Quaker Campus

Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: News

Kevin Sun

There is a proposal to increase the student body rate to 1,500 from the current 1,371 students. The increase will not be dramatic but a gradual one that will take place over the next few years. "We have been noticing over the past few years that we've been increasing without meaning to. So we are now trying to do it in a more planned way. We are trying to deliberately reach 1,500," President Sharon Herzberger said.

There will be an addition of about 25 students every year, until we have 1500 students. Those 25 students could include new students, transfers, but also students that we have retained. "Twenty-five more students does not necessarily mean 25 new students," Vice President of Enrollment Lisa Meyer said.

An informal study was conducted to see how many classrooms are used and how many students are occupying the buildings during usual class hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. "We decided that 1,500 would be a good number because it would mean no new buildings, but of course there might be some other ramifications. Besides classes we also have to think about housing," Meyer said.

"I think if they want to increase the population than they should allow people to move off campus earlier," Senior Karson Kim said. President Herzberger cited three options for housing: constructing an additional building, finding a new building that can be used for residency, or rethinking the residency strategy. "I am more concerned about the higher proportion living off campus," said Herberger. "If there are more students living off campus, it would be nice to give them options. We don't want our students moving to Huntington Beach. Although, the students might not mind that."

The administration would like to maintain a student-teacher ratio of less than 13:1 even with an increase in students. "There is a clear mandate not to have bigger classrooms," Meyer said. More students will result in hiring more faculty, which means more money for salaries. "I just hope that there will still be small classes," Senior Christine Wong said. According to Meyer, the idea has been presented to many faculty members and there has been positive feedback, although exact numbers are not available. Faculty did express a desire to maintain small class sizes.

There were two primary factors that led to this proposal. The first factor is a desire to create a more vibrant student body.
"A few years ago there were only about 1,200 students and there was a feeling that socially the students felt a little cramped," Meyer said. Administrators believe with 1,500 students there would be more room for students to grow socially and academically. "I've talked to students about this and they think with more students there might be more students in clubs and more students cheering on a game- an increase in spirit," Herzberger said. "Already, a slight impact is reverberating."

The second factor is bringing in more revenue. More students will also mean more expenses.

"We are a tuition driven college," Herzberger said. "As more students come there will be more revenue. We're a non-profit organization which means any revenue we get goes back into the institution. We've been increasing financial aid. It [increasing students] is independent of that. We need to make sure that the budget to handle incoming students is appropriate."

"At this point I expect we will go forward. If it's going to be a problem for students then we will stop," Meyer said.

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