Enrollment Management Proposal
Enrollment management has become a critical need at UWSP. One reason is clearly financial.
Public higher education is more and more funded by tuition, fees, and auxiliary revenues and
less and less by the state. Given that most of the funding needed to operate UWSP now comes
from its students, it is more important than ever that the university manage its enrollment
strategically, considering carefully the number of students it can serve and the number it needs
to serve in order to provide the best possible education. This kind of management is as much
about financial planning as it is about determining the size and quality of the student body in
any given year.
Second, UWSP is participating in UW System’s More Graduates Initiative, designed to produce
at least 80,000 new graduates in Wisconsin by 2025. As part of this initiative, the university
submitted a More Graduates plan for producing our portion of these degree-holders. UWSP’s
plan is based on improving our freshmen-to-sophomore retention rate and generating modest
growth in the number of underrepresented minority students enrolled at UWSP. Achieving
these goals will require the development and implementation of purposeful strategies designed
to retain and enroll students, and to make appropriate adjustments in these strategies year-byyear as we track our progress.
Finally, in the context of these rising enrollments and financial constraints, UWSP is in the
midst of significant curricular transformation. In particular, the implementation of the new
General Education Program in the fall 2013 semester will create a number of challenges
involving the freshmen registration process, the relationship between general education and
department-level academic programs, and seat availability in general. In addition, the recent
approval of a university Strategic Plan raises questions about the alignment of UWSP’s
academic program array with these newly established priorities. Enrollment management will
play a crucial role in helping UWSP to navigate these transformations.
What is an Enrollment Management Plan?
An enrollment management plan is a strategic document with two key components: a set of
enrollment targets for various student populations within the university, and a set of actionable
plans formulated to achieve those targets. As an example the following characteristics are often
considered when developing targets. This list is only illustrative, since the actual list of targets
will need to have broad discussion.
 Total Enrollment
 Undergraduate/Graduate Students
 Relative number of students in each class level: Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, Senior,
and graduate
 Number of students who matriculate as freshmen/transfer students
 Full-time/Part-time students
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Relative number of new entering freshmen in various academic preparation categories:
e.g. high school rank, ACT scores
Racial/ethnic/international composition
Gender composition
Enrollment targets by college/department/program
Once these targets are established, an Enrollment Management Plan will be developed to help
us reach our goals. In this context, an Enrollment Management Plan might also include student
success targets for:
 Retention Rate
 Graduation Rate
 Study Abroad participation
 Service Learning Participation
 Capstone/Senior Project/Internship participation
 NSSE Benchmarks
The Enrollment Management Committee
The Enrollment Management Committee (EMC) will report directly to the provost and to the
Strategic Planning Committee. The EMC will play an advisory role, providing guidance to the
provost, deans, and directors within Academic Affairs about the strategic management of
UWSP’s enrollment. It is not intended to be a decision-making body. Major initiatives,
especially those involving substantial university resources, will be vetted by the Strategic
Planning Committee. The EMC will also routinely share minutes of its proceedings with the
Academic Affairs Committee and the Faculty Senate.
Membership in the EMC will be composed of people representing the following offices and
roles:
 Admissions
 Business Affairs
 Colleges (one representative chosen by the dean of each college)
 Financial Aid
 International Students & Scholars
 Multicultural Affairs
 Office of Academic Affairs
 Policy Analysis and Planning
 Registration & Records
 Residential Living
 Teaching-Learning Resources
Goals for the Coming Year
Given UWSP’s critical need to begin managing its enrollment strategically, the EMC will have
ambitious goals for the coming year. These include:
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Study best practices in enrollment management
Create a profile of UWSP’s existing enrollment
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Make recommendations regarding the enrollment targets required to support the More
Graduates Initiative and other institutional goals
Build a reporting system to routinely monitor UWSP’s enrollment targets.
Work with the Retention Task Force, the Inclusive Excellence Leadership Team, and the
Equity Scorecard Evidence Team in accomplishing these tasks
Ultimately, the committee will be asked to create an enrollment management plan by May 2012.