Last year while Florida A&M was spending $100,000 on publications to promote the interim president's presidency (see Into The Light? ), the University was also curtailing its participation in student recruitment fairs.In recent years, recruitment events around away football games have been discountinued and the once legendary "FAMU Connection" has all but been disbanded. The aggressive student recruitment machine that FAMU had become known for began to sputter five years ago when the University quit wooing top scholars under the interim presidency of Henry Lewis. This mistake was subsequently continued by the Gainous administration.
While FAMU's recruitment effortst stumbled, we've seen the FAMU model employed and executed like a charm at North Carolina Central University. As NCCU's president has rountinely embarked upon an 11-city bus tour to recruit students and meet business supporters. See Chancellor hits Road Using the FAMU recruitment model, NCCU has experienced tremendous enrollment growth and now enrolls more National Achievement Scholars than FAMU.
Former FAMU President Frederick Humphries always said, "outstanding students attract other students and corporations looking for outstanding workers." In the past few years, FAMU seems to have forgotten that. In fact, FAMU seems to think just because we'll "leave the light on for you" that students will come flocking. In today's world it doesn't work like that, students have options, and as we've seen the last few years they are exercising them and going elsewhere.
Kinda like if a football coach didn't hit the recruiting trail, he'd be screwed. Same thing is happening to our U.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably more accurate to call it the SBI model, upon which Humphries expanded and applied to the entire university.
ReplyDeleteI am an assistant principal in Miami, FL and my students have been asking me all year as to when a represenative from FAMU (my school) will come and out talk. I dont have any answers. Mind you, B-CC has been there at least 4 times!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIsn't Ammonds the same guy who was VP Academic under Humphries? He is now simply applying the same formula to NCCC, and it is working wonders for him. Isn't that proof enough that it is a winning formula and we blew it big time when we stopped implementing it? In a modern competitive market that higher eduction has become, you can't simply sit on your ass in Foote Hillier abd ecpect to attract students. The worst is yet to come.
ReplyDeleteI am also concerned about enrollment being down at FAMU. Unlike others and other alumni I view it as a challenge. When the University falters it is our responsiblity to stand in the gap until the hole is plugged or the ship righted. In other words, we must do more.
ReplyDeleteWe must give MORE MONEY to provide scholarships for students. Currently it cost $21-22,000 for an out-of-state student to attend FAMU. Every year we are losing more and more of our our-of-state students.
Many AA families don't have almost $100,000 sitting in the bank for college and oddly enough, we discourage our kids from taking out loans. According to Federal Financial Aid formulas these same parents do not qualify for aid.
For the most part the FAMU Alumni Association Chapters are raising minimal dollars for scholarships. Most chapters are raising less than $10,000 annually in scholarships.
I cannot tell you how many students want to come to FAMU but end up either staying close to home or going where they are getting better financial aid packages.
Just two weeks ago I met a young lady who desperately wanted to attend FAMU and was accepted. Her family had no dollars although the family of 7 (2 parent household-1 child in college), made in excess of $100,000, had filed bankruptcy and could not get loans. She has secured only $6000-8000 in funding.
The university needs more scholarship dollars not only from corporate america, but from people who benefitted most---its alumni. If you work every day and are not giving $1000 a year to the university, then quite frankly you are not doing your part. I recognize it is a lot of money, but dire times require monumental efforts.
In regards to recruitment, anyone who has the time can participate in recruitment. Stop blaming it on someone else. Certainly the special programs of the university help. However, I cannot tell you how many people I meet who attend FAMU because of research on the web or word-of-mouth and not the recruitment fairs.
People let's spend less time on the web discussing the problems of the university and more time fixing them through TRUE ACTION and not analysis.