the review washburn university
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VOLUME 135, ISSUE 19 • MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2009
Spring enrollment down 4.7 percent Brian Allen WASHBURN REVIEW
With the spring semester well underway and all students and credit hours accounted for, it seems that WU is down again in terms of enrollment. While other area schools such as Fort Hays State, Pittsburg State, Kansas University and Kansas State University have all increased from spring 2008 in comparison to spring 2009, Washburn’s enrollment has dropped 4.7 percent, according to Tom Ellis, vice president of enrollment. But Ellis believes the disparity may not be what it seems. “The state universities include off campus, on-line students in their numbers. There are not 8,000 students at Hays America, there’s about 4,000 students, and about 5,000 students in
China,” said Ellis. up this year but not enough to replace He acknowledges those 5,000 the people who are graduating. We on-line students are a resource but need to double our recruiting efforts.” the inclusion of on-line students Kirk Haskins, director of makes comparing state universities to admissions, explained some new Washburn like comparing apples to efforts in recruitment. oranges. “We are revamping and re“We have relatively few [students] imaging our message, our brand,” he at a distance, we have 130,” he said. said. “We have made a commitment to To account for commit more resources Washburn’s 4.7 percent to software to help us SPRING drop in spring to spring ENROLLMENT communicate, to build on enrollment relationships. This month “Full time student of February, we worked numbers did not change, it is part-time on CRM which stands for Constituent students that seem to be taking a break, Relationship Management software. saving their money, taking less credit It’s more than a recruitment tool, it’s a hours due to the economy,” said Ellis. relationship marketing tool.” “The senior class was the biggest one Once students are in the system, we graduated last spring. We had gone Washburn will be able to identify their up 25 percent in the last five years in interest and send them information enrollment. That meant we had some that progresses, first a letter, then a very big graduating classes and we brochure and so on; every fourteen have a big graduating class coming up days it can send out a new message this spring. Freshman enrollment went unique to the prospect.
“Once we have the prospects we start talking to them, building up the relationship,” said Haskins. “Our goal is to filter them down into applicants. Once they apply we hope to filter them into enrollees. That yield between applicant and enrollee is where we spend a lot of energy and time trying to help the student with their choice. That yield runs about 50 percent. “We have some unique programs to offer,” said Ellis. “Actuarial Science is not offered everywhere. We have a Masters of Social Work Law combination and an MBA Law combination, those are not common. Biochemistry is not common everywhere. There are several that are attractive to international students who are seeking specific kind of degree programs,” Washburn continues to recruit locally and statewide. Referring to a state map Ellis pointed out the biggest area of focus for the university is a 60-mile radius around WU, which
encompasses 2 million people. “One of the challenges for us is that we have always drawn well from small towns,” said Ellis. “But big parts of the state are being depopulated very quickly.” The enrollment office has not forgotten about the part-time students it has lost. “It is time to review the times that we offer courses, both time and the delivery of courses to make sure they are meeting peoples needs,” said Ellis. “It is absolutely time to review what courses we offer, why we offer them, when we offer them and do we offer them.”
Jennifer Loucks WASHBURN REVIEW
Additionally, the Washburn Police Department has posted videos on the Web site with step-by-step instructions on what to do in certain emergency situations. The iAlert system will not, however, be used in weather emergencies. Forester said if students receive too many texts or calls via the iAlert system, the program will lose its edge, and it may be ignored. Once students realize the benefits of the program, it’s relatively easy to sign up. “All a student needs to do is log on to the Washburn Web site or the police Web site and find the link,” said Forster. “Then, [they] can register as many phones as [they like].” Once a student does this, his or her phone numbers will be on the contact list for good. The only time someone would need to reregister is if he or she were to get a new number. “We are really proud of the system, it’s the full nine yards,” said Forester, “We want everyone to know how seriously Washburn University takes the security of our students. People like it when we’re bored, so we hope to never use the system, but we bought enough room for everyone on campus to be signed up. We can’t reach everyone if everyone isn’t signed up.” The first test of the new system will be this quarter. The police department plans to make an announcement prior to this to give everyone another chance to join.
