The College Council Executive Committee met with President Lynch, the Provost, and the President's Chief of Staff on May 10th. Topics of discussion included:
The committee received a long, detailed report on the new costs incurred by the transition to Division II sports by our interim Athletic Direct, TJ Tibbs. The report included 5-years of costs broken down by funding area. As well, a overview of additional funds generated by our student athletes was given.
Highlights included a stated long-term goal of 1M in fundraising efforts and an announcement of record giving Tuesday amounts.
We had asked:
Enrollment. With the enrollment dashboard showing continuing students are down 15% compared to this time last year enrollment is a concern for all. Can we discuss projections and planned actions related to enrollment?
We heard of efforts including recruitment of athletes, outreach to adult learners, additional transfers from our Community College partners, especially KBCC.
Currently returning student enrollment is off some 15%, when queried where the bulk of the students were going (other CUNY units, SUNY, other) we learned that students stopping out is the largest reason given.
Faculty help was volunteered with recruitment.
Comments about the CUNY First registration process being confusing and reports of student isolation were shared.
As there are 40M in discretionary funds within CUNY in this years budget, a question about how it could be spent to increase enrollment was asked. We learned AVP Scott has plans for a windfall (should it come our way)