FROM THE FRONT WICHITA BUSINESS JOURNAL 5
JULY 5, 2013 | wichitabusinessjournal.com
STATIC ENROLLMENT Wichita State has roughly 15,000 students now, and Bardo would like to see that closer to 22,000 in coming years. Here’s a look at the university’s fairly static fall enrollment over the past decade.
Fall Enrollment
15,000
14,896
14,823 14,806 15,100 14,898 14,298 14,076 14,298 14,442 14,612
2003
2004
10,000
5,000
0 2005 2006
2007
2008
2009
Shawn houston / wbj
2010
2011
2012
SOURCE: WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY
Continued from PAGE 4 Martin Pringle law firm and a higher education advocate. “I think that a number of the things they are doing at the university make sense.” Bardo says he’s pleased with the way things have come together over the past year, but he says it’s only the beginning. If the first year of his presidency was spent laying the groundwork for his vision, the second will be consumed by starting to carry it out. Observers say Bardo is uniquely qualified to do that. “The key to the successes he has had is that John has the ability to sit down and figure out what the best outcome is for the institution he is at and then articulate that message and generate support,” says Bob Ross, past president of WSU’s faculty senate and an associate professor of marketing. “John has the ability to look at a set of situations and look for viable alternatives. John is an educational entrepreneur.”
Continued movement Increasing enrollment is likely to be a particular emphasis of Bardo’s next year. He’d like to increase the number of resident freshmen as well as the opportunities for distance education and adult learners. Wichita State University enrollment is just under 15,000 students now, and Bardo would like to see that closer to 22,000, based on comparisons with similarly situated urban universities. “It’s highly doable, but it won’t happen tomorrow,” he says. One of the biggest obstacles in implementing Bardo’s vision for the university has been — and will continue to be — decreases in state funding. Kansas universities will receive 3 percent less funding over the next two years as part of budget cuts approved by lawmakers in June. For WSU,
that’s about $3.3 million less to work with. To offset some of those cuts, WSU will raise its in-state, undergraduate tuition by 8 percent next year, the highest increase at any Kansas Regents university. That hasn’t set well with some, who’ve asked if Bardo could have done more to fight for higher education funding. But Bardo says university leaders have fought — and will continue to fight — for funding. Meanwhile, funding cuts, while painful, have to be overcome. “You can figure it out if you keep working at it,” he says.
Exceeding expectations Ron Matson, interim dean of WSU’s Fairmount College of Arts and Sciences, says Bardo’s ability to open lines of communication has been key to his ability to accomplish so much in just a year. Matson says Bardo spent the better part of the year meeting with departments across the university, getting to know the people and learning what they need. In the College of Arts and Sciences alone, Matson estimates Bardo has had more than 20 meetings. “That to me just says he reaches out and he listens,” Matson says. “And I think that has helped him. People have to understand that John Bardo’s goal for this institution is to have WSU become a critical component of the economy by creating jobs.” People outside of Wichita State also have taken notice. Noreen Carrocci, president of Newman University, says she and Bardo talk about once a month on issues pertaining to higher education and university leadership. Bardo has wasted little time, and Carrocci says that’s a testament to his experience. “You can tell he has been a president before,” she says. “He hit the ground running.” jheck@bizjournals.com | 316-266-6172
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