Summer camps shrank slightly, remained profitable for college

The College of Eastern Utah Summer Program shrank slightly in 2008 but still remained profitable for the year. During a ten week window the College hosted 16 different camps that brought over 1,100 participants (plus a significant number of parents) to Carbon County. Overall, the program begins preparation for 2009 with a modest surplus of funds and hopes that the newly updated heating and air conditioning system at the BDAC will bring more camps back to campus.
2008 was a tough year to attract programs. Two youth camps cancelled after registering, citing record high fuel prices, causing them to conduct their programs nearer to home. In 2007, the state’s construction project to install air conditioning in the BDAC failed to meet deadlines and teams were forced to play in the heat. Convincing those teams to return was something of a chore.
“We lost numbers from 2007 to 2008 due to a variety of circumstances, but we were happy that we were able to still remain ahead of 2006 numbers by diversifying our target groups,” said Dan Allen, CEU’s Special Programs Administrator.
This year the college added the Upward Bound program’s 103 participants to the camp and worked to expand other academic and field camps. Participants in the 2008 program dropped by 251 after climbing by 290 the previous year. Revenue dropped by approximately $18,000 after climbing by $25,000 in 2007.
“This is the type of program where you can’t make decisions based on snapshots – we need to analyze the trend to ensure we are moving in the right direction,” said vice president for Administration Kevin Walthers. He added “We had some challenges last year, but we’re not going to make excuses – we need this program to be successful so we can show potential students and their parents that CEU is a great place to go to school.”