How the other half lives... and keeps students

How the other half lives...
and keeps students
Provehito in altum
Julie Green - Strategic Analysis, Office of the Registrar
Maria Murray - Admissions, Office of the Registrar
Roxanne Preston - Office of Student Recruitment
What’s the problem?
How does a medium-sized, public,
comprehensive university with an accessibility
mandate strategically manage enrolment
goals?
Overview
Who we are
What we’ve learned
Changing landscape
Building relationships
Keeping our students
Now what?
St. John’s, Newfoundland
and
Newfoundland and Labrador
 Land area of approximately 156,629 sq.
Labrador,
Canada
miles (Texas = 261,797
sq. miles)
 Water Area: 34,030 km2 (21,145 mi2)
 Coastline: 17,542 km (10,900 mi)
 Canada’s most Easterly province
 North America’s most Easterly point
 Population of approximately 500,000
(Canada = 33,000,000 and
 Texas = 24,500,000)
100+ degree programs on
4 campuses including:
Online Undergraduate
and Graduate degrees as
well as Certificate and
Diploma programs
17, 103 students:
14,477 Undergraduate
2,415 Graduate
211 Post-graduate
12 Faculties and schools
including:
Faculty of Arts
Faculty of Science
Faculty of Engineering
School of Medicine, School
of Pharmacy School of
Social Work
Chancellor
President
Marketing and Communications
Alumni
VP Academic
2 Associate VPA’s
All faculties and schools
Heads of 2 other campuses
Office of the Registrar
Library
Student Recruitment
Distance Education and Lrng Tech.
Lifelong Learning
VP Research
Research centres
VP Admin and
Finance
Dean of Student
Affairs and Services
HR
Counselling Centre
Finance (Cashier’s Office)
Student Success Programs
Computing and Communications
Student Health Services
Facilities mgmt
Housing, Food and Conference Services
Risk mgmt
Career Development & Experiential Learning
Health and safety
General Counsel
Information Access and Privacy protection
Operating Budget
Memorial University Operating Budget
Government
grant
Student Fees
Investment
income
Other
Overview
Who we are
What we’ve learned
Changing landscape
Building relationships
Keeping our students
Now what?
Assumptions: US and
Canadian Origins
US is defined by:
Split from UK (revolution)
Individual rights and freedoms
Canada is:
 Still part of the Commonwealth
(counter-revolution)
 Role of government
(Skolnik and Jones, 1992)
Assumptions: US Student
Retention Research
 Residential, endowed institutions
with selective admissions
 Recruitment environment with
much greater access to prospect
info
 SATs: admissions and financial aid
leveraging
Canadian Higher Education
www.macleans.ca  Government funded
 Far fewer, relatively homogenous
institutions
 Students less mobile
 Commuter institutions prominent
 Accessibility prominent in funding and
institutional mandates
 Historically less competitive
Smith and Gottheil, 2008
Tinto: Student integration
"for students who commute to college, especially those who
have multiple obligations outside the college, the classroom may
be the only place where students and faculty meet, where
education in the formal sense is experienced (p. 559)."
Tinto, 1997
Astin: Student engagement
“2/3 of the variation among institutions in their completion
rates is attributable to differences in their entering student
bodies”
Astin, 2006
“Without strong social communities on commuter campuses, the
academic realm of the institution holds primary status” (p. 78)
Braxton and Hirschy (2005)
“ in commuter institutions, however, academic integration, particularly in
the classroom, makes a greater contribution than social integration to
desired outcomes”
Grayson, 1997/8
“in commuter campuses, students are less likely… to be involved in various informal academic and social
activities that contribute to the realization of desired educational outcomes. As a result, what goes on in the
classroom is more important in commuter campuses than in residential universities for the attainment of
educational outcomes, and potentially, for program satisfaction” (p. 2)
Grayson, 2004
.
Student engagement: Kuh
“For them, the classroom is the only venue where they regularly have face-to-face contact with
faculty or staff members and other students, learn how the institution works, and absorb the
campus culture”
Kuh, 2007
Involving campus community



Meaningful collaboration
Cross-functional involvement
Student focused
 Schroder, 2006
 Institutional commitment
 Expectations
 Learning communities
What is retention again?




