CHLOE KOWALYK
News Editor
Unable to sleep, SUNY Fredonia student Alex Erwin is stuck on the thought of not finishing his major on time. He had just spent the day desperately trying to register for his required classes, but received notification that some of them wouldn’t run.
Erwin is a double major in audio/radio production and video production with a minor in accounting. He spends his days helping out at Fredonia Radio Systems, SUNY Fredonia’s student-run radio station.
He’s in the Fredonia Honors Program and is a member of Lambda Pi Eta, a prestigious honor society for communication students. However, Erwin’s academic success has been put on hold.
Many of the classes he needs to complete for his video production major have been canceled due to low student enrollment in the classes. Usually, SUNY Fredonia’s classes don’t run if the number of students enrolled is in the single digits.
Erwin is particularly concerned about his COMM-401 class, titled “Studio Production II,” not running before he graduates next spring. He is required to take the class to complete his major, and if he can’t take it soon, he will have to drop the video production major as a whole.
Erwin said, “I can’t afford to stay another semester just for that class.”
Roslin Smith, the chair of the communication department and an associate professor, explained many communication classes are nearly impossible to run with a small number of students.
Because COMM-401 focuses on creating productions, students need to work in groups. Students take turns recording audio, video, editing and other related jobs.
To avoid having students feel overwhelmed and stressed, a large number of students are needed to help divvy up the work.
However, Smith has created her own strategy to keep enrollment numbers in the communication department up. Her COMM-199 class, called “Communication Orientation,” gives students the tools and skills they need to succeed at SUNY Fredonia.
Smith pairs upperclassmen with lowerclassmen to serve as mentors for the newer students. With lessons on life and academic skills, Smith hopes the class will help keep students in the program. She said, “I wanted to try and keep as many of those students as possible.”
But for Erwin, Smith said he’d just have to wait until the class runs again to take it. Erwin made note that while he doesn’t believe the communication department can do much about the enrollment situation overall, SUNY Fredonia can. He said the college “needs to improve its campus and programs to convince people to study [there].”
Currently, SUNY Fredonia’s enrollment is the lowest it has been in about 50 years. The total number of students enrolled in the college is around 3,718 students as of the beginning of the spring 2022 semester. As of Feb. 15, the enrollment is at around 3,350 students.
According to the US News, approximately 57% of classes have less than 20 students enrolled in the class.
Within the past decade, Fredonia’s enrollment numbers have decreased by approximately 2,000 students — around a 40% decline. According to SUNY Fredonia’s website, in the fall 2010 semester, the college had approximately 5,700 students enrolled.
However, this significant decrease in students enrolled does not have a singular cause. Cory Bezek, the executive director of Enrollment Services, explained the demographics of SUNY Fredonia reflects the demographics of N.Y.
Bezek said the low enrollment is “almost directly… correlated with the high school graduation boom, and then shrinking of the classes.” With smaller high school graduating classes, less and less students are enrolling in college.
Bezek also explained that the attitudes surrounding college are changing. According to Bezek, not all kids feel inclined to go to college, especially with labor shortages and the increase in minimum wage.
He further noted several other SUNY colleges have had similar spikes and reductions in enrollment numbers, describing the shift as a “roller coaster.” Bezek further attributed COVID-19 for low enrollment.
As the United States slowly moves out of the pandemic, Bezek is hopeful enrollment numbers at SUNY Fredonia will be back on the rise.
According to Bezek, SUNY Fredonia hopes to bring in new students. For instance, a $6,000 tuition reduction is offered to out-of-state students attending Fredonia. Students will also have the option to complete their master’s degree in just five years at SUNY Fredonia, rather than the six years it usually takes at other universities.
Other tactics such as social media marketing on multiple platforms and visiting with families at different high schools have been used to try to increase enrollment as well.
Bezek also noted the college has institutionalized marketing dollars to reach out to families and prospective students across the northeast. A new position in marketing has been created at SUNY Fredonia as well which handles student retention at Fredonia.
The Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dr. Andy Karafa, stated an important goal of the college is to “ensure that students can progress to their degree.” In certain disciplines, there are classes running with low enrollment for juniors and seniors. Karafa said, “our first goal is to make sure students graduate… if we don’t put that in the forefront then we’re really failing students.”
Overall, SUNY Fredonia is hoping for an increase in enrollment numbers soon, but for some students, soon can’t come soon enough. For Erwin, it’s a difference between finishing his degree or graduating without it.