Newly proposed 5-year plan could vastly change the direction of Wofford College
The administration of Wofford College recently released their 5-year plan with proposed changes they hope to make in the coming years to improve and shift the direction of the college. Although this plan has not yet been approved by the Board of Trustees, the outlined changes would alter the college’s external and internal structures. President Samhat presented and discussed these changes with the Campus Union Assembly at its meeting on November 12th.
Leading and funding the proposed changes will be the tuition increase for the 2019-2020 academic year, rising 4% from $56,530 to $58,935. An email with the approval of the tuition, fees, room and board was sent out to students on Oct. 30, while the mailed letters with the increase was sent to students’ families on Oct. 29. Tuition has increased $9,050 (over 15%) from current seniors’ first year at $49,885 (2015-2016 academic year) to now. The justification given for tuition increase was that Wofford’s tuition is still lower than its liberal arts competitors and that these increases would lead to a better future for the Wofford community overall. The tuition increase is already set and is not part of the proposed 5-year plan, but is helping to fund it.
One of the biggest proposed changes is increasing the student body by 100 to 125 students within the next five years. This would increase Wofford’s student body to around 1,800 students. Along with this proposed increase in the student body, a new residence hall is proposed to be built in place of Andrews-Field House. The dormitory would be a hybrid between around 150 beds for students and office space, but no further information has been given to the class of students the dormitory would hold.
New athletics teams are proposed to be added in order to carry the growth to the student body and the campus overall. The teams proposed are a Men’s Lacrosse team and a Women’s Softball team. In addition, a softball field would be built, if approved, behind the current baseball and soccer fields on property Wofford currently owns. A track would also be built in place of one of the current practice football fields. President Samhat said that the track would hold a regulation size football field inside of it but would open up new opportunities for cross-country and track athletes to be able to practice on campus.
Despite all of these newly proposed additions to Wofford’s campus and student body, it was clear that there were no plans for additional parking. When asked about the safety of parking in certain lots that do not have proper lighting, President Samhat did not respond.
“We don’t have a parking problem, we have a walking problem,” President Nayef Samhat.
All of these proposed changes could potentially add value to Wofford’s structures, but would also vastly alter the way that the college has functioned for years. However, these changes will not be voted on by the Board of Trustees until the budget for the next fiscal year is set.
Caption: This is an aerial view of Wofford’s current campus, but it may soon be modified if the proposed changes are approved.
