This is the article that I just submitted this afternoon for publication in this week’s issue of the Cooper Point Journal. I’m not certain whether it will get published or not based on the response from the Journal’s editorial staff, but they said they would make every effort to give me some space in the issue. Here’s hoping.

Dispelling Enrollment Growth Myths
Peter Ellis

There are a number of misconceptions amongst the student body regarding the work of the Enrollment Growth DTF. I would like to take this opportunity to address some of the more glaring ones.

First: the myth that this college has a choice to grow or not grow. In fact, with the construction of Seminar II, the College accepted the condition set upon it by the state Legislature that the population of the College would expand to 5,000 students by the 2014-15 academic year. This growth will not be all at once, for fear of diluting the student population and core values of the College, in addition to putting undue stress on College support offices. Rather, this growth will be spread out across the next ten years.

Second: all growth does not have to (and likely will not) take place solely on the Olympia campus. Concerns regarding the utilization of space across all campuses are fully justified, though the impact of these proposals on space utilization is currently unknown. Several proposals exist to expand the offerings of Tribal and Tacoma programs, as well as expanding the base of Evening/Weekend studies, though the bulk of the proposals focus on expanding Olympia campus offerings.

Third: that this proposed growth lies outside of Evergreen’s usual growth rate. Over the past 20 years, the College has grown an average of 90 FTE per year. FTE stands for Full Time Equivalency, and is the measure by which the State Legislature mandates growth. An undergraduate FTE is actually slightly less than Evergreen’s full-time credit load – 15 credits rather than 16. Graduates, however, have an FTE of 10 credits. One of these FTEs represents a single student taking a full-time credit load. If we apply this rate of growth over the next ten years, the College will reach 5,000 students by the 2014-15 academic year. The role of this DTF is to shape that 90-student-per-year growth in ways consistent with the College’s core values while still providing a workable budget to the College administration.

I realize that this is not a comprehensive list of misconceptions present amongst the student body. The DTF is fully aware that the level of student involvement in its process needs to be addressed. I will be working with the new student representative on the DTF, Rachel Williams, in order to increase the number of opportunities that students have to provide input into the process. As always, however, such opportunities are dependent upon students wanting to be involved in this process. By all means, don’t wait for the DTF to hold conversations with students – have your own conversations. Kick around ideas, express your concerns, then contact me – I want to know what you think.

Peter Ellis serves as a student representative on the Enrollment Growth DTF and Enrollment Coordination Committee.

An editorial note on this article — the copy references two articles printed in the two weekly issues before this article was written. One article was a completely misguided attempt to put the onus of enrollment growth on the budding student governance movement on campus; the second article was the response by one of the student governance coordinators to that article. It is to both of these articles that I respond.

Clarifying My Role in Enrollment Growth
Peter Ellis, February 17, 2005

In response to Javier Berrios’ Letter to the Editor last week: I’m confused. Student opinions surrounding the issue of enrollment growth seem very diverse, yet, as the sole student representative, I haven’t heard a word of it except through articles in this newspaper that misrepresent the DTF entirely.

I applaud the work of the student union, first of all, and I am disappointed in Adam Hilton’s failure to check his facts before writing his article. However, that, to me, does not excuse one thing: students have been given opportunities to give their feedback to this DTF and, with the exception of a very small number of students, have failed to do so. The overall student reaction seems to be “So what? I’m graduating before this happens.”

In most cases, this is not actually true. There are a number of proposals being considered which could be implemented as soon as next year. This is dependent, however, upon the Board of Trustees and the President of the college; the DTF only exists to make a recommendation to the administration about where we think the college should grow.

Further, you’re graduating, but you have the most knowledge surrounding Evergreen and the way it works. You have the best insight into what this college is all about. This applies to every member of the student body. This is your college. You can determine its future. I’m on the DTF to ensure that the voices of this student body are heard, but my job is limited by my ability to get constructive feedback.

Perhaps so far I haven’t done my job. So what do I need to do to help? What would enable students to better take part in this process? I admit that this question comes at a point where the DTF is beginning to consider proposals and that perhaps it should have been posed to the community earlier. My fault. I take the blame for that.

I object to assertions that the Enrollment Growth DTF has met “under the noses” of students. This is patently false – the DTF was made known to students in Fall Quarter with an article written by myself in this very newspaper. Proposals would have been freely accepted from students if they had been submitted. There was one student on this campus who was on the list of potential proposals, but nothing was ever submitted.

I want to clarify why I’m on this DTF. I have served on the Enrollment Coordination Committee for over two years and have gained an extensive background on enrollment at Evergreen. I was approached by the chairs of this DTF because of that background, which prepared me for my work on this DTF. Since then, I have made every effort to ensure that the viewpoint of students is well represented.

