Enrollment Management

Campus Community:

BHSU is taking a number of steps to improve recruitment and retention with a goal of reversing a declining enrollment trend. As you know, tuition and fees are the primary funding source for the university so stabilizing and growing student credit hours is essential. The following is an overview of the initiatives currently underway as we move forward with our goals of increasing enrollment, enhancing retention, and stabilizing the budget.

A first initiative was to immediately address low retention rates that have fluctuated in recent years but have remained lower than our peers. A Retention Task Force was identified and this group has been working diligently to make a set of recommendations on improvements and changes that should be made to enhance retention of first year students (freshman to sophomore). Currently retention for this group is 65%; the recommendations are intended to improve retention to at least 70%. I’ve asked for this group’s recommendations by early January.

BHSU has also retained the services of Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL), a well-known higher education consulting firm, to create a long-term Strategic Enrollment Plan that will improve enrollment and retention. Among RNL’s initial recommendations were to conduct a Student Satisfaction Survey to measure overall satisfaction and priorities of current students. The survey is underway at this time.

There will be four phases to the Strategic Enrollment Plan:

1. Preparations and Data Analysis
2. Strategy Development
3. Goal Development
4. Implementation and Continuation

The framework has been established which includes a steering committee, a data team, and four working groups to consider areas of concern and explore possible opportunities. Those serving in each include:

Steering Committee:

• Chairs
• Chris Crawford, VP for Academic Affairs
• Lois Flagstad, VP for Enrollment & Student Affairs
• Corinne Hansen, Director of University & Community Relations
• Members
• Kathy Johnson, VP for Finance and Administration
• Pam Carriveau, Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs
• Amy Fuqua, Dean for the College of Liberal Arts
• Barb O’Malley, Director of Admissions
• Cheryl Anagnopoulos, Professor of Psychology
• Carrie Stringham, Assistant Professor of Management

Data Team:

• Chris Crawford, VP for Academic Affairs
• Rich Loose, Director of Institutional Research
• Ven Thompson, Information Technology Specialist
• April Meeker, Registrar
• Don Coble, Director of Budget
• Kristen Kilmer, Asst. Director, Marketing & Communications

Working Groups:
Five working groups have been established to do a thorough SWOT analysis, review data, and begin to develop strategies. The five groups are noted below:

• Academics – Dr. Amy Fuqua, chair
• Jeff Wehrung - Chair, School of Business
• Rich Loose (data) - IR
• Betsy Silva - Education
• Craig Triplett - Behavioral Sciences
• Kelly Kirk - Social Sciences
• Deb Wolf - Education & Outreach (SURF)
• Dawn Kennedy - Registrar’s Office
• Debbie Liddick - Sustainability/Facilities
• Ann Bolman - President, WDT
• Kory Menken - Director, Spearfish Economic Development

• Admissions and Recruitment – Barb O’Malley, chair
• Barb O’Malley (chair) - Director of Admissions
• Charlie Lamb - Research/Biology
• Johanna Best - Registrar’s Office
• Eric Leise - Director, International Studies
• Thayer Trenhaile - Athletics Development
• Van Delist - ROTC/National Guard
• Ven Thompson (data) - IT
• Melissa Barth - Director, Spearfish Chamber
• Jane Klug - Dean of Students
• Janette Hettick - Retention/Recruitment Advisor, Liberal Arts
• Megan Vetter - Former Assistant Director of Admissions (BHSU)

• Student Success – Pam Carriveau, chair
• Whitney Bischoff - Student Success (BHSU-RC)
• Clarissa Thompson - Retention/Recruitment Advisor, Academic Affairs
• Greg Farley - Dean, College of Business and Natural Sciences
• Hans Nelson - Corporate and Career Development, BHSU Foundation
• Daluss Siewert - Chair, Math and Social Sciences
• Justin Logue - Health Services
• Ashley Kirchner - TRiO
• April Meeker (data) - Registrar
• Jade Temple - Athletics Compliance
• Greg Krajewski - Veteran’s Resource Coordinator
• John Ginther - Residential Life

• Fiscal and Financial Aid – Kathy Johnson, chair
  • Parthasarathi Nag, Mathematics/Undergraduate Research Coordinator
  • Don Coble (data) - Director of Budget
  • Kim Nida - Financial Aid
  • Melissa Christensen - HR Director
  • Kanda Guthmiller - Scholarship Coordinator, BHSU Foundation
  • Gene Bilodeau - Executive Director BHSU-RC
  • Mike Harmon - City Administrator, Spearfish
  • Brandon Bentley - Director of Business Services/Controller

• Marketing and Communications – Kristen Kilmer, chair and data
• Gus Karinen - Marketing and Communications (web)
• Ryan Amys - Education
• Trenton Ellis - Behavioral Sciences
• Jayce Winsell - Admissions
• Mike Isaacson - Student Life
• Erica Whitiker - Student Engagement
• Robin Zebroski - VP of Strategic Marketing & Communications, Regional Health

Dawn Fortin Mattoon with Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) will be back on campus to continue our Strategic Enrollment Planning (SEP) work on April 14^th and 15^th. 

For more details on the RNL process and recommendations, a web page has been established and will be updated as progress continues. Please review the details here. If you have questions or suggestions, please reach out to the Steering Committee or Working Group leaders. This is a campus wide effort. I’m confident that these initiatives will make a measurable improvement in both recruitment and retention for BHSU.