University Daily Kansan, August 20, 1981
Page 3
Stable enrollment projected
By MARTHA BRINK
Staff Reporter
In 1965, when Beattemania was rampant and the Vietnam War raged, 13,565 students enrolled at the University of Kansas.
By the fall of 1980 enrollment had reached 24,466.
LIKE KU, most other U.S. colleges and universities have had steady enrollment increases for the past 20 years
However, many education experts nationwide declining enrollment nations
Ira Jay Winn, professor of education at California State University, Northridge, cited several reasons for the enrollment decline in the June 1980 issue of Phi Delta Kappa. These reasons included: a slowed birthrate, sharply increased costs for higher education and the absence of a draft.
Since the 1970s, education researchers have predicted this decline, but so far KU, like many universities, has continued to grow.
DAVID AMBLER, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, said he was not too worried about the possibility of a decline in enrollment.
"The overall quality and reputation of KU makes me fairly optimistic that KU will not have serious problems," he said.
Ambler also said KU's location near urban centers and its diverse set of academic programs were favorable factors for a stable enrollment.
Because the predictions of decline are based only on the decreasing difference between 18 and 24, Amber said he thought they might not tell the whole story.
"People who predict the decline fail to realize that since World War II a higher emphasis has been placed on higher education," he said.
Therefore, a greater percentage of the population attended college. Now they are parents and want their children to go too, he said.
THE PREDICTIONS also do not consider the larger number of women and minorities attending college,
Ambler said. This increase could offset declines in the birthrate.
One fact is certain: because of the declining birthrate, fewer students graduate from Kansas high schools.
According to Ambler, the number of high school graduates peaked in 1977 and the number has been dropping by a few thousand each year.
FACED WITH THIS decline, KU
can now be fully installed in the
kup KU is enrolled within this
department.
Linda Thompson, director of the office of admissions, said her office was focusing on recruiting in more states, and helping students already at the University.
This year KU will expand its recruitment program to include Colorado and Washington, D.C. KU chose these areas because of a large number of alumni and because many students from the out-of-state college, Thompson said.
Ambler agreed that it was important to retain the students already enrolled in (3)
The University has a responsibility to help a student attain his academic goals, he said. But he added that enrollees must be put in KU also helped keep enrollment high.
One way to remedy the attrition problem is to talk with the student who is about to leave and find out why he is dissatisfied. Often the student only needs additional financial aid, Ambler said.
KU officials are also studying what indirect factors affect whether a student stays at KU, such as the atmosphere in the residence halls, the school calendar, and more academically challenging programs.
Following the national trend, KU enrollment in the technical fields has increased significantly, Thompson said.
Business and engineering are two of the fastest growing schools.
Enrollment in the School of Business increased by 6.2 percent from fall 1979 to fall 1980, and 9.6 percent in the School of Engineering over the same period.
Enrollment in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences increased in that time 45 percent.
But the School of Business is feeling
the strain of more students, said Peter Lorenzi, director of the undergraduate program.
DURING ENROLLMENT several courses were filled quickly and had to be closed, he said. Therefore, business students are encouraged to prioritize during enrolment to business skills.
Because of growing enrollment, the School of Engineering has begun an informal policy of stricter requirements for transfer students.
The number of faculty has not increased in proportion to the increase of students, said Robert Zerkwek, assistant man of the School of Engineering.
The Engineering School plans to require a B level in math and science course.
Many state universities already have enrollment limits for Engineering School, Zerkwek said. KU is not at that point yet, but if enrollment continues to increase and funding is not increased, limits might have to be contemplated, he said.
The Engineering School's enrollment in fall is expected to increase by 5 to 10 per class.
Despite fears about declining enrollment, several schools within KU have tightened their academic standards.
THE COLLEGE OF Liberal Arts and Sciences has a probation and dismissal policy that went into effect last year. So far 569 students have been dismissed.
The School of Business has also
implemented mission requirements
and a probation policy.
Now students must have a 2.0 GPA
have completed 88 college
classes in the school.
Once admitted, a student must maintain a 2.0 GPA, or be placed on probation for the following semester. Must not raise his GPA nor raise his GPA the next semester.
"I think this will send a clear message to students about what they are expected to do." Lorenzi said.
The new policy should initially cause a decrease in the number of Business Institutions, Lorenzi said. However, in the long run applications should increase
Improvements with buildings on campus provide physically handicapped with better accessibility
By CONNIE SCHALLAU Staff Reporter
Accessible but not perfect is how Bob Turvey, associate director of the Student Assistance Center, 21 Strong Hall, described the University of Kansas' accessibility to handicapped students.
In the past few years, KU has remodeled many of its buildings to provide easier access for those students and teachers are restricted by physical handicaps.
PHYSICAL HANDICAPS are defined as interrupted or impaired major life functions, Turvey said. These include the inability to speak, write or see. It also includes people who have to use a cane, walker or wheelchair.
Turvey said that last year more than 100 students with disabilities had identified themselves to his office. He said that usually 12 to 20 students who had mobility problems attended KU each semester.
For those students who cannot easily get into a bus or a car, the University has two special lift-vans. They are part of the KU on Wheels program and are offered to students in spring 1981 semester, 15 people a day usually raned in the vans, Turvey said.
If a student has a handicap and has his own car, he can receive a handicap permit that will allow him to drive on the road or park in a special handicap parking spot.
"The KU Parking Services does one
of the best jobs for handicapped students," Turvey said. "Where there's a need for a handicap parking space, they put one right away."
TO RECEIVE A handicap parking permit, the student must first go to Watkins Hospital to have a doctor verify the need for the request. If the request is not valid, the Student Assistance Center then contacts KU Parking Services.
"If there is a reason to have a hand-dicapped permit, the Parking Services usually has one ready within 24 hours," Turvey said.
Once the student has gotten onto campus, most of the major buildings are accessible. The Kansas Union and most of the main classroom buildings have ground-level entrances, elevators and accessible restrooms.
If a student is scheduled to have a class in a building that is inaccessible, the class meeting place can be changed, Turvey said.
He said the buildings that have elevator problems are Snow Hall, the elevators in those buildings are older and have manually operated doors.
If a student finds himself unable to operate an elevator, he should contact the Student Assistance Center. An elevator operator can be assigned to that building for as long as the student needs help.
He also said that a student may be able to get into a building but find that it is not suitable.
"It is the University's responsibility to make itself accessible to all students," Tuvey said.
BESIDES CLASSROOM buildings.
three of KU's residence halls are equipped for handicapped residents. They are Joseph R. Pearson, Oliver and Ellsworth halls.
Last year, JRP had five residents confined to wheelchairs. Turvey said.
Christopher Curtis, Irving, Texas graduate study in JR, handicapped school.
"JRP worked out pretty well," Curtis said.
However, Curtis said that he has had some problems getting around campus.
It's really a problem getting from the campus to the upper part of the campus," he said.
"Going from Robinson to Strong is difficult."
He said that in some buildings he has had to go through the back door. However, a few times he has found the doors locked.
Curtis also said that some of the elevators were difficult to operate from a building.
"I HAD AN elevator assistant for a while is Strong Hall," he said. "The problem with that, however, is that you have to stick to a schedule exactly. You must be in the class to teach a teacher because then you can't keep your assistant waiting."
Duane Wenzel, professor of pharmacy, said that since he was confined to a wheelchair 10 years ago, KU had responded quickly to his needs.
One handcapped faculty member said that KU had been very responsive to the need.
"Right away they put an elevator in the back of the building at the loading dock for me," Wenzel, who teaches in Malott Hall, said.
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