ISU now has less than 7000 undergrads

[BankShot]

This is gonna sound crazy but maybe Curtis is "tanking" enrollment numbers on purpose (only half kidding). This whole private school approach thing has me scratching my head a bit. Still very unsure how our approach is akin to that of private schools. Anyway, the new Admissions Director who has GOT to be under tremendous pressure, was hired a few months ago from Rockford University. Yes...that Rockford University. The one that I had never heard of until she was hired. The 4 year D3 private school. The one that has about 1000 undergrads and about 1200 students. The one that broke a 30 year record and increased their freshman class 39%, from 152 to 212 in Fall 2020. The one that has 10:1 student-teacher ratio. The one where 70% of the classes have fewer than 20 students.

I really hope Faith Haley has a great vision for ISU Admissions. I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. But I have lots of doubt given her listed employment background at Rockford and the fact that she got her B.S. from Hope College, another small 4 year D3 private school. Can she flip the switch from recruiting the type of kid that goes to Rockford or Hope to the type that comes to State? I sure as hell hope so. The Interim Admissions Director is an ISU grad from Ben Davis who has worked her way up thru the ranks at ISU Admissions for about a decade. Maybe she interviewed poorly. Maybe she doesn't have great ideas. Maybe they thought she'd be just a holdover from the last 2 directors and wanted a fresh slate. Or maybe its part of The Process. Who knows?

Was Rockford U. founded by actor/P.I. James Garner? Sounds like an ISU type of place, at least in Curtis' dreams...

 

[CardLake49]

Was Rockford U. founded by actor/P.I. James Garner? Sounds like an ISU type of place, at least in Curtis' dreams...

No but you may have hit on something calling them "U." Their football team is the only in the nation since 2000 to score 100 points in a game. While we were in the end of the Tim McGuire era in 2003 they beat Trinity Bible 105-0. Maybe Curtis is sending a subtle signal to Mallory.

 

[Sycamorefan96]

Back when I had thought of going to college around 6 years ago, I was going to do 2 years at Ivy Tech and then do my last 2 years at ISU to save money. College tuition is completely ridiculous these days, and a lot of younger people wisely don't want to take on a bunch of unnecessary debt.

I ultimately decided to not do college and paid $3500 cash for a CDL that was completely reimbursed after working for my current company for 18 months. I didn't even go to school through them, they were just nice enough to pay me $200 a month until they gave me $3500.

More and more people seem to be going the trade school route too. There's so many good paying jobs out there that can be learned within a few months at a fraction of the cost as college, with guaranteed job opportunities. And by the way none of us feel bad about anyone having tons of college debt, especially when they're the ones that signed that paper.

 

[4Q_iu]

This is gonna sound crazy but maybe Curtis is "tanking" enrollment numbers on purpose (only half kidding). This whole private school approach thing has me scratching my head a bit. Still very unsure how our approach is akin to that of private schools. Anyway, the new Admissions Director who has GOT to be under tremendous pressure, was hired a few months ago from Rockford University. Yes...that Rockford University. The one that I had never heard of until she was hired. The 4 year D3 private school. The one that has about 1000 undergrads and about 1200 students. The one that broke a 30 year record and increased their freshman class 39%, from 152 to 212 in Fall 2020. The one that has 10:1 student-teacher ratio. The one where 70% of the classes have fewer than 20 students.

I really hope Faith Haley has a great vision for ISU Admissions. I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. But I have lots of doubt given her listed employment background at Rockford and the fact that she got her B.S. from Hope College, another small 4 year D3 private school. Can she flip the switch from recruiting the type of kid that goes to Rockford or Hope to the type that comes to State? I sure as hell hope so. The Interim Admissions Director is an ISU grad from Ben Davis who has worked her way up thru the ranks at ISU Admissions for about a decade. Maybe she interviewed poorly. Maybe she doesn't have great ideas. Maybe they thought she'd be just a holdover from the last 2 directors and wanted a fresh slate. Or maybe its part of The Process. Who knows?

So, who should be running ISU's admissions office? The interim?

Someone from a mid-sized midwestern public college that you recognize?

 

[CardLake49]

So, who should be running ISU's admissions office? The interim?

Someone from a mid-sized midwestern public college that you recognize?

Not suggesting the interim should be running the office. Also said maybe the interim is a poor interviewer with bad ideas. I am saying they passed on someone who seems to have more relevant experience for that job. I really hope she does well. I just fail to see the fit from an experience perspective.

 

[4Q_iu]

Not suggesting the interim should be running the office. Also said maybe the interim is a poor interviewer with bad ideas. I am saying they passed on someone who seems to have more relevant experience for that job. I really hope she does well. I just fail to see the fit from an experience perspective.

Hopefully the best person was hired for the job - period.

ISU wasn't particularly large when I was there, was definitely larger than Rose Poly and StM of the Forest but MOST of my classes were ~25 or so in a class; I had a handful of classes w. a 100+, I knew all of my professors and experienced very few (single digits) TAs - not sure if my experience was like others BUT I suspect it was... And I suspect, that is the "private school approach" that Curtis, others have mentioned.

FROSH retention is a number that is always important, as is 'Grad w/in 6-yrs' (though I struggle to always understand why 6-yrs has become the norm, esp. for a school the size of ISU previously and now.

 

[CardLake49]

Hopefully the best person was hired for the job - period.

ISU wasn't particularly large when I was there, was definitely larger than Rose Poly and StM of the Forest but MOST of my classes were ~25 or so in a class; I had a handful of classes w. a 100+, I knew all of my professors and experienced very few (single digits) TAs - not sure if my experience was like others BUT I suspect it was... And I suspect, that is the "private school approach" that Curtis, others have mentioned.

FROSH retention is a number that is always important, as is 'Grad w/in 6-yrs' (though I struggle to always understand why 6-yrs has become the norm, esp. for a school the size of ISU previously and now.

I hope you're right.

Thanks for commenting on the private approach. That makes sense. I only had a few large classes at ISU as well, and i'm pretty sure all were in my first couple years. My last 2 years I was taking mainly major classes and most of them had 25 or fewer. Most of the TA's I had were early in my college career. I just wonder if the experience it sounds like we both had at State is very similar to the experience most students have at medium sized 4 year public's all over the country. I wouldn't be surprised if even public's the size of IU and Purdue had pretty small class sizes in their major courses with few TA's. I'm no marketing guru but I just worry that comparing ourselves to a private school won't work on the students we serve. Is the reward more than the risk? Only time will tell obviously.

Pretty sure schools bring up 6 year grad rates because 4 year grad rates are so much lower. 4 year rates are around 40% and about 60% for 6 year. Freshman retention is a major factor in this and every school knows it. I'd guess the schools that keep more freshman have much higher 4 year rates than those who dont. I haven't looked at that type of data in years.