ENROLLMENT PROJECTIONS AND SPACE

Needs

Enrollment Projections

Like many colleges and universities across the nation, Alcorn is facing several challenges that affect population growth. Overall, the decline in Black high school graduates in the Mississippi and Louisiana region observed in the past decade (Figure 2.3) is expected to continue, and a decline in the enrollment pipeline is anticipated to start in 2024. At the same time, Alcorn’s competition with other institutions in the region, including other public state universities, community colleges, and other historically Black institutions, is expected to increase.

Within this context, the University will focus on leveraging its strengths while targeting a modest growth in population. Alcorn is committed to expanding its already strong STEM, nursing, and business programs, reinforcing ties to local school districts, businesses, and community partners, and prioritizing measures to support student success as a means to increase retention rates. At the same time, enrollment is anticipated to grow 1.5% annually over ten years (15% total) on the Lorman and Natchez campuses, increasing to approximately 3,500 and 150 full-time equivalent students (FTE) respectively.

Space Needs Assessment: Lorman Campus

Existing Space

The Lorman campus has approximately 588,000 assignable square feet (ASF) excluding residential space and inactive and conversion space. This equates to approximately 204 ASF per student FTE, and is expected to grow to 210 ASF per student FTE after the new Dr. Rudolph Waters Sr. Classroom Building (RWCB) is completed. The amount of space per student is in keeping with the scale of the institution and its academic program mix.

Instructional Space Utilization

The Lorman Campus has 71 classrooms. These classrooms average 14 hours of scheduled use per week, verified through the course scheduling data. This average is below most standards, which typically range from 32 to 40 weekly room hours. In addition, when these rooms are scheduled, 42% of seats are occupied on average, compared to typical targets of 65% to 70%. Together these metrics equate to approximately 10.2 weekly seat hours per classroom.

Overall, the average space per seat is about 30 ASF, which would allow Alcorn to offer more flexible pedagogies, as smaller flexible classrooms require between 30 and 40 ASF per seat.

Space Needs

The analysis at the target growth scenario revealed that there is a need for approximately 93,700 ASF of additional space on the Lorman Campus (Table 2.3). The total need of 699,100 ASF is attributed as follows: 338,000 ASF to academic space; 263,000 ASF to support spaces, and 97,800 ASF to student spaces.

Building ID Building Name

BIOT Biotechnology Building

WHIT David L. Whitney HPER Complex

DUMH E. Albert Dumas Hall

EPH Eunice Powell Hall

ERB Extension & Research Building

FAB Fine Arts Building

ULIB J.D. Boyd Library

MBAS Jessie A. Morris/W.C. Boykin Ag. Science Building

INDT K.L. Simmons, Sr. Industrial Technology Building

MASC Math and Science Building

WASB Walter Washington Admin/ Classroom Building

The major areas of need at the future growth scenario include instructional laboratories (28,500 ASF for class and open laboratories), research space (20,300 ASF), study and collaboration space (7,300 ASF), intercollegiate athletics (34,000 ASF), physical plant or central services space (31,200 ASF), and physical education and recreation space (11,200 ASF). Additional space needs include a hydroponics greenhouse, child care space, and community partner and outreach space, including the academic resource center in the new RWCB. Classrooms and administrative office space show space surpluses of 28,500 ASF and 22,400 ASF, respectively. The surplus of space in the assembly and exhibit space category reflects the addition of the new 400-seat auditorium in the RWCB.

The need for instructional laboratory space is attributable to growth of lab-based programs, the need for additional STEM labs, and undersized existing labs. For classrooms, Alcorn needs to look for opportunities to create rooms with flexible furniture that will support a broader range of instructional delivery methods. Smaller classrooms could potentially be converted into classroom studios to accommodate online and hybrid learning, while underutilized rooms could be made into informal collaboration space, digital maker spaces, or used as swing space as renovations occur on campus.

The need for study space is reflective of the need for informal collaboration spaces that should be located in all academic and research buildings. As physical collections are replaced with digital collections within the library, additional study and collaboration spaces can be created inside the library.

Intercollegiate athletics has a need for some additional indoor space such as storage space, locker room space, and team meeting space. There is also a need for additional kinesiology academic program space as well as space for recreation. The University’s Facilities Management department shows a need in the physical plant for additional storage and shop space as it has less than other institutions similar to Alcorn.

Finally, there is a surplus of administrative office space. Many of the University’s buildings have offices that are far larger than typical offices today. As renovations occur on campus, consolidation of various offices should be considered. The University should evaluate work-from-home policies to determine who receives a permanent assigned workspace and whether there are opportunities to create hoteling space for staff who are not regularly on campus. To support office hoteling arrangements, additional collaboration space will be needed. These spaces tend to be used informally and can accommodate anywhere from four to eight individuals on site. They should be equipped with technology that allows both onsite and remote participation.

Classrooms with low ASF per seat could be reconfigured.

Future space needs projections anticipate an increase in inactive and conversion space of approximately 10,200 ASF, attributable to the School of Business vacating spaces in the BioTechnology Research Center and Dumas Hall, and other moves and space adjustments taking place in the near term. Some of these unoccupied spaces can be repurposed for other uses including swing space for units undergoing renovation.

Space Needs Assessment: Natchez Campus

Generally, the Natchez Campus has the right amount of space, but it is not distributed and configured efficiently across existing programs. Even when considering a 15% increase in enrollment at this campus, existing space can be reconfigured to meet not only current space needs (i.e. Fall 2019 baseline) but also most of future space needs. Recommendations for the Natchez Campus are as follows:

• Additional class laboratories are needed, and the introduction of research space is recommended

• Some space is needed for interprofessional education

• There is a need for a fitness center

• Student-centered space needs to be expanded with a convenience store

• IT, campus police, and facilities all need some additional space to be fully functional

• A consolidation and expansion of simulation labs for the School of Nursing is required

• The family clinic should be moved to a better, larger location

• The amount of office space can be reduced by creating hoteling office space for employees who are not located on the campus full-time

• The large atrium in the former Graduate Business Building could be utilized and programmed more frequently

3 Campus Neighborhoods