ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
Radford University's enrollment may drop by 400 or more this fall, university officials say, leaving the school with between 8,000 and 8,300 students - down from a peak of 9,400 in 1992.
Administrators blame the expected decline on many factors. Fewer high school seniors than predicted graduated this year in Virginia, and nearby Virginia Tech and James Madison University are increasing competition by accepting bigger freshman classes, they say.
Enrollment has been a big concern at Radford since last August, when 400 fewer students than expected showed up, creating a $1 million budget shortfall. Despite a recruitment push that saw freshman applications jump 21 percent, administrators this year prepared worst-case-scenario budgets.
That means layoffs now are unlikely, although key positions won't be filled and 25 fewer part-time instructors will be hired, university administrators said.
If enrollment drops as expected, it will cost the school between $400,000 and $1.2 million, said Charles King, vice president for business affairs.
Radford's 1996-97 budget is $83 million; $52 million comes from tuition and state appropriations.
For students, the enrollment decline will mean "probably nothing," said Charles Owens, the retiring vice president for academic affairs. "If we have fewer students to teach, we have fewer sections of courses."
"It's a substantial loss," said President Douglas Covington, who is completing his first year and said the enrollment problem has proven to be more critical than he'd anticipated upon arrival.
He has launched efforts to ease the passage of community college students into Radford's student ranks and also has worked to increase RU's visibility in Roanoke. But a turnaround will take time.
"We're not going to make an immediate quantum leap in enrollment," Covington said.
Radford has been adhering strictly to its admissions standards the past two years, said Paul Harris, vice president for student affairs, and high school grade-point averages among RU freshmen went up slightly, from 2.6 to 2.8.
But in so doing, "we turned away enough students to have solved our enrollment problem," he said.
"At the same time," said Covington, "... several of our sister institutions are admitting more in-state students than they have in previous years. This happened ...last year, and to a greater extent this year.
"We believe our university is very attractive to students, and we believe that's reflected in the fact that we received 5,467 applications, nearly 21 percent more than last year," he said.
Still, Radford is expecting a freshman class of 1,400 to 1,600 students, reflecting a typical drop-off between applications and admissions for the school, Covington said.
Nearby in Blacksburg, Tech is expecting nearly 100 more freshmen than last year. At JMU in Harrisonburg, a record number of applicants is expected to push that freshman class up perhaps 300 more students than the school targeted, spokesman Fred Hilton said. Both increases come as the state prepares for a demographic increase in students in the coming years.
"It is true we have an impact on each other's enrollment in that Virginia Tech may be a second choice for a student who wants to go to the University of Virginia; Radford may be a second choice for a student who wants to go to Virginia Tech," said Tech spokesman Larry Hincker.
"There's a finite amount of students out there and there's a finite amount of college-material students. If each university expands its enrollment, the top of the chain is going to be taking more," he said.
In addition to competition, Covington cited other reasons for the expected enrollment decline in a June 4 memo:
RU graduated a record 1,600 seniors; the junior and sophomore classes are smaller.
Fewer transfer students are coming from community colleges - which are, in turn, experiencing smaller classes.
The economy "continues to account for students staying at home to attend local institutions and to hold jobs."
Professors at Radford say the decline could require a philosophical decision: Should the university try to grow, or should it evolve into a smaller school with higher academic standards?
Said education professor Sheila Reyna: "We can either tighten up and become smaller, or you could grow. You'd have to decide what you want to do."
"Academic standards are of utmost importance," said Jill Alcorn, a math professor who is president of the Faculty Senate. "In the long run, if we don't maintain our academic standards it will hurt us.
"Last year, we were down a million dollars and everybody had to cut something. I'm not sure anybody really expected enrollment to be up this year. I don't think we really expected 1,000 more students."
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