wayne@fmsrl7.UUCP (//ichael R. //ayne) (01/16/88)
A local, private college has solved their fluctating enrollment
manner in an innovative way. Since I had not heard of this before and
would not have thought of it myself, I thought I would post it here. I
realize that there may well be practical considerations why it will not
work for all but, perhaps, someone will benefit.
What they have done is to lease office space from a nearby complex.
This has the advantage of being easily discarded when enrollment drops as
opposed to on-campus buildings. Classes have not started so I do not know
how the students will react (although the school is business orientated).
/\/\ \/\/
--
Michael R. Wayne *** TMC & Associates *** INTERNET: wayne@ford-vax.arpa
uucp: {philabs | pyramid} !fmsrl7!wayne OR wayne@fmsrl7.UUCP
>> If you own an MPulse, please contact me to exchange info and experiences <<ddl@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Don Lewis) (01/18/88)
The local community college here has tried the same thing, leasing space from a local mall which has been pretty much abandoned. The leases are short enough that the college doesn't have extended expenses if its enrollment drops, and the mall doesn't have to worry about having to turn down a major client because of lack of space. This seems like the ideal solution to me. Also, since the mall is located more centrally than the college campus itself, the students have a much easier time getting to class. As a junior college, many of the students are older people who hold full-time jobs and they can now make it easily to classes after work. Anyone else heard more about this? Don Lewis
elg@killer.UUCP (Eric Green) (01/18/88)
in article <10225@ufcsv.cis.ufl.EDU>, ddl@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Don Lewis) says: > The local community college here has tried the same thing, leasing space > from a local mall which has been pretty much abandoned. Leasing external space seems really good for dealing with a temporary influx of students (e.g. into a "faddish" major, such as CS 5 years ago, or Business Administration today). It's interesting to note that the ancestors of our college and universities started out as students renting out rooms and hiring professors to teach them en masse. But still, I wonder... how many larger colleges and universities are built anywhere near office towers or malls? Running a bus system between a main campus and an auxiliary campus is expensive, cumbersome, and results in scheduling nightmares (visions of students riding buses an hour a day to take 3 hours of classes per day, and spending another 2 hours waiting for the bus). Considering that many colleges and universities were originally built in the suburbs (although the city has probably grown about them since), such leasing doesn't seem like it'd be viable (because of the transportation and scheduling difficulties). The probable exception would be for community colleges, many of which are located near downtown areas anyhow in order to be close to their students' workplaces. -- Eric Lee Green elg@usl.CSNET Asimov Cocktail,n., A verbal bomb {cbosgd,ihnp4}!killer!elg detonated by the mention of any Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191 subject, resulting in an explosion Lafayette, LA 70509 of at least 5,000 words.
ddl@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Don Lewis) (01/19/88)
To expand on the comments someone else made in another article on this subject (for some reason this system won't include the article), I ten d to disagree with the idea that leasing space off-campus is not feasible. Here at UF and also at Univ. of Miami, the campuses are located close to office and/or retail space, much of it within walking distance of the actual campus. In the case of the local community college, the deal really worked out well for both the malil, the college, and the city. The mall was able to rent out unused space, the college was able to provide classes without building additional space, and the city had lots of extra riders on its bus system. The students definitely benefitted since they had city bus service directly to their classes. So what if you have to leave a little earlier to fit the bus schedule; here at UF people are used to getting to campus as much as 2 hours before a class if they want to find a parking spot. I can think of several other colleges and universities this would work at as well. -Don Lewis University of Florida