Programmatic Priorities/Strategies to support Student Success

The university has experienced an increase in applications for admission over last year. At this time last year the Office of Admissions had a total applicant pool of 3,624 as compared to 4,499 applications received this year to date. This represents a 24% increase over last year. The total number of acceptances at this time last year was 1,425 as compared to 2,523 acceptances this year to date. This represents a 77% increase. The Office of Admissions is currently focusing on incomplete applications through mailings, telephone calls and emails in an effort to increase the yield. Efforts are focused on reaching incomplete applicants and assisting them with completing the application process and assisting accepted students with the enrollment process and submission of their housing deposits, where applicable.

- The university hosted Spring Open House on April 20, 2013 with a total of 845 individuals pre-registered including high school and community college students.

The university is launching a new partnership with USAFunds focused on Debt Management and Default Prevention for all KSU students. The initiative is designed to educate students on how to take control of their student loans and about managing their time and money. The tools provided through this effort will assist the university with staying in touch with borrowers to help them stay on track to successful loan repayments.

The university's partnership with a Strategic Enrollment Management consultant is on-going. An update on the progress is as follows:

Preliminary work on establishing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, along with current marketing, recruiting and retention strategies has been completed. The consultants have made over five visits to the campus this semester to include interviews with staff, faculty, and administrators and have presented several reports to the university related to the enhancement of recruitment, processes and marketing.

The consultants presented at the Student Success and Enrollment Management Strategic Planning retreat held on March 11, 2013. As a result, several campus committees have been developed focused on the following four areas:

Quality Enrollment Growth

Brand and Brand Promise

Customer Service

Data-driven Integrated Student Success model