SNAPSHOT OF DOWNSTATE RECRUITMENT

IACAC Conference – Itasca, IL – May 2011

Janiah Downing – Illinois State UniversityBridget Jones – Lakeview College of NursingJohn 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 Statistics2) Economic Research Service3) US Census Bureau

Big Picture cont.

Biggest Southern CountiesCounty Median

IncomePoverty Rate

Mclean $58,474 11.4%

Tazewell $55,964 7.8%

Sangamon $53, 408 11.4%

Madison $51,207 12.6%

Livingston $50,972 11.4%

Kankakee $49,987 13.7%

St. Clair $47,876 15.3%

Champaign $45,840 18.7%

Macon $45,840 13.5%

Peoria $49,634 15.0%

State of Illinois $56, 230 12.2%

Big Picture cont. (2)

Smaller Southern CountiesCounty Median

IncomePoverty

Jackson $34, 763 22.9%

Alexander $28,725 29.5%

McDonough $39,874 20.8%

Franklin $34, 456 18.8%

Marion $41, 759 19.4%

Hardin $31,547 21.4%

Gallatin $34, 580 19.3%

State of Illinois

$56, 230 12.2%

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

2006-2007 2010-2011

Total Seniors 20,443 20,794

# 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 (2010-2011) 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 (2010-2011)

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)

2006-2007 2010-2011

2-year attendance 27% 34%

4-year attendance 53% 50%

No col./Military/unreported

19% 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

2006-2007 2010-2011

Total Seniors 19,977 19,925

# 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 (2010-2011)

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 (2010-2011) 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 (2010-2011) 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)

2006-2007 2010-2011

2-year attendance 32.5% 24%

4-year attendance 45.5% 40%

No col./Military/unreported

22% 36%

Northwestern Illinois (for comparison purposes)

2006-2007 2010-2011

Total Seniors 11,457 12,994

# 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 (2010-2011) 0 counties below 30% 3 counties at 50% or above (LaSalle, McHenry,

Whiteside) Attendance at a 4-year institution (2010-

2011) 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 2006-07 High School and Community College Visit Guide

IACAC 2010-11 High School and Community College Visit Guide

http://www.countymapsofillinois.com/aaallil.shtml

http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/county-map/illinois.shtml

SNAPSHOT OF DOWNSTATE RECRUITMENT

Encouraging one another

~18,000-22,000 miles

Approximate mileage of John Zimmerman’s annual recruitmenttravel 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, 2010. Bloomington-Normal. (Illinois State)

First Business Meeting, August 16, 2010. 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

2010-2011 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 2011-2012 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:

www.downstateillinois.org