Fort Lewis College President Tom Stritikus presented a campus evaluation at the first Town Hall meeting Oct. 3.
The public forum sought to inform the community about the state of the college.
Lauren Savage, FLC media relations coordinator, described the event as a “data dive,” looking into the statistics of various topics such as enrollment and budget fees.
Stritikus began by acknowledging Native American tribes that originally resided in this area, in an effort to respect and honor the people who originally resided on the land.
Stritikus discussed the performance data by presenting the number of students enrolled this semester, which consists of 3,229 undergraduates and 79 graduate students.
Stritikus explained the diversity present on campus citing the top ethnicities being Native American or Alaskan Native, White, and Latino/a.
Stritikus addressed freshman-sophomore retention rates and displayed a graph showing the retention rates for the past six years. Between 2014-2019, the average for each year fell between 50-60%, excluding a drop in retention rates in 2016.
When asked about the decrease later during a Q&A portion, Stritikus said a greater number of “non-college ready” students are submitting lower grade point averages and SAT scores, and that student preparedness for college determines the retention for the year.
However, the “non-college ready” statistics of students in 2016 are nearly identical to the data of incoming class in 2018, however the retention rate is higher in 2018. Stritikus proposed student support services has led to the improvement in retention and suggested the college evaluate to improve these services.
Stritikus also compared admission percentages between the fall of 2018 and 2019, which depicted a slight increase of admittance, due to a change in recruitment strategies that showed fewer but stronger applicants.
Stritikus continued to review FLC’s budget, including revenue sources and expenditure types. The revenue sources consist of 89.9% enrollment driven sources, 2.7% non-enrollment sources, and 7.4% restricted revenue. Out of an $85 million budget for 2019-20, the expenditure types reflect roughly stable categories of spending that support strategic plan priorities with new investments.
A change in tuition that is currently being worked out with FLC and the State of Colorado was announced and continues to be planned for future classes.
Any full-time degree-seeking students who are Colorado residents (including members of Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Today) with a family income of $60,000 of less will attend tuition-free, according to the FLC Tuition Promise on the FLC website.
Attendees posed questions concerning the retention graph especially the 2016 figures, as well as relations with Entangled Solutions and student success with TRIO, organizations dedicated to student and educational services for disadvantaged or low-income students. These programs work with individuals from marginalized backgrounds and their schools to ensure equal opportunities and success.
Concerns were posed about the strategic plan concerning three parts: student success, community responsiveness and knowledge in action, meaning utilizing student’s learning in real-world opportunities. A few individuals were concerned that graduate studies were not included in recent marketing material and expressed concern about communicating student opportunities and collaborations through limited means of communication to students.
Stritikus said that FLC admissions counselors are trained on graduate knowledge to tell prospective students, however some individuals still seem concerned that FLC is not marketing all its features. These individuals want to ensure that graduate programs and student opportunities through partnerships with companies and colleges are being communicated to prospective students in order to increase applicants.
Stritikus said that everyday he walks onto campus, he is more optimistic about the future of FLC, and although this work is still difficult, it shows growth and that FLC is moving forward to achieving the goals they’ve established.