A look at Allen County Community College’s student housing situation soon became a discussion about whether the college can afford to grow much larger.
The talk was the centerpiece of Thursday’s monthly Board of Trustees meeting.
Trustees learned in August that after a decade of uninterrupted growth, followed by a dip in enrollment last year, numbers were largely stable this fall.
Those numbers are more than enough to fill the college’s dormitories and apartments.
Randy Weber, vice president for student affairs, pointed out in August only two-thirds of the potential student scholarships were filled this fall, but housing was above capacity.
As has become an annual tradition, the college booked students in motels until permanent housing could be found. Some rooms took in three people, instead of two for which they had been designed.
In addition, a waiting list of 10 students remains on standby if any openings are found.
“We finally just stopped taking names of students on standby,” Weber said.
Add to that, some coaches stopped recruiting early when it became evident that no available housing would prevent out-of-town students from enrolling at ACCC.
The shortage led to discussions about whether the college should look again at building a sixplex — capable of housing 24 students — along White Boulevard. The college began investigating the option in 2010, but backed off following that year’s drop in enrollment.
WHILE THE college would be able to afford the new sixplex — rent paid by students would cover the cost of construction — President John Masterson noted other factors must also be weighed.
For instance, the college’s added meal plan option for students at Masterson Hall has increased the workload in the college cafeteria. Adding more students paying for college housing — and a subsequent meal plan — would further tax food services.
Stacy Talkington, manager of Chartwell’s, the company which handles the food service responsibilities, said she already must cope with lack of space for students to eat, for food to be prepared and storage.
“I have genuine concerns for the dining hall,” Talkington said. Crowding is most evident at lunch, when students head directly to the cafeteria when their 11 a.m. classes conclude at about noon. “We are very full, bouncing around like a pinball, for about 30 minutes a day”
Talkington’s dilemma poses special problems for the college, Masterson noted. While new housing could be paid for through rental fees, it would be much more problematic to find ways to pay for upgrades to the kitchen and cafeteria. He said that redoing the Student Activities Building, which houses the cafeteria, could cost as much as $2 million.
And the only revenue-generator in the building is the book store, in a room adjoining the cafeteria.
MASTERSON noted other issues could curtail growth.
“We have a governor who has basically said not to expect any added funding for higher education over the next five years,” Masterson said. “If there’s no incentive for growth, it starts tempering all of our thoughts.”
Masterson pointed to the state’s announced intentions to reconfigure higher education funding in 2014, even though the plan tossed about in Topeka already shorts colleges about $58 million.
On the other hand, while population loss is evident in Allen County and surrounding areas, Masterson said the college should expect student numbers to grow because of proposed cutbacks in federal pell grant funds.
As students struggle to find ways to fund their college education, ACCC will continue to be an appealing venue because of its affordability, Masterson predicted.
“I’m still shocked we don’t have to station armed guards at the doors to control the crowds of kids wanting to come here,” Masterson said.
Those predictions portend the need for more student housing, Masterson said.
“If we’re losing population, but our college numbers are growing, the students are coming from outside the area,” he explained. “We have to put them somewhere.”
Which leads the discussion back to square one: whether to build more housing.
“There are a lot of inter-connected issues we have to consider,” he said.
But consider they will, trustees responded. They directed Masterson to continue to explore the college’s options before they decide whether to build new housing.
IN A related matter, Weber provided trustees a snapshot of the college’s enrollment numbers.
As of Thursday, ACCC’s enrollment stood at 2,961 students enrolled in 27,690 hours of classes. The student population is up slightly from the fall of 2010, but down 12 students from Sept. 9, 2010 — exactly one year prior.
Enrollment numbers will be finalized on Tuesday, the 20th day of classes, which will determine how much state funding ACCC will receive.
