SUNY Trustees hear Ryan, Steffey discuss enrollment, marketing efforts

By CHRISTINE VIDAL
Reporter Editor

Ryan reported these figures to the SUNY Board of Trustees, which held its Oct. 24 meeting at UB.

Ryan said he is surprised that SUNY's enrollment "held up as well as it has," since "the application-for-admissions experience, preparatory to this semester, was such that there was considerable concern over what the enrollment would be."

The increase in first-time, full-time student enrollment bodes well for the future, he added.

"My experience over many years is, it's this pipeline investment that sustains enrollment over the next four years," he told the board.

The full-time freshman class increased 1.2 percent, with 56,927 students enrolling throughout SUNY, compared to 56,229 in the fall of 1995. SUNY's overall enrollment is 369,881, compared to 382,859 in the fall of 1995. The overall full-time enrollment is 238,047, compared to 237,674 in 1995, an increase of 0.2 percent.

The overall number of part-time students fell to 86,389, from 97,156, a decline of 11.1 percent. Ryan attributes the decline to an improved economy. "When the employment situation improves, persons who have been part-time don't have the time or feel the pressure to continue (their education)," he said.

The board also heard a report by Scott Steffey, SUNY vice chancellor for university relations, on the need for a marketing initiative that would focus on enrollment management, including out-of-state and international student enrollment.

"At any given time, an estimated 115,000 New Yorkers are getting a college education outside the state," Steffey said.

SUNY's marketing efforts need to focus on recruitment of "in-state students, transfer students, the adult returning-student population, first-year students from other states, international students and the worldwide market for State University classes through distance-learning technology," he said.

Those recommendations are based on the work of a 13-member steering committee of senior campus administrators and presidents, and a 23-member work group of system practitioners and experts, whose findings are presented in a report titled "Student Migration and the State University."

The number of high school graduates in New York State is projected to increase by 12 percent over the next decade. The State University will need to enroll greater numbers of these residents as well as more students from outside the state.

"We are going to have to get more focused about how we go about recruiting kids," including out-of-state students, Steffey said.

SUNY enrolls 3,400 out-of-state-students, one of the lowest numbers of out-of-state students enrolled in university systems in the Northeast. "We need to augment the market. One option is to lower out-of-state tuition, so long as it exceeds marginal costs and the in-state tuition rate," Steffey said.

Developing the out-of-state student body would not occur to the exclusion of qualified New York State students and does not call for adding facilities to accommodate more students, according to William J. Murabito, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, who also participated in the presentation to the board.

In other business, the board:

· Voted to allow campuses to raise intercollegiate athletic fees to $100 per semester from the current $50 level. The increase, which is optional by campus, will be in effect starting with the spring 1997 semester.

· Approved a measure that would allow campuses to authorize mandatory student health insurance, a program that five SUNY campuses, including UB, have conducted on a pilot basis for 20 years. Students with comparable insurance, or who object to coverage because of religious beliefs, would not be required to participate.