UB officials discuss coronavirus impacts on enrollment at town hall

Planning, preparation and flexibility. Those will be the key words for academic units across UB for the foreseeable future as global concerns over novel coronavirus mount.

The outbreak of the infectious disease, now formally known as Covid-19, has universities like UB preparing for the long-term impacts Covid-19 is expected to have, including on enrollment of both domestic and international students.

It’s an issue colleges and universities across the country will be grappling with over the next several months — and probably longer — as the fall 2020 admissions cycle unfolds.

“We’ve had conversations with our AAU colleagues and they’re concerned about the same issues that we’re concerned about. Many of us are expecting fluctuations in the enrollment this year,” Lee Melvin, vice provost for enrollment management, said during a town hall meeting held Thursday in the Buffalo Room in Capen Hall.

It’s likely to affect enrollment decisions among domestic students, whose parents may discourage them from attending school far away if Covid-19 becomes a pandemic, as well as international students.

“It’s a very unpredictable situation, and we’ve seen just in the last few days hot spots of infection cropping up in different parts of the world,” said John Wood, interim vice provost for international education.

Some Asian countries are beginning to sink into recession, and small and medium companies have closed for several months due to a reduction in workers and disruption to supply chains, said Joseph Hindrawan, associate vice provost for international enrollment management, adding that these economic impacts may result in parents being unable to send their children abroad to study in the U.S.

“This is the greatest crisis I have ever experienced in my 25 years working in international enrollment management,” Hindrawan said.

Fortunately, UB is prepared, and is actually faring better than many universities, Melvin noted. UB’s international admits are up over 31% compared to this point last year. Undergraduate admits overall are up by more than 2,600, while graduate admits are up over 1,700.

The message to prospective and admitted students has been, and will continue to be, that UB is open for business, and is a welcoming place for students, Melvin said. It is critical at this time for units to stay in touch with their prospects and admits so that they can be kept current on their options.

Still, “We are prepared to live in the unpredictable for the next several months,” he added, noting that the university will continue to monitor the situation and its impacts both on current, as well as prospective students. One way UB is communicating with the campus community, Melvin said, is through the Covid-19 information website. Launched by University Communications on Jan. 22, the website has had more than 17,000 visitors.

Covid-19 is affecting more than just enrollment. UB offers a number of study abroad programs that could be impacted, Wood said. The lack of availability of English language proficiency testing centers in China prompted UB, and other universities, to temporarily accept the online Duolingo English Test as evidence of proficiency.

In addition, there is a strong possibility that a higher-than-usual number of currently enrolled international students will want to remain in Buffalo this summer, depending on what’s happening in their home country.

Other impacts are likely to arise as Covid-19 cases become more widespread. It’s important to note that health departments have stated there are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Erie County, where UB’s campuses are located.

Thursday’s town hall was one of several Covid-19 conversations UB officials plan to have with the university community.

“This is a very fluid situation and we’re obviously concerned about impact, both now and going forward,” Wood said.