SNAPSHOT OF DOWNSTATE RECRUITMENT IACAC Conference – Itasca, IL – May 2011

Janiah Downing – Illinois State University Bridget Jones – Lakeview College of Nursing John Zimmerman – Western Illinois University Presenters

SNAPSHOT OF DOWNSTATE RECRUITMENT The Financial State of the South

“Downstate” = South of I-80 9,641,375 3,269,034

The Big Picture  What is going on in Illinois  8.8 percent Unemployment 1  Average household income : $53,974 2  State Poverty Rate : 12.2% 3 1) Bureau or Labor Statistics 2) Economic Research Service 3) US Census Bureau

Big Picture cont. Biggest Southern Counties CountyMedian IncomePoverty Rate Mclean$58, % Tazewell$55,9647.8% Sangamon$53, % Madison$51, % Livingston$50, % Kankakee$49, % St. Clair$47, % Champaign$45, % Macon$45, % Peoria$49, % State of Illinois$56, %

Big Picture cont. (2) Smaller Southern Counties CountyMedian IncomePoverty Jackson$34, % Alexander$28, % McDonough$39, % Franklin$34, % Marion$41, % Hardin$31, % Gallatin$34, % State of Illinois$56, %

Extreme Poverty and Little Support

Anna, IL school district to cut jobs Harrisburg School Board hears appeals regarding possible cuts Quincy School Board cuts 78 positions Mount Vernon Township High School to cut four more employees School groups: Education layoffs may top 20,000 Central Illinois school superintendents expect more cuts ahead Pleasant Hill Dist. 69 Cuts Danville school administrators are looking to eliminate 60 to 90 positions Bethalto Community Unit School District will be cutting 54 non-tenured teachers Edwardsville School District # 7 will cut or reassign 60 staff positions Pontiac district to lay off 42, cut all extracurricular activities Good, young teachers' among first 26 cut by District 87

Average tuition for Illinois  Illinois Community Colleges  $2,754  Illinois Public Universities  $10,553  Illinois Private Universities  $26,230  Information from the Illinois College Board

College Visibility  Illinois State University  38 Special Tour Groups  29 from Chicago Land Area  5 from within the city limits  University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana  Roughly 90% of Special Tour Groups are from Northern Illinois  Two-thirds of the daily visitors are from Northern Illinois

What does it mean?  Many students/families may not be able to keep up with the rising costs of college  Schools have less resources to prepare students for post- secondary education  More students will attend Community Colleges  Up 8 percent this last year (Illinois Community College Board) Lewis and Clark up 3% Illinois Central College up 8.6% Heartland Community College up 24% (past two years) Kankakee Community College up 9.1% Lincoln Land up 15.2% Southwestern Illinois College up 4% Danville Community College up 18%

How do we help these students?  Research  School districts, Local scholarships, local interests  Make the family involved from day 1  Southern Hospitality  Specialized attention  Be flexible  Don’t think of a student choosing a Community College as a loss.  Articulation agreements, High School agreements  Create/Find allies in the schools in counselors and administrators  Cross training when possible  Financial aid, academic advisement, Evaluations  Collaborative College Visits

Questions?

SNAPSHOT OF DOWNSTATE RECRUITMENT Where are our students going?

Central Illinois  Defined as the area lying South of I-80 & North of the junctions of I-74/ I-72 and I-72/Rte. 36  Includes the following counties: Adams, Brown, Bureau, Cass, Champaign, Christian, DeWitt, Ford, Fulton, Grundy, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Kankakee, Knox, LaSalle, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Marshall, Mason, McDonough, McLean, Menard, Mercer, Morgan, Peoria, Piatt, Pike Putnam, Rock Island, Saline, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Stark, Tazewell, Vermillion, Warren, Woodford  Disclaimer: some cross-over between counties due to regional boundaries in some counties (Champaign, Christian, Piatt, Pike, Sangamon, Scott, Vermillion

Central Illinois Total Seniors20,44320,794 # Attending 2-year institution (%)7,504 (36.7%)8,029 (38.6%) # Attending 4-year institution (%)7,694 (37.6%)7,800 (37.5%) # No college/military/unreported (%)5,245 (25.6%)4,965 (23.9%)

Central Illinois  Attendance at a 2-year institution ( )  6 counties below 30% (Cass, Henderson, McDonough, Morgan, Pike)  6 counties at 50% or above (Brown, Marshall, Mercer, Piatt, Saline, Stark)  Attendance at a 4-year institution ( )  11 counties below 30% (Brown, DeWitt, Ford, Fulton, Henry, Knox, LaSalle, Livingston, Pike, Rock Island, Warren)  5 counties at 50% or above (McDonough, McLean, Piatt, Scott, Stark)

Central Illinois  Most Growth: McLean county from 1,1647 seniors (06-07) to 1,889 seniors (10-11) year attendance27%34% 4-year attendance53%50% No col./Military/unreported19%16%

