Enrollment Management ITS NOT Rocket Science

1. Enrollment Management ITS NOT Rocket Science AASFAA Spring Conference May 2, 2013 Dr. James Theeuwes Director Financial Aid Faulkner State Community College

2. Goals of Presentation • Discuss various ideas and functions of enrollment management: its not rocket science • Explore issues involved from admissions to retention and the reasons why enrollment management is a necessary tool for colleges and universities • Look at statistical modeling, best practices and outcomes

3. Definition • Enrollment Management is a term used frequently in higher education to describe well-planned strategies and tactics to shape the enrollment of an institution and meet established goals. Plainly stated, enrollment management is an organizational concept and a systematic set of activities designed to enable educational institutions to exert more influence over their student enrollments.

4. Examples from various Institutions • Welcome to Enrollment Management! The mission of the Division of Enrollment Management is to strategically plan, implement, and evaluate services and programs which facilitate student enrollment and success. • The Division of Enrollment Management will • Be acknowledged as a model for innovative enrollment management programs, services and practices; • Ensure the University has a successful and diverse student population; • Engage the University community in the enrollment planning process. • Consist of Admissions, Financial aid, Registrar, Housing and Enrollment Technologies

5. Examples - Continued • Enrollment Management is an association of university strategic partners consisting of: • The Office of Admissions, Bursar's Office, • Division of Financial Aid, • International Students and Scholars, • Student Access, Transition and Success Programs, • Office of the Registrar • Space Management and Academic Scheduling This association will develop and continually reevaluate a comprehensive enrollment management strategy that is consistent with university goals, mission, and resources. The implementation of this model will maintain lateral autonomy in which areas internally operate within the framework of the enrollment strategy with an outcome of realizing university goals Discovery, Learning and Engagement

6. Examples - Continued • Enrollment Management is the administrative area of the University that includes the Offices of University Admission, Financial Assistance and Registrar. • The Mission of Enrollment Management is to assist and coordinate the above mentioned offices in providing state-of-the-art administrative services and information to students and their families. • The Office of the Dean is responsible to monitor student enrollment, retention, marketing, merit scholarships and need-based financial aid trends

7. Examples - Continued • Welcome to the Office of Enrollment Management XXX University. Our focus is on students, their needs, and their SUCCESS! Our goal is to recruit students for success, link them to faculty and other mentors and guides, and help them become XXX graduates and lifelong achievers and learners • Enrollment Management delivers an array of services to students, faculty, and staff including: • Academic Advising & Retention (which also includes Education Pay$, NOVA, Student Athlete Academic Success Center, and the Transfer Center, • Admissions, Financial Aid, Registrar, • Transition & University Services(which also includes Academic Skills, Academic Testing, Developmental Education, Educational Talent Search, First Step Program, and Upward Bound.

8. Example - Continued • To create clear pathways for students to apply, enroll, finance their education and succeed at YYY University.  Staff in the • Office of Admissions, • the One-Stop Phone Center, • the Office of the Registrar, • and the Office of Student Financial Assistance • Will employ creative and innovative approaches in order to provide personalized service to both current and prospective students. 

9. Enrollment Management • What it is NOT • Just an Admissions function • Just a Retention or Graduation function • What it is • Strategic combination of the resources necessary to manage a system of student services that provide the services needed for our students to be successful in completing their college careers in a timely manner.

10. Admissions Funnel

11. Enrollment Management Funnel

12. Reason for Enrollment Management • Admissions • Declining admissions • Declining high school graduations

13. Average Number of Students Available to Enroll

14. FTE Enrollments by State

15. Reasons for Enrollment Management • Rising Cost • College cost keep rising • More scarce resources being used for education • Less State and Local support - $59,000,000,000 • More FEDERAL AID Dollars PELL ( $17,000,000,000 to $38,000,000,000) • Institutional aid resources

16. Average Dollars spent per student

17. State Funding Cuts 2008 - 2013

18. Public Post Secondary Tuition Increases 2008 - 2013

19. State: $59 Billion and Counting

20. Alabama - $1,517,800,000

21. 3 Year Pell Changes

22. Reasons for Enrollment Management • Retention • Freshman to Sophomore Retention rate is declining • Overall Retention rates not changed in 40 years • Graduation rates actually declining

23. Average National First Year Retention Rate

24. 19 Year Graduation Rates and 1st year Retention Rates for Four Year Colleges

25. Graduation Rates by College Type

26. Freshman Retention and Graduation Rates for Selected States

27. Graduation rates • In the past 20 years graduation rates at both public and private four –year institutions have declined (Habley & McClananhan, 2004). • The ‘gap’ in 5 year graduation rates between public and private also widened from 1988 to 2007. The gap in 1988 was 10.1% (48 % vs. 58.1) and in 2007 the ‘gap’ was 14.1 (43.7% vs. 57.8%

28. Retention Rates • When compared to an overall attrition rate of 40% (Strauss & Volkwein, 2004), 50% of attrition from a college usually takes place between the freshmen and sophomore years (Theeuwes, 2006). • So the question remains, with all that is being done to encourage more students to attend and persist in college, why haven’t the attrition numbers decreased?

