CCU bracing for a rash of no-shows, planning off-campus student isolation for coronavirus
Coastal Carolina is anticipating a sizable increase in the number of students who don’t show up on campus this fall as one of the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the university, and it is formulating plans for off-campus isolation buildings for students who test positive for COVID-19.
The students who ghost the university would be a hit to both enrollment numbers and revenue, as many who are scheduled to take classes have not yet paid.
“We have more students than ever who have not paid a penny of their fall tuition. . . . It’s 25 percent higher,” CCU Provost Dan Ennis told the CCU Board of Trustees on Thursday. “When we look at it [compared to] a normal summer, what’s going on in the first week of August, we have 25 percent more students who have not engaged in the financial process, to either pay their bills, or even make a payment.
“Students may have registered and even reserved a room, but between that process and now they have not responded to our emails, our letters, our phone calls that say we’d like to talk to you about your balance.”
Coastal had approximately 10,500 predominantly undergraduate students last school year, and is projected to have an enrollment of 9,892 this fall based on registration numbers, a decrease of 5.6 percent from last year’s fall class.
The decline is attributable to the incoming freshman class, which has been around 2,300 to 2,400 students in recent years and is approximately 1,900 this year.
And the decline in overall and freshman students will certainly be more significant with fewer students expected to follow through with their commitment to attend. CCU generally drops a prospective student’s schedule on a specific date – this upcoming Monday this year – if the student has not responded as the school attempts to set individual class rosters.
“Our worst-case scenario, where all our indicators go the wrong way, could leave us with a negative 18.6 (percent) enrollment,” Ennis said. “The likely case in which some students go one way and some go another . . . that would leave us at negative 13.6. The best case we believe will still leave us at just about negative 11 percent.”
The anticipated no-shows will be a blight on what under normal circumstances would be a high retention rate of students, particularly in the rising sophomore class, Ennis said. Based on registration, 76 percent of freshmen were planning to come back, but many are struggling to or choosing not to pay their tuition less than two weeks before the start of classes on Aug. 19.
“Retention is a measure of the schedule. What we will find out is how many of those students who currently have a schedule will actually enter the institution on Aug. 19,” Ennis said. “My frustration is under a normal summer, if this was the summer of 2019, I’d be standing here telling you retention for freshmen is up 6 percent, and it’s true.
“. . . I would deliver you the best freshmen retention numbers in 15 years. To decide if the student is going to attend, you have to look at the financial data, and the financial data is in the opposite direction.”
CCU will begin the Fall 2020 semester with nearly three weeks of solely online instruction until at least Sept. 8, and will revert back to online instruction following the Thanksgiving break. The school will also allow students to spend the entire semester learning remotely and forego the planned on-campus classes.
For students wishing to return to campus, CCU will welcome new resident students on Aug. 12-14 and returning residents on Aug. 15-16. University Housing will provide a second move-in on Sept. 3-4 based on resident demand.
The university cut 36 jobs in July and is requiring furloughs of up to 20 days for at least the majority of its employees as part of its cost-cutting efforts to combat the financial impact of the pandemic.
CCU chief financial officer and senior vice president for finance David Frost said the university doesn’t believe it will have to dip into any reserves to make its bond payments this fiscal year, including an athletics bond for the building of Brooks Stadium.
“We feel comfortable there. Our bonds are in good shape,” Frost said.
Capital projects are on hold and the school is exploring exiting some lease agreements.
It is also looking to add a lease agreement that will allow it to isolate students who test positive for the coronavirus.
It has entered negotiations to lease off-campus student housing buildings adjacent to the university with up to 100 single-bed rooms for four months from Aug. 15-Dec. 14, with options to renew in four-month increments. The lease funds would come from the housing budget.
CCU will offer symptom-based testing through Student Health Services, and the “point-of-care” testing will allow for results within about 30 minutes, the university said.
Students will not be universally tested upon their return to campus or be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test result in order to return. The school acknowledged such test results would only show a person’s status from a point in time in the past, the university said as part of its Coastal Comeback Countdown series of videos for students.
To encourage social distancing and deter the spread of COVID-19, the number of single-bed rooms have been increased in residence hall suites and apartments, and three-bed rooms have been eliminated. Masks will be required in residence halls outside of individual bedrooms.
The university is selling Chanticleer masks at $5 each to the public and sales will support a fund that will assist CCU students with coronavirus-related expenses.
The next board of trustees meeting is scheduled for Oct. 22-23, and the board is scheduled to meet on Oct. 21 to work on the search for a new university president. David DeCenzo announced a retirement date of June 30, 2021, but the search for his replacement has been slowed by the pandemic.
The board observed a moment of silence Friday for a contributor to Coastal’s growth who has died. Will Garland, retired vice president of finance and administration, died on Monday at the age of 78.
The Will and Audrey Garland Alumni Board Endowed Scholarship Fund supports three scholarships, and the Will Garland Academic Enhancement Center is in the former Aynor resident’s name.
This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 2:22 PM.