Southern Illinois  Defined as the area lying South of the junctions of I-74/ I-72 and I-72/Rte. 36  Includes the following counties: Alexander, Bond, Calhoun, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Johnson, Lawrence, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Perry, Piatt, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, Sangamon, Scott, Shelby, St. Clair, Union, Vermillion, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, Williamson  Cross-over of counties noted on Central-Illinois slides

Southern Illinois Total Seniors19,97719,925 # Attending 2-year institution (%)7,663 (38.3%)7,741 (38.8%) # Attending 4-year institution (%)7,405 (37.0%)7,232 (36.2%) # No college/military/unreported (%)4,909 (24.5%)4,952 (25%)

Southern Illinois  Attendance at a 2-year institution ( )  3 counties below 30% (Madison, Monroe, St. Clair)  20 counties at 50% or above (Calhoun, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Franklin, Hamilton, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Perry, Pope, Richland, Saline, Shelby, Union, Wabash, White, Williamson)  Attendance at a 4-year institution ( )  32 counties below 30% (Alexander, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Cumberland, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Massac, Montgomery, Moultrie, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, Shelby, Union, Vermillion, Wabash, Wayne, White, Williamson)

Southern Illinois  Attendance at a 4-year institution ( )  32 counties below 30% (Alexander, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Cumberland, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Massac, Montgomery, Moultrie, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, Shelby, Union, Vermillion, Wabash, Wayne, White, Williamson  3 counties at 50% or above (Madison, Monroe, Sangamon)

Southern Illinois  Most growth: St. Clair county from 3,130 seniors (06-07) to 3,268 seniors (10-11) year attendance32.5%24% 4-year attendance45.5%40% No col./Military/unreported22%36%

Northwestern Illinois (for comparison purposes) Total Seniors11,45712,994 # Attending 2-year institution (%)4,389 (38.3%)5,012 (38.6%) # Attending 4-year institution (%)4,140 (36.1%)4,392 (33.8%) # No college/military/unreported (%)2,928 (25.6%)3,590 (27.6%)

Northwestern Illinois  Attendance at a 2-year institution ( )  0 counties below 30%  3 counties at 50% or above (LaSalle, McHenry, Whiteside)  Attendance at a 4-year institution ( )  4 counties below 30% (Bureau, LaSalle, Peoria, Whiteside)  0 counties at 50% or above

Conclusions  Over the course of the past few years college attendance (both 2-year and 4-year) has lingered around 36-37% for high school seniors  Focus on numbers over percentages: lives over statistics  Opportunities for further research are endless  What do you think?

References  IACAC High School and Community College Visit Guide  IACAC High School and Community College Visit Guide   map/illinois.shtml

SNAPSHOT OF DOWNSTATE RECRUITMENT Encouraging one another

~18,000-22,000 miles  Approximate mileage of John Zimmerman’s annual recruitment travel miles for first two years with Western Illinois University.  “Am I the only one that drives this far?”  I went weeks without seeing another Admissions Counselor on the road.

Young Professionals Network  A group within local Chambers of Commerce.  Entry to mid-level professionals connect from across disciplines  Lawyers  Accountants  Teachers  College Professionals  John Zimmerman was a member of Jacksonville, IL’s Young Professionals Network while working at Illinois College.

March 13, 2010  Several Downstaters met up in Champaign.  Jupiter’s Pizza  Social Meetup  Celebrated a group member’s engagement from the night before.  Good times  Then John Zimmerman asked a question:

Do we want to start a group?  A group of Downstate Admissions Professionals, that  “Travels the highways and byways of Central and Southern Illinois.”  Serve as a Fraternal-Professional association to support fellow Downstaters.  Be a resource to Downstaters:  Professional Development opportunities with IACAC.  Build camaraderie in the profession to increase retention in Central and Southern Illinois Admissions.  Give voice to Downstate issues – such as this Presentation.

Downstate Illinois (DIAC) Admissions Counselors  March 13, 2010 was the unofficial Birthday of DIAC.  First organizational meeting was June 4,  Bloomington-Normal.  (Illinois State)  First Business Meeting, August 16,  Springfield.  (Benedictine University at Springfield)

Current Executive Board  John Zimmerman (WIU)  President  Ja’Niah Dowing (ISU)  Vice-President  Bridget Jones (LCN)  Secretary  Wendy Hill (EIU)  Social Chair

Calendar  October 21, 2010  First Social Event  February 19, 2011  Day at the Lincoln Presidential Museum – Springfield  March 2, 2011  Buffalo Wild Wings meetup before Carbondale Fair.  March 18, 2011  Ja’Niah Downing Presentation at IACAC District Seminar  May 4-6, 2011  IACAC Conference Presentation

DIAC Challenge for Project Reach  VP Ja’Niah Downing initiated the “DIAC Challenge” with President John Zimmerman.  A total of $170 was raised for the 2011 Project Reach Recipient  Donation was given in the form of a Staples Gift Card.

Next steps for DIAC  Annual Meeting  Executive Board Election  “Points of Emphasis”  Membership directives for the school year.  Will be voted on at the 2011 Annual Meeting.  More Social Fellowship events  Hard to schedule to bring folks together with geographic distance, and yet  So much fun!

Concluding Thoughts/Questions  For more information on DIAC, please visit: