Happy opening day of spring! Our beginning of semester summary and reports for spring 2021 were distributed by email today. If you did not get it and would like to be added to the distribution list, or have any questions about spring enrollment, please email enrollment@missouristate.edu. Hope you have a safe, healthy, and successful semester!

Today, December 10, 2020, the Board of Governors of Missouri State University approved the strategic enrollment management (SEM) plan. The goals and strategies of this plan can be found on the About page. Over the next few weeks, this website will be updated to reflect the new organizational structure for implementing the plan, assessing our success, and more. Thanks to many, many individuals across the campus for your support for and contributions to this plan. Now we enter the implementation phase. We have a lot of great work ahead of us. Please, as always, feel free to send me feedback or ask questions.

Rob Hornberger

Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Services

Enrollment reports for fall 2020 census have been completed.

Highlighted this year are increases in our total, precollege, graduate, new transfer, and underrepresented students, while also sustaining mitigated and smaller than expected decreases in first-time new in college, continuing degree seeking undergraduate, and international students, and an increase in our first to second year retention rate from 78% to 79.2%.

As a reminder, due to multiple factors, prior to the pandemic we had anticipated a decrease of approx. 839 continuing degree seeking students. We anticipated growth in graduate and dual credit students, but most likely additional declines in first-time new in college, new transfer undergraduate, and international students. After we closed the campus in the spring and began anticipating the pandemic’s affect on enrollment, we estimated being down 1,200 to 1,500 total students. Our actual census numbers are very encouraging and reflect the power of a collective, campus-wide effort.

Total Headcount: 24,163, up 37 (0.2%)

• First-time new in college: 2,597, down 12 (0.5%).
• New transfer undergraduates: 1,468, up 33 (2.3%).
• Continuing degree seeking undergraduates: 11,393, down 518 (4.3%).
• Total degree-seeking undergraduates (new and returning): 15,714, down 491 (3%).
• First-time degree-seeking graduate students: 946, up 176 (22.9%).
• Continuing degree seeking graduates: 2,659, up 206 (8.4%).
• Total graduate students (new and returning/degree and non-degree seeking): 3,985, up 170 (4.5%). This is our largest graduate enrollment total ever, topping last year’s record of 3,815.
• Students from underrepresented groups: 3,300, up 225 (7.3%).
• Students taking courses through the high school dual credit program: 3,967, up 511 (14.8%).
• International students (Non-Resident Alien + External to US categories under Race/Ethnicity)*: 1,492, down 99 (6.2%).
  (* Note: The section of the student report by geographic origin is based on where students were from when they first enrolled. It includes students who may have originally been here on student visas but are now permanent residents or U.S. citizens. Thus, the total of 1,519 shown in the student report exceeds the sum of the “non-resident alien” and “external to the US” categories.)

System Enrollment: 26,016 up 15 (0.1%)

• West Plains campus enrollment: 1,922, down 41 (2.1%) from 1,963 last year.
• A total of 69 students are enrolled on both campuses.
• Unduplicated system enrollment total is 26,016 up 15 (0.1%) over the corresponding total of 26,001 last year.

Additional enrollment reports and information are at Bear Intelligence.

A sincere thanks for all you do that contributes to enrollment and student success! Additional information was sent via email. If you did not receive this and would like to be on the distribution list used by Enrollment Services, please email enrollment@missouristate.edu.

Rob

Dr. Rob Hornberger

Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Services

 

All,

Please forward to any others you think should be aware.

Our census date has regularly been based on the 20^th day (4^th week) of the semester. This fall we have determined to make a temporary change and move census back a week, that is, based on the 25^th day (5^th week) of the semester. Thus, our official census 1 date has move from September 15 to September 22. The reason for this primarily is because of the change in high school calendars, resulting in less time to process dual credit students than past years. This gives us an extra week to register these students.

We have already changed this on the academic calendar and are in the process of changing this in Banner, which controls the census date that appears on every course section. We have also rescheduled the data freeze. For those of you who run reports and are familiar with the data freezes, we will have a fourth week DB and EDW freeze with a title referring to the fourth week based on September 14 and a fifth week (census) DB and EDW freeze with a title referring to census based on September 22. This gives us the flexibility of running reports in the future off of fourth or fifth week. But again the official census date has moved from September 15 to September 22.

I realize there may be other processes at the university based on census that I’m unaware of. If that is the case with you, please make appropriate adjustments. And please let me know if you have questions or need additional information.

Rob

Here is an update of how we plan to proceed with the SEM plan. We have restarted the process of developing and finalizing to plan. Because we are kicking off a long-range plan process this semester as well, we have an opportunity to coordinate these two plan development processes together so that they strategically complement each other. Also, because of the pandemic, the SEM Steering Committee is reassessing our goals and strategies to make appropriate adjustments. We want to consider our new environment, build in fluidity, and discuss further our baseline for the goals. The following action items have taken or will be taking place regarding the SEM plan:

• The Steering Committee will remain. Several members have been replaced because their role at the University has changed.
• The goals will be reassessed. Some goals will be repurposed to the new long-range plan. As a result, the SEM plan’s scope will be narrowed to focus on recruitment, retention, and completion.
• Two councils (Recruitment and Retention & Completion) will continue with the primary focus on reviewing tactics.
• Two councils (Academic Programs & Deliveries and Marketing & Communication) have been disbanded. Much of their work will remain a part of the SEM plan or move to the new long-range plan.
• The Data Support Team will not regularly meet. Dr. Michelle Olsen and Theresa McCoy have joined the Steering Committee and will utilize members of the Data Support Team as needed.
• The SEM plan will be completed for submission to the December 2020 Board of Governors meeting.
• As before, more work will need to be done after the completion of the plan. The goals and strategies should inform offices in the development of tactical/operation plans, recruitment manuals, retention initiatives, etc. Implementation and oversight of the plan will be addressed.

These actions will be further discussed at a Board of Governors planning retreat on September 11. More details will be distributed to the campus community after that meeting.

As always, your feedback is welcomed and thanks for your interest and support regarding the University’s enrollment management planning and actions.

Rob Hornberger

https://www.missouristate.edu/EnrollmentManagement/SEM/

enrollment@missouristate.edu

417-836-5521