I hope that you are having a good start to your semester. There is so much happening on and off-campus that I felt it was time to update you on the most significant issues associated with enrollment.

Enrollment 2003 and 2004

This is my ninth fall at Western and it has started off as the most enjoyable during that time. Faculty members are telling me that, on average, they are seeing a significant improvement in the quality of students this year. Some faculty also seem to be saying this to others in the community because I hear it repeated as I talk to outside groups and to members of the Board of Trustees. I am really happy that the processes we have put in place are beginning to yield positive results. Without everyone’s willingness to “go to the next level” this would not be happening. Faculty, staff, and administrators all have contributed so much to this improvement in situation and I just wanted to again say “Thank you.” What a difference you are making for this University and the people of the state.

I also wanted to let you know that Ann Rogers, the associate dean of the Honors College , has reported to me that this fall the College has a total enrollment of 879 students. This is a very considerable increase over last year and it represents a significant improvement in our enrollment. This year, there also is an active pre-professional student organization working to improve students’ chances of being admitted to medical, law, or other post-baccalaureate professional programs. Additionally, I have requested that the College focus more formally on developing our efforts to prepare students for Rhodes , Goldwater, Truman, and equivalent fellowships. This represents a very important next step for this University’s quest for quality.

Although it is very early in the recruitment cycle for 2004, we are seeing a significant “early surge” in applications. We are currently running way ahead of last year in the number of applications, so I asked our admissions staff to work with a higher admissions standard with regard to SAT and to defer students who would meet our normal standard, but not this higher level. If applications continue at this current pace, we will continue to enforce the higher admission criteria.

You also should be aware that we are examining the inclusion of the “unweighted high school GPA” as a criterion for admissions. North Carolina gives students a relatively high weighting for AP and honors classes so even low grades in honors classes can “bump up” a student’s apparent GPA. While all universities report the weighted GPA, there may be reason to look at the student’s unweighted performance. Before making this final decision, we will want to look at multiple regression models and non-parametric multivariate models to see how the admissions criteria interact with each other and with freshman performance.

Returning to the entering class of 2004, we are working to recruit a significantly better student in this class. We are now using an admissions standard that is becoming very competitive with surrounding schools. In fact, I have had the opportunity to review the Peterson’s Guide ratings of schools in our athletics conference and Western now compares favorably with the other public universities in the conference (Appalachian State, UNC-G, ETSU, UTC, and Georgia Southern). Because we are now seeking a better student, we need to remember that these students have many choices as to where to go to school. So, why would they choose to come to Western?

First, you have already done a great deal to improve our competitive situation by implementing liberal studies, improving your majors, and adding new programs that address students’ interests. I also am aware that Fred Hinson asked each department to designate a person to work with prospective students. To each faculty member who agreed, “Thank you.” We are interested in recruiting students who are academically gifted and who would find living at Western to be compatible with their lifestyles. Every university mails brochures to these students and has them contacted by admissions counselors. They can literally be bombarded with materials and phone calls from admissions personnel (many of them get enough brochures to fill a good size cardboard box). So, how do we help them understand in this cacophony of competing claims and information why Western may be their best choice? We know that many of these good students consider the quality of their academic experience and the relationships that they can establish with faculty members to be the most important variable in their selection of a university. This individualized approach to recruitment allows prospective students to have a chance to meet the people with whom they will work and can differentiate Western from many other schools that are trying to recruit them. (This also is a traditional recruitment approach used by competitive private universities.)

Second, each department has been asked to designate a faculty advisor to welcome and work with freshmen as they begin their relationship with an academic department. About a third of entering students this fall declared a major at orientation. At the end of September, 84 more undeclared students have declared majors and have moved from the Advising Center to the departments. Last year, only thirteen percent had declared a major by the end of the fall semester. The designated departmental advisor may be the student’s first real contact on an individual level with someone from the academic department. So, the advisor’s role is very, very important. I understand that the deans and the Advising Center are planning to meet with each academic department to answer questions regarding advising and to hear from you any concerns regarding support for advising or to discuss any communication inconsistencies. I hope that you will participate in this discussion.

Finally, I should mention that we are requesting funding for at least 8,100 headcount students for the next academic year. Our initial request is for 8,260 students, but because of the funding model, 8,100 would represent the minimum enrollment we would need to achieve to “make our budget.” You will recall that we are actually funded on growth in expected credit hours, not on headcount students, but there is a relationship between the headcount and credit hours. I would anticipate that the UNC system will review our requests in the light of changes in the number of high school graduates and expected enrollments at other universities in the system. I would not expect that they would ask us to increase our enrollment beyond these levels, but they may ask that we reduce our request somewhat.

This level of funding is being sought because for the first time in memory Western is over-enrolled by approximately 4 percent. That means that based on existing enrollment alone we could justify increasing our number of faculty positions. This is why I authorized filling twelve tenure-track positions for the next academic year—our current enrollment would justify nearly that number of positions. If we receive full-funding for 8,100 headcount students, we would anticipate another 18-22 faculty positions in addition to the current twelve. (The exact number would depend on the credit hour distribution that the system agrees we should achieve).

Can we support this level of growth? It appears that we can. We are placing faculty resources in departments to help us keep our average class size in check; the Greek Row should begin construction in early November and be completed before the beginning of the fall semester; and the new residence hall should be completed as well. This will create another 550 beds. (A new construction company has been hired by the bonding company and they assure us that the new residence hall will be completed.) We also are seeing development of new good quality student housing in the community, so there should be enough places for students to live. Additionally, some of this growth will be in Asheville and in distance education, so those students will not need accommodation.

Please remember that we are seeking to continue to significantly improve the academic quality of the University, not just the number of students. The future of this University must involve continuing improvements in our core academic reputation. We now have the faculty and programs to achieve both growth and quality. And, we are adding facilities and working to recruit better students. As a recent outside reviewer commented after spending time on campus “Western’s best days are ahead of it.”

Thank you for all that you are doing as we continue to strive for excellence.