16 September 2016
Continued decline in UM’s enrollment will have political ramifications
State education officials, reports the Missoulian, predict an enrollment decline of 6.5 percent for the University of Montana for its 2017 fiscal year, which began in July. The economic consequences are obvious, but there will be political ramifications that Democrats will find most unwelcome.
As of yesterday, there were 3,592 fewer registered voters in Missoula County than on election day in 2012, and 1,671 more registered voters in Gallatin County, home of Montana State University, where enrollment is increasing, than in 2012.
Not all of the differences in registration should be attributed to students’ abandoning Missoula for Bozeman — there are other factors in play — but a significant amount of the change undoubtedly derives from the exodus at UM.
If Democrats are not concerned about this, they should be. In Missoula County in 2012, Bullock beat Rick Hill by 16,103 votes. In Gallatin County, he beat Hill by 2,515 votes. University students who vote tend to favor Democrats. UM’s misfortune may hurt not just Bullock and other statewide Democratic candidates, but down ticket races such as the Public Service Commission District 4 race between incumbent Republican Bob Lake and former PSC commissioner Gail Gutsche, a Democrat.
Time to fire Deputy Commissioner of Higher Education Tyler Trevor? Logicosity today called attention to the Missoulian’s report of Trevor’s reprehensible conduct at a board of regents meeting this week:
Before the budget discussion, Regent Martha Sheehy asked Trevor to direct her to the document that showed the enrollment estimates for each of the branches. She said she understood the preliminary nature of the information.
“Where do I look to find the numbers that we’re close to?” Sheehy said.
At this point, Trevor said, the estimates include “too many stipulations for the average person to digest.” However, he said the regents would receive more details when they discussed the budget. During that portion of the agenda, they received the numbers each campus had budgeted for the fiscal year.
Mon Dieu! Even Charles de Gaulle — Le Grand Charles! — would have envied such arrogance.
I will stipulate that the average person is more than smart enough to digest preliminary enrollment information, no matter how poorly it is presented by patronizing education officials. I will further stipulate that it’s reasonable to assume that the average regent probably is smarter than the average person, and thus also able to digest Trevor’s stipulations. What the regents should not digest is Trevor’s condescension. Instead, they should consider spitting him out of Montana’s educational bureaucracy.