CARBONDALE - Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard said a decline of more than 300 undergraduate students since last fall disappoints him, but he also saw some positive signs in enrollment figures.

This year's gross undergraduate enrollment at the 10-day mark was down 310 from last fall. Enrollment in the graduate school held steady around the 4,000-student level, according to the university.

Students at SIU Carbondale continuing from their sophomore to junior year represented the largest loss, with the number of continuing students entering their junior year falling by 210. Also, the number of incoming transfer students dropped by 132, according to enrollment figures released Thursday.

Those students, representing SIUC's class of 2010, entered the university as a smaller freshman class than the one before them, so that trend will likely continue through their entire college careers, said Victoria Valle, assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management.

Other colleges and universities have also been capitalizing on partnerships with community colleges throughout the state, which may attribute to a portion of the transfer decrease, Poshard said.

"We're competing with so many colleges right now at the community college level, it's difficult for us to expect the number of transfers we used to have," he said.

While retention between the sophomore and junior year continues to be an issue, the total numbers of freshmen and sophomores shows progress in retaining new students, Poshard said. Freshmen numbers increased 119, while sophomore figures grew by 38.

With regard to geography, the number of SIUC students from the Chicagoland area increased by about 300, while the number of students from Southern Illinois dropped by about 225, the largest geographic loss in the state.

Terry Clark, chairman of the marketing department and executive director of Barking Dawg Productions, said he'd like to believe efforts by Barking Dawg, SIUC's student-run marketing group, and Valle's office contributed to the northern Illinois increase.

As for the decrease in Southern Illinois students turning to SIUC, Poshard said competition like Murray State University and Southeast Missouri State University offering in-state tuition may contribute.

"We don't have Kentucky, Indiana and Missouri coming in and targeting students in northern Illinois," he said.

Valle and university spokesman Rod Sievers said new programs aimed at retention and recruitment will be implemented soon to help with these efforts.

The university will begin promoting itself to high school sophomores in an attempt to reach them before they select a college, Valle said. Each college from SIUC will also be hosting showcases at area community colleges as a way to attract students.

Plans are in the works for a "first-year experience" program that will introduce students to college life, Sievers said. More details of this program and other efforts will be announced during Interim Chancellor Samuel Goldman's "State of the University" address Sept. 16, he said.

"We knew this wouldn't happen overnight," Sievers said of improving retention. "It's evolution, not revolution."

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