On January 28th, President Potash delivered the State of the College Address, following a longstanding tradition at Wright College in which the president begins each Spring and Fall semester by speaking to the faculty and any other interested people about the current affairs of our college. These semiannual discussions are held so that everyone who is interested in the current situation of our college can be on the same page regarding the context of the semester. With COVID being far from a distant memory, the focus of this semester centered on how Wright is working to address a growing decline in enrollment, an issue being faced by colleges and universities across the nation.
More than 170 faculty members and students gathered as President Potash reviewed the data regarding Wright’s overall enrollment. Since 2018, the total enrollment has dropped about 37.8%, from 11,290 students in the spring semester of 2018 to 7,008 in 2022. Spring enrollment alone has decreased from 7,588 to 4,932 in the same timespan. While enrollment at Wright is not declining as quickly as in other City Colleges of Chicago, or CCCs, this is still an issue to be taken seriously. “It’s a real serious, scary concern,” President Potash stated during the address. The pandemic has caused the State of the College Address to be held via zoom the past few semesters, but teachers and faculty still utilized the chat feature to share their input. Some of the factors they mentioned were a decline in Chicago’s population, the labor shortage, and even zoom fatigue. One faculty member typed, “I told my students in advance that this semester would be neither a pre-pandemic or post-pandemic class experience. Instead, it would be an in-person, in-pandemic experience,” showing that there is an awareness that we are still in the thick of this COVID situation.
A recent study done last fall found that the biggest reason students considered withdrawing in 2021 was emotional stress, followed by concerns regarding the pandemic and cost of attendance. Notably, the study indicated that students of color were the most likely to report facing challenges during the pandemic. With significantly higher percentages of students of color, CCC is being greatly affected by COVID. “Undocumented students [...] I have less and less of them in my classes,” one teacher mentioned. Unfortunately, the Student Government Association, or SGA, was unable to attend this semester’s State of the College Address, and virtually no student input regarding the situation was given at the time. After hearing about the address, however, several students chimed in on how they were aided during the pandemic. Many cited the HEERF grant as being of great assistance and others mentioned that the individualized support they received from their advisors helped keep them enrolled.
Facing the declining enrollment, the faculty at Wright are making an effort to address the needs of the students. President Potash went over many of the improvements being made at our college, all geared towards enhancing the student experience. Renovations are being made in the buildings, such as the stairs, labs, and the library, including the Engineering Center. The staff of the engineering program have worked to provide amazing resources for the engineering program students, with a $1.9 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that funds work and research positions, as well as exclusive opportunities for internships such as at the Argonne National Laboratory and Department of Energy, to name a couple. Elsewhere, Wright Life was launched, an online software that helps students join clubs and find events. In the fall of last year, 60+ clubs registered through Wright Life and 120 events were posted. As the pandemic winds down, hopefully more students get involved in extracurriculars and those numbers increase. The Student Involvement Ambassador Program has been launched, in which students serve as peer-to-peer mentors to aid their colleagues in enhancing their education at Wright. In addition, Wright has partnered with Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) in a program titled Caminos al Exito, in an effort to create an environment that supports and engages students at both colleges as well as high schools. The work being done at Wright has not gone unnoticed and our college recently received the Seal of Excelencia for accelerating Latino success, which is an achievement all of our staff and students should be proud of.
Although the State of the College Address eventually came to an end, the faculty at Wright and other CCCs continue to make efforts to improve the academic experience. All of CCC is on the same team toward addressing the issues of the students, and an unprecedented partnership between CCC and CPS (Chicago Public Schools) has been initiated. This partnership, known as the Chicago Roadmap, is aimed toward providing a smooth transition for students from high school to college. CCC has also received funds to be used towards supporting the enrollment of Black students. Changes in staff have been made at Wright for a greater focus on the students, including the addition of the Dean of Enrollment, Melissa Champs, more people to recruit students, as well as admissions specialists who work to reach out to students who show an interest in applying to CCC, but fail to take the next steps. It was mentioned in President Potash’s address that the adult education population is stabilized, so it makes sense that there is a focus on traditionally aged students and those at high schools. The aforementioned partnership with NEIU allows for Wright to have an influence at 13 neighborhood high schools and significant investments are being made toward early college initiatives.
While enrollment at Wright continues to decline, the faculty and staff are being invigorated to help the students. As always, the focus is on putting the students first, so this is a great opportunity for us, students and staff alike, to work together to figure out what is needed to get people back into the classroom. We are reminded that the only way we will get through this pandemic is by working together.
Komentáře