Since 1991, Bernice Lindke has slowly rose through the
ranks in financial aid and enrollment management at Eastern
Michigan University. She's hoping that longtime experience
will boost her from interim vice president for enrollment
management to permanent status.
Lindke, one of four candidates for the position, hosted
an open forum on campus Feb. 14 in 201 Welch. Approximately
40 attended.
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Lindke |
"I've been in this position six months now," Lindke said,
making reference to when she took the interim title in
August 2006. "In the beginning, I was just thinking I can
keep moving the boat forward and see where we were in a
couple months. But, I found I immediately loved making
decisions. I loved the idea of being in charge of the first
strategic plan at EMU."
Lindke also said she loves looking at numbers related
to enrollment. Sharing data from the Western Interstate
Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), Lindke said forecasts
show EMU will see a decline of 1.3 percent in Michigan
students and 3 percent from Ohio. To make up for that,
she said numbers shows a 7.9 percent increase in students
from Indiana and another 4.7 percent from Illinois. She
also stated that EMU will likely mine more students from
China, India and even Canada, mentioning the provost at
St. Claire College in Canada has talked of a transfer agreement
where students there could come to EMU to earn their doctorates.
St. Clair has campuses in Windsor, Chatham and Wallaceburg,
all in Ontario.
While EMU President John Fallon has talked of an EMU enrollment
of 30,000 by 2011, the past was raised, with Dan Cooper,
EMU's assistant vice president and controller recalling
that, in 1991, the University had an enrollment of approximately
26,000 — and didn't have enough classes or dorm rooms
available for them.
"If we go for this growth, how will we handle it?" Cooper
asked.
Lindke surmised that a good percentage of any enrollment
growth could come from "beefed-up online programming" and
increasing the number of international students.
"What kind of jobs will we have in Michigan in 2011?" Lindke
offered. "What kinds of programs will we need for students
to get those jobs?"
Whatever future enrollment decisions are made, Lindke
said, if she was awarded the permanent post, she would
want input from all facets of campus, including faculty.
"Faculty are really important," she said. "They can play
an important role in recruiting and, more so, in retention.
In a recent student survey, our students were very satisfied
with their interaction with faculty."
Student involvement could be improved with a faculty mentor
program, in which a student is paired with a faculty member
for four years, Lindke said. Other keys to improving
enrollment and retention lie in marketing; strengthening
the relationship between academic advising and the graduation
audit process; and having students declare a major before
they reach 60 credits, she said.
I would love to have a plan and see if we can achieve
the (enrollment goal) results a few years down the
road," she said.
Lindke began her career at EMU in 1991, as associate
director of financial aid. In 1996, she became director
of financial aid. In September 2003, Lindke became assistant
vice president for the division of enrollment services.
Two years later, she was elevated to associate vice president
in the division and, after former vice president for enrollment
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.
