The person who will be expected to grow Eastern Michigan
University's enrollment, possibly to 30,000, by 2011, may
be among four candidates for the institution's vice president
for enrollment.
Candidates include: Lisa Kujawa, assistant provost for
enrollment management, Lawrence Technological University;
Leon Washington , assistant vice chancellor, student affairs
and enrollment management, University of California-Davis;
Tom Green, interim associate vice president for enrollment
services and special consultant, California State University;
and Bernice Lindke, interim vice president, division of
enrollment management, Eastern Michigan University.
All four said they had experience in growing enrollment
— one of EMU's major strategic initiatives — at
their respective schools. Reports on the open campus forums
of each are as follows:
Lisa Kujawa
"If you hired me in this position, the first question
I would ask is, 'What are the schools we want to be like
in enrollment management, in recruiting, in advising and
in international students?" Kujawa said during her open
forum Feb. 1. "I would want to go visit those schools."
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Kujawa |
Kujawa said Lawrence Tech contracted with Noel Levitz
to conduct undergraduate surveys to learn why students
stayed or transferred from Lawrence Tech. Because Lawrence
Tech. aspired to be like Xavier University, Boston College
and Seton Hall, Lawrence Tech admissions officials looked
at what those universities were doing successfully to retain
its students.
"We looked specifically at what they were doing for retention
and with their first-year program," Kujawa said. "From
the freshman to sophomore year, that's when you lose the
most students. We took bits and pieces of each of those
colleges to create our retention program."
It created "Discovery Days," a two-day program for freshmen
before they move in. The freshmen receive student mentors,
meet with faculty advisers, receive their laptop computers
and enjoy a bonfire and barbecue. Students also attend
a convocation in which they receive a college pin and are
greeted by faculty dressed in caps and gowns, much like
a graduation ceremony. In addition, students and their
parents receive three letters during the first semester.
Lawrence Tech wants to grow to 5,000 students, with 20
percent of those living on campus, Kujawa said. To make
sure the university is on pace, the office of enrollment
management there engages a number of recruitment tools,
including: updating its enrollment plan every two years
to make sure it fits in as a business plan within the University's
strategic plan; works closely with faculty, department
heads and deans to know where growth in programs is taking
place and where more growth is needed; looks externally
at market trends for employment; builds relationships
with businesses and creates new degrees the marketplace
wants.
Kujawa started her career as assistant director, admissions
counselor at the University of Detroit Mercy (Mercy College
of Detroit at the time) from 1984-1988. In 1988, she was
promoted to director of admissions there. From 1990-1996,
Kujawa was associate director of admissions at the University
of Michigan-Dearborn and was training and support services
coordinator for Banner implementation there from 1996-98.
In 1998, she became director of admissions and orientation
at Lawrence Tech, a position she was in until 2002.
Kujawa received her master's degree in training and development
from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and her bachelor's
degree in psychology from Mercy College of Detroit.
"I look at Lawrence Tech and Eastern Michigan, and we're
very similar. We do well with part-time students, whether
they are nontraditional or transfer students. We're both
blue collar. We're both a solid second choice for students,"
she said. "I want to be the first choice for students."
Leon Washington
"I've been the road runner, the administrator and the
director, but never the vice president," said Washington,
who has been at Cal-Davis since 2004. "This means my area
has grown up and this represents the highest level of attainment
in my area."
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Washington |
In addition to the title, Washington said, during his
open forum Feb. 6, he is attracted to the EMU post
because it is located in Michigan, where his family has
lived before and liked. Washington was director of admissions
at Alma College from 1989-1990.
When asked where EMU would be in 10 years if he were chosen
for the position, Washington said, "We'd certainly have
the 30,000 (enrollment) you're talking about. We would
have more high-achieving students come in. I think you
will see a lot of young people, when I arrive, come back
to the institution and be happy to give. We might be a
name in the region."
Washington said he subscribes to the Noel-Levitz (consulting
firm) theory that "effective recruitment aids effective
retention."
"I encourage my staff to think about, when recruiting,
that we're trying to create a 'best fit' and 'best match'
for students, and that we need to make them feel that they
belong," Washington said. "We want them to become involved
in the university and graduate, and then become giving
donors when they graduate."
At Cal-Davis, Washington said he put together a task force
to focus on student recruitment and retention. The group
meets twice a month, talks about real issues related to
recruitment, and avoids pointing fingers as to who's responsible
for student numbers.
