School had largest incoming class in its history
By Leanne Smith
MLive.com
ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) — On a sunny September day, the area of campus Adrian College calls “the mall” is alive with students hurrying across manicured lawns toward classes, a modern library or the terraced patio of the student center.
The mood is energetic and vibrant, as the college this fall has welcomed its largest-ever incoming class of 650 students and total enrollment of 1,755 students.
“What I connected with was a sense of growth here on the campus and in the programs,” said Taylor Knapp, a freshman from East Tawas. “I’ve heard it said that Adrian is undergoing a renaissance of sorts and you can see it.”
It’s a stark contrast to what a freshman would have seen in 2006 when Adrian College had a total of 840 students, buildings with leaky roofs, cracked sidewalks that couldn’t be repaired and a $1.3 million budget deficit.
A unique approach was needed to turn things around and when President Jeffrey R. Docking arrived on campus that year, he brought one with him.
“We needed to look at the college with more of a business model,” he said. “It’s an idea that’s rather foreign to higher education, but we needed to be more strategic. People are very careful of where they put their money and send their children.”
Adrian College has used an aggressive plan of strategic investments, measurable results and accountability to turn itself around, Docking said. And at a time where other area colleges and universities are seeing stagnant or declining numbers, Adrian College is showing strong growth.
One of those investments was the $5.5 million Arrington Ice Arena, which made Adrian the first college in the Lower Peninsula — and in close proximity to Detroit — to offer NCAA Division III ice hockey for men and women.
Including club teams, the college now has six hockey teams, and more than 190 students on campus who would not be there without this arena, said Frank J. Hribar, vice president for enrollment.
Another part of the plan gives coaches and advisers of such programs as marching band and the student newspaper specific student recruitment goals. In cases where those goals have not been met, people have been let go, Docking said.
Adrian College also spent $50 million in infrastructure investments to refurbish nearly every building on campus, and it has increased its fundraising from about $1.5 million Docking’s first year to $27.5 million now.
“People want to be where they are a part of success,” Docking said.
Adrian College also added new institutes of learning in areas including pre-health studies, entrepreneurial studies, ethics and creativity. Professors have gone from no raises or low raises to about 3 to 4.2 percent annual increases now, and the number of full-time faculty has climbed from 65 to 98.
“There is no part of this campus that is stagnant now,” said Sarah Buggia, a junior from Mayville. “From the buildings to the programs, there’s just a huge sense of momentum.”
One of every three students who visit campus enrolls, said Erin VanDerworp, director for admissions. With tuition, fees and room and board, the cost is about $37,000 a year. Although the college does not grant athletic scholarships, financial aid and other scholarships can bring that figure down to about $20,000, Docking said.
Sixty percent of the college’s current students come from Michigan, although this year’s incoming freshman class claims the largest number of out-of-state students.
And whereas about one of every two students was leaving before graduating in the past, Adrian College now has a 92 percent retention rate. It’s also started graduate programs that will allow students to leave with a master’s degree in such areas as criminal justice, accounting, athletic training and chemistry after five years.
Garrett Beitelschies, a senior from Napoleon, has two older brothers who went to Adrian and he remembers the college’s darker days.
“Dorms were closed, and the campus was empty,” he said. “I thought I’d go to a bigger school, but I applied here anyway and when I came back, I fell in love with this campus as it is now.
“President Docking is a risk-taker, but it obviously worked.”
