Ferris Enrollment Numbers Decrease in Significant Categories
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1 www.fsutorch.com Single Issue Free, Additional Copies 50 Cents Week of Oct. 5 - 11, 2016 Ferris State University TORCH Truth, fairness and accuracy since 1931 FSUS 100 FSUS 100 FSUS 100 Fall 2016 Syllabus Fall 2016 Syllabus Fall 2016 Syllabus FSUS 100 FSUS 100 FSUS 100 Fall 2016 Syllabus Fall 2016 Syllabus Fall 2016 Syllabus Where are the freshmen? Ferris enrollment numbers decrease in significant categories Harley Harrison “Our overall goals are to improve access and opportunity what they want to do and then they just don’t enroll at all,” for potential new students, enroll, retain and graduate a said Ferris music industry management transfer sopho- Torch Reporter larger and more diverse student body, maintain the aca- more Kenzi Szymanski. “I went through demic quality of our student population, and determine op- a time where I had no idea what I want- The results are in and data shows that the number of timal enrollment based on environmental and institutional ed to do and I didn’t even want to go to students enrolled at Ferris, as well as other Michigan col- factors,” Salomonson said. school.” leges and universities, has gone down and won’t be in- However, some students think that other factors may Students can expect a 3.8 percent de- creasing anytime soon. impact the decrease in the number of students enrolled. crease in enrollment by spring semester, “Michigan (as well as the Midwestern Region) has been “There’s probably lots of reasons, but I feel like a lot of according to the President’s Memoran- experiencing an overall decline in the number of high people are going towards private schools because of schol- dum Fall Enrollment Forum. Kenzi Szymanski school graduates for the past several years. Our enroll- arship reasons and financial aid,” said Ferris marketing “We anticipate very little impact for ment remained consistent until this fall, despite these de- freshman Evan Koutny. “It’s usually bigger in private insti- current students. The University will continue to provide mographic realities,” said Ferris Dean of Enrollment Ser- tutions.” quality services and facilities to promote student success,” vices Kristen Salomonson. “As a result, there is an impact Ferris plastic engineering technology Salomonson said. on the number of potential freshmen as well as transfer freshman Hanna Price suspects that students.” waiting lists might also be discouraging According to the President’s Memorandum Fall Enroll- for student enrollment. ment Forum, the number of Michigan high school gradu- “I feel like maybe people are starting ENrollment statistics ates is continuing to decrease despite the projection of an to explore other options,” Price said. “I The decline is across all major categories: increase in the number of national 18-year-olds. feel like it might, in Michigan, keep de- - FTIAC students are down 141 (7.8%) “Best estimates are that from 2017-2022 there will be Hanna Price creasing because there are waits in a lot an additional 6.4 percent decrease,” Salomonson said. of programs.” - Transfer students are down 31 (3.2%) Ferris administration isn’t taking this decrease lightly as Pressure on young high school graduates might also - Continuing students are down 165 (2.4%) they initiated the Strategic Enrollment Plan in 2014, ac- contribute to the decrease in student enrollment. - Student credits are down 4,137 (3.4%) cording to Salomonson. “I think there are a lot of people who don’t really know Like us on facebook Follow us on Twitter Add us on snapchat Watch us on youtube Ferris state Torch @fsutorch @fsutorch15 Fsu Torch Connect with us on social media - Read articles online at www.fsutorch.com 2 2 News Week of Oct 5. - 11, 2016 Ferris State Torch “We have realized that we’re all Angela Graf going through it together so, we News Editor might as well help each other out” - Shelby Alda NEWS [email protected] See below for story Clowning around campus Clown spotted in Big Rapids by students Megan Hiler by the incident. “It was freaky, [it] sent chills down Torch Reporter our back,” Novack said, “I didn’t think It sounds like something directly clowns could drive.” from a nightmare: a creepy clown was There is no word whether or not spotted in Big Rapids and then disap- these sightings are connected, but they peared into the woods. Unfortunately this is true. According to 9&10 News, the individual was seen on Colburn Ave. just before midnight holy last Tuesday. “A creeped-out witness says the clown—in a blue costume with reddish pink hair—just stood there eerily look- shit, that’s ing at people across the street, before running off into the trees behind a house,” the report said. Ferris construction management se- a clown nior Evan Novack from Midland also saw the clown when he was heading Evan Novack home at around 11 p.m. last Sunday. “I saw the clown while I was driving both are a part of a long list of report- on Old 131 just north of town,” Novack ed sightings across the United States. said. “We were just talking when a red According to USA Today, more than ten S-10 was pulling out of a driveway. We states have experienced sightings of both looked at the car and saw that clowns, and schools were even clos- the driver had on all white face paint, ing in Cincinnati, Ohio due to a wom- a big red nose and red hair-fro going on an being physically attacked by a man and looked at each other and said ‘holy dressed as a clown. shit, that’s a clown.’” If you have any information about Novack and Ferris freshmen Micheal any of these clown sightings, contact Barrons were understandably alarmed Big Rapids police at (231) 527-0005. Graphic by: Jordan Lodge and Sarah Massey| Production Benjamin$ for books Price versus value for textbooks today Megan Hiler resources can be used in the classroom. probably cost more to publish than a regular “I have seen students struggle because “Viewing the textbook as an exclusive book because of the illustrations, graphs, they didn’t purchase the textbook. That’s Torch Reporter source for classroom content is a dated charts, and so on, but students are also a one reason we have made the communi- model that ignores the overwhelming vol- reliable, captive audience, so there isn’t a cation theories textbook [faculty member] Remember the good ole days in high umes of academic content that is freely great incentive to lower the prices or com- Paul Zube and I are writing free to students school when books were given to students available online,” Peterson said. “College pete with the small number of textbook pub- via Blackboard,” said Ferris professor San- for free by teachers? Well, those days are textbooks are priced as though they are the lishers,” Koch said. dra Alspach. “We professors need to be- long gone. single source for content when we are in one Textbooks are a necessity when it comes come more creative in designing our own According to the National Association of of the most content rich environments the to doing well in class. According to a graphic materials and stop depending on the pub- College Stores, the average college student world has ever known.” of a student survey taken by Florida Virtual lishing companies to tell us what material spends over 600 dollars on textbooks every Assessment Librarian Stacy Anderson Campus provided by Kristy Motz, Reference our students should read and study. With year. In addition to this, the Huffington Post agreed. Librarian and Coordinator of Library Instruc- Blackboard, it’s really easy to make mate- states that college textbook prices are rising “We have more information readily avail- tion, 64 percent of students at some point rials available, free of charge to students.” faster than inflation, healthcare costs and able than at any other time in history,” An- do not purchase a textbook due to it’s cost Students also have ways of saving money housing prices. derson said. while 49 percent take fewer classes for the when it comes to buying books. “I believe the prices of textbooks are too The reason for the high prices of text- same reason. “I spent over 300 dollars on books as a high,” said Ferris pre-pharmacy senior Ryan books is the limited amount of companies “If the instructor makes extensive use of freshman,” said Ferris pre-optometry senior Larson. “Especially for the amount you use who make them. According to James Koch, the textbook for content delivery in the class, Shelby Alda. “I have made friends with peo- them and the fact you can usually get the who conducted an economic analysis of the not having the resource could have a detri- ple in pre-opt and we all hand down books to same resources from the web.” textbook market, five publishers are in con- mental impact on the students’ educational one another or trade them.” Students aren’t the only ones who share trol of nearly 90 percent of the entire text- experience,” Peterson said. “We have realized that we’re all going this belief. Andrew Peterson, Ferris Instruc- book market. Some professors try to ease the pain of through it together so, we might as well help tional Technologist in the Faculty Center for “There are fewer textbook publishers than steep textbook prices by providing materials each other out,” Alda said. Teaching and Learning also sees how online general publishers. To be fair, textbooks do for their students. 3 News 3 Ferris State Torch Week of Oct.