With state appropriations hovering around the same rate as 17 years ago, Southwestern Michigan College Trustees have elected to raise tuition rates at the community college roughly two-percent going forward.
The college’s Board of Trustees adopted the tuition and fee schedule for the 2019-2020 fiscal year at its regular meeting last night, Monday, February 25th on the Dowagiac campus.
Tuition rates will increase by $2.25 per contact hour, or 1.9 percent, for in-district students and $3.50, or 2.2-percent, for in-state with $1 registration fee and 50-cent technology fee adjustments.
The board addresses tuition at this time of year in order to provide certainty to students who begin signing up for fall classes on March 27th.
Board Chair Thomas Jerdon says that along with $4 million in need-based Pell Grants and $825,000 in SMC scholarships, the college provides much-needed help for students to fulfill their higher education goals.
Jerdon notes, “SMC has always had a balanced budget despite historical financial challenges,” and adds, “Currently, state appropriations are about the same as they were 17 years ago. Property tax revenue from the district is one of the poorest in the state. Legacy costs rise each year. Thus, the modest proposed tuition increase is the minimum needed to maintain SMC’s outstanding educational value of small class sizes, exceptional facilities and technology, great faculty and staff and robust offerings. SMC remains a great bargain for our students and families.”
Trustees also heard a presentation by Vice President of Student Services Dr. Joseph Odenwald about positive strides made in student retention, which increased 2.3-percent from fall to spring compared to the previous year. Fall retention for first-time students at any college increased 7.8-percent — a five-year high.
Odenwald reports, “This is tied for the highest since 1991, when we started measuring it.” He adds, “According to the Community College Benchmarking Project this puts us in the 90th percentile.”
Odenwald credited significant academic and social engagement for the gains, saying, “Our instructional division has spent many years revamping our curriculum for student success, removing barriers and creating pathways, with pilot programs in lower-level courses. We had high levels of student social engagement with fall activities. Welcome Week surveys revealed 66-percent of respondents found the week extremely or very helpful in making them feel welcome to campus.”
In 2018, 325 first-time students attended 126 events hosted by organizations.
Odenwald points out, “We can go even further than the theoretical answer borne out in fall semester data,” suggesting, “We are fortunate to abide on a safe, well-manicured campus. Year after year, students tell us they are increasingly satisfied with our facilities and our friendly and helpful faculty and staff. In sum, it’s a product of a collective effort — not one thing, one program or one person.”
Quoting Syracuse University Professor Vincent Tinto, Odenwald said, “The answer to the question of student retention which we offer is not simple (but) it is achievable within the confines of existing institutional resources. It springs from the ongoing commitment of an institution of its faculty and staff to the education of its students.”
Also during the board meeting, Manager of Theatre Operations and Applied Performing Arts Marcus Roll and five cast members treated trustees to a sneak-preview of this weekend’s spring musical, Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd,” which opens Thursday, February 28th and continues March 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the theatre of the Dale A. Lyons Building.
Roll highlighted his cast’s partnership with the art department to create props and the drawing class using the set to inspire projects, saying, “It’s also great to have a supportive administration and a maintenance department willing to help make adjustments for the theatre program,” including crafting a steel barber’s chair.
