IC News

On October 26, the Ithaca College campus community gathered for the 2023 State of the College meeting, where campus leaders provided updates on shared governance, financial and enrollment forecasts, and marketing strategies.

President La Jerne Terry Cornish and other members of the President’s Cabinet shared their visions for the future of the college as the Ithaca Forever strategic plan nears its end. Launched in 2019, the five-year strategic plan underwent adjustments throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout the speakers’ remarks, there were themes of optimism and excitement when looking ahead to what will come in IC’s next chapter.

Melanie Stein, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, began the agenda with updates on IC’s shared governance initiative, an idea that emerged from the January 2023 President’s Cabinet retreat. In collaboration with the IC Faculty Council, a shared governance statement and grid have been created, both of which are now available for viewing. These documents outline the responsibilities assigned to various constituencies on campus and will serve as the guidelines for cultivating institutional decision-making processes that foster trust and mutual respect.

Stein also shared the results of listening sessions that had been held for senior administrators to seek input on how IC can support collaboration, interdisciplinarity, curricular flexibility, and shared governance. Themes that emerged included placing a higher emphasis on interdisciplinary work and community engagement, further developing connections and relationships across campus, and creating institutional space to put the principles of theory, practice, and performance into action.

“[The sessions] were really wonderfully representative of the college community,” said Stein. “Students participated, staff participated, faculty participated. These conversations really served as the beginning of a bridge from our last strategic plan to our next one.”

Te-Wen Lo, associate professor of biology, and John Fracchia, career engagement and technology specialist, joined Stein to share information about the ongoing reaccreditation process through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which requires the evaluation of all aspects of the institution holistically, including modality of instruction, and everything done in the name of the institution. Every eight years, IC is required to conduct a self-study as part of maintaining the college’s accreditation. Fracchia and Lo are serving as co-chairs of the Self Study Executive Team.

“I know reaccreditation can sound kind of intimidating. But when I think about it, what I think about is opportunity,” said Fracchia. “I see an opportunity to help our institution tell its authentic story. It's an opportunity to share our successes and what we’ve achieved in the service of our students over the last several years. It's also an opportunity to take an honest look at what challenges us and how we might want to grow and iterate as an institution.”

The Reaccreditation Steering Committee is seeking input from students, faculty, and staff as they develop the self-study report. Those interested in sharing their perspectives are encouraged to visit IC’s Middle States Reaccreditation webpage to get involved.

“We want to really emphasize that no voice is too small,” said Lo. “This is a great way to learn about the institution and to take advantage of some professional growth opportunities. You don't need any experience, and you don't need to be an expert in the field.”

Tim Downs, vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer, shared a brief financial update ahead of the upcoming Dollars and Sense session on November 8. He discussed IC’s enrollment trends and the college’s plans for financial sustainability. With tuition, room, and board fees totaling about 80% of the college’s annual revenue, Downs underscored the importance of reaching enrollment targets to sustain operations.

In looking at the competitor set of institutions—where students admitted to IC ultimately ended up enrolling—many decided to attend in-state public institutions, which have much lower tuition charges.

“Families and students are making choices for competitors that have a much lower tuition point than us,” said Downs. “That's why our values and our stories are so important to the college in demonstrating why it's worth the tuition to come to Ithaca College.”

To reduce financial uncertainty for students who want to attend Ithaca College, IC  recently instituted a four-year rate cap, guaranteeing families that the cost of attendance will not increase more than a certain percentage over the student’s four years at IC.

Downs then shared a graph outlining IC’s target enrollment journey, which predicts stabilized enrollment rates and operating budget margins by 2027.

“There are greener pastures ahead,” Downs said. “We’ve all got to make sure we’re focused on our enrollment, our retention, and doing what we need to do to tell our story here at Ithaca College.”

Shana Gore, interim associate vice president for enrollment and student success, followed up Downs’s remarks with updates on enrollment and retention strategies.

While first-year enrollment for the fall 2023 semester fell slightly short of the target class size of 1,380–1,420 new students, IC’s current overall enrollment of 4,279 students is 40 students above the 2023–24 target.

Gore gave an overview of the major enrollment and retention efforts that are underway, including raising the average tuition discount rate to increase headcount and reach net tuition revenue goals, establishing transfer pathways with New York State community colleges, and building strong relationships with high school and independent counselors.

“We know that there are people who are very influential in students' decisions on where they attend college,” Gore said. “Building relationships with their counselors is just as important as those with students.”

Additionally, in response to increases in the applications of students from Maryland, Georgia, Florida, and Texas to Ithaca College, IC is developing strategies to engage with students in regions that have high growth potential. With 705 off-campus admission visits scheduled throughout the year, admission counselors will meet students where they are to show them what their future could look like at IC. Once students are enrolled, the Center for Student Success has several ongoing initiatives to offer centralized resources and support to students who need them.

“Retention is also essential to our enrollment,” said Gore. “We had a large decrease [in retention rates] after Covid, and we’re still doing some work to come out of that. We absolutely have the ability to raise [retention]. We have very dedicated, supportive faculty and staff. We just have some work to do to help keep our students enrolled and cross the finish line to graduation.”