Southern strategy*to bring in students


SUjagTILLiDIE

SUjagTILLiDIE

Well-Known Member
Southern strategy*to bring in students
BY KORAN ADDO
Capitol news bureau
July 08, 2012
0 COMMENTS
Southern University will compete for a share of Baton Rouge’s community college market this fall as part of a strategy to boost sagging enrollment.

The student numbers have dipped during the past several years with the introduction of tougher state admissions standards.

The state has warned the strategy could backfire when it comes time to assess the performance measures used to divvy up state funding for schools — a concern a spokesman within the Southern System downplayed on Friday.

The plan calls for Southern University at Shreveport, a two-year community college known as SUSLA, to operate a satellite location on the Southern system’s Baton Rouge campus.

Students who don’t meet the admissions criteria to get into Southern can still get on campus by enrolling in remedial, or developmental courses through SUSLA.

In other words, participating students would take classes taught by SUSLA-hired instructors, pay tuition and apply for financial aid through the Shreveport school, but be physically located on the Baton Rouge campus.

http://theadvocate.com/home/3281831-125/southern-strategyto-bring-in-students
 

SUjagTILLiDIE said:
Southern strategy*to bring in students
BY KORAN ADDO
Capitol news bureau
July 08, 2012
0 COMMENTS
Southern University will compete for a share of Baton Rouge’s community college market this fall as part of a strategy to boost sagging enrollment.

The student numbers have dipped during the past several years with the introduction of tougher state admissions standards.

The state has warned the strategy could backfire when it comes time to assess the performance measures used to divvy up state funding for schools — a concern a spokesman within the Southern System downplayed on Friday.

The plan calls for Southern University at Shreveport, a two-year community college known as SUSLA, to operate a satellite location on the Southern system’s Baton Rouge campus.

Students who don’t meet the admissions criteria to get into Southern can still get on campus by enrolling in remedial, or developmental courses through SUSLA.

In other words, participating students would take classes taught by SUSLA-hired instructors, pay tuition and apply for financial aid through the Shreveport school, but be physically located on the Baton Rouge campus.

http://theadvocate.com/home/3281831-125/southern-strategyto-bring-in-students
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Been preaching this for a lot of us to try for a long time. Good move SU. Good luck!
 
SUJagFan said:
Why?

Explain to me how it benefits the university.
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SU-BR gets the SUSBO students on campus and many will get familiar and comfortable on the BR campus, allowing SU-BR to have the inside track on qualified transfers from SUSBO.
 
Questions:

1. What was the purpose of ending open enrollment if the school was going to turn around and do this?

2. Would the university be better served by increasing its graduation rate rather than bringing more low-quality students on campus? Is having warm bodies on campus the goal or having high quality graduates?
 
jag4life said:
SU-BR gets the SUSBO students on campus and many will get familiar and comfortable on the BR campus, allowing SU-BR to have the inside track on qualified transfers from SUSBO.
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This ^^^^^ - This strategy is the type of a bridge program that a lot of campuses across the country utilize to keep border line students engaged with their campus. As I have said before, it won't help graduation rates as the feds will not count them (transfers don't count in those numbers), but it will help retention rates after freshman year and overall graduation rates that the university reports. Getting these students early by engaging them into the SU culture, sport culture, and traditions, while providing academic support and structure that they need to be successful inside and outside of the campus will easily help them transition once they officially transfer to SU main campus the next semester or year. The only thing SU will need to do is make sure the students do feel like SU is their next stop, and that they are getting the academic foundation that they need to succeed in college at SUSBO. If not, then it may backfire.

Campuses that already do this very well and have seen the increase in well-prepared students from these programs - Western Kentucky, Texas A&M University (Blinn Team)
 
SUJagFan said:
Two questions:

1. What was the purpose of ending open enrollment if the school was going to turn around and do this?

2. Would the university be better served by increasing its graduation rate rather than bringing more low-quality students on campus? Is having warm bodies on campus the goal or having high quality graduates?
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1. Keep in mind you are talking about a small percentage of students. You all will still be seeking and recruiting other students to increase your enrollment as well.

2. Does a community college student actually mean lower quality? I think if you look at the 2012 profile of the community college student with ACT scores, etc. you would actually be a bit surprised. The economy has pushed a lot of prepared students to the community college route in recent years.

While open enrollment increased our students' entering GPAs and ACT scores, it did not eliminate remedial courses being offered on many college campuses (HBCUs or PWIs outside of the Ivies). I am a proponent of remedial course work only being offered at two-year colleges ( saves the student money with cheaper classes, and four year colleges don't have to hire faculty to teach remedial classes. With these kids getting the remedial coursework out of the way at SUSBO, they should be better prepared to be successful at SU once they transfer because they are familiar with college work, the SU culture, and have completed their remedial level work. In turn, these students actually may have higher graduation percentages than freshman that enter SU straight from high school (of course as mentioned they won't count in the Fed's graduation rates).
 
