Edison State College predicted “flat enrollment growth” for the 2011-12 academic year. In other words, officials expected enrollment to stay the same.

Preliminary numbers didn’t look good after the first week of the spring semester, though, as enrollment was down 2 percent year over year. Students typically add or drop classes, and register or withdraw, after the semester begins. But when it all shook out, the not-quite-so-preliminary numbers show the spring dip was even more extensive than first thought.

Edison is down 830 students from last spring, or 4.8 percent. Administration has attributed the drop to an improving economy. See below for a campus-by-campus breakdown of spring enrollment trends:

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Edison State College’s Board of Trustees is not paid, and they don’t receive college-issued cell phones, computers or any other gadgets. At the request of newly appointed trustees, though, members now have their own edison.edu email addresses. Trustees previously used their personal email accounts to receive messages from college staff, and occasionally the public.

With all of the uproar last year at Edison, Trustee Pamella Seay said her personal inbox was overflowing with college-related emails, so much that her account hit its storage capacity and she no longer could accept emails. All college-related messages are subject to Florida’s public records law; personal emails are not. Her wish was granted; see below for trustees’ email addresses.

Seay also wants the college to look into purchasing a computer of some sort, knowing at any time her personal computer could be seized and files examined if someone issued a public records request. She wants to keep Edison files separate from her day job files and personal files.

“”Right now, there’s this connection I really don’t like,” Seay said.

Using the college’s discount, a decent laptop would cost around $1,000, according to Dean Phetterplace, desktop manager within technology services. Seay asked about the feasibility of buying iPads at a reduced cost. They retail for $499 to $829, and that’s what Edison would pay.

“Nobody gets a discount on an iPad,” Phetterplace said.

Below are trustees’ email addresses:

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Just a handful of community and state colleges in Florida operate on-campus student housing, and Edison State College is set to join them in August. LightHouse Commons will have 404 beds split between two- and four-bedroom units. The 164,000-square-foot residence hall will feature a fitness center, study lounges, recreation areas, 24-hour security, full kitchens and most importantly (for this generation, anyway) private bathrooms.

It’s a gamble given Edison State’s migratory student body, but the college is being proactive with its marketing. In the northwest lobby of Taeni Hall, the student union building, sits a mock-up of the residence hall room. Students have been checking out the fridge, oven, kitchen cabinets, bathroom and bedroom. It all looks real, so much so that campus staff had to display a sign: “Please DO NOT sit on the bed!!!”

As of Tuesday, 60 students already had been accepted into Lighthouse Commons for the 2012-13 academic year. The college is only accepting applications from current students, but will open up the process to incoming freshman and transfers on Feb. 1.

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