SFA_03 said:
Man, living on campus in Nac was some of the best times of my life, it's hard to imagine so many people foregoing that.
11,500 would be dire.BigJack85 said:SFAJack_76 said:
Great crowd at the Astros game. SFA sections were packed. Much better than two years ago.
Visited with Dr. Gordon for a few minutes. Enrollment is a concern. Mostly returning students, with many not wanting to return to campus after being virtual. Really don't know the impact until the start of the fall semester. Freshman class is okay. Busy man on the road, with the Board meeting in between trips starting this afternoon. Noticed there are two naming opportunities on the agenda. Alton Frailey was at the game. I had missed that his Board term had ended. He played a meaningful role in getting Ivey and Gordon to SFA.
I read the entire enrollment part of the BOR report. Sounds like we will be lucky to stay north of 12,000 Probably closer to 11,500. My 2 cents. We should be much stronger in online education. I know it's not what SFA thinks it is (culturally) but we have a good enough academic reputation to support higher online. enrollment The days of us being a purely residential , under 25 yo undergraduate driven institution are coming to a close.
BigJack85 said:SFA_03 said:
Man, living on campus in Nac was some of the best times of my life, it's hard to imagine so many people foregoing that.
I completely agree. It seems like a waste, to not experience the "college experience" but plenty of kids these days could give a $__t. Sadly.
TallTexan said:
Ya I graduated in 2 years and probably was the last person out of the library more often than I was at SFA games. And I went to a decent number of games.
We need an all hands on deck solution.
1. Traditional on campus/Nac students, around 13k of them since we have facilities for that many.
2. Online growth, especially in grad programs. I'd go look at what UT's business school and others are charging 60k for and make 25k versions. Hybrid and online only paths.
3. International students. There might be 20 school brands on the planet that hold any true cachet in foreign countries, so it comes down to marketing. Find a way to build and market unique, friendly on campus experiences for international students. Use that giant tour bus to pick everyone up at IAH and drop them off on school breaks. Put our current international students and athletes in native language adds in their home countries.
4. Certificates. There is plenty of money to be made in certificate programs. From entrepreneurship to statistics to curriculum development. These are an avenue for huge online growth. You could do everything from short intensive hands on classes that run 2-3k to online content like Hiring Strategy for Startups for $15 dollars a class. Plenty of options to then get folks into one of those 25k programs that cost twice as much elsewhere. And a potential cash cow.
There is an experience/path for everyone at SFA and we should strive to impact a wide swath of Texas. Whether it's a wildlife biology camp for HS kids to an art summer camp for adults to a traditional student pathway to an online grad degree to get that big promotion at work, we should be educating Texas every chance we get.
We've got some of the best professors in the state and everyone else is hiring researchers who are teachers 2nd. Time to cash in and build our brand on being a "teaching" college in every subject.
