Roosevelt University celebrates near-record enrollment

Excitement was running high at the recent golf outing to benefit the Roosevelt University's leadership scholarships, funded by its Community Advisory Board.

In between holes at the Arboretum Course in Buffalo Grove, university officials and business leaders alike were talking about the latest buzz heard around campus: that enrollment in the freshman class is up by as much as 70 percent over last year.

"That could be the biggest single jump in the nation," says Toni Potenza, vice president and dean of the Schaumburg campus. "We're trying to check that out."

Specifically, the university -- including its main campus downtown and its Albert A. Robin Campus in Schaumburg -- has attracted 520 new freshmen, up from 306 last year.

Overall, they added, Roosevelt's total enrollment this fall is at 7,650, which makes it at a near record for the university dating back to its founding.

"It's the second highest enrollment in the school's history, second only to 1945, the year the school opened," says Patrick Woods, institutional advancement vice president. "It's been a magnificent year for Roosevelt."

While many of its new freshmen were drawn to the amenities surrounding the downtown campus, including its proximity to the theaters, lakeshore and bustling Chicago loop, the accessibility of the degree programs at the Schaumburg campus drew its share of growth, as well, Potenza says.

"We're seeing a shift to more daytime, full-time younger students," Potenza says, "and they have interests that are pushing us to change."

She concedes that when Roosevelt came to the suburbs in 1996, it served more part-time and working students than traditionally aged college students. Consequently, sports areas never were part of the original building plans.

But they are now. University officials added a basketball court and playing fields to the Schaumburg campus over the summer, and its nearly 2,500 students now consider the expansive green space along McConnor Parkway to be their quad.

At any given time, you can find students throwing the football, playing Frisbee, or soaking up some sun in between classes.

One of the recipients of the Community Leadership scholarships, Amir Bhimji from Hoffman Estates, petitioned university officials last spring to start a new club. He called it the Roosevelt Entertainment Commission, or REC.

It is evolved into an intramural sports program of sorts that already has hosted tournaments in volleyball, three-on-three basketball, flag football and dodgeball.

"The effect has been transformative on campus," Potenza says. "Now there's an expectation that there's going to be fun, and that's been a real change for us."

Many of the business leaders on hand said while they were there to raise money for scholarships for Northwest suburban undergraduates, even as Roosevelt's classes continue to offer advancement opportunities for their workforce.

"A lot of our city employees attend Roosevelt for their continuing education classes," said Rolling Meadows Mayor Kenneth Nelson. "We're increasingly asking our employees to have a secondary degree, and we've worked a lot with Roosevelt on that."

Mark Iammarino, Turner Construction's director of suburban operations, served as chairman of the outing.

"These scholarships are turning heads," Iammarino said. "Students are hearing about their scholarships even before they've accepted to Roosevelt, and I think that's drawing their attention."