Benchmarks
Systemic retention or persistence
Institutional enrolment management
Responsibility of accessibility mandate
Overview
Who we are
What we’ve learned
Changing landscape
Building relationships
Keeping our students
Now what?
Population Projections
% Change in 15-24 year olds from 2008 to 2016
Statistics Canada
Population Projections
15-24 year olds - NL
Total Undergraduate
Enrolment 1999-2008
Undergraduate Enrolment - NL
Undergraduate Enrolment - CDN
Undergraduate Enrolment - International
Research, creativity
activity and scholarship
Needs of the province
Conditions for success
Institutional integrity
Students
Overview
Who we are
What we’ve learned
Changing landscape
Building relationships
Keeping our students
Now what?


Increase Undergraduate
and Graduate Enrolment
17,500 - 20,500
Increase International and
Canadian Enrolments
from 16.5% to 35%
Recruitment
Provincial – maintain
National – increase
International - increase
Create realistic
expectations
Establishing Student
Relationships Project
 Cross-functional collaboration
 Student focused
 Cultural change
 Crumbling Silos
President
VP Academic
2 Associate VPA’s
All faculties and schools
Heads of 2 other campuses
Office of the Registrar
Library
Student Recruitment
Distance Education and Lrng Tech.
Lifelong Learning
VP Research
Research centres
VP Admin and
Finance
HR
Finance (Cashier’s Office)
Computing and Communications
Facilities mgmt
Risk mgmt
Health and safety
General Counsel
Information Access and Privacy protection
Dean of Student
Affairs and Services
Career Development & Experiential Learning
Counselling Centre
Student Success Programs-Scholarships; ISA
Student Health Services
Student Housing, Food and Conf Svs
Establishing Student
Relationships Project
 Increased touch points
 Prospect communication
 Peer - to - peer contact
 Faculty based contacts
 Academic Advising in High Schools
 Customization
 Tracking contacts
“She thanked us for
our call to her (it
seemed to me like she
really appreciated
it). She was looking
forward to hearing
more word on her
acceptance, and
couldn't wait to attend
MUN in the fall.”
Applicant
Technology tools:
Website
Portal
Live chat
Overview
Who we are
What we’ve learned
Changing landscape
Building relationships
Keeping our students
Now what?
Undergraduate Enrolment by
Program - 2007
Retention inventory
 Competitive admission
programs
 Non - competition
admission programs
 Undeclared
Relationship building





Early alert
Advisor caseloads
Maintaining student relationships project
Stop-out return project
Registrarial continuum
Student involvement in
governance
 Student involvement in all levels of
faculty/school council
 Strong relationship between student union and
university administration
Experiential Learning
 MUCEP
 Co - op education
 Internships
 Service learning
The Commons
 Support centre in the
academic heart of the
institution: the
Library
 Blended service
delivery
 Crossroads for faculty
and student
interaction
Virtual classrooms
 Off-campus courses
 Supplementary to oncampus courses
Overview
Who we are
What we’ve learned
Changing landscape
Building relationships
Keeping our students
Now what?
NSSE at Memorial University
 First years rated their experience slightly
higher than students at similar institutions
 Senior students generally score higher on
engagement
Next Steps
 New Enrolment Planning Structure
 Consultants
 SEM Plan
Need More ??
 jgreen
 mmurray
 rpreston
@mun.ca
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References
For complete list of references that informed many of the concepts addressed within the
presentation, please follow the attached links:
Retention:
http://refworks.scholarsportal.info/refshare?site=010291146456000000/190-17B6LDY91709043/Retention
Strategic Enrolment Management:
http://refworks.scholarsportal.info/refshare?site=010291146456000000/190-17B6LDY91709043/SEM