Brian Allen is a writer with the Washburn Review. Reach him at brian.allen@ washburn.edu.
Prof. saves strays from streets WUPD continues to back iAlert system
Ben Fitch WASHBURN REVIEW In terms of rescuing strays, Lee Boyd, biology professor, and others in the biology department, have proven to be the cat’s meow. Renovations on the Stoffer science building that began in May 2007 made it necessary to find new space for the biology department, so it was relocated to the Washburn Place apartments, where many Washburn students live. Shortly thereafter, Boyd discovered a community of feral cats squatting in the area. She said she decided to catch them. “We started putting out food,” she said, “and after a while we saw them mating, so they obviously had not been
neutered.” In an effort to stop the chaotic feline frenzy, Boyd said she contacted the Cat Association of Topeka to get advice on what to do. The people at CAT advocated a trap, neuter and return program. Boyd initially trapped nine cats and had all of them neutered; a mass surgery that ended up costing her about $1,000. Three of the nine cats were given homes right away. Boyd adopted Hal, a black cat, who now lives in Boyd’s closet and is only enticed to come out with the prospect of food. Wendy Stafford, secretary, adopted Callie, a cat appropriately named for her calico color. “She’s the most adorable cat,” said
Ben Fitch is a writer with the Washburn Review. Reach him at benjamin.fitch@ washburn.edu.
The Lady Blues basketball team beat ESU to clinch the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Tournament.
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Jennifer Loucks is a sophomore mass media major. Reach her at jennifer.loucks@ washburn.edu.
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The iAlert system, run by Washburn’s Information Systems and Services, along with the police force, is up and running, but some tweaks are still being made to the system. iAlert is an electronic messaging system that sends out police-generated notices to student’s home phones, cell phones, and e-mails, regarding any problems on or near campus. As of two weeks ago, Micheal Gunter, Director of Information Systems and Services at Washburn University, said the count of students signed up is roughly 750 out of 6,000. Dean Forster, director of university police, said things have been going well. “Anytime you get something new, there are always problems,” said Forster. “It’s a learning curve. The only problems that we’ve had are that certain carriers were not allowing anonymous, unidentified calls. We contact these carriers, and everything has been worked out.” Last week, iAlert began running with a new company, Rave Wireless. The Police Department has purchased seven satellite phones to ensure that, in any scenario, they will be able to get the notices to students. “We know that in an emergency, everyone will be on their cell phones, so with these satellite phones, we know we’ll be able to communicate,” said Forester. “We have trained people working with them,”
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Photo by Arissa Utemark, Washburn Review
Rags to riches: Patience Wagner plays with Chester, one of the stray cats biology chair Lee Boyd rescued from the streets. Since being adopted, Chester has gained 10 pounds.
Stafford. “She adapted very well. I have another cat that’s older by three or four years, and they get along great.” Then there was Chester, a charismatic tomcat named after the Cheshire cat in Charles Lutwidge’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” “He was so skinny,” said Boyd, “He weighed about 5 pounds with only two teeth in his head, but he could suck in food perfectly well.” Chester was diagnosed as having FIV, the feline equivalent of HIV, which is not dangerous to humans. “We couldn’t adopt him to a house with other cats, so we thought maybe he could be an office cat,” said Boyd. So Chester took up residence in the biology department’s offices, where he competed with employees for the use of chairs and keyboards. Eventually, Chester was adopted by Paul and Tracy Wagner, assistant biology professors. Paul Wagner said his daughters have benefited the most from having Chester around. Patience Wagner, 4, said she helps take care of Chester. “My sister is the one who feeds him, and I clean his litter box out,” she said. Chester now weighs 15 pounds and will soon have his two teeth removed at a dentist’s suggestion. In January 2008, the biology department moved back into Stoffer, but Boyd continued to check in on the cats and feed them. Apparently someone didn’t think it was a good idea. “Right before Christmas I got an official letter from Washburn that said I had been seen feeding the cats and should basically cease and desist,” said Boyd. After talking to the landlord, however, Boyd was permitted to catch and release the remaining cats. Since then, many of the strays have been given new lives, in addition to their nine.
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