NEWS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2019
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Enrollment declines at BMCC
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
A
n enrollment rise had
administrators at Blue
Mountain Community
College feeling hopeful
before the start of the term, but that
increase has since been replaced
with a decline.
“Things looked pretty good
in late July,” BMCC President
Dennis Bailey-Fougnier said in
a recent report. “By September,
new enrollments had completely
dropped off.”
The reason for the drop is uncer-
tain as of now, according to interim
Vice President of Student Affairs
Bruce Clemetsen.
“We can’t put our fi nger on
what happened,” he said.
For two weeks in late summer,
enrollment sat at a notable high,
he said. In late August, there was a
5% increase in full-time equivalent
enrollment.
But into the fi nal week of fall
term at BMCC, the headcount
stood at 2,356 students compared
with 2,750 students at the same
time a year ago.
The headcount, which rep-
resents the number of students
taking classes, has increased a bit
since then, but full-time equivalent
enrollment — which indicates how
many hours of classes are being
taken — remains down 6% from a
year ago.
“I can say we’ve noticed the
declines in the amount of students
enrolling in early college credits,”
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
After touting improved enrollment prior to fall term, Blue Mountain Community College ended up experiencing
a 6% drop in full-time equivalent enrollment since this time last year. BMCC attributed the positive early numbers
to students who began, but may not have fi nished, the enrollment process. BMCC is looking into what factors may
be responsible for the overall drop.
Clemetsen added.
In response, the community
college has been making calls to
degree-seeking students to ensure
they’ll register for winter term.
Clemetsen added some students
might initially register for classes
but not follow through on the
whole process.
Registration for winter term
closes on Jan. 10, according to the
school’s website.
“There are a number of students
that might wait to see what their
grades from the fall term are, and
then they’ll register,” Clemetsen
said.
Some of those students may
have their tuition funded by a third
party, like a relative or employer,
and funds may be contingent on
satisfactory grades.
The college is also strategizing
ways to increase full-time equiv-
alency by encouraging students
already registered to take on more
credits.
And while the drop hits cam-
pus, there’s a 24% spike in full-
time equivalent enrollment for
GED classes from last year, Clem-
etsen said.
“I know the folks involved in
that program have really been get-
ting out there to help people regis-
ter,” he said. “That’s a plus.”
This November, unemploy-
ment in Oregon fell below 4% for
the fi rst time since the late 1970s,
according to the Oregon Depart-
ment of Employment and has held
historical lows for the past three
years.
But with that comes a decline
in the number of people interested
in signing up for community col-
lege, Clemetsen said, which can
affect the total headcount of stu-
dents each year.
“At the same time, students
can fi nd employment which may
reduce how many credits they’re
taking,” he added.
Keeping full-time equivalent up
doesn’t just mean fi lling the hall-
ways with people excited to learn.
It matters fi nancially, too.
According to recent documents,
tuition makes up about 28% of
BMCC’s funding resources this
school year.
State funding is affected too.
This year, the school identifi ed
a projected 3% decrease in state
funding, in part due to full-time
enrollment numbers, from the last
three years compared to the state
average.
“What we’re trying to watch
is if we’re above the growth or
shrinkage rate statewide,” Clem-
etsen said. “We’re not too far away
from the average.”
Hermiston City Hall remains closed after fi re
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
Hermiston City Hall
will be closed to the public
through the end of January,
following a Dec. 17 furnace
fi re that left the Northeast
Second Street building with
smoke damage throughout
the building and fi re dam-
age to the HVAC system.
Until cleanup is com-
plete, according to a press
release from the city,
most staff will be housed
in the Hermiston Build-
ing Department, 215 E.
Gladys Ave., across the
street from the city hall
building. Phone calls will
be rerouted to employees’
new locations.
“As we have had the
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Fire engines sit at the ready last week while fi refi ghters check
out the interior of Hermiston City Hall. City offi cials say the
building will be closed through the end of January because of
smoke damage.
ability to do a more exten-
sive look in to the damage,
it has become clear that the
cleanup and repairs will not
be as simple as originally
planned,” Mark Morgan,
assistant city manager, said
in a statement. “We’re deal-
ing with how to retro-fi t
repairs to building-wide
systems in to a concrete
structure that was built over
50 years ago.”
City hall staff evacu-
ated the building Dec. 17
after there were numerous
reports of smoke coming
from the vents inside. Crews
from Umatilla County Fire
District 1 remained on
scene for at least two hours
that day, according to Fire
Marshall Scott Goff, for an
“unknown failure in one of
the heating appliances.”
Goff added a fi re was
contained within a heating
unit in the building, and the
resulting smoke caused the
majority of the issues that
are keeping city hall closed.
“The fi re department did
a really good job of get-
ting to city hall quickly
and knocking out the fi re,”
Hermiston City Manager
Byron Smith said. “We’re
all thankful for their
response.”
The furnace dates back
to the building’s construc-
tion in 1965, according to
the press release. It will
need to be replaced.
Water, sewer and gar-
bage bills can be paid
online at hermiston.or.us,
and in-person payments for
Hermiston Energy Services
can be made at the Umatilla
Electric Cooperative, 750
W. Elm Ave.
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