Dear campus colleagues,
I hope this e-mail finds you enjoying your summer. With August 1 around the corner, I am beginning to get that excited feeling in my stomach that must mean the fall semester is getting closer. Hopefully we’ll get some consistent summer weather before that happens!
I want to update you briefly on decisions I’ve made regarding leadership in our admissions and financial aid division. As you know, Fred Pfursich stepped down from his post as vice president on Tuesday. We continue to wish Fred the absolute best during his transition to California, and we appreciate his long service to Whitworth. With Fred’s departure and the immediate need to continue our efforts toward this fall’s entering freshman class, as well as our planning for the Fall 2012 entering cohort, I appointed Greg Orwig as acting vice president. Greg officially took his post yesterday. For the past month, Greg has worked closely with Fred and the teams in enrollment services to ensure a smooth transition.
This week, I asked Greg to serve in his role as acting vice president indefinitely. I am very confident in Greg’s abilities and experiences that will enable his leadership in this very important area of university operations. Those who work so diligently in admissions and financial aid have also expressed to me their confidence and excitement about working with Greg in his new role. I met with the admissions services group this afternoon and informed them that we will not be engaging in a formal search to appoint a permanent vice president this year. Rather, I would like to give Greg and his team the opportunity to execute on our enrollment plans without the constraints of a formal search occurring simultaneously.
At the end of this year, I will reevaluate our standing in enrollment services and make a decision about ongoing leadership in that area. In the meantime, I’ve given Greg a clear charge to evaluate all of our recruitment and aid efforts and to make any necessary changes that he determines will enhance our ability to achieve the enrollment and composition goals articulated in the Whitworth 2021 plan. I appreciate Greg’s willingness to take on this new role. I know he will appreciate your support and prayers.
As Greg vacates his office in McEachran, I am assessing the ongoing needs in my office and for our campus related to the role of chief of staff. I expect that position will be filled, but I am unsure of any timeline. In the interim, Greg will continue to chair our University Council and its effort to monitor and support the implementation of our strategic plan.
While I have you, let me give you a quick summary of this fall’s enrollment picture. As of yesterday, we had 541 confirmed freshman students. You will recall that our final enrolled freshman count last year was an unusually large 683 students. The 541 figure represents an approximate 60 student deficit relative to our goals to produce an entering class of about 600 students. As you may have read or are hearing from colleagues at other private institutions, our results are not dissimilar from what other campuses are experiencing this year, but missing our enrollment goal does create some real challenges for us.
The good news is that this fall’s entering freshman cohort appears to be among Whitworth’s highest achieving classes in recent history. The average SAT of this fall’s confirmed freshmen has risen 30 points over last year’s figure, to 1803 – we clearly traded off size for quality in this cohort; not a bad tradeoff but for those pesky dollars that are inexorably attached. Our confirmed transfers for this fall currently number 77 – our goal is to hit 85 transfer students, and it appears that we may very well hit that target. Overall, Gary Whisenand’s most recent estimate of overall full-time matriculated day (i.e., FTMD, or traditional undergraduate) enrollment is 2,192. Last year’s fall number was 2,202. So after experiencing an approximate 9% growth in that figure last year, we will see a very stable enrollment picture this year. Recall that our Whitworth 2021 plan calls us to grow gradually to approximately 2,300 FTMD students and then maintain that level indefinitely.
Lastly, our budgeted FTMD enrollment for fiscal year 2011-12 is 2,246, so Gary’s estimate puts us about 54 students behind budget. As I mentioned above, this is a real challenge, and the Cabinet has already made adjustments to this year’s budget to reflect this reality. Let’s all pray that our numbers hold tight this summer so that further budget reductions aren’t necessary.
Rounding off the enrollment picture are students in continuing studies and graduate programs. Cheryl Vawter informed me today that continuing studies enrollments are “strong and steady,” while graduate program enrollments are still in flux due to their regular cycle of admissions which is less amenable to analysis at this time of year. More information on those figures will be forthcoming.
Thanks for being patient…this e-mail wasn’t intended to be this long or boring. Numbers are important and have a direct impact on our campus, but they don’t define us. What defines us is our Christ-centered mission and our commitments to serve our students and community. Thank you for living out those commitments so well.
See you around The Loop, and continue enjoying your summer.
Beck
