Columbia business leaders react to MU enrollment projection

As the University of Missouri decides how to deal with a multi-million dollar budget shortfall, business leaders in Columbia will look at the “domino effect” it could have on the community.

Gary Ward, the school’s Chief Operating Officer, told board of the Regional Economic Development, Inc. that the school expected to fall behind by 1,500 new applicants for the 2016 fall semester. That drop continued from Interim Chancellor Hank Foley’s estimation in January of falling behind by 900 applicants. Ward said Wednesday the loss could translate into a $32 million shortfall in MU’s budget for the next school year.

Foley sent an email Wednesday describing “guidelines” for next year to make up part of that shortfall, including a hiring freeze, cutting the merit-based raise program for the next year and a five percent cut to the school’s general revenue budget. Foley said even increasing tuition by .7-percent, the highest raise allowed by state law this year, would not cover the estimated budget shortfall.

Columbia Chamber of Commerce President Matt McCormick said the drop in enrollment, and subsequent effect it had on faculty and staff at school, concerned the group. Numbers from the latest Boone County budget show in 2014, the University employed 8,709 people – more than nine percent of the county’s population, and more than double the next largest employer, University Hospital & Clinics.

“People who’s spouses and families are working in our business community and spread throughout our entire community,” McCormick told ABC 17 News. “So what would that mean as it dominoes into that.”

Shakespeare’s Pizza manager Kurt Mirtsching said Columbia’s businesses, though, have become more than just reliant on MU’s student population. He said he’s seen the town grow into a more “mature” economy, with the growth of healthcare and insurance companies in town, as well as the “butchers, bakers and candlestick makers” that make up the town’s service industry. He didn’t expect his business to feel as much of a sting as the University.

“If enrollment’s down a little bit, that’s not the greatest thing in Columbia,” Mirtsching said. “But it’s not the end of the world either. Things ebb and things flow, things go up and things go down. It’s doing that right now, and I’m sure Columbia’s gonna keep on going, and do just fine.”

ABC 17 News also obtained current enrollment numbers for MU. While overall attendance went down by just 30 students from this time in 2015, undergraduate and minority student numbers by around 100 in each category.

Foley said the school was actively working to “stem the tide” of dropping enrollment for next year, including hiring more out-of-state recruiters and reaching out to students and their families admitted to the school, but not yet enrolled, through phone calls, texts and even Skype. The interim chancellor told the state’s Joint Committee on Education that many prospective students and families expressed concern over last November’s protests, and wanted to ensure the school was a safe place to go.

“The key is to be faster, more personal and much more interactive,” Foley said in the Wednesday email.