CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Board of Trustees February 20, 2020
Executive Summary - Strategic Enrollment Plan Update The Board of Trustees endorsed the Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan at the February 2019 board meeting. In August 2019, the SEM Advisory Council was formed, serving as the coordinating body for the implementation of the SEM plan. With support of the Project Management Office, this cross- divisional team developed the SEM implementation plan, branded Destination 2025 . The implementation plan has been deployed, and documents 115 year-one initiatives and projects that support three goals: increase new student recruitment, increase enrollment of traditionally under- represented student groups, and improve retention, persistence, and degree time-to-completion. Enrollment Update Overall, undergraduate and graduate winter enrollment is consistent over last year (11,206 winter 2020 vs 11,253 winter 2019). In addition, our high school partnership programs are healthy, with 365 winter 2020 Running Start students and a projection of over 800 winter 2020 College in the High School students. We project serving over 5,000 unique students in these programs this academic year, which is an increase over prior year. An increase in our first-year cohort persistence from fall to winter (92.7 percent winter 2020 vs 91.5 percent winter 2019) is a positive indicator that the overall fall-to-fall retention rate will improve. This indicator suggests the retention initiatives being led by Associate Provosts Mackin, Kaykayoglu, and Jungblut are making a difference. Currently, CWU has received over 1900 applications for spring commencement, nearly 400 more applications than last year. This success is promising, providing further evidence thatinvestments in student success, especially the efforts within Academic and Student Life, are driving degree completion gains. The fall 2020 recruitment cycle is in full swing. Demographic and higher education demand projections indicate a difficult year for institutional growth across the nation. The most recent report from The Common Application illustrates a decrease in application volumes across most regions of the US: Midwest (-1.1 percent), Middle States (-3.4 percent), New England (-5.4 percent) and West (-5.5 percent). The Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) projects a decrease in Washington high school graduates in 2020. In addition, the Higher Education Demand Index predicts a drop in those seeking a degree from comprehensive, four-year public institutions in Washington. Finally, Gallup’s recent opinion poll identified a significant decrease in the importance level of higher education. In the
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