Wisdom Sharing: Retention and Enrollment

Management

Koreen Ressler, PhD

Vice President of Academics

What is Enrollment Management

An organizational concept and a systematic set of activities designed to enable educational institutions to exert more influence over their student enrollments.

Organized by strategic planning and supported by institutional research, enrollment management activities concern student college choice, transition to college, student attrition and retention, and student outcomes.

These processes are studied to guide institutional practices in the areas of new student recruitment and financial aid, student support services, curriculum development, and other academic areas that affect enrollments, student persistence, and student outcomes from college.

Hossler, Don; Bean, John P.; and Associates. (1990). The Strategic Management of College Enrollments. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

SBC Enrollment Management TargetsTo have increased new student enrollment by 50 per year.

Results for 2013-201489 (47 for fall, 41 for spring) - Increase of 27 students from 2012-2013Fall 13-19 GED and 28 High School graduatesSpring 14-14 GED and 24 High School graduates with 3 unknown 13 students right out of HS fall 2013, increase of one student from fall 2012To have increased fall to fall retention rates by 2% per year.

Results for 2013-2014Increase of 4.4% for overall student retention Decrease of 8% for first-time degree seeking students To have increased fall to spring persistence rates by 2% per year.

Results for 2012-2013Increase of 9.8% for overall student persistenceIncrease of 12% for first time degree seeking studentsTo have increased graduation rates by 2% per year.

Results 2005-24% , 2006-17%, 2007-12%

SBC Enrollment ManagementMission

To actively recruit, enroll, and supports a diverse student body that meets the overall Strategic Plan of the college; and promotes student retention and completion rates.

Marketing

Recruitment Retention Financial Aid Professional Development Data Collection

Marketing Goal1. To develop and implement a comprehensive marketing

plan through 2017. Objective: Develop a campaign to brand SBC. Expected Results: 25 different slogans will be received from

students; one will be selected with the winner receiving a $100 gift card.

Actual Results: Seven potential slogans were submitted by students to the College’s Outreach Coordinator. The seven were put to a vote for selection from students, faculty, and staff and narrowed to three. The top three were reviewed by the Governance Committee; a selection was made and approved by the Board of Trustees. Build a Brighter Future was selected as it was the closest slogan mirroring the College’s vision statement. The student received $100 for her submission.

Action/Recommendationfor Marketing

Recruitment Goal2. To establish and maintain a recruitment plan that will increase new

students by 50 per year through 2017. Objective: To increase enrollment of current high school

graduates. Expected Results: At a minimum 300 high school contacts will be made in a year resulting in an additional 10 high school graduates per year.

Actual Results: Grand Total Contacts - 402 (Duplicated) Increase of 114 contacts over 2012-2013 contacts. 13 students right out of HS fall 2013, increase of one student from fall

2012 (out of potential of 100 high school graduates)

Objective: To increase enrollment of current GED graduates. Expected Results: At a minimum 200 GED contacts will be made in a year resulting in an additional 10 GED completers per year:

Actual Results: There were 33 GED graduates that each spent approximately 30 hours

receiving tutoring through SBC GED program for 990 hours of contact. Out of the 33 graduates in 2013, 13 or 39% were admitted into SBC.

Action/Recommendations for Recruitment

Build Your Brighter Future Tuition Scholarship:A scholarship of $1,800 shall be awarded to current year high school graduates and GED completers who register full-time at Sitting Bull College in the fall or spring semester following their date of graduation. A second scholarship may be awarded to students who successfully pass each class enrolled in with a “C” or better letter grade (a minimum of 12 credit hours) in the first-term of enrollment based on the GPA earned by the student:

• $1,800 - 2nd Scholarship awarded to students who earn 4.00 Semester GPA

• $1,200 - 2nd Scholarship awarded to students who earn 3.50 to 3.99 Semester GPA

• $ 900 - 2nd Scholarship awarded to students who earn 3.00 to 3.49 Semester GPA

• $ 600 - 2nd Scholarship awarded to students who earn 2.00 to 2.99 Semester GPA

Action/Recommendations for Recruitment

Build Your Brighter Future Dorm Scholarship:A scholarship of $500 shall be awarded to current year high school graduates and GED completers who register full-time at Sitting Bull College in the fall or spring semester following their date of graduation. The student must apply for occupancy in the SBC dormitory and receive a room assignment from the SBC Housing Director. A second $500 scholarship may be awarded to students who successfully pass each class enrolled in with a “C” or better letter grade (a minimum of 12 credit hours) provided the student remains an occupant of the SBC dormitory.

