MINUTES – FEBRUARY 4, 2002
ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT TEAM

 

 

The Enrollment Management Team (EMT) met on Feburary 4, 2002, with the following members present:  Sandra Close, Bill Cox, Lori Duke, Gordon Folger, Deborah Horvitz, Sue Kearney, Carol Kercheval, John Mecham and Sue Todd.  Amy Hitlin also participated, representing Ann Gleason.

 

The minutes of the prior meeting were approved and discussion ensued on several items.  Concerning ways to communicate with the campus community and the best ways to identify groups, the EMT made the following recommendations:

There was some feeling that it would be helpful if an “all undergraduates” mailing list and a listserv by projected graduation date were set up, but some members thought that these features might not be essential once the campus is using Datatel. 

 

Sue K. thanked Lori Duke and Sandra Close for helping to contact students who had not pre-registered for spring and acknowledged the helpfulness of Heidi LeCount’s and Charlie Simm’s work in reviewing lists of on-campus and commuting students.  Sue K. wrote letters to a number of students who had not pre-registered but who had given no indication that they would not be returning.  Also, Carol was asked to be sure the introduction to the admissions section of the catalogue is edited to acknowledge the fact that Meredith works with/welcomes non-degree seeking students in its credit courses.

 

Sue K. provided an enrollment update for Spring 2002 and distributed an unofficial report, as some registrations are still being verified.  She reported that total enrollment is 94 percent of the fall numbers and is also 94 percent of last spring’s total enrollment.  An official report will be generated as quickly as possible and will be shared with the EMT.

 

Carol and Deborah provided brief verbal reports on applications for Fall 2002, and Carol updated the group on recruitment efforts, including the “Rising to the Challenge” event for potential Teaching Fellows and the earlier than usual awarding of scholarships to students invited into the Honors Program.  Bill reported that more scrutiny is going into the financial aid awards since there may be payback of some funds required if a student  withdraws.  Bill also indicated that he is entering financial aid data into the computer for all aid recipients, including those who do not enroll, in order that research and tracking can be done.

 

Sue K. discussed the issues that have been considered in providing enrollment projections for the coming year.  Factors that may affect outcomes include Meredith’s increase in tuition, the economy, the effect that the events of September 11th might have, the large number of students projected to graduate, and application trends thus far.  Projections used for budgeting are, of course, always lower than enrollment goals.   Sue also shared a report (copy attached to official minutes) on students’ reasons for withdrawing, as recorded in the computer by the Registrar’s office.  This report was prepared in response to a Herald article that referred to the number of students that might transfer as a result of rising costs.  Sue urged the group not to put too much stock in the report, as only one reason for leaving can be recorded in the computer file.  However, the number of those for whom transferring appeared to be the primary reason for leaving Meredith does not appear to have increased last year.  Also, Sue noted that statistics about the racial/ethnic background of current students do not bear out the assertion that diversity has suffered this year as a result of increased costs.

 

The EMT next talked about what our enrollment goals are for Fall 2002.  A range of 2425 – 2475 total registrants was predicted last summer, and Sue indicated that we should shoot for the higher mark (hoping to exceed that number, of course).  Potential goals for the various admission programs were suggested, as well as a goal of 81 – 82 percent (or higher) retention of freshmen into the sophomore year (cf 79 percent this year). 

 

To help the College reach the goals, the EMT discussed retention and recruitment/yield strategies. Several suggestions were made concerning the helpfulness of improving service throughout the campus.  These included the following:

·        Provide support and training for staff at all levels, including those offering fundamental services such as housekeeping, grounds, etc.

·        Offer training sessions on a quarterly basis;

·        Schedule lunches to talk about service needs and to solicit ideas from staff;

·        Reward service of exceptional quality;

·        Remind the SMT of the discussion we had last year and of the suggestions made for improving service campuswide.

John suggested that a transfer study might be conducted to see why transfers have chosen to come to Meredith and that the data could be used to help recruit additional transfer students.  The suggestion was also made that we might look at the institutions from which transfers have come to help in the recruitment process.  Sandra reported that the 23+ Program is looking at a new admission policy to reduce the number of “at risk” students.  Bill indicated that more information is being requested in the financial aid process in order to make sure that the money available is used where it is most needed.  Sue provided a report on the Meredith Service Awards (20 granted, inclujding 1 freshman, 5 sophomores, and 14 junior recipients) and indicated that the renewal process for Emerging Leaders Scholarships is in place.

 

A recommendation was made that the catalogue copy be edited to accurately reflect that a $100 advance deposit is not refundable, even after the student has entered.  Currently the refund section indicates a 100 percent return of payments during the drop/add period. 

 

The meeting was adjourned.  The next meeting is set for March 4th at 1:30 p.m.

 

 

Sue Kearney, Chair