August 21, 2015 | SharkAdmin [image 1]The saying goes it takes a village to raise a child…. well it took a village to increase our enrollment numbers for this fall semester. I’m proud to say for the first time in Northwest Vista College’s history, