DRAFT Enrollment Management Plan - Executive Summary
Status: Submitted to Academic Affairs Committee for Review and
Endorsement
Enrollment and Retention Goals for the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
Over the next five years the goals of the UW – Stevens Point Enrollment Management plan will
seek to:
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Attain a stable enrollment mix of undergraduate and graduate students with a goal of
10,000 students.
Increase the number of out of state enrollments for all student types from 11% of total
enrollment to 16% of total enrollment.
Increase the undergraduate student retention rate from 81% to 86%.
Increase the transfer student retention rate from 80% - 84%.
Increase the diversity student retention rate from 78% - 82%.
Increase the percentage of new, domestic diversity admits from 11% to 20% of total new
students.
Increase diversity student graduation rates from 48% to 55%.
Increase the four year graduation rate from 24- 30%.
Increase the number of students receiving degrees from by 7%.
Raise the average ACT score from 23 to 24.
Improve the quality of data and analysis toolsets to provide campus departments and
decision makers with the tools to effectively manage enrollment and retention.
Develop a student-centered Enrollment Management Unit that is focused on delivering
high quality and efficient enrollment services to the community of UW – Stevens Point.
Implement the International Admissions Enrollment plan.
Context for the Enrollment Management Plan
The External Environment
 Decreasing number of high school graduates which is plateauing. The number of high
school graduates is half of what it was 10 years ago. The plateau lasts for a decade till
2025, when the number of 18 year olds nationwide will decline by 6% across all major
ethnic categories. This conclusion is based on population calculations from the U.S.
Census.
 Increasing competition from for-profits, privates and other UW institutions within
Wisconsin.
 High school graduates are increasingly becoming more diverse.
 The students that will attend college are increasingly less prepared for college-level
work.
 Online options, including Massive Open Online Courses will continue to increase and
provide competition to traditional instructional modes and put downward pressure on
tuition.
 Students and parents are increasingly becoming more sensitive to increasing costs and
student loan obligations and want to see value for these increased costs.
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The U.S. Department of Education is developing a quality ranking and rating system for
higher education that will determine institutional financial aid awards.
Growing demand from employers for workforce readiness skills.
The Internal Environment
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University Strengths
o Unique programs which are popular with students.
o High rate of success for graduates in further higher education and employment.
(link to employment data)
o High visibility and strong brand recognition within Wisconsin, especially within
the North Central Wisconsin region.
o New Strategic Plan
o Inclusive shared governance
o Strong sense of institutional mission within faculty and staff
o Caring and supportive environment for students.
o Implementation of new General Education Program requirements.
o Implementation of MAP-Works software.
o Low default rate for student loans.
o Average student debt is $23,000 and is similar to comparable institutions.
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University Challenges
o Enrollment imbalances in major programs
o Class scheduling conflicts for students and facilities
o Under-utilization of facilities resulting in decreasing state funding for
improvements to instructional space and an inefficient use of resources.
o Scholarships are largely given to upper classmen rather than being used to
attract new freshman.
o There is no campus-wide coordination of college/department scholarships.
o Retention and graduation of diversity students is lower than overall student
retention.
o University retention activities while demonstrating effectiveness, lack a
coordinated approach.
o Online services are not comparable to our competitors.
o Inability to automate registration functions hampers faculty and staff productivity.
o Lack of an ability to be able to perform analytic and predictive capabilities with
student data creates a competitive disadvantage.
o Current student information system requires significant enhancements to provide
for requisite checking, historical dated rows to measure student enrollment
changes, enrollment apportioning within sections, and automation of enrollment
restrictions.
o Manual processes throughout the university that increases the error rate and
lowers staff productivity thereby negatively impacting data quality.
o Lack of eform/business process management system slows the timeliness of
forms processing.
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Lack of a Constituent Relationship Management system to develop prospective
students in order to increase the applicant pool. (Implemented CRM last year)
Lack of a student advisement and comments system to ensure effective
academic planning and advisor/student interaction.
Institutional Enrollment Strategies
 Develop a reporting system to forecast course demand and utilize that to maximize
enrollments and capacity planning.
 Increase funding for freshman, diversity and out of state scholarships.
 Systematize the Project Win-Win concept of awarding associate degrees for students
who withdraw or leave prior to completing bachelor degree.
 Implement the International Student Recruitment Plan.
 Review options for 2+2 enrollment agreements with international institutions.
 Develop and implement an annual recruitment plan for the Admissions Office.
 Develop consistent and comprehensive branded recruiting materials.
 Develop programs that can be completed online or in the evening/weekend timeframe
for adult learners.
 Review program capacities and if majors are designated to grow, review their
departmental staffing and fiscal capabilities to do so.
 Review registration and academic policies to ensure that they enhance student retention
and comply with appropriate state and federal regulations.
Retention Strategies
 Develop a campus-wide retention plan.
 Implement MAP-Works or its equivalent for all student types.
 Implement a pre/co-requisite checking system to ensure adequate course preparation
prior to enrollment in a class.
 Implement an enrollment system that allows for the automated apportioning of high
demand classes to minimize course bottlenecks.
 Implement the use of provisional admissions for majors with a retention problem.
 Implement a conditional admission process for students who are admissible, but who
may need to remediate specific academic challenges.
 Review current campus retention strategies to determine effectiveness and how to
maximize benefits from these efforts
 Develop on-campus support services for out of state students, international students and
adult learners.
Enrollment Management Unit Strategies
 Review Registration and Records staffing to develop a staffing model based on future
office needs.
 Evaluate, plan and implement a “one-stop” enrollment services model.
 Integrate departmental functions wherever possible to improve efficiencies and services.
 Review and revise the new and transfer student orientation processes.
 Develop an online registration process for new students and transfer students.
 Review current operations to ensure compliance with the Department of Education
regulations.
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Develop an organizational structure that emphasizes cross-training and cross support
functions within Enrollment Management departments.
Coordinate and enhance unit communications to ensure effective student recruitment
and excellent service to students, faculty and staff.
Align recruiter responsibilities with dedicated territories in order to focus efforts on the
most productive regions and to provide prospective students with the best possible
service.
Enrollment Management Technology Strategies
 Review the Student Information System to determine the best option for the upgrade of
the existing system either through additional build out or SIS replacement with an ERP.
 Implement digital imaging across all Enrollment Management offices to reduce
operational costs and improve the quality and speed of services. Convert all existing
student records to a digital storage format.
 Implement digital forms/business process management software across all departments
within Enrollment Management.
 Implement a service desk tool to provide 24/7 student access to FAQ’s and
troubleshooting routing.
 Purchase and implement software that will provide departments and colleges with an
efficient method to process scholarship applications and a tool that will provide students
with an easy way to find and apply for scholarships on campus.
 Implement constituent relationship management software to increase the applicant pool,
to develop enrollment targets by major and track recruitment activities to determine
effectiveness.
 Upgrade existing degree audit system to incorporate interactive degree audit, what if and
student planner capabilities.
 Purchase and implement a business analytics solution.
Data and Analytics Plan – Measuring Effectiveness
 Develop data definitions and metrics to ensure consistent measure of enrollment and
retention goals.
 Develop enrollment targets by program within CRM system to measure recruitment
productivity.
 Develop effectiveness measures for each unit within Enrollment Management and
provide feedback reporting to ensure that enrollment goals are met.
 Develop effectiveness measures for retention programs across the campus to ensure
that enrollment goals are met.
 Develop predictive and analytical business intelligence capabilities to project enrollment
and retention for the University.
 Develop institutional enrollment and retention production reporting that is utilized
effectively by academic departments for planning, advising and evaluation.
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