St. Cloud State’s Dietz Focusing on Four “R’s”
St. Cloud State University is in financial recovery mode after undergoing numerous cuts over the past year. SCSU Interim President Larry Dietz joined me on WJON. He says the University was living beyond our means financially and now we will live within our means. Dietz says sometimes it is tough to do but it's a reasonable expectation to do so.
Dietz explains higher education is adjusting to what he calls a demographic cliff, which is a shrinking market of those graduating from high school and increased competition from other higher education institutions. He says SCSU isn't the only institution dealing with these challenges in the United State or even in Minnesota.
St. Cloud State doesn't expect to have official fall enrollment numbers until next month but they do have some information on the number of students living on campus. Dietz says they are up by approximately 100 students living on campus this year as opposed to last school year where they had approximately 2,000 students living on campus. He says the vibrancy of the campus right now "feels good".
Interim President Dietz says the University still plans to demolish unused resident halls and academic buildings on campus. The cost of doing this is why it hasn't been done yet. He says the demo of these buildings hasn't been approved and the money also hasn't been allocated to do that. Dietz says there are some promising ideas as to how the removal of these buildings can be financed but no timetable has been set. Resident halls, Sherburne, Stearns, and Benton are currently unused while the College of Education building is also not being used.
President Dietz says they are focusing on what he calls the 4 "R's" which is retention of students, faculty and staff, recruitment, revenue generation, and relationships. He says those 4 "R's" are his focus for the next year. Dietz explains if they can improve on all 4 of these it will greatly improve the University's standing. He says the University is not in danger of closing, the campus is safe for students and staff and cultivating relationships in and around Central Minnesota is vital to their future success.
If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Interim President Larry Dietz, it is available below.