23rd
Increase in enrollment
Like most higher education institutions, Elgin Community College has seen an increase in enrollment this semester and as a Student Affairs professional this translates to an increase in activities and participation on campus. That’s a good thing right…well, yes, sort of! Yes, we love students to be involved and engaged in campus life but it also brings with it some concerns.
For example, in the 10 years I’ve been at ECC, many clubs have organized dances on campus, and 90% of the time, attendance is very low! So this semester when over 150 people showed up to a dance we were shocked and unprepared. The Dean of Students and I reflected on this and how unexpected it was to have so many students attend a dance that usually has 25 students in attendance. My dean made an interesting observation. She said that with the increase in enrollment at our community college, many of the students are reverse transfers. Furthermore, these students have spent a semester or in some cases longer on a residential campus, and now they’ve come to our community college and are expecting similar activities and experience on a residential campus.
Her thought really hit me and I began to think how can my staff and I anticipate this growth spurt with the resources and staff we currently have. I’ll post some thoughts later.
