Wichita State University Faculty Senate
December 2, 2013
President Bardo's presentation to the
Special meeting of the Faculty Senate
12/2/2013
Faculty Senate, December 2013
Two Items for Today
Admissions and Enrollment for 2014-15
Discussion with the Legislature
Requested by Senate Leadership
Focus on WSU’s role in areas of greatest concern to the legislature
Multiple legislators requested copies
Enrollment
Admissions much more focused and intentional
Contracted with Royall & Company to reach tens of thousands of potential applicants
“Senior Search” and “Inquiry Pool” searches contacting more than 38 thousand potential students
Developmental search process contacting more than 100 thousand high school sophomores and juniors
in selected markets
Because of legislative mandate, also conducting a focused engineering search
Restructured university scholarships to enhance enrollment of high quality students
Conducted Honors College recruitment to encourage best students to apply
Contracted with typical international agents to encourage international applications
Developed support system for distance education under leadership of Dr. Muma
Began program to recruit “adult learners”
Impact
Seeing increases in applications for Spring, Summer, and Fall
Spring primarily international students, so yield will be low
Summer is primarily traditional students but international may increase in spring
International applications should increase in spring for fall—seem to come later
Fall Enrollment
Large increases in applications reflecting increased marketing efforts, admissions staff work, and new
approach to merit-based financial aid
Traditional freshmen, transfers, and graduate students all up
Substantial increase in enrollment is expected because of magnitude of the change
Freshmen Applications (12-2-13)
Transfer Applications
Freshmen
Largest numerical increases from Kansas
Sedgwick County, Northeastern Kansas, and Southwestern Kansas providing the largest numerical
increases
Out-of-state markets identified include the I-35 corridor, Chicago, St. Louis, and Minneapolis
Also looking at more distant markets with high costs and limited public programs especially for
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December 2, 2013
engineering
Substantial percentage growth in out-of-state markets, but numbers are in-state (732 of 1056 total net
applicants)
Guesses for Next Year
No historical trends for estimating
Guessing freshman class of 1,750 to 1,950
Guessing total enrollment of 15,300 ± 300
International enrollment and adult enrollment are additional “wild cards”
Legislative Presentation: Wichita State, Wichita, and Globalization
The Challenge
Dual Economic Trends
The Global Landscape
Dual Trends: Globalization & Regionalism
Natural economic regions, not states, will be engines of future competitiveness
“Super-regions” are emerging that cut across state lines—they will become increasingly critical in any
state’s economic future
Higher education has not responded well to these changing condition
Neither national nor state policy is not yet focused on the changing nature of the global situation
Megapolitans by 2050
Nature of Economic Regions
 Economic regions are functional and reflect changing economic conditions
 Economic regions do not necessarily reflect political or cultural lines
 Each economic region can be defined in relation to its “economic potential” and “location”
 One estimate of “economic potential” is Porter’s “Clusters of Innovation”
 To develop effective policy and effective use of resources, clusters must be “fractionalized”—that is
not regularly being done
 As a result, most “regional vision” plans look very similar
 Competence refers to the ability of a region to respond to economic opportunities and rapidly changing
global conditions
 Competence refers to the range of abilities, characteristics, and resources available in the region and
the effective linkages of that region with resources from the systems of which that region is a part
 Specific skill sets required to create competence will vary by situation; the general issues are common
to all regions
 Resource need analyses are not conducted regularly at either the federal or state level to understand
what is required to build regional competence
The Kansas Economy
Increasingly linked to global and regional networks. Wichita 3rd in percent of metropolitan GDP derived
from international trade
Overall labor demand is in low-income, low-skill jobs; most highly demanded college graduate jobs not in
highly innovative fields.
Bachelor’s degree worth $1.1 million additional earnings compared to high school
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Job Demand (Not in Original Presentation)
Kansas per capita income and income growth lags the nation
International trade is highly NAFTA oriented followed by China, Japan and others
Of every 1,000 jobs in Kansas, 2.6 are in “farming, fishing, and forestry”
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Kansas is low in entrepreneurial activity according to Kauffman
With exception of KC area, no counties in Kansas have a high share of “high tech” companies
Wichita has a high share of high tech employment concentrated in a relatively few companies
Key Innovation Indicators
KS is low in percent of S&E graduate students as percent of workforce
KS is low in early stage capital availability
KS is low in SBIR/STTR indicators (number and percent of GDP)
KS is low in new firm formation per 1,000 residents
KS ranks 32nd in R&D and 30th in R&D performance
Business R&D below national average
Academic R&D below average
Very low in academic patents awarded
Low in patents per 1,000 S&E employees
Below average in new high tech business formations
Wichita State’s Focus
Increasing linkages between classroom learning and “real world” learning through internships, co-op
placements, mentored research, and increased emphasis on applied learning
Focus on meaningful research and increasing links to industry and business in various areas
Enhancing Education
Industry increasingly calling for “versatilists” rather than specialists or generalists
Gartner Group first used the term to describe people with both the depth and breadth of skills to
understand both technical issues and business strategies
WSU’s increasing focus on experiential education creates graduates with value
Enhancing Research for Innovation
Across campus faculty and students are working on projects that can create innovation, enhance
business competitiveness, and create new businesses
You are familiar with WSU-NIAR, but it is only one example
Current Projects
A graduate student in engineering is working on a nanotechnology that eats breast cancer
A chemistry professor and her students appear to have isolated a major protein that allows cancer to
metastasize
A biology professor is working on a lattice that promotes bone growth and may reduce the need for
amputations after severe accidents or wound
An engineering professor is working on a surgical screw that dissolves when no longer needed
Psychology professors and students are working with many companies on human/machine interfaces
Education professors are forming a new company to market iPhone apps that measure heart rates, can
tell if you are drunk, or can tell if you are falling asleep
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WSU Technology Park
Moving to develop a technology park based on new business spinouts and recruiting business-based
engineering and scientific research centers from outside the state
First building will be an experiential engineering facility for undergraduate students with a 50 to 60
thousand square foot wing for private industry
Golf course will, over time, be converted to a technology park
Regents Request for Funding Enhancement
Support expansion and extension of technology transfer operations to support business spinouts and to
support WSU partnerships with new technology-based businesses
Support funds to establish the office to develop and run the technology park
Higher Education Winners Will Base Strategic Plans on Multiple Decision Points
Higher Education Winners Will Base Strategic Plans on Multiple Decision Points
Higher Education Winners Will Base Strategic Plans on Multiple Decision Points
Higher Education Winners Will Base Strategic Plans on Multiple Decision Points
Higher Education Winners Will Base Strategic Plans on Multiple Decision Points
Higher Education Winners Will Base Strategic Plans on Multiple Decision Points
Higher Education Winners Address Client Value Propositions
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