In a state where public colleges and universities have had to raise tuition and lay off employees because of the recession, a small private college in Iowa may end up inadvertently benefiting from its competitors' economic losses.
Officials at Central College, in Pella, say it has been relatively insulated from the economic downturn because it does not receive money from the state, which has been financially strapped of late.
State support for higher education is so tight -- especially after a 4.3-percent cut in appropriations in November -- that the state Board of Regents approved an 18.5-percent tuition increase for 2002-3, on the heels of a 10-percent increase in 2001-2. Public institutions have also cut spending. The University of Northern Iowa, for example, is eliminating 146 of its 240 adjunct positions.
The tuition increases at public colleges in the state have had the inadvertent effect of making private colleges in Iowa look more affordable, even though Central remains far more expensive than public colleges in the state. The increases have "helped college-bound students really keep their options open," says John C. Olsen, vice president for admission at Central.
Enrollment at Central rose to 1,623 students today from 1,495 a year ago. The college is in the early stages of a strategic plan to expand enrollment to 1,800 students within the next 10 years, and possibly raise tuition by 6.5 percent for the next academic year. That would put Central's price tag for tuition and fees at $16,755 a year compared with in-state tuition and fees of about $4,100 at Iowa's three public universities.
The increases in state tuition don't come close to Central's more expensive price tag, but the "sensationalistic" way the news media have portrayed the state increases "does help us," says Barbara Bowzer, vice president of business and finance at the college. And when students get financial aid, adds Mr. Olsen, "in some cases it doesn't cost the family any more to send a child to private school compared to a state institution."
While Central has suffered losses in its endowment, they have not been substantial. Central's fiscal-year losses in the market value of its endowment totaled $1.4-million at the end of November. Its endowment stands at $47.7-million, Ms. Bowzer says.
As a result of its stable finances, the college is forging ahead with modest growth, building a new $20-million science building, to open in the fall of 2003, that will house the math, computer science, and science departments. It is also planning to build a new dormitory to accommodate 64 students in the fall of 2003.
"We have a significant level of optimism and are not seeing any indication that we should be retrenching," says Paul J. Naour, vice president for academic affairs. "We are moving forward with a good number of tenure-line searches."
Central has 10 tenure-track searches under way -- one is the result of a resignation, three are from retirements, two are new hires, and the rest are carry-overs from last year when the college could not find suitable candidates among the small number of people who applied for two open positions, one in education and one in mathematics. This time around, the institution is already slated to have three education candidates on campus for interviews as the new semester begins, and the mathematics search has attracted a large applicant pool. Some of the candidates are coming from Silicon Valley, which has been slammed by the U.S. economic recession and a weak technology-job market.
Besides expanding its faculty, the college has hired an administrator for external programming, who will coordinate new courses to attract nontraditional students. And it is searching for a new vice president for advancement.
Of the two newly created faculty positions -- one for an assistant professor of environmental studies and the other for an assistant professor of philosophy -- the latter hire, given today's anemic economy, is "quite unique," Mr. Naour says. "Whereas there are many institutions saying 'OK, let's hold back on that one before we move forward,' we see this as a strong representation of our liberal-arts identity." Mr. Naour said he approved the philosophy hire out of the 11 proposals for new positions because he wanted "to send that strong message."
One professor who is glad he did is Chad Ray, chairman of the philosophy and religion department. The humanities is not the darling of the academic world these days, he says, so "I feel pretty good that we are, in terms of philosophy staff, where we were 25 years ago." Back then, Mr. Ray was one of two full-time, tenure-track professors of philosophy in the department.
For nearly two years, he has been the only full-time professor in the department, along with a part-time professor and an adjunct. The department will give up the part-time position and bring in an assistant professor in August. Mr. Ray says the department needs the full-time professor "in order to offer a major in philosophy and to serve some interests of people in economics management who want a business-ethics course and an environmental-ethics course."
THE STATE OF HIRING:
All this week the Career Network looks at how the recession is affecting hiring at different types of colleges.
