Enrollment drop leads to revenue shortage at IU East

Because of a drop in enrollment and therefore in revenue, IU is having to review one of its regional campuses.\nIn response to budgetary problems at IU-East Richmond, a task force has been appointed by IU President Adam Herbert. Charlie Nelms, vice president for student development and diversity and professor of higher-education administration, is the chair.\n"In my view, the reasons for the decline in the enrollment at IU East are threefold," Nelms said in an e-mail interview. "One, the change in the mission of the campus; two, the discontinuation of some associate degrees and a significant reduction in the number of developmental education courses offered; and three, the designation of Ivy Tech as a comprehensive community college."\nDavid Fulton, chancellor of IU East, said a "combination of factors," particularly the "changing structure of higher education in the state of Indiana with the growth of community colleges," are behind the trend.\nFulton will retire from the positon of chancellor later this year. The search for the new chancellor has been suspended until the task force submits its recommendations. \n"The reason for the formation of the task force is not only reduction in enrollment," Fulton said. "It is important to define the University's role in east-central Indiana to provide direction and orientation for change in leadership."\nNelms listed "enrollment, academic programs, administrative structures and services, business practices and community support" as the five basic areas the task force will review.\n"President Herbert has asked that we offer recommendations pertaining to marketing, recruitment and outreach as soon as possible," he said in the e-mail. "Toward that end, we have retained the services of Noel-Levitz, a national enrollment management firm, to work with the campus. It is anticipated that many of the recommendations offered by Noel-Levitz will be implemented this spring. The committee will give the president a comprehensive report no later than the first week in May 2007."\nCraig Engel, senior vice-president for consulting services at Noel-Levitz, said they will be talking to focus groups on the campus to see why people feel IU East is "special."\n"We would then determine whether the university's strategic plans would help them accomplish their goals for the future," he said. \nEngel will visit the satellite campus in the coming week to analyze if there are opportunities to improve recruitment.\nWhile IU works to find a solution, the drop in enrollment did not come as a surprise to most of the IU East administration, Fulton said.\n"We were expecting and observed a decline in in-state enrollment for some time but we compensated for it through an agreement with Ohio State that increased the number of Ohio residents enrolled at IU East," Fulton said. "This year, however, a larger number of students chose Ivy Tech over (IU East)."\nIU East accomplished a reduction in the budget for 2006-07 by not filling some academic positions that were vacant and reducing costs of supplies and travel.\n"The challenge for this year is to build the 2007-08 budget on a new base," Fulton said. "That is something the task force and the administration would be concerned with"