James Goodman

@goodman_dandc

Monroe Community College's enrollment has dropped 23.2 percent since the fall of 2010.

The total head count — full- and part-time students — dropped from 18,995 in the fall of 2010 to 14,586 at the outset of this school year, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and the State University of New York.

Although most community colleges have also experienced a decrease in enrollment in recent years, MCC's drop has been more pronounced than almost all the other community colleges in the SUNY system.

A concerned faculty group, We Are MCC, has a chart on its website from U.S. Department of Education data, which shows that MCC's 19.3 percent enrollment drop from the fall of 2010 to the fall of 2014, when 15,335 were enrolled, was the second steepest among 30 SUNY community colleges — behind only Clinton Community College.

The total drop in the community colleges during this period was 5.6 percent, from 247,831 to 233,875.

At an enrollment workshop on Monday, MCC President Anne Kress listed some of the reasons that community colleges are struggling with enrollment.

"It's a completely different landscape," said Kress, noting the difficulties many colleges are now facing in enrollment, compared with the boom that some of these schools experienced with the Great Recession that took hold in 2008.

As the economy improves, fewer students tend to go to community colleges, Kress noted.

In addition, the pool of high school graduates has been shrinking. And more four-year colleges are competing with community colleges for students — with some of them increasing the discounts they offer first-year students, even if the discount isn't as much after the initial year.

Kress cited statistics from the National Student Clearinghouse that showed, nationwide, from 2008 to 2013, the percent of low-income students in college dropped 10 percent.

"We're serving fewer low-income students at MCC," she said.

Kress' priorities

Kress presented the enrollment figures as full-time equivalents (FTEs), since that is how SUNY community colleges get reimbursed by the state. Depending on their course load, a couple of part-time students might be the equivalent of one full-time student in calculating how much MCC gets in state money.

MCC's 4.8 percent drop in full-time equivalent students from the fall of 2014 to the fall of 2015 was more than 12 SUNY community colleges, but less than 17 others, according to Kress.

The 16,047 FTE enrollment at MCC for the 2010-11 school year dropped to 12,944 by the 2014-15 school year. MCC's FTE for the current school year is projected to be 12,665, though this figure is an estimate in MCC's budget since numbers are still being calculated.

For the next school year, MCC's FTE is projected by the college to be between 11,204 and 12,768, with the number to be affected by MCC's success in various initiatives, including retention of students.

Not included in MCC's enrollment figures reported to the federal government each fall are local high school students — 4,663 students last year — who take MCC courses for college as well as high school credit. These courses are typically taught by high school teachers who work with MCC faculty members.

Another indication of concern for the We Are MCC group is enrollment at MCC's Damon City Campus. The number of students taking all their classes at the downtown Damon City dropped 37 percent — from 1,849 in 2010 to 1,161 in 2015, according to the faculty group, using MCC statistics.

Randy Bowen, MCC's vice president for enrollment management, told how the expectation is that enrollment will increase with the new downtown campus, slated to open in the fall of 2017 in buildings — now being renovated — that were once part of the Eastman Kodak Co.'s corporate headquarters in the High Falls area.

A glimpse inside MCC's new downtown campus

$43.7 million for MCC downtown site

Bowen told of outreach efforts to get more students, including a 12 percent increase in online enrollment.

Kress also said a priority is increasing the retention of students who enroll at MCC, as well as reaching out to the many students who contact MCC about attending but never complete the enrollment process.

Less than 50 percent of first-time college students at MCC have completed 15 college credits in their initial year. Two factors, said MCC spokeswoman Cynthia Cooper Mapes, contribute to this problem: Students are enrolled part time and are coming underprepared for college-level work.

As a result, they have to take developmental, skill-building courses before being able to enroll in some of the credit-bearing courses.

MCC is redesigning and launching programs to help with retention.

Beginning next fall, MCC will be organized into six schools: Arts & Humanities; Business Hospitality & Entrepreneurship; Community Engagement & Development; Health Sciences & Physical Wellness; Science, Technology, Engineering & Math; and Social Sciences & Global Studies.

This reorganization is intended to give students more direction and support.

Mapes also said steps are being taken to improve enrollment practices, such as deadlines for applying for admission and financial aid, as well as registering for classes.

"Our data showed that students who apply and register at the last minute were significantly less likely to complete the semester successfully," she said.

Faculty concerns

We Are MCC — organized this past summer — has about 10 members, including some senior faculty, who tell of low faculty morale. That is reflected in an April 2015 MCC Faculty Association Employee Satisfaction Survey, which found that 44 percent of those responding strongly disagreed or disagreed with the statement that their work was valued and that they felt respected by the college administration.

Mapes said that faculty and college leaders consult frequently, with the most apparent avenues being through shared governance groups, such as the Faculty Senate and the Support Staff Planning Council.

"Even though the responses to the survey conducted by the Faculty Association represent a minority of our faculty, we take the concerns expressed seriously," said Mapes.

But faculty members continue to express concerns and wonder how a continued drop in enrollment would affect the quality of education.

Three members of We Are MCC spoke during the comment period at Monday's board of trustee meeting, held after the workshop on enrollment.

"We want to be the best," said John Wadach, professor of engineering science and physics and chair of that department.

Among the examples he cited of MCC not being consumer friendly was when he recently tried to help a student get financial aid and was told that there were 16 callers on hold ahead of him.

The board of trustees approved a three-year contract at their Monday meeting. The contract, which had been approved by the Faculty Association in December calls for a 1 percent increase in salary this school year and a 2 percent raise in each of the next two years.

Bethany Gizzi, president of the Faculty Association and a member of We Are MCC, said she was satisfied with the contract, but told of low morale and the need for the administration to be more collaborative with the faculty.

"We don't feel respected. We don't feel valued. We don't feel appreciated. We don't feel included in decision-making for the good of the college," Gizzi said.

JGOODMAN@Gannett.com

Staff writer Sean Lahman contributed to this report.