Spring 23 enrollment

[jerseyjay]

Regional public university here. According to administration, our figures are down about 9 per cent across the board. This secular decline (i.e., was evident several years before the pandemic) has led to a contraction of our teaching staff (full-time and part-time) and the cancellation of sections. This in turn means that are classes are fuller (with more students per section) and many students cannot get into the classes they need, which means more students are transferring out of the university, which means lower enrollment, which means.... The end result is that we have fewer students and overcrowding.   

[poiuy]

Might we be at the same institution, @jerseyjay?  We have the same situation. 

We went from being a flourishing, truly excellent, doctoral, research-high, regional public a few years ago (after surviving the cuts in the recession of 2007-2009 ish), to worrying that our graduate programs might have to turn out the lights within the coming few years, largely due to budget cuts that follow declining undergraduate enrollments, coupled with our red legislature cutting support for graduate student funding.

[MarathonRunner]

Why are Canadian hospitals on the verge of collapse, and what if anything could Canadian universities do to help counteract that problem?

Tripledemic of COVID, flu, RSV, and years of underfunding by conservative provincial governments. Mask mandates removed. Burned out staff leaving health care for other opportunities. Long COVID affecting some staff. Even mild COVID infections resulting in increased negative sequelae, like strokes, heart attacks, and type 1 diabetes, therefore more people in emergency rooms and more being admitted. Due to the negative effect COVID has on the immune system, making people more vulnerable to other infections, more people with serious infections needing to be admitted.

Implement mask mandates, as some universities that listen to their knowledgeable faculty members have already done. Keep online as an option for staff, students, and faculty members who are at higher risk. Be flexible with attendance (don't require sick students to come to class). Don't require doctor's notes (don't want positive students infecting others just to get a note).