Retention & CompletionGoal

3. To establish and maintain a retention plan through 2017. Objective: To improve engagement of all students.

Expected Results: 50% of current students will attend the student summit with an overall satisfaction level for the summit at 3.5 on a five point likert scale.

Actual Results: In the fall semester 141 out of 260 students or 54% of students

attended the student summit. The overall satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5 was 4.5. The overall benefit of the summit to the student was 4.2.

In the spring semester 92 out of 306 students or 30% of students attended the student summit. The students rated the speaker a 4.9 satisfaction, with an overall satisfaction rate of 4.6 for the summit. The overall benefit of the summit to the students was 4.6. The low attendance for the spring summit was estimated to be a result of it having to be postponed due to weather.

Action/Recommendationfor Retention Encourage faculty to use the Summit as a

basis for a class assignment in order to encourage attendance.

Student Financial Management Goal

4. To establish and maintain a student financial management plan through 2017. Objective: To increase the number of scholarships awarded to

students. Recommended Results: The number of scholarships awarded each

academic year will increase by 10%. Actual Results: Fourteen new scholarship sources were located this year with 0 students funded. The FA Director was

not required to provide budgets to any of these sources so it is unknown how many students may have actually applied for one or more of these scholarships.

One new scholarship was started at SBC – Theresa Ressler Nursing Scholarship with four second year nursing students awarded from this fund.

One new SBC scholarship awarded to the TREND students was awarded in 2013-14. A total of $14,979 was awarded – average award of $555.

One new TCU scholarship was identified – UM-TERM. $21,000 was awarded – average award of $1,105.

Total funds awarded in 2013-14 through 05-05-14 is $2,178,988 awarded to 1048 students (duplicated count).

Total funds awarded in 2012-13 through 06-30-14 is $2,181,453 awarded to 981 students. The total number of students awarded increased in 2013-14 but the average award dropped to $2,088

compared to $2,224 in the previous year.

Recommendation/Actionfor Financial Aid Recommend word changed to “identified” instead of

“awarded” as it appears that students have not been very diligent in applying for new funding sources identified.

Continue to locate new scholarships and disseminate to students. Send direct e-mailings to specific students based on majors targeted in the scholarships located.

Post newly located scholarships on SBC website, MySBC, and Student Services facebook page.

Professional DevelopmentGoal

5. To implement and maintain a professional development plan for staff and faculty on effective practices in retention and persistence through 2017. Objective: To provide resources for faculty and staff to

attend First Year Learning Experience conferences. Expected Results: The individuals in attendance will provide written or oral

reports of information from conference at Student Life Committee meetings, and faculty meetings.

Actual Results: Three members of Retention/Student Life Committee, two first year experience

faculty, and institutional data coordinator attended the first year learning experience conference in San Diego, CA.

Changes will be implemented to FYLE course based on concepts of linking and flipping courses. In addition, one faculty will be revising her syllabus based attending the conference.

Recommendation/Action for Professional Development Continue sending first year experience

faculty to conference. It is recommended that as an outcome of

the Walmart Student Retention Grant, that SBC complete a proposal for a workshop presentation.

Data Collection and Reporting Goal6. To establish and maintain an effective data

collection and reporting system through 2017. Objective: To complete an annual report that is

shared with the college community. Expected Results: Written and oral reports to all stakeholders. Actual Results: The Enrollment Management report placed on the College’s web

site, presented to the Board of Trustees, and shared with faculty and staff.

Results of the Enrollment Management report was used for the final Walmart Student Retention report. In addition, SBC assisted with the authoring of two articles on student retention and the first year learning experience course.

Recommendation/Actionfor Data Collection Continue share data.

SBC Enrollment Management Plan Handout of 2013-2014 Enrollment

Management Plan with data and results. Use the same format as general education

and program assessments, along with strategic planning reporting.

ConclusionSuccessful retention efforts require a clear retention plan that provides base line data and establishes targeted, measureable goals for student success.

Once this has been developed and implemented, a companion and more expansive, institution-wide process would be the development and implementation of an enrollment management plan.

These processes enable colleges to track student data in meaningful ways to inform and support data driven decision-making for stronger TCUs.

Reflection/Interaction

Choose a partner and discuss your retention/enrollment management efforts.

15 minutes

Report Out

Questions

For further information contact:

Dr. Koreen Ressler, Vice President of Academics

koreenr@sbci.edu.