Tressel deserves credit for widening YSU’s base of student recruitment

There’s one thing James P. Tressel has going for him as president of Youngstown State University that all the other leaders of Ohio’s public universities and colleges don’t have: Celebrity status.

To be sure, the status comes from Tressel’s being head coach of Ohio State University’s 2002 national championship football team. But not having to introduce yourself to prospective students and their parents is a definite plus when you’re on a recruiting mission.

Indeed, in the year and two months the former head football coach at Ohio State and YSU, which he led to four national 1AA football championships, has been president, the open-access, urban university has expanded its outreach for students to 54 counties.

For many years, Youngstown State’s area of concentration was Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Mercer and Lawrence counties in western Pennsylvania.

But as the population of the region has declined, recent university presidents have been forced to cast a wider net for students.

Thus, while the search today occurs in 54 counties, Tressel is looking even further. He has set a goal of 60.

“This year, we’re going to visit not just high schools in October, November and January, but at some of the schools in the bigger counties, we’re going to visit in the evening and invite parents,” the president said Monday during an appearance on Vindy Talk Radio.

One of the selling points is the cost of attending YSU, compared with the other 12 public universities and colleges in Ohio.

Tressel is well aware that college student debt is a major issue nationally and is sure to loom large in the 2016 presidential election. President Barack Obama has proposed various programs to help college students with their tuition and to reduce their debt after graduation.

Median debt

Although the median debt for YSU graduates is about $28,000, the second highest of Ohio’s public universities and colleges, the figure is more a reflection of the economic realities of the students as opposed to the cost of tuition and fees.

(Tressel addresses the student debt crisis and the steps YSU intends to take to deal with it in his monthly column to be published Sunday on the Editorial Page of The Vindicator.)

Student recruitment was just one of the issues the president discussed in the online radio interview. He again made note of the fact that this year’s incoming freshman class carries the highest ACT score and high school grade-point average in YSU history.

Tressel is committed to continuing this trend, just as he is determined to make sure that YSU retains more students as they move from their freshmen to sophomore year. Retention and graduation rates are major factors in determining the level of state funding.

In that regard, Tressel and the other presidents have received a strong message from Gov. John R. Kasich: The six-year average graduation rate is no longer acceptable.

The governor is demanding that more college students graduate in four years.

Finally, YSU’s president is holding out an olive branch to the campus community that has been forced to bite the bullet in recent contract negotiations.

He said he would like to give raises in the next round of contracts and would also like to boost the compensation of the adjunct faculty.

YSU, like other institutions of higher learning, is increasingly dependent on part-time instructors who are professionals in various fields and individuals who teach at several colleges with the goal of landing a full-time position.

While Tressel will undoubtedly receive high marks from the campus community for wanting to keep employees happy, he must know YSU’s financial stability and growth depend on an increase in enrollment, which has been in decline for several years, a decrease in spending and a boost in state funding.