According to this article from the Daily Egyptian, attendance at SIUC is flat this semester, with a 5 person drop to 11, 785. According to the numbers in the press release, attendance would have been up 5 to 10% if not for a significant drop in international students. How large the drop in international students is, the press release did not say.
I found interesting Chancellor Lane's explicit refusal to sit for media interviews about the numbers but then, from what I hear, he does not much care for staying around campus.
Good discerning comments. In addition to the drop in international students, you must also account for withdrawals by US students who have witnessed the deteriorating state of this campus with lack of air-conditioning in certain classrooms even into this week, the abrupt shutting off of power in one classroom during a media presentation and the appalling lack of support given the Physical Plant, CTE, Saluki-Net etc., who are running services on a band aid with reduced staff. The Library shelves in the basement still need urgent repair after three years while administrators choose to spend money on Potemkin Village pet projects. Students are not stupid despite what higher administration thinks. Also, this time Lane could not talk his way out of this situation with his usual Dr. Feelgood act.
ReplyDeleteDr. Feelgood Speaks! Significantly, there are differences between the original email that was withdrawn and new information, but more material is needed as this article shows. https://dailyegyptian.com/121777/news/siu-enrollment-drops-by-5-international-student-population-declines/
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