Alumni - Frederick D. Hill Archives - University of Indianapolis

Campus Life
22
PORTiCO WinTeR 2007
UIndy takes action to accommodate growth
With the ever-increasing enrollment at the
University of Indianapolis, more students are
looking for places to park and rooms to sleep in,
and University administrators are looking for ways
to accommodate growth.
The total enrollment this year, including
graduate and School for Adult Learning students,
reached a new high of 4,350 students, with a record
freshman class size of 752.
The University’s total enrollment over the
past five years has grown by 18 percent, and at the
current growth rate, the University will have 5,100
students enrolled by 2011.
“We’re doing a better job of getting the word
out about the value of education at this institution;
once you get the students here, they help spread the
word also,” said Admissions Director Ron Wilks.
Part-time and full-time undergraduate day
student enrollment is experiencing the same
growth. Undergraduate student enrollment has
increased 23 percent from 2002, and with that
increase comes the need for more parking and
residential space.
The new parking lot to the south of Warren
Hall added 164 spots to the 1,949 already available.
That project cost between $500,000 and $600,000.
According to Mike Braughton, treasurer
and vice president for business and finance, the
University is considering a parking garage as a way
to improve campus parking. However, that option
is a last resort; one parking garage space costs
around $10,000.
This year, 35 students had to be placed in
temporary housing because of residence hall
capacity problems. Those students were placed in
extra apartments in Central Hall, lounges, and
RA’s rooms. However, Dean of Students Kory
Vitangeli said that number already had dropped
to 23. She said the students in temporary housing
would soon decrease as other students move off
campus, transfer, or drop out.
To address residence hall capacity needs,
the University established a partnership with
College Crossing at National; the complex offers 56
apartments. The partnership was finalized in the fall
of 2005 to help address the overcrowding problems.
The Admissions Office had to send 27 percent
more rejection letters this year than last and limit
acceptance of students who meet minimal standards.
Wilks said his office had to limit the number
of applicants identified by counselors as having the
potential to succeed but lacking in certain academic
areas. However, Wilks said that the limiting process
should not lead to an enrollment cap.
“The University has been able to find ways to
manage growth, not necessarily cap growth. We
want to have slow, manageable growth,” he said.
One department that has been growing
quickly is the School of Nursing. The part-time and
full-time enrollment has nearly doubled since 2002,
and the faculty has had to adjust to 415 students as
opposed to 227 five years ago.
Dr. Sharon Isaac, dean of the School of
Nursing, said about 130 freshmen are enrolled in
the department. After their first year, only 56 will
continue in the department with clinical studies.
According to Isaac, the School of Nursing has
managed growth by increasing part-time faculty.
Isaac said the department had to hire several
part-time instructors in order to meet the Indiana
State Board of Nursing student-to-teacher ratio
requirements. The ratio in the nursing department
is currently eight to one in a clinical setting, which
meets the state board requirements.
The high freshman enrollment caused the
department to run into problems placing freshmen
in prerequisite courses. Freshmen have to take
such courses before moving on to clinical courses
in their subsequent three years. If those freshmen
were not able to get into those prerequisite courses,
they would have to be put on a five-year program.
However, the science and math departments were
able to add extra sessions to the prerequisite courses
after Isaac said the departments “scrambled” to
find more math and anatomy professors.
The nursing department also had to adjust
to the complication of limited clinical sessions
available to students. The University’s nursing
program already competes with the nursing
departments at IUPUI, Marian College, and
Ivy Tech for clinical spots in city hospitals.
Additionally, Ball State and Purdue universities
have recently been sending students to Indianapolis
for clinical studies.
With the completion outside the department
and growth within it, Isaac said some students have
to take clinical sessions at night.
How the University handles student growth
and bulging facilities in the next few years will
depend on the Campus Master Planning and
Strategic Planning Task Force committees, and
on the Board of Trustees’ authorization of those
committees’ plans.
—Katy Yeiser, Reflector Editor. Used with permission.