While he was at San Jose
State University, Washington said students had to fill
out 58 forms, something he referred to as "a hassle
factor"
that affected student retention there. After a judicious
review over a span of two meetings, the number of student
forms was cut in half, he said.
"Why is it that we make it so tough for students to come
into a university, and make it so easy for them to leave?" he
asked.
Washington stressed that, regardless of who gets the EMU
position, faculty should be involved in the recruitment
and retention process. To make that happen, Washington
said he has usually started by scheduling lunches with
various deans. He requests that deans get their faculty
involved in finding out students' wants and needs. When
students feel their needs are being met, they are more
apt to stay, he said.
While in the California State University (CSU) system
from 1995-2004, Washington was director of student outreach
and recruitment, San Jose State University, from 1995-1997;
associate vice president for enrollment services at San
Jose State from 1997-2002; and associate director, system
enrollment management services in the CSU Office of the
Chancellor from 2002-2004. Prior to
that, he was senior associate director of admissions at
Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., from 1992-1995. He
also served stints as director of admissions at Hamline
University in St. Paul, Minn.; Alma College and Oberlin
College in Oberlin, Ohio.
Washington received his master's degree in anthropology
from California State University-Hayward and his bachelor's
degree in biology from Dakota Wesleyan University.
"I think the way you get students to come to EMU is you
sell them the benefits. There are great benefits to coming
to EMU," Washington said. "On the Web page, it says you're
known for teaching, research and services. But, it's not
packaged very well. It needs to be sold. You have to brag
a little bit, too."
Tom Green
"What I like about Eastern's situation and, I think I
can contribute to it, is you're an institution with aspirations
to grow," said Green, who is senior consultant for AACRAO
Consulting Services. "I have a history of turning around
enrollments at universities and helping them grow."
As associate vice president for enrollment services at
Seton Hall University from 2000-2006, Green, according
to his resume, met or exceeded enrollment goals he was
given in 2000. He increased the freshman class size, geographic
class size and the academic profile of entering students.
He helped increase freshman class size from 1,100 in 2000
to 1,238 in 2004. He also helped boost freshman retention
from 78 percent in 2000 to 84 percent in 2005.
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Green |
A key to achieving desired enrollment numbers is to conduct
multi-year enrollment planning to see how many are coming,
how many are leaving and how many are needed to maintain
or grow student numbers, he said. He pointed to EMU's location
as a factor that can help such planning.
"I really think you have a really good combination of
size and location here," Green said of EMU. "What you have
here is a major university in the shadow of a more major
university. But, you're a major university. You have a
wonderful location near a major metropolitan area (Detroit).
That is one of the most desired things today. For those
students who come from more remote areas, Ypsilanti is
a hot town if you live in Mount Pleasant."
When asked, Green said he had experience with international
student recruitment and said such students enhance the
educational environment. But, he also said the "landscape
is rough right now" because of stringent visa policies
in the Untied States.
"I had 70 admitted students from Beijing," Green said. "Not
one got a visa."
In addition to problems getting international students
to the States, Green said universities are contending in
whole new ways, mainly technological, to earn prospective
students' attention.
"The ground has shifted underneath us the last five or
six years in the way students want to be recruited and
gain information. It has changed in a seismic way," Green
said. "I see a lot of public institutions are struggling
to make these changes."
In addition to his current interim post at California
State University, Green had been associate vice president
for enrollment services at Seton Hall University from 2000-2006.
Before that, he was vice president for enrollment management
at Newman University from 1996-2000. Green also has been
in various admissions positions at Brescia College in London,
Ontario, Canada; Roosevelt University in Chicago, Ill.;
and the American Conservatory of Music.
Green received his doctorate from Seton Hall University;
his master's degree from the American Conservatory of Music
in Chicago. Ill.; and his bachelor's degree from the University
of Iowa.
Bernice Lindke
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Lindke |
Lindke's open campus forum is scheduled Wednesday, Feb.
14, 3:15-4:15 p.m., 201 Welch. Lindke has been with EMU
since 1991 as associate director of financial aid. In 1996,
she became director of financial aid. In September 2003,
Lindke was named assistant vice president for the division
of enrollment services. Two years later, she was elevated
to vice president in the division and, after former vice
president for enrollment services Courtney McAnuff left
for Rutgers University, Lindke became interim vice president
of the division in August 2006.
Lindke received both her master's degree in public administration
and her bachelor's degree in business administration from
Eastern Michigan University.
FOCUS EMU will provide coverage of Lindke's open forum
in its Feb. 20 issue.
