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Volume 77 Issue 1
r W/T
Chris Cornell leads Soundgarden at
Lollapalooza. See pp. 8-9 for storie^,^^,,.^,
Entering class impressive, second year in a row
By Greg Lough tin
The new first-year students have
arrived, and the admissions office is
reporting it to be high quality, larger in
size than last year's class though slightly
less diverse.
As a group. Triad-area colleges are
experiencing increased enrollment this
year and Guilford College is no excep
tion.
The admissions office's goal for en-
jlndex 1
Perspectives 6
[ j Features 7
Sports 14
Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C.
rollment was the same as last year,
320. However, while 327 actually en
rolled last year, this year between 340
and 345 have enrolled in one of the
largest classes ever.
Director of Admissions Larry West
attributed much of the increased en
rollment to incoming students from
the New England area.
"We offer a quality education at a
competitive price compared to similar
schools in their areas," said West. There
was also an increase in the enrollment
from Southern states, including Geor
gia, Florida and South Carolina.
However, for the third year, N.C.
applications and enrollments dropped
off slightly. West speculates thatmany
in-stale students are gravitating towards
state schools because of the "cost fac
tor."
Academically, the incoming class is
very similar to last year's incoming
class, which boasted the highest qual
ity statistics recorded in at least eight
years. The average SATscoredropped
only two points to 1054 from last year's
Restructuring works
Budget appears balanced
By Matthew Levy
News Editor
JustlastNovember, Guilford Col
lege projected a potential shortfall of
over $2 million in its 1992-93 bud
get. Less then a year later, Provost
Dan Poteet declares the budget to be
sound, due to the massive restructur
ing undertaken to bring expenditures
under control.
"The budget seems to be in order.
We finished last year in good shape,
and by that I mean with enough
money to fund the severance pack
ages [for those who lost their jobs in
the restructuring]."
Those packages served to lessen
the blow to the 32 mostly full-time
administrators and staff members cut
in the work-force reduction.
"We regret the need for the re
structuring," commented Poteet.
"Our challenge now is to plan well,
and to figure out priorities, and con
trol things well in the future."
The largest single cause in the
budget shortfall was the steady in
crease in financial aid over the last
few years. The financial aid budget
doubled last year to nearly $3 mil
lion from the $1.5 million the col
lege spent in 1989-90.
"One of the things that drove the
restructuring procass was the need
to increase and maintain a very large
financial aid budget," said Poteet.
The reduction in salary expendi
tures made it possible to raise the
financial aid budget to $4 million for
this year without an unnaturally large
tuition increase.
1056. The average GPA rose from
3.13 to 3.23.
Despite a cutback in need-based
aid offered to first-year students.
West stated, "We were able to meet
the institutional goals without sacri
ficing quality or diversity."
According to West, the adminis
tration asked the admissions office
to bring in the same quality and
quantity of students as last year while
"reducing the percentage of students
qualifying for and receiving need
based aid."
The percentage of students receiv
ing need-based aid had risen from
33% in the fall of 1988 to 54% last
year. The administration felt the
economic situation necessitated
bringing this number under control.
Thus, in the new class, 48% is re
ceiving need-based aid.
West noted that this may have led
to a slight increase in average in
come of the families of the incoming
students. This worried students who
stress the importance of need-blind
The restructuring process began in
1990 with the creation of the Strategic
Long Range Planning Committee
(SLRP). Poteet serves as chair of the
committee. Also on the committee last
year were President B ill Rogers; the three
vice-presidents of the college: Kathy
Adams, Nancy Cable-Wells and Jim
Newlin; two students: Bryan Piatt and
Joyce Hefferan; and five faculty: Dottie
Borei (clerk), Martha Cooley, Rudy
Gordh, Betty Turner anH Rob?r Wil
liams.
Due to the potential for the budget
underfall to snowball, this group was
forced to make its decisions under a rigid
time constraint. Poteet explained the rea
soning behind the immediate restructur
ing in an address to the community last
year.
"The initiation of this process fol
lowed upon my discovery that my early
optimism about phasing the solution to
the College's financial constraints over
several years was simply impossible,
that the dilemma posed in particular by
enormous pressures for financial aid—
the means by which we continue to make
Guilford a place of opportunity for all
deserving students—made an immedi
ate, deep change necessary."
(Guilfordian, November 1991-92)
The process left little time to consider
the strain to be caused by the elimination
of the equivalent of 41 full-time posi
tions, and this is the main cause of worry
about the workability of the new situa
tion.
Also, the reduction of the CCE staff
from eight positions to one, in conjunc
tion with the reinstatement by UNCG of
its continuing education program, left
skepticismthatGuilford'srenownedpro-
admissions.
"Money should not determine who is
able to enter and participate in the aca
demic community. That could take us
back to a system of lords and landed
peasants of academia, whose only quali-
"We were able to
meet the institutional
goals without sacri
ficing quality or di
versity."
-Admissions
Director Larry West
fication is the wealth of their families,"
said Carl Beehler.
Some cautioned against idealism be
cause of the reality of Guilford's finan
cial situation. West pointed out that the
need for financial aid is increasing at all
September 4, 1992
W
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'■ * Hi
-m
Prcvost Dan Poteet
Photo by Crl Beehler
gram would survive, much less thrive
in the new situation.
In the effort to ward off future bud
getary problems, two main concerns
have come to the forefront: fundraising
and student retention. In lieu of the
former, Vice-President for Institutional
Advancement Gordon Soenksen is re
organizing the fund-raising staff to
improve Guilford's endowment.
Poteet remarked on Soenksen's ef
forts, "He has settled in quickly, begun
to make some changes, begun to rein
force the critical organs of that of
fice—it is all very promising."
To address the issue of retention, the
task of aising has been shifted from
part-time to full-time faculty mem
bers. In addition. Academic Dean
Kathy Adams and Dean of Student life
Joanna Iwata will co-chair an ad-hoc
committee on issues of retention...."
(Ed. note: The repercussions of the
restructuring for CCE and the reorga
nization of the office of institutional
advancement will be addressed in next
week's issue.)
financial institutions, and that
Guilford's endowment was too small
to meet every need. However, West
maintins that Guilford's admissions
policy remains "need-blind."
"We don't deny a student admission
because they might need financial aid,"
he was quick to point out.
Admission office personnel admit
that the number of students of "special
populations" has been somewhat re
stricted by financial limitations. Ac
cording to Jimmi Williams, associate
directer of admissions," most of our
special populations took ahit this y ear."
The numbers of Quakers, African -
Americans, Presidential Scholars and
international students have all de
creased since last year. Williams says
there is not enough money for further
recruitment of special populations.
Given the financial limitations set
in order to "stay afloat," says Wil
liams, "we have been extremely fortu
nate to make a class with the diversity
we have."