by Martha Tancock
Communications

Trent may have 100 fewer first-year students next fall despite stepped-up efforts to recruit.

      An 18-per-cent drop in high-school applications this year means "even with our very best efforts to recruit," first-year enrolment may drop by 100 full-time students and the university could lose about $600,000, interim vice-president academic David Morrison told Senate March 10.

      Morrison said Trent will try to recover some of the declining numbers by reopening admissions in February. "Even with this as a fallback, we anticipate a deficit (next year) in the order of $600,000," he said.

      Morrison said he has increased support to the Registrar's Office to boost liaison efforts in high schools this spring and to promote Trent's summer programs in newspapers, on the Internet and in community colleges. Planning has also begun for an open house and outdoor barbecue May 9, and a career mentoring program. He said Trent will also begin making prospective students more aware of scholarships and bursaries.

      Registrar Paul Thomson said it has been difficult, given budgetary constraints, but there is an "acceptance that we have to market Trent better."

      Thomson told Senate the provincial patterns are similar to last year: "the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer." High school applications have increased to large, well established universities and decreased to smaller universities like Trent. There is also an overall decline in arts applications, which is "probably the single biggest factor that affects us."

      System-wide preliminary statistics from the Ontario Universities Applications Centre showed a 4.4-per-cent drop in arts, an 8.2-per-cent decline in environmental studies, a 0.6-per-cent increase in science and a 7.1-per-cent rise in business administration applications from high school students.

      "There is a gravitation toward professional schools," said Thomson.

      Across the system, applications rose by two per cent but dropped 18 per cent at Trent. "While I don't think Trent's labor dispute had a dramatic effect, I don't think it helped us," said Thomson.

      Those universities that have put significant resources towards recruitment have done the best, said Thomson.

      "I think we have some wonderful messages at Trent that we haven't emphasized," said Morrison. "We will certainly try to be much more focused in our recruitment efforts over the next few years."