Graduate College Update

1. Graduate College Update Faculty Senate April 3, 2014

2. Recruitment and Marketing

5. Landing Page for Inquiries

6. Upcoming Strategies • Graduate Open Houses • Graduate College Day/Night for area institutions • Virtual open house and Graduate College Ambassadors • Target Local Employers • Deferred payment plan • Office hours for employees and area businesses with questions about returning to school • Non-degree Students • Communication plan to gauge interest in degree program • Collaborative Agreements (3:2 programs)

7. Other Considerations for Graduate Enrollment • Capacity • Quality of Applicant • Fit to program • Cost/Funding • Self pay • Employer pay • Country pay • Scholarship dollars • Department/college one time funds • Grants and Contract support • Academic Affairs graduate assistant allocations

8. Graduate Assistantships Issues/Concerns • An identified barrier for our programs when recruiting nationally and internationally has been the cost of an assistantship with non-resident versus resident tuition. • Planning for graduate summer courses is difficult without knowing in advance how many summer assistantships will be offered.

9. Graduate Assistantships Issues/Concerns • Given budget constraints, it is unlikely that funding for graduate assistantships will increase. • The transition from 6 to 9 credit hours covered/semester under the TAU contract has been covered with one time funds. • This use of one time funds to cover the increase in tuition is not sustainable.

10. Moving Forward • For a number of years, tuition expenditure was less than budgeted due to students taking less credits than offered. This was often recycled to fund summer positions or left untouched. • Propose to centralize the tuition so the accumulated savings could be used to cover cost of student tuition regardless of residency. • Propose to yearly allocate compensation dollars to colleges in fall for following year so timely offers can be made and course planning would be easier.

11. New Distribution Model • Beginning Fall 2014tuition will be centralized within the Graduate College (follows recommendation of committees from 2005 and 2010) • different method of tracking of expenditures will be implemented • Offers to new students can be made regardless of residency status • Continuous evaluation • Committee to evaluate principles for college compensation distribution

12. WMU Graduate Admissions partners with • to streamline the application process by using ApplyYourself to create a better experience for applicants and end users.

13. Internal Audit Conducted by Hobsons • Reviewed application process for 106 degree programs and university application • Reviewed practices of review and decision making • Reviewed current integration with the student information system

14. Hobson’s ApplyYourself Strategic Goals Simplify the applicant experience Reduce unnecessary and redundant data entry Add efficiency to the recommendation process Integrate the university and international applications Help academic units take review online Ensure continuity between ApplyYourself and Banner Retain current WMU branding

15. Current Progress on Implementation of HobsonsApplyYourself • Working with a Hobsons implementation specialist, we have begun building a customized application experience • Data cataloging is nearing completion • Information sessions next week for graduate directors/chairs on progress and for review of information

16. Graduate Student Teaching Institute July 14-18, 2014 This five day professional development program will help graduate students • assess their teaching practices • refine teaching and learning approaches • improve communication for diverse learners