Niehoff recognizes JCU futureNiehoff recognizes JCU future

When the administration began establishing the Master Plan in conjunction with the Sasaki Associates, Niehoff’s vision was to aide the student experience while recognizing economic realities. He also acknowledged that students desire more parking spaces, playing fields and apartment style living.

Niehoff said that Bohannon Science Center will not come down anytime soon to provide parking. “It is just not politically and economically affordable right now,” said Niehoff.

Physical rennovations to the University, such as converting the temporary parking lot into another quad and building a new student center, have yet to take place due to the lack of financial support.

Niehoff discussed JCU’s status among other Jesuit universities. He blames the way in which prospective students search for schools via search engines. Under these conditions, some of JCU’s programs will not appear on the search results due to the larger programs offered at other universities.

While other schools such as Case Western, are able to look to endowment funds to subsidize students’ tuition, JCU does not necessarily have this option.
“We cannot afford what our competitors can do,” Niefhoff said. “Students can’t afford our tuition.”

This seems to be problematic for university enrollment. Currently, the undergraduate program holds less than 3,000 students.
According to Niehoff, the student population is at an unprecedented low.

Yet amidst such adversity, JCU’s commitment to the Jesuit mission may make up for what state universities lack in quality.

“We might as well have the University of Phoenix as the state school system, that’s the kind of quality state schools are giving,” Niehoff said.

Niehoff said that the 14 service and immersion trips over the past years exemplify this commitment. A total of 27,000 hours of community service were completed by 1,200 students in the past academic year.

New majors such as cell biology and environmental science, along with the restructuring of the graduate program have promoted university development.

The Carroll Fund reached a record high this year, and 5,549 non-alumni donated to the University. Niehoff sees improved compensation and more programming ideas in the immediate future.