29. Why Students Leave - Surveys

30. Enrollment Management Function • Data driven – all aspects, not ‘seat of the pants’ • Involved in strategic planning • Quality Service from all aspects of operation • Communication, cooperation and collaboration • Admissions, registrar, student affairs, student accounts, etc.

31. Enrollment Manager • Need President or Chief Executive officer support • EM must be able to/ have • influence, communicate, persuade, lobby, and bargain with others • Formal and informal education • Broad, well versed in all aspects of higher education • Other skills: Communication, computers, analytical, marketing research and personnel management

32. Enrollment Management Tools • Tools • Data driven inquiry management • Data driven travel planning • Making the case for affordability • ROI of XXX university education • Targeted messages and proof statements for high ability students • Transfer success – data and anecdotes

33. EM tools Continued • Predictive modeling • Outcomes-based research on retention, programs, and activities • Evaluation of students' satisfaction to meet the needs of students, graduates, and society in general • There is NOmagic bullet

34. Outcomes of Enrollment Management • Provide academic deans, the president, and fiscal officers: • With information about programs, the quality of students, demographic trends for graduates and potential students, attrition, and image. • Discovery of practices in awarding financial aid that may assist some students but may present financial problems for the institution and ethical concerns for the enrollment manager. “All pigs aren’t equal” “merit vs. “need” “legacy” “he’s a good kid- he is ‘someone’s kid” • Increase Enrollment/retention

35. EM Data Resources • http://www.nassgap.org/about.aspx • The National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs • http://www.collegeresults.org/default.htm • The Education Trust • http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/cheri/ • Cornell Higher Education Institute • http://www.sheeo.org/ • State Higher Education Executive Officers • http://www.ticas.org/index.php • The Institute for College Access & Success

36. EM Data Resources • nces.ed.gov/ipeds • The IntegratedPostsecondaryEducationDataSystem • http://www.ucan-network.org/ • University and Accountability Network • http://www.census.gov/ • U.S. Census Bureau • www.oecd.org/education/database • The UNESCO/OECD/EUROSTAT (UOE) database on education statistics

37. State Higher Education Executive Officers • SHEEO's mission objectives are to: • Assist its members and the states in developing and sustaining excellent systems of higher education. • Emphasize the importance of state planning and coordination for higher education by promoting effective strategic planning and statewide coordination and governance. • Speak as a national organization in public and private forums, promoting the interests of the states in effectively planning and financing higher education. • Promote cooperative relationships with federal agencies, colleges and universities, and higher education and other associations in the collection and exchange of data and information, development of standard definitions and practices, conduct of studies, and development of higher education in the public interest. • Formulate and recommend to public and private agencies and governments desirable guidelines for state and federal relationships to institutions of higher education. • Encourage studies and other action to advance statewide planning and coordination.

38. The Education Trust College Results Online allows you to: • Examine overall graduation rates and see how those rates have changed over time • Learn about universities' records graduating diverse groups of students • Compare the graduation rates of similar institutions

39. Cornell Higher Education Institute • CHERI was established in the fall of 1998 to provide a vehicle for interdisciplinary research on higher education. • Faculty and administrators affiliated with CHERI come from 5 different Cornell colleges and other academic institutions around the world.

40. Need Help???? • www.scannellkurz.com • Scannell & Kurz • www.noellevitz.com • Noel-Levitz • www.maguireassoc.com • Maguire Associates

41. Resources • College Success Programs Author: R. Denise Myers.http://www.pathwaystocollege.net/pdf/CollegeSuccessPrograms.pdf • University of Louisville. REACH, retention program. http://www.reach.louisville.edu/about/retention.html • The Role of Academic and Non-Academic Factors in Improving College Retention Authors: Veronica Lotkowski, Steven Robbins, Richard Noeth, ACT Policy Report. http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/college_retention.pdf

42. Resources • Syracuse University: Division of Student Support and Retention. http://www.studentsupport.syr.edu/ • McLennan Community College. Retention Program. http://www.mclennan.edu/departments/hsp/adn/retention.html • Hudson Valley Community College. Retention Programs. https://www.hvcc.edu/issr/otherprograms.html

43. Resources • The Pell Institute. http://www.pellinstitute.org/ • Access to Higher Education for African Americans. Author: Pelonomi K. Khumoetsile-Taylor. http://www.bhcc.mass.edu/PDFs/TFOTHigherEducAfricanAmeric.pdf • EFFECTIVE PRACTICES BLIOGRAPHY http://www.studentretention.org/RetentionRetreatPPT/TAB8_EFFECTIVEPRACTICESWEBLIOGRAPHY.pdf

44. Enrollment Management Its Not Rocket Science • Contact: • Dr. James Theeuwes • jim.theeuwes@faulknerstate.edu • 251-580-2154 Questions????