Recruitment and Retention Initiatives

Message from Sarah Bartlett, Administrative Dean
The Numbers (drum roll,please)

September 17, 2005
Dear All - I have delayed providing you all with a report on our fall enrollment numbers until the start of semester activity calmed down enough that I could get a handle on what our real numbers look like. I think that time has come and I am pleased to report that the news is good!

Our Spring 2005 undergraduate headcount was 375. We knew we had to turn this around. In conversations with the Policy Board, we set a goal of realizing a net gain of 100 students for the Fall 2005 semester. We calculated that to see that gain, we would need to recruit, admit, recapture and retain 240 students. We knew that it was an ambitious goal, but we were confident that it would mobilize us to show a substantial gain.

Well, the news as of today is that we made it! We have hit our goal of registering 100 more students for the Fall 2005 semester. Our undergraduate count, which includes certificate and degree seeking students is 475 as of this morning. Those numbers are evident in many places throughout the college. Last fall, we had about 80 students enrolled in the Critical Learning Seminars. This fall, we have over 160 students in the seminars. Course enrollments across the college are also up - as many of you who have come requesting larger
classrooms already know.

This is a major accomplishment for us. It is one that represents years of effort and planning, months of intensive work. The entire CPCS community shares in this accomplishment and I am very grateful. Some folks deserve special thanks:

As Interim Dean, Connie Chan made sure that we had the resources and support we needed to make this intensive push.

The Policy Board played a real leadership role in thinking strategically about the numbers and how to get them up, solidifying relationship with UMB Enrollment Management, and providing moral and practical support to make it happen.

Many, many faculty and staff participated in making this happen in countless ways - by participating in recruitment events, by leading community based initiatives, by connecting us to new sources for students, and by meeting with students to assist them in their entry to the College.

Two faculty committees on recruitment and retention made important steps in developing creative plans for improving our practices in both areas.

Andrea Wight (along with Peter, Saul, and Shannon) took the lead in improving our web-site as a real tool for recruitment. Their efforts paid off. New students in orientations consistently reported that the web was a great source of information to them.

Evelyn Wong always found us the resources we needed to fund whatever crazy idea we came up with. She joined the ranks of recruiters at numerous events and activities and has been the number one cheerleader -celebrating every bump in admissions with us.

The Staff of the Labor Resource Center - Susan, Tess, Jean, Wally and others- put together a totally successful recruitment initiative to get 20 labor studies students. They exceeded their goal.

Nimol San in Admissions worked closely with us in a really collaborative way to move on our applications and to make sure that students were properly advised and supported throughout the admission process.

Lisa Johnson's efforts to connect with us and to help us become more central in the University's enrollment planning are most appreciated

Obviously, the list of thank-you's is long. It has been a truly collaborative effort.

I need to say there is one group that deserves special recognition and that is the staff of the Office of Student Services: Suzanne Allmendinger, Lilieth Dolan, Linda Hardenbergh, Cheryl Monahan, Mary St. Jean and Elaine Ward. From the minute that I announced our goal, this group of phenomenal women took off. They thought together creatively and worked tirelessly to implement the plans we created to reach our goal. From building connections with community colleges and agencies, to patiently talking with almost every prospective student, to thinking of innovative ways to improve our practices, this team (and it really is a team) has worked tirelessly to recruit, inform, assist, orient, and enroll all of our new students. They have made connections, traveled far and wide, held peoples' hands, and navigated bureaucracy. Throughout the summer, they did outreach to students who had stopped out, held advising workshops for students who were struggling to stay in, ran workshops and support activities for students who want to come back. They have put in lots of extra hours and unbelievable effort. They have worked under lots of extra stress, and they have done so with great humor and remarkable effectiveness. They have shown not only their great competence and skill, but their deep commitment to this college, to its mission and to its future. I do not know how to adequately thank them for the work that they do. They do this college proud! I am so privileged to work with each and every one of them.

So, that's my report and now it's back to work. We all know this is just the beginning and we need to keep building. We're already hard at work on Spring recruitment and admissions and we continue to look at how we can support retention to keep this great group of students we now have. There is lots yet to do, but I also think that it is important to celebrate what we've all done.

I want to thank you ALL very much.

Sarah