BY JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
For the first time as Fort Hays State University president, Tisa Mason presented the Ellis County Commission with a university update Monday.
Mason said that while the university saw a decrease in enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic they were able to avoid furloughs and layoffs.
“From the beginning, until this moment, Fort Hays State has not had any furloughs, our any layoffs or any loss of position due to COVID-19,” Mason said.
“KU, K-State, Emporia State and Pitt State all cut positions and according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 percent of jobs in higher education were lost in 2020 with more to come in 2021,” Mason said. “Because of the support of the city, the county (and) the community at large Fort Hays continues to a be strong institution and we’ve not had to make these type of decisions.”
When the shutdown went into effect, Mason said the university continued to provide salaries to all employees and student workers on campus, even if they couldn’t perform their job.
“We wanted to keep their wallets strong so they could keep our economy strong,” Mason said.
Mason also added that Fort Hays State was the only Regents institution that never altered its academic calendar. Students took all scheduled breaks, including spring break.
As things continue to improve, Mason told the commission that the university will begin returning to pre-COVID practices June 1.
“People will no longer be working remotely. We’ve already unlocked all of our building doors and taken down directional signs in stairwells. Summer classes, the few that happen on campus, will be back at full capacity,” Mason said. “Fall 2021 will on campus as normal, unless of course things change."
Mason said the university will not require students to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Facility and staff have been able to get the vaccine if they want it and she said they will continue to make it available for those who are interested in getting it.
“We are not requiring it for housing. We are not requiring it for enrollment,” Mason said. “We are not requiring it.”
Mason said enrollment declined nearly 900 total students. The decrease included nearly 300 on campus and 150 online students.
Mason said they believe that it might take a couple of years to get those numbers back up and they are working on a strategic plan to continue growing the campus with the goal of 5,000 on campus students. There was about 4,100 students on campus this past year.
“We are planning for flat on campus enrollment this fall and then to start building and hopefully we will be back and start exceeding those goals to go that that 5,000 in the next two years.
The drop in the number of online students, Mason said, was because a lot of them are adult students who had to take care of their children’s education at home.
“We are doing a comeback program, scholarshipping people will jump right back in online with us and so far we are seeing some success for the for fall,” Mason said.
Mason said they had a record retention rate with 78 percent of freshmen returning for the spring semester after taking classes in the fall.
The university’s economic impact on the region took a hit during the pandemic as well.
In 2018, the university contributed more than $233 million in Ellis County and the four surrounding counties.
Last year, that number dropped to $188 million — a decrease of about $45 million, according to Mason.
Construction on campus also continues to be a large investment into the local economy.
Mason said over the past years they have built or renovated eight facilities for a more than $100 million in investments. She said they estimate more than $76 million of that money involved local contractors.
They are hearing some frustration that students are getting hired on locally as much as they had been. Mason said the Docking Institute is going to launch a student employment survey to look into it further.
Mason also thanked the county for funds provided through the CARES Act. She said the university used the $209,000 to provide hotels for students, who lived in the residence halls that needed to be isolated. They also provided those students with food vouchers with the CARES dollars.
She also thanked Ellis County Health Services Director Jason Kennedy for his work with Fort Hays State. Kennedy serves on the Mason’s external advisory board.