This year much of the attention of the campus has been focused on issues involving admissions and retention of undergraduate students. Additionally, Dean Turay has begun the process of re-examining our approach to graduate student recruitment and services. I know that many of you are interested in where we are this spring and what the trends seem to be for fall. I also would like to make sure that you are aware of emerging state issues with regard to enrollment planning.
SPRING ENROLLMENT
We have passed the "freeze date" (the date on which all student data files are frozen and official institutional reports are submitted) for spring enrollment and the numbers are set. You may recall that last fall we suffered a decline in headcount enrollment of approximately 250. This reduction seems primarily to have been the result of two factors: 1) we substantially increased admissions criteria, and 2) many students failed to meet your increased academic expectations. The implementation of the computing admission standard may have had some modest impact in causing some students not to choose Western, but we also know that there are many students in the freshman class who enrolled at Western because of the requirement.
Data are now available for the fall semester and indications are that the work in which you have been engaged is making a difference. Student achievement is up significantly, as is student retention, and the number of serious problems experienced by students is down very significantly. Although the percentages are still higher than we would like, suspension rates are down more than one-eighth and probation rates are down more than one-fifth for freshmen. Discussions with faculty members indicate no "backing off" with regard to academic expectations; there is a general consensus that students simply performed better academically.
Your work this fall has had an impact on our current spring enrollment. Our fall-to-spring retention rate is up significantly. In fact, it is the highest we have experienced since 1992 and it reverses a seven-year trend of decline. At the undergraduate level, we are beginning to see the impact of higher expectations, learning contracts, learning communities, and the increased attention you are giving to individual students. At the graduate level we are continuing to see softness in enrollment in Cullowhee, but a significant increase in enrollment in Asheville. The net effect is that we have cut the deficit in headcount students from 250 in the fall to approximately 50 this spring.
Another important corollary of your increase in expectations is that we are seeing a significant decline in problems associated with alcohol abuse. In the first two months of the fall, the number of serious alcohol incidents in the residence halls declined approximately 57 percent. Also, the Counseling Center reports that it has had a major reduction in the number of crisis interventions.
I have been asked several times about the budget implications of the enrollment decline and I know that many of you are concerned. We will not hear from the General Administration for some time about this issue, but we are taking precautions. Rick Collings is holding vacant positions so that if we do suffer a budget cut, current full-time faculty will not have reason for concern. From discussions with him, I believe that he has prepared for any reasonable eventuality. And, while this leaves a number of departments in "limbo" regarding searches, it is the prudent approach to these circumstances. Rick assures me that he will release any remaining open positions as soon as we know where we are budgetarily.
FALL 1999 ENROLLMENT
Fall 1999 enrollment depends on both recruitment and retention. We are making significant progress, but we need to continue to focus on these issues. It is too early to get a read on graduate admissions, but we are beginning to see a trend in undergraduate admissions. As of February 15, we are running somewhat ahead of last year in total applications. The number of applications received each week seems to be stronger than those received in the equivalent week last year. The average applicant seems to be somewhat better than last year, but our final SAT will result primarily from our ability to convert better applicants into enrollees. We have every chance to break 1000 on the SAT average for the first time if we improve our conversion of academically talented applicants. It is especially critical that we work with students who have SATs between 1000 and 1200 and GPAs between 3.0 and 3.5. These students do not qualify for the Honors College, and they generally are not awarded academic scholarships. However, they still are excellent students who can contribute a great deal to the University and to your classes. It also should be noted that, even though currently we are using a minimum SAT that is 140 points higher than we used in 1996, we seem to have fewer applicants who do not meet our minimum standards. High school counselors seem to be more aware of our increased admissions standards.
It is significant that we seem to be attracting a number of excellent applicants. This year, thirty-seven North Carolina Teaching Fellow regional finalists named Western as their first-choice institution. Also, we have applications from ten National Merit semifinalists. We expect eight or nine of these students to be named finalists. This is particularly important because we are in our last year of candidacy for "National Merit" status. The Honors College has admitted more than 210 students who have an average SAT of 1221 and an average weighted high school GPA of 4.07. We need to actively recruit every one of these teaching fellows, National Merit Finalists, and Honors College applicants. They will make a difference in your classes and in the reputation of your University.
