Enrollment Management Electronic Newsletter

ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT ANNUAL REPORT

Ms. Kimberly Scranage, Vice President for Enrollment Management, will discuss the enrollment report with members of the Board.

As of October 15, 2012, the University census data submitted for the fall academic semester to the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC) showed a decrease in both headcount and full-time equivalencies for Shepherd University. The primary key performance indicators are as follows:

Non-degree enrollment saw the greatest decrease in matriculation, driven largely by the timing of an Education Professional Development (EDPD) offering.

Undergraduate degree-seeking matriculation is up over last year but lower than projected, primarily due to Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and partially implemented admissions strategies for freshman.

Full-time equivalencies are down due to SAP and students taking fewer hours.

Non-degree Enrollment

Non-degree enrollment saw the greatest decrease in matriculation, driven largely by the timing of an EDPD offering. During the 2011-2012 fall academic semester, Shepherd's graduate education program offered a professional development workshop for regional teachers prior to the October 15, 2011 census snapshot. This year, the workshop is not slated until November, which is after the October 15 census snapshot. Therefore, a reduction in non-degree enrollment was experienced. The end of term HEPC report will pick up the additional EDPD students that were not accounted for in this census report. We are projecting a similar number of participants comparable to 2011, which will be even with last year's non-degree enrollment.

The end of term fall HEPC report will pick up the additional EDPD students that were not accounted for in this census report. As a result, this fall class, along with a recently scheduled class for the spring semester, is projected to increase spring credits and revenue.

Undergraduate Enrollment

Undergraduate degree-seeking enrollment is up over last year but did not meet intended enrollment projections. Those placed on SAP in compliance with the new federal regulations at the end of last spring nearly doubled. After last spring, 558 students were placed on SAP due to low GPA, percentage of completion, and/or maximum time frame standards. There were 245 who enrolled in the fall with 313 who did not. The projection anticipated more students returning than did so.

New net revenue admissions strategies for incoming freshman were developed in conjunction with Enrollment Research Corporation, but not fully implemented as outlined. This negatively impacted the projected new freshman enrollment.

Full-time Equivalencies

Decreases in full-time equivalencies are due primarily to students placed on SAP. This resulted in a decrease in total student hours. While some students are taking fewer hours in order to focus on achieving improvement to their grade point average, others are also taking only the classes needed instead of taking extra credits with the intent to withdraw as may previously have been the case.

Curriculum reform, which moved all majors to 120 hours, has positively impacted time to graduation. Students only need to take 15 hours each semester to graduate in four years. In the past, students were taking more hours and graduating in five years due to the prescriptive curriculum. Fewer classes are now over-subscribed so savings result from less staffing needed.

http://www.shepherd.edu/bogweb/agenda/november12.pdf (Reference pages 19-23 for data report)