn that sophomores, juniors and seniors already accepted into the major, which requires several prerequisites, could complete the program, but no new students would be accepted into the major. Seven students have transferred to other schools to pursue the degree elsewhere.

“We’re not saying it’s a bad decision,” said Justin McBrayer, faculty representative to the Board of Trustees. “We agree that the list of concerns go back several years. We question whether it was made in the right way. There’s nothing that convinces me that there was some exigency in this.”

The conflict began in the Faculty Senate meeting in January, leading to a resolution presented to the board that the full faculty-review process be undertaken before any decision is made.

A lot of factors came into play, Morris said. The program’s low number of graduates – 21 in the past five years – does not comply with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education’s requirements. Another factor that led to the suspension was a requirement by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training and the Higher Learning Commission that FLC offer a master’s degree in athletic training by 2022.

“It is possible we may offer other master’s degrees by 2022,” she said in her report to the committee, “but there are many fields which are far more likely possibilities than the field of athletic training.”

Staffing was the critical factor. Carrie Meyer, the director and only doctoral-level professor in the major, is resigning, and this is her last semester.

“We had to decide whether it was feasible to hire two tenure-track professors given the long-term prospects for the program,” Morris said. “Not only would this be expensive and most likely futile, but we would be misleading these potential faculty into thinking that the program was viable.”

Not so fast, McBrayer said.

“I did some research, and about 30 percent of job postings for this level of position are for one-year contracts,” he said. “I would think this would be more attractive, since it’s for a year, but may be longer.”

The Academic Affairs Committee will take a longer look at the program at its meeting at the end of March.

May 10, 2016
Fort Lewis College tuition slated to increase for in-state students
Jan 13, 2016
FLC suspends athletic training major
Sep 20, 2015
First-time enrollment up at FLC
Mar 19, 2015
FLC applications up 50 percent
Sep 18, 2013
Fort Lewis College enrollment hits over 4,000 for fall


Reader Comments