Survival Strategies for Tusculum College: An Ethnographic Evaluation of Enrollment, Student Recruitment and School Image

Many institutions of higher education have experienced a decrease in their student enrollments. One such institution, Tusculum College of Greeneville, Tennessee, has seen a drastic 55% decline in its enrollment over the past ten years. Unless this trend is reversed, Tusculum College faces a very uncertain future.

The purpose of this study was to develop a strategy which would help Tusculum College attract a greater number of students. To accomplish this, it was necessary to (1) analyze the college's current enrollment trends, (2) identify those geographic areas where the college currently attracts its greatest number of students, (3) determine the educational needs of prospective students living in these particular areas, and (4) measure the perceptions these students have of Tusculum College.

An ethnographic research methodology was utilized to investigate these issues and to measure the degree of cultural congruency that exists between sample populations. In this study the following sample populations were examined: (1) Tusculum students, (2) local high school seniors, and (3) Greeneville community residents. Four data collection techniques were utilized to investigate the relationship between these groups. These techniques were (1) participant observation, (2) the analysis of archival records and historical documents, (3) questionnaires, and (4) formal interviews.

The research revealed that Tusculum College has experienced a pronounced shift in its enrollment. As a result of this shift, the college can no longer depend upon its once large northern student population to offset its consistent, yet small, southern student population. If the college hopes to increase its student enrollment it should (1) focus more recruitment energy upon the local, southern students, (2) reduce its recruitment territory, (3) provide more information to local students, (4) restructure the curriculum, (5) reduce local student tuition, (6) implement a series of local student scholarships, and (7) improve Tusculum's social image. By utilizing this particular strategy, the college can not only attract a larger number of local students, but it can also begin to move more closely toward a culturally congruent relationship with the entire Greeneville community.

This research is useful for Tusculum College and any institution which seeks to develop a more complete profile of itself and determine how it is perceived within a selected community. School administrators need reliable data upon which to base policy decisions. Likewise, community members deserve the opportunity to participate in those decisions which may have an eventual effect upon themselves and their families. The future for Tusculum College and other institutions with declining enrollments is promising only when the resources of the college and the needs of their communities of service are in mutual accord.