The critical issue for us at this time involves our ability to convert admitted students into registered students. The Pappas Group, our admissions and retention consultants, continue to press on the notion that creating a personal relationship with prospective students is the very best way to convert them from applicants to enrollees. This "personal relationship" form of recruiting is much more effective if it involves people with whom the student will interact once he or she comes to Western. Therefore, we have asked faculty, staff, and students to call, write, or otherwise contact accepted students. I cannot overemphasize how important these contacts are. Major universities-Clemson and Kentucky for two-understand that faculty members and current students are by far the best contacts for prospective students. On average, a student who enrolls in a university should get seven contacts from the campus. The more of these that are personal and directly address the student's needs and interests, the more likely the student is to enroll.
Last fall, we had current students telephone prospective students. They were able to complete more than 1,500 calls. Data show that students who received a telephone call from Western were 2.7 times more likely to complete an application than ones who did not. This spring, we have continued calling prospects and as a result we have sent out more than 200 additional applications to people who had not yet applied. Personal contact works.
I would like to thank each department that is actively calling prospective students and to especially thank those faculty and staff members who have taken responsibility for making these calls. It is time consuming, but it will pay off. You will see good students in your classes who are interested in your field of study. You are not only helping grow the institution, but you are helping attract really good students to your major. If you have not yet taken part in contacting students, please consider doing so. After all, would you have preferred to go to school where you were wanted or where no one cared about you?
ENROLLMENT POLICY ISSUES
We have been discussing for some time the need for Western to grow. It is interesting to note that state policy now seems to be moving in a direction that should assist us.
Members of the General Assembly and Board of Governors are concerned about projections that indicate that demand for university enrollment in North Carolina will increase very significantly over the next several years. Adding to their concern is the fact that UNC-CH and NCSU are already large and space is at a premium. Therefore, they are looking to the regional universities to absorb much of the new enrollment. According to an article in the Asheville Citizen-Times, Western, ECU, and UNC-Wilmington are specifically targeted to grow.
To assist with enrollment and capital planning, President Broad engaged the firm of Eva Klein and Associates. Ms. Klein visited campus in the fall and she recently made her preliminary report to the Board of Governors. Her projections are based on national space utilization standards and a detailed analysis of the capacities of each university campus. Further, she considered the degree to which the local infrastructure could manage the increased enrollment. The tentative conclusions of her analysis regarding Western are:
Based on national utilization standards, our existing gross square footage of academic space is sufficient to accommodate 9,000 or more students. Much of the space is poorly configured and would need renovation to be used more effectively. The sciences may require a new building, or the existing buildings will require extensive renovation.
To accomplish significant growth, we will need additional residence halls and student support spaces. Of particular note was Ms. Klein's support for a major indoor recreation center.
Because the University controls most of its own infrastructure, we have the potential to make necessary modifications to accommodate additional enrollment.
To allow for appropriate capital planning and orderly development of the campuses, there is need for a new capital funding model. This model should consider total campus need for capital construction and be based on a combination of funds, possibly including state appropriations, bonds, and student fees. Currently, residence halls and recreational facilities are paid for solely by student fees. The new proposal would focus attention on institutional need rather than on type of facility.
In addition to Ms. Klein's work, General Administration staff has completed a study of tuition rates. The study's preliminary conclusion is that out-of-state tuition rates at the regional universities are somewhat higher than at similar institutions nationally. Therefore, the Board of Governors has under consideration a proposal to increase out-of-state tuition little, if at all, until rates at regional institutions nationally catch up with those charged in the UNC system.
In addition to these general issues of physical plant and tuition, I have been discussing with Ms. Klein and several staff members at General Administration other educational policy issues that can affect growth of the regional campuses. Most important among these issues are consideration of locating popular academic degree programs at the regional universities to encourage students to enroll; development of a merit-based in-state scholarship program to encourage academically talented students to enroll at the regional campuses, thus increasing both the campus's reputation and enrollment; and assisting with marketing the regional universities. Although there are no conclusions to these conversations, the issues are being entertained.
I expect that there will be differences of opinion regarding the impact of growth on the University and the actual numbers of students that we should enroll. While there will be a great deal of discussion of these issues, we are all too aware of the implications of not growing. What I believe is most critical as we grow is that we not lose focus on our essential culture and traditions. Western has consciously kept classes small and focused a great deal of our time and talent on teaching our students. The quality of their experiences on campus should increase as we improve services-if we continue to keep our class sizes small. North Carolina has a long tradition of funding enrollment increases; it is in large measure local decisions at universities that create large classes. We can resist this temptation and retain our focus on quality education with a personal touch. An overall increase in student enrollment does NOT necessarily mean we would have to lose our small-classes advantage. Your willingness to spend time and effort on individual students is truly what makes this campus special.
Again, thank you for all your hard work and your willingness to make the moves necessary to assure Western's future.