North Central Missouri College has been fortunate to weather the enrollment decreases that have plagued larger schools over the past several years, however that was not by accident or luck. Trustees and college leadership have put an emphasis on growing the college by aggressively recruiting students and developing programs that are in demand. During Thursday night’s meeting of college trustees, NCMC President Dr. Lenny Klaver reported that summer enrollment saw a decrease in enrollment over last year and that fall projections are also indicating a decrease. With that in mind, Dr. Klaver presented a preliminary plan to address the issue.
Dr. Klaver began his discussion with a situational analysis of where things are at in the rural midwest, noting that demographics for high school graduates across the midwest, the state of Missouri and this region are projected to continue to decline as is the general population in rural areas. He said a serious challenge is the ability to attract businesses that employ large numbers of people. He said what is likely to happen is that there will be many businesses needing fewer employees rather than a select few needing large numbers of employees. Diversification, he said, will be important to these communities and they should attempt to attract businesses that need technically-skilled workers.
Small manufacturing technology skills that will be needed would include such things as industrial maintenance, electronic technicians, diagnostic technicians, electronic component fabrication and precision assembly. Farm technology needs would include such items as precision crop and livestock production, diagnostic technicians and farm managers for corporate owners. When an area’s population grows due to the workforce growth, he said, there is a need for more people in the traditional workforce, such as education, health care, information technology, general business, retail, restaurants, lodging and recreation and leisure activities.
Dr. Klaver said the question is how NCMC can maneuver in this type of environment. His plan outlined six steps:
• become more aggressive in recruiting the high school market to gain more of a share of the graduates. He said the college should use the strategy of affordability, access and excellence, with guided pathways, to help students complete their degrees on time and without excess hours to be earned or excess cost.
• conduct more research on adult learners, also known as non-traditional students, who have little to no college hours earned. He said the college should develop a profile of those who are likely to consider beginning college or returning to college based on what kind of delivery options, programs, etc. that can be made available. The adult student recruiting strategy would be based on that target market.
• develop new programs as well as options for current programs, such as ag technology, industrial diagnostics and technical repair, digital media, public works, allied health care options and new hybrid and blended program options.
• develop additional co-curricular and extra-curricular programs, such as fine arts (music and theater) and athletics (cheer, men’s and women’s cross country and track, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s soccer).
• construct additional housing. The college currently has two residence halls.
• develop an action plan that would include cost estimates to implement the new programs and construct housing. In addition, a per-student per-program model would need to be developed as would a formal document indicating the scope and sequence of the new academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular programs.
Dr. Klaver did not seek any formal action at Thursday’s meeting, but presented the information to trustees as a starting point for discussion.
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