An employee at SIU-Carbondale presented his comprehensive plan to increase enrollment at a public meeting this week.
Paralegal Studies interim director Daniel Silver says his five-point plan could bring in more students quickly and help keep them on campus.
He says there has been a concerted effort over the years to not deal with enrollment.
"We have things that we're doing. But, they're too little, too late and whenever there's a unique idea that requires bold action, there's a tendency to say, well, let's look at that for three years or five years. Let's do some investigation and then three or five years later it's another person in there and let's look at it for five years and let's look at it for five years. Over time, very little gets done."
Silver's plan is called Doing Something: A Comprehensive Plan for Timely Improvements in Enrollment, Recruitment, Retention, Student Successes, Morale and Pride. He says the plan includes a two-thousand dollar reduction in tuition and fees.
"One of the things that holds people back from working with enrollment is the fear that if you lower fees and tuition, then you're going to have a problem with, 'Where's that money going to come from?' But, if you do a comprehensive plan, you bring in students that wouldn't otherwise be here and retention that wouldn't otherwise be here and you make up those differences pretty quickly."
Silver's plan also includes cutting salaries for the university's highest paid employees and targeted public advertising.
Silver says another issue that could impact the future of schools like SIU-C is the Illinois Innovation Network and The Chicago 78, which could bring state legislation to get rid of redundant programs at public universities.
