Addressing Challenges

[wiu712]

WIU getting outside perspective on addressing challenges.
From Tri-States Public Radio, WIUM-FM:
https://www.tspr.org/tspr-local/2023-12 ... challenges 
 
 

[rocki]

WIU getting outside perspective on addressing challenges.
From Tri-States Public Radio, WIUM-FM:
https://www.tspr.org/tspr-local/2023-12 ... challenges 
 
 

 

I saw this, and then on Facebook I saw local parents/students complaining that WIU is not recruiting them - apparently they get a lot of interest from other schools, but the local one (if you will) seems to act like they don't exist. Anyone else have any experience with this? If so, why the lack of local recruitment? These kids are going to go to school somewhere, why not Western? It's a shame if the university is overlooking potential students just because they are local.

[ST_Lawson]

I saw this, and then on Facebook I saw local parents/students complaining that WIU is not recruiting them - apparently they get a lot of interest from other schools, but the local one (if you will) seems to act like they don't exist. Anyone else have any experience with this? If so, why the lack of local recruitment? These kids are going to go to school somewhere, why not Western? It's a shame if the university is overlooking potential students just because they are local.
 

I don't really know what the recruitment strategy is, but what I can tell you, as the parent of a local HS sophomore, we've received 5 promotional things in the mail from colleges so far...3 of them were from Western. They also had a dual-enrollment event (that's when you take low level college classes and they count as HS credit also...sometimes they even teach them at the HS) at her school that had WIU and Spoon River College there.

You have to take facebook comments with a (HUGE) grain of salt. I was reading through a few of them and a lot of people don't seem to have any clue about what goes on at a university or have any awareness that it is actively being promoted, just maybe not the places they are seeing it. There are WIU billboards in Springfield and the Quad Cities, and I've seen movie theater ads for WIU in Joliet. If they're referring to internet ads, they are VERY targeted (so it's unlikely that someone who isn't actively looking at a college to go to will see them), and a lot of kids are using ad blockers anyway, so they just don't see ads online whatsoever. Some of the recommendations I saw from facebook comments might bring in a few more students from some areas, but would also cause 10 times that many students decide not to come.

And regarding the money (some people were up in arms about $200k per year). The thing is, if the recommendations they provide bring in an extra 20 students per year...then they've pretty much covered the cost (assuming an "average student" pays 2 years of tuition). $200k isn't a tiny amount of money, but it could easily provide a much larger return on the investment.

[bignecks]

any celebration over Pritzker's latest law where students can get aid to public schools with good grades?

[wiu712]

From Carson Gourdie of WICS-TV, Springfield, IL:

A new state law makes any public college in Illinois a possibility for high-achieving community students, and it could help institutions that have seen enrollment numbers slump.

Every four-year public college in Illinois now guarantees general admission for in-state community college students with a 3.0 GPA and 36 credit hours.

Western Illinois University has seen total enrollment drop from 11,000 to 7,000 students since 2015. Doug Freed, Director of Admissions & Enrollment Services at Western Illinois, said they’ve been looking at increasing the number of transfer students admitted.

“We love it. It's great for us. We're glad to have more in-state students coming to Western hopefully through this," Freed said.

According to Western Illinois, depending on the grade point average, in-state community college students with 3.5 GPAs or higher can earn up to $2,000 annually in scholarships through the completion of their senior year. Students with 3.25-3.49 and 3.0-3.24 GPA earn an annual $1,500 and $1,000, respectively.

"Those students who come in with that kind of background:  Thirty-six credits and a 3.5 GPA or higher, they're definitely on the track for success, and really set themselves up for an excellent future."

With qualified community college students being able to transfer to any public college, institutions are looking to give their best pitch of why they should pick them.

“We've certainly been visiting places like Spoon River Black Hawk, Carl Sandburg, John Wood, and other community colleges in this area," Freed said. "That's our backyard our bread and butter, we want to make sure those students are locked down.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[ST_Lawson]

Relevant article: https://khqa.com/news/local/new-state-l ... iversities