College Council Minutes

October 8, 2009 Meeting

Members Present: Steve Schutt (Chair), Mario Baldassari ’11, Patrick Doggett, Diane Kanney, Michael Kash, Alexander Mawyer, Tracy Schwartz ’10, Justin Stenger ’10, Kristina Waugh

Absent:  Lois Barr

College Council continued its discussion of the enrollment growth proposal, and spent the first part of the meeting considering some of the benefits that could result from a larger student body.  As suggested by various Council members, potential benefits could include more students in various majors that are currently under-enrolled; more students participating in student organizations, cultural and artistic groups, club sports, and other activities that now have too few participants; and more of a constant, energized student presence on campus, especially on weekends.  In academic departments that might need to grow to accompany growth in the student body, more courses could be offered, providing students with more choices.  As currently envisioned, enrollment growth could also result in more study-abroad opportunities for students, as well as an off-campus semester in downtown Chicago for juniors and seniors doing internships in the city.

College Council then reviewed and edited a list of key questions about enrollment growth that will need to be answered before the College can move ahead effectively and develop a growth plan.  After discussion, College Council settled on the questions below, and identified the named individuals, offices or committees as appropriate entities to which the questions should be referred.  In making these referrals, College Council does not mean to prevent other individuals or campus entities from weighing in on any of the questions.  On the contrary, College Council hopes and expects that the designated individuals, offices or committees will reach out broadly for information and input to help them answer the questions as completely as possible.  We also expect that other important questions about enrollment growth will arise in weeks ahead, and encourage students, faculty and staff to refer new questions to any member of College Council for further consideration.

College Council would like to express great appreciation, in advance, to those we are asking to organize answers to enrollment growth questions.  Recognizing how busy this semester already is, College Council appreciates that certain questions will take a significant amount of work and time to answer adequately.  We would like to receive progress reports by the end of the fall semester from those asked to answer questions, but we certainly understand that at least some of these pre-holiday progress reports will need to be incomplete.

Enrollment Growth:  Key Questions

1.         If enrollment growth can generate additional net revenue, what are the most urgent needs that the College should use the extra revenue to address?

Question referred to:  College Council

2.         The College’s goal next year (2010-11) is to enroll a total student body of roughly 1400, approximately the same size as our student body three years ago.  This would include a first-year class of 400 students, comparable to the first-year class of 405 in 2004, the 386 in 2006, or the 379 in 2008.

After next year, a reasonable five-year goal for the College might be to grow to a total enrollment of 1700.  This would be approximately 300 more students than now, but still 300 fewer than the average enrollment of 2000 at the nation’s 50 top liberal arts colleges.  The College could grow to 1700 students by enrolling 420 first-year students in 2011-12;  increasing first-year enrollment by 10 students in each succeeding year, up to 460 in 2015-16; and by enrolling 75 transfer students every fall and another 36 every spring.  Will our applicant pools be adequate to support this growth?

Question referred to:  Vice President for Admissions and Career Services, and Enrollment Committee

3.         The preceding question assumes the College will retain students at recent average rates.  This year, the College retained 83% of last year’s first-year students – the highest rate in a number of years.  What retention levels should the College anticipate over the next five years?

Question referred to:  Director of Institutional Research and Enrollment Committee

4.         Unless or until the College expands residential space, enrollment growth would likely require some increase in the percentage of non-residential students.  At present, roughly 20% of Lake Forest students live off campus, including formerly residential students who have moved to nearby houses or apartments.   What challenges would be presented by growth in our non-residential student population?

Question referred to:  Dean of Students, Dean of Faculty and College Life Committee

5.         What would be the most efficient plan for adding 100 or more beds on campus?

Question referred to:  Vice President for Business, Dean of Students, and Director of Facilities Management

6.         What new or expanded academic majors or minors, if established, would facilitate enrollment growth?

Question referred to:  Dean of Faculty, Department Chairs and CPC

7.         Which academic departments could permanently accommodate more students without more faculty or other resources, which could temporarily do so (e.g., for 3 or 4 years), and which could not accommodate any more students without additional faculty or other resources?

Question referred to:  Dean of Faculty, Department Chairs and ARRC

8.         Which co-curricular or administrative departments could accommodate more students without additional staff or other resources?  The heads of the following departments, in particular, need to review and provide answers to this question with regard to their departments:

·         Student Affairs:  Dean of Students

·         LIT:  Director of Library and Information Technology

·         Athletics:  Director of Athletics

·         Facilities Management:  Director of Facilities Management

·         Career Advancement Center:  Director of CAC

9.         It is a high priority for the College to prevent individual courses from growing too large.  With this in mind, how can course schedules be best arranged, and how can campus classrooms and labs be best utilized, to accommodate a larger student body?

Question referred to:  Registrar and Academic Department Chairs

10.       How can campus dining and social spaces be best utilized to accommodate the greatest number of students?

Question referred to:  Vice President for Business and Dean of Students

11.       How can campus athletic and recreational spaces be best utilized to accommodate the greatest number of students?

Question referred to:  Director of Athletics

12.  What impact on student government and the range of different student organizations would result from a larger student body?

Question referred to:  Student Government

13.       Which current or projected off-campus programs – whether operated by the College, ACM or another provider – would consistently attract the largest numbers of students?  What program changes would the College need to make to ensure that 100 students would participate in off-campus programs every semester?

Question referred to:  Director of Off-Campus Programs and CPC

14.       Could  the College now establish a residential semester-long program in Chicago that would accommodate up to 50 juniors and seniors interning at downtown cultural institutions, businesses, professional firms and other sites?

Question referred to:  Dean of Faculty and Vice President for Business

College Council’s next meeting will be Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at 4 p.m. in Pierson Room C.   If you have any comments, questions, ideas or concerns, please contact any College Council member.

Respectfully submitted,

Tracy Schwartz, Secretary