SUJagFan said:
Questions:

1. What was the purpose of ending open enrollment if the school was going to turn around and do this?

2. Would the university be better served by increasing its graduation rate rather than bringing more low-quality students on campus? Is having warm bodies on campus the goal or having high quality graduates?
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1. These are technically not SU-BR students, so your comment about open enrollment is not applicable.

2. Has nothing to do with SU-BR's graduation rates (which are going up because we are no longer open-enrollment).
 
TSUGIRL07 said:
Campuses that already do this very well and have seen the increase in well-prepared students from these programs - Western Kentucky, Texas A&M University (Blinn Team)
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Yep this is done by Texas A&M in conjunction with Blinn College's Bryan Campus.
 
In short, SU will use this time to market the SU culture and academic support system to these students. If they are academically prepared and eligible to attend SU once they are ready to transfer and they choose SU, then SU was successful in this endeavor.
 
TSUGIRL07 said:
1. Keep in mind you are talking about a small percentage of students. You all will still be seeking and recruiting other students to increase your enrollment as well.

2. Does a community college student actually mean lower quality? I think if you look at the 2012 profile of the community college student with ACT scores, etc. you would actually be a bit surprised. The economy has pushed a lot of prepared students to the community college route in recent years.

While open enrollment increased our students' entering GPAs and ACT scores, it did not eliminate remedial courses being offered on many college campuses (HBCUs or PWIs outside of the Ivies). I am a proponent of remedial course work only being offered at two-year colleges ( saves the student money with cheaper classes, and four year colleges don't have to hire faculty to teach remedial classes. With these kids getting the remedial coursework out of the way at SUSBO, they should be better prepared to be successful at SU once they transfer because they are familiar with college work, the SU culture, and have completed their remedial level work. In turn, these students actually may have higher graduation percentages than freshman that enter SU straight from high school (of course as mentioned they won't count in the Fed's graduation rates).
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Okay. More questions:

1. If these students are on the same campus as regular SUBR students, why would they need to enroll in SUSBO if they qualified to enter SUBR?

2. If it's true that we're talking a small percentage of students, wouldn't it be more cost effective to partner with BRCC as a way to recruit local community college students? Maybe offer a program that ensured the student's courses transferred and that they were on track to graduate in their chosen major upon transferring.

3. Would these students be in the same classroom as students enrolled at SUBR? Or would there be separate English Composition 101 courses for example?
 
SUJagFan said:
Okay. More questions:

1. If these students are on the same campus as regular SUBR students, why would they need to enroll in SUSBO if they qualified to enter SUBR?

2. If it's true that we're talking a small percentage of students, wouldn't it be more cost effective to partner with BRCC as a way to recruit local community college students? Maybe offer a program that ensured the student's courses transferred and that they were on track to graduate in their chosen major upon transferring.

3. Would these students be in the same classroom as students enrolled at SUBR? Or would there be separate English Composition 101 courses for example?
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1. They are on the campus, but they are not SUBR students. Not qualified and not enrolled. They are SUSBO students and are taking classes scheduled under SUSBO advisors.

2. Already partnered with BRCC as well.

3. No, they'd be in classes with only SUSBO students. Think of it as SUSBO renting space in BR to teach classes. Just so happens that the space they are renting is from their big brother SUBR. I've seen other colleges do this, as well as rent out classroom space to GED and Tech Ed programs.
 
SUJagFan said:
Okay. More questions:

1. If these students are on the same campus as regular SUBR students, why would they need to enroll in SUSBO if they qualified to enter SUBR?

2. If it's true that we're talking a small percentage of students, wouldn't it be more cost effective to partner with BRCC as a way to recruit local community college students? Maybe offer a program that ensured the student's courses transferred and that they were on track to graduate in their chosen major upon transferring.

3. Would these students be in the same classroom as students enrolled at SUBR? Or would there be separate English Composition 101 courses for example?
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1. As I mentioned before, not every student that attends a community college goes because they are academically inferior. Some go because taking two years of coursework at community college is much cheaper than two years at a four year. SU is trying to entice the kids that go to SUSBO for whatever reason to consider transferring to SU once they transfer. Getting them on campus to experience the SU culture for a semester - two years should encourage the students to attend SU whether than transferring elsewhere because they are already comfortable at SUBR.

2. I would hope that is already in place at SU. TSU has those current partnerships with every community college in the Houston area and other feeder community colleges in the state. I am making an assumption, but if SU has those partnerships in place, they may not be working. Therefore, SU has looked at model programs and decided to actually get the students on campus. At WKU and TAMU, the key benefit is the kids take 6 hours at the 4-year institution and 6 hours at the community college. So they are in essence part-time students at both institution. At WKU they live in the dorms, but at Texas A&M they don't. However, at both institutions they can still attend games, use the rec, eat in the cafe, etc. so that they are already engaged in those respective campus communities. I think the difference with the SU setup is that the students will just be taking community college classes on SUs main campus per SUSBO. However, that means they still become acclimated with being in college and SU in general, which is half the battle.

