Declining enrollment has negative impact
With only six weeks left before the Fall 2021 semester begins the university finds itself fighting against the negative impact of remote learning and a declining trend in enrollment.
As of June 30, only 4,192 students have registered for the fall semester. If the number doesn’t change the university is looking at a 39 percent drop in enrollment year over year.
“Currently, the entire campus is redoubling outreach efforts to connect with students who have not yet enrolled for the fall semester. Advisors, admissions staff, faculty, and deans are all working to contact students via e-mail, phone call, or text to offer support, assistance, and guidance. If these students are experiencing challenges, we want them to know that they are part of the Javelina family, and we care and are ready to do whatever we can to help them solve their problems,” Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Lou Reinisch said.
Colleges across campus have implemented different outreach strategies to encourage students to finish their degree at TAMUK.
“There are still about 200 students that have not registered, but our advisors are working hard and setting up appointments for registration every day. I’ve decided to text students myself, and about 35 percent actually respond back,” Associate Dean of Dick and Mary Lewis Kleberg College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. William Kuvlesky said. “This is not the first time enrollment has dropped, and we’ve been able to bring it up. I’m focusing and staying positive about what we are doing to increase enrollment.”
The Dick and Mary Lewis Kleberg College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is also offering scholarships and financial support to increase enrollment and retention rates.
As of Tuesday, July 6 about 500 students from the College of Arts and Sciences had not re-registered. The list was broken down by chair and program.
Throughout the past three year, the College of Arts and Sciences has experienced fluctuations in enrollment.
“It’s a challenging time for all of our programs. Growth is important, that is how we keep thriving. Factors have changed since 2018, UTRGV was just starting up. Geographically there’s Laredo, A&M San Antonio, A&M Corpus and us. There’s competition in the region, so the challenge for us is to be thinking about the next step. Are our programs relevant? Are our programs meeting the needs of our students for the job market? Out of those kinds of situations we stop, we assess, re-evaluate, re-envision and if we need to re-create a program,” Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Dolores Guerrero said.
Although there is competition within the region, the College of Arts and Science has experience growth in their Master’s programs but has been on a steady decline in the undergraduate programs.
In efforts to ease the registering process, TAMUK has decided to extend office hours to ensure staff is available to answer student questions.
In just one week, 454 students have registered for fall courses, bringing the First Time In College (FTIC) retention rate up from 54.4 percent to 56.1 percent.
“There is no silver bullet when it comes to enrollment challenges. The recruitment team has already put in lots of hard work, and we know we will do more. We have to work closely with our alumni, many of whom are passionate advocates for this university,” Vice president of Enrollment Services and Student Affairs Dr. Rito Silva said. “They can be some of our best recruiters. We will be asking those teaching in public schools throughout South Texas and the Brush Country area to encourage their students to give us a chance to be their school of choice. We also know we have to improve customer service across campus. Addressing enrollment—both recruitment and retention—will take all of the campus working together to ensure a successful future for South Texas students.”
As enrollment continues to change, the university is looking closely at course schedules and operating budget
“It is too early to tell what impact enrollment will have on the university’s operating budget. No matter what the outcome is on the operating budget, we will not decrease the quality of our academic programs. Quality academic programs are non-negotiable,” Reinisch said.