GREELEY — An envious punter bent on revenge. Gang violence – real or imagined – encircling the campus. A winless football team. The stench from nearby beef-rendering plants.
These and other factors – including some of the lowest-paid faculty in the country – contribute to an image problem afflicting the University of Northern Colorado, say students, faculty and school officials.
But maybe the biggest problem UNC faces is near anonymity among residents and prospective students throughout the state.
“You hear about CU and CSU (University of Colorado and Colorado State University) all the time,” said UNC student-body president Rico Wint. “But with UNC, it’s almost an afterthought.”
All of which may have contributed to a slide in fall enrollment while CU and CSU enjoyed increases.
“We can’t put our finger exactly on the (reason for the) decline,” said Raul Cardenas, UNC’s assistant vice president for enrollment management and student access.
The university enjoyed healthy enrollment gains from 2002 through 2005. But UNC recorded a 5.5 percent decline in students from 12,012 last year to 11,349 this fall. The number of first-year freshmen dropped 10.5 percent.
With the enrollment decline comes the loss of $1.6 million in revenue from tuition. UNC officials say they anticipated the dip and compensated through contingency funds and tuition from online classes.
Message not heard
Officials say the university must do a better job marketing – both locally and statewide – an institution where the average tuition is $1,500 to $2,000 lower than at CU or CSU. UNC also boasts nationally acclaimed colleges of business and education.
“Somehow the message is not getting out that this is a great institution,” Cardenas said.
UNC president Kay Norton admitted last week that the school “dropped the ball” in recent years in trying to recruit and retain students.
Longtime political-science professor Steve Mazurana is even more blunt: “The problem just seems like a plain lack of effort,” he said.
Norton said a campuswide enrollment push is on the way. Cardenas said the school will begin to market to middle- schoolers to get them interested in UNC.
The university isn’t just losing students. At least 22 top faculty left last year for universities that pay better. Faculty leaders say their overall salaries are the lowest among the country’s 154 doctoral universities.
Norton blames the low salaries on cutbacks in state funding of Colorado universities.
Woes in athletics
But some woes that can’t be controlled can hurt the school’s image, say officials.
The conviction of former UNC student Mitch Cozad in the stabbing of Rafael Mendoza – in an effort to win Mendoza’s starting punter job on the football team – unfortunately drew national attention to the university, Norton said.
The football team has had problems adapting to the more competitive Division I Big Sky Conference. A school’s athletic success, admit officials, can be an important draw for many kids.
“Athletics are important to a school,” Cardenas said. “It’s something students can rally around.”
Norton, meanwhile, drew heavy fire last week for saying UNC has been unfairly tarnished by claims that illegal immigrants in Greeley were responsible for much of the violent crime in the city.
Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck – who held a highly publicized forum highlighting the crimes of illegal immigrants – said many parents appreciate his efforts to quell gang violence.
Senior Nate Taylor, editor of the campus newspaper The Mirror, said he left CSU for UNC his freshman year because of the cheaper tuition. He also found the professors more approachable.
But there are still old prejudices that still float about UNC.
“You tell people you go to UNC and they say, ‘Oh, that’s a cowtown,’ or, ‘That stinks up there,”‘ Taylor said. “But I wouldn’t trade my experiences up here for anything.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
NUMBERS
5.5%
The percentage drop in the University of Northern Colorado’s overall student enrollment.
2,250
The number of new freshmen at UNC this fall, down from 2,514 in 2006.
5.0%
The increase in Colorado State University’s freshman enrollment, from 4,093 in 2006 to as many as 4,400 this fall.
0.3%
The decrease in the University of Colorado’s freshman enrollment, from 5,617 in 2006 to 5,600 this fall.
Source: Denver Post