3. This is a question that you would need to ask your alma mater's administration. I am telling you how the program has worked at other institutions and how they have benefited from it. From what I read, I think it will be separate classes though.
 

jag4life said:
1. They are on the campus, but they are not SUBR students. Not qualified and not enrolled. They are SUSBO students and are taking classes scheduled under SUSBO advisors.

2. Already partnered with BRCC as well.

3. No, they'd be in classes with only SUSBO students. Think of it as SUSBO renting space in BR to teach classes. Just so happens that the space they are renting is from their big brother SUBR. I've seen other colleges do this, as well as rent out classroom space to GED and Tech Ed programs.
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What jag4life said....LOL
 
jag4life said:
1. They are on the campus, but they are not SUBR students. Not qualified and not enrolled. They are SUSBO students and are taking classes scheduled under SUSBO advisors.

2. Already partnered with BRCC as well.

3. No, they'd be in classes with only SUSBO students. Think of it as SUSBO renting space in BR to teach classes. Just so happens that the space they are renting is from their big brother SUBR. I've seen other colleges do this, as well as rent out classroom space to GED and Tech Ed programs.
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Not qualified. That was my point to TSUGIRL.

Renting space and separate classes, huh? Interesting. If that's how it's going to work, then it may be worthwhile.

Otherwise, I think it's merely a way to circumvent enrollment requirements to let in marginal students. Long-term, I think effort would be better spent helping better students to graduate at higher rates. And thereby attracting more students through having demonstrated the effectiveness of SUBR in helping students get a degree and a career. Which should be the purpose of the university.

Just my opinion ....
 
I actually like this movement within our new administration... Way to think outside of the box!!!!

I was reading on facebook.. of complaining and bitching.... :smh: man some black folks will complain about anything... You wanted a change.. youve now GOT a change.. and you still are not happy!!! :smh:

Great partnership and use of your OWN resources!! :tup: Great Work SU!!!
 
I stand corrected, but after actually reading the article it does seem like SU will be using more of the WKU and TAMU models with the kids being cross-enrolled:

"The partnership allows students to cross-enroll, meaning they can take necessary developmental courses through SUSLA simultaneously with the college-level coursework offered by Southern." - Their remedial work will be offered through SUSLA and their college ready work will be offered through SU. Right? Probably the 6/6 split.

However, in this case it doesn't seem like SU is spending too much funding or man power in this partnership since they are earning money from the rental space and SUSBO are providing the remedial education instructors. Also, this is probably the main reason SU is trying this out:

"Llorens also described the partnership as a way around the state rule banning regional schools like Southern from offering more than one developmental course to incoming freshman starting in 2014.

Louisiana’s statewide schools, including LSU’s Baton Rouge campus, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana Tech and University of New Orleans, won’t offer developmental courses starting in the fall."

I hope this comes to Texas soon. Remedial education should come through community colleges, on an individual level or through partnerships like this.
 
TSUGIRL07 said:
I stand corrected, but after actually reading the article it does seem like SU will be using more of the WKU and TAMU models with the kids being cross-enrolled:

"The partnership allows students to cross-enroll, meaning they can take necessary developmental courses through SUSLA simultaneously with the college-level coursework offered by Southern." - Their remedial work will be offered through SUSLA and their college ready work will be offered through SU. Right? Probably the 6/6 split.

However, in this case it doesn't seem like SU is spending too much funding or man power in this partnership since they are earning money from the rental space and SUSBO are providing the remedial education instructors. Also, this is probably the main reason SU is trying this out:

"Llorens also described the partnership as a way around the state rule banning regional schools like Southern from offering more than one developmental course to incoming freshman starting in 2014.

Louisiana’s statewide schools, including LSU’s Baton Rouge campus, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana Tech and University of New Orleans, won’t offer developmental courses starting in the fall."

I hope this comes to Texas soon. Remedial education should come through community colleges, on an individual level or through partnerships like this.
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A way to circumvent open enrollment too.

And for what reason ....
 
TSUGIRL07 said:
Not even part-time students if they are taking "college-level coursework simultaneously offered by Southern"?
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The way I understand it is that it will be handled similar to the way SU-LSU cross-registrations have taken place over the past 30+ years. Students are only considered students of their home university, but are able to take a certain number of classes at the other school.
 
SUJagFan said:
A way to circumvent open enrollment too.

And for what reason ....
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Good question, but I think they are more worried about determining a way to partner with community colleges that will offer the remedial courses that SU will lose in 2014. How many remedial courses is SU currently offering? Most HBCUs offer more than one section of math and reading, which means that closed enrollment did not alleviate that. (Some PWIs also have to offer remedial classes for students based on test scores, etc.). The SU administration may be trying to address two issues with one solution.
 
jag4life said:
The way I understand it is that it will be handled similar to the way SU-LSU cross-registrations have taken place over the past 30+ years. Students are only considered students of their home university, but are able to take a certain number of classes at the other school.
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That's an interesting construct. I thought it was different when a community college was involved. Interesting. Thanks for enlightening me on that.
 
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