Zane State College enrollment drops, retention rises

ZANESVILLE - Despite declines in fall enrollment and eight contract non-renewals this year, administrators at Zane State College maintain the school is financially sound with plans to continue growing in serving both the students and community.

As the economy continues to improve, Dr. Chad Brown, Zane State president, said the school is facing slight reorganization in response to the changing culture.

"We're adjusting to what I'm calling the new normal," Brown said.

Fall enrollment was down 523 on-campus students in 2015 compared to 2014, which is nearly 25 percent. According to the American Association of Community Colleges, fall enrollment for two-year schools has dropped every year from 2012 to 2014 by about 3 to 3.5 percent. The number of nontraditional students at two-year schools dropped as well.

Brown said the decline is close to what administrators anticipated going into the fall semester in 2015. As with other two-year institutions, Zane State is also seeing fewer nontraditional students, which includes older students and students with jobs and families.

With the economy bouncing back, fewer people who would fit into the nontraditional category are seeing the need to return to school, and more traditional students are attending four-year colleges and universities, Brown said.

The eight contract non-renewals were for three staff and five faculty members, including two from business and engineering and three from allied health division. Every program is undergoing analysis to find any redundancies or irrelevance, and reorganization is slated to be finished and in place by July.

The school still owes almost $6 million for the Advanced Science and Technology Center, which opened two years ago and cost in total more than $10 million, but the long-term bonds don't need to be paid back until 2037, and Brown said the school is on track to do so. The Paul R. Brown EPIC Center in Cambridge, which also opened two years ago and cost $10 million, has been paid off in full.

Also, the school is focusing greater on retention between fall and spring semester, Brown said. From fall 2015 to spring 2016, the school had a 97 percent retention rate, compared to an 86 percent retention between semesters last year.

And of all new students, including transfers, 81 percent continued their studies from fall 2015 to spring 2016, compared to 67 percent of new students last year.

Nick Welch, director of marketing and communications, said the spring 2016 enrollment of 1,578 doesn't include the second spring term, which could push the numbers up to match or even exceed the fall numbers.

Brown said the retention increase is due to a number of reasons. Faculty advisers are working closer with students to get them registered for classes earlier. Zane State's research shows new students who take English 101 classes during their first fall semester are more likely to continue on with school in the spring. And students are encouraged to take classes during the summer, even if it's just one course.

One of the school's main goals is to continue to address the workforce skills gap. Brown said there is a high number of skilled jobs available, and the school needs to find a way to meet those needs.

"The only way we're going to solve that skills gap is to get those who need to work to go to school," he said.

ksnyder2@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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