Being on the DTF, however, is more about reading proposals and being buried in data. For me, it’s making sure student input is welcomed and heard. Give me something to work with. Let me know your concerns, your fears, your hopes, your ideas. I will do my best to ensure that the DTF takes the opinions of students seriously.

This is the second article for the Cooper Point Journal that I’ve written so far. I should note that the Journal staff does change some of the details when I submit articles — usually just the titles — so these aren’t exactly as they are presented in published form. In the case of my first article, some detail was added to clarify some details by the editors themselves. As with the first article, this articele has some of the contact information edited out.

Enrollment Growth Updates
Peter Ellis, January 27, 2005

Since Fall Quarter, the Enrollment Growth Disappearing Task Force (DTF) has concerned itself with creating a process by which members of the campus community could submit proposals for Evergreen’s growth to 5,000 FTE. That process is now completed, and the DTF now seeks feedback from the community.

Members of the DTF will be holding a student focus group on February 7th. Students from ten academic programs spanning Evergreen’s curriculum will be participating, with space available for ten additional students. We ask that interested students RSVP by phone or by e-mail. These slots will fill on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The DTF also announces an open comment period on the proposals that we have gathered. These proposals are available on closed reserve in the Library and in the Dean’s Area for community review. We also provide comment sheets with these proposals for community members to provide their feedback. The deadline for this round of feedback is Wednesday, February 9th at noon.

Also on February 9th, the DTF is holding an open forum for all community members from 1:15 to 3PM, in Lab I 1047. Students are strongly encouraged to attend; more information will be posted around campus as the Forum approaches. The DTF requests that forum participants read proposals before attending the forum, as there will not be ample time to provide background on each submitted proposal.

Peter Ellis is a super senior in The Novel: Life and Form. He serves on the Enrollment Growth DTF and the Enrollment Coordination Committee as a student representative.

I have decided to post the series of articles I’ve written thus far for Evergreen’s student newspaper, the Cooper Point Journal, regarding the college’s growth to 5,000 students by the 2014-15 academic year. These articles are all written as part of my work with the Enrollment Growth DTF. The first is below. I have edited out the contact information listed, since that isn’t really relevant to readers here.

Disappearing Task Force to Plan Campus Growth Charged
Peter Ellis, October 7, 2004

Evergreen, as a college, is growing. Washington State’s college enrollment continues to increase. As a public institution, Evergreen will do its part to accommodate that growth, and has committed to expanding its current enrollment count of around 4,100 students to a total of 5,000 students across all campuses. To help determine the shape of that growth President Les Purce and Provost Don Bantz charged the Enrollment Growth Disappearing Task Force (DTF) in June.

The charge of the DTF is “to recommend a growth plan that will guide us as we work toward an enrollment of 5,000 [full time enrollment] students by the 2014-2015 academic year”. As a result of yearlong work, the DTF will draft and present to the President and Board of Trustees a set of recommendations that will, if accepted, shape the growth of Evergreen as a college.

It is important to realize, however, that this DTF is not making the definitive plan for Evergreen’s growth; the power this DTF has lies only in its ability to craft and propose an enrollment growth plan, not to accept it or implement it on behalf of the entire Evergreen community. The responsibility of accepting and implementing this plan primarily lies with the Board of Trustees, President Les Purce, and the administrative units that operate the College. The question we are faced with is not whether we grow to 5,000 full-time students enrolled at Evergreen; rather, the question is how we make that growth both sustainable and effective. That we grow is a foregone conclusion, and was essentially promised to the State Legislature with the construction of Seminar II.

So what does this mean to Evergreen students? Apart from the obvious growth in the number of people who will be attending Evergreen, this planning could also affect the layout of the college curriculum at basic levels, including possible expansion of upper-division, lower-division, and graduate programs, and the potential addition of support staff to student support offices such as Academic Advising and Access Services (to name examples). These will not be the only areas considered by this group, but they are some of the more obvious areas where students would notice a change should the DTF choose to recommend such changes and the President and Board of Trustees choose to accept the DTF’s final recommendations.

As part of this DTF, it is my job to represent the student population of Evergreen in the crafting and planning of any growth proposal and to ensure that student concerns and issues are recognized and discussed. While the DTF as a whole has already determined the necessity of ensuring that every major party on campus – from faculty and staff to students – can provide input to this process, I intend to be particularly vocal in making sure that students understand the scope of the planning that this DTF is taking on.

I will be publishing a series of articles in the Cooper Point Journal as the work of this DTF continues so that the student population can remain informed as to the questions and concerns surrounding this important work. I invite any comments or questions you may have about this process.

In addition, the DTF is currently seeking one or two students to assist in this planning. I would be happy to answer any questions regarding such a commitment. Students interested in applying should contact Tracey Johnson in the Vice President of Student Affairs office.

Peter Ellis is the student representative on both the Enrollment Growth DTF and the Enrollment Coordination Committee.