OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh won’t outsource its custodial and grounds crews. But officials say they’re still facing problems that affect their bottom line.
The chancellor says one of the big issues is keeping students at the university.
In a letter to the university community, UWO Chancellor, Andrew Leavitt, says recruitment and retention are issues among workers, and that simply offering higher pay is not guaranteed to work. He also says the university is facing student retention problems, which makes money tighter.
FOX 11 asked Leavitt on how the two relate.
“They relate very well in the sense that we need to have excellent grounds and clean buildings. What the custodians do, as well as the grounds keepers, feeds everything else at this university, including our ability to recruit, educate and retain students.”
The retention rate for freshman dropped to a 40-year low last fall. Leavitt cites the changes in learning as a result of the pandemic.
“All of us are concerned about any learning gaps that might’ve occurred. We certainly had them here in our programs. K-12 was very much impacted by the fact that they had to go completely online.”
Students are charged $21 per year in their tuition for municipal services.
In fall 2021, 68.9% students returned to UWO. The chancellor estimates a 68% return rate for this fall.
“We have a changing student, and we as an institution must adapt in order to make sure we retain more,” said Leavitt.
The university says its introduced a way to combat retention issues by hiring 13 new student success navigators.
“The plan here is to just help them find resources so they find a home,” said Darinka Lechuga, one of the success navigators.
Lechuga tells FOX 11 when she was a student at UWO, she noticed a decrease in student population on campus.
“For me, I’m trying to understand how we can reach out to those students to come out of their dorms, come out of the virtual state and go back to being in person.”
Her job is to to see students and help them avoid or address problems before they arise and cause additional stressors.
“It helps us facilitate what is it that the students need, what is it that we’re missing, what is that we need to work on or be better,” said Lechuga.
To fix employee retention, Leavitt says he’s hoping to develop a management plan.
He says it will improve working conditions and successfully recruit and retain new employees. It’s his desire to have this new plan in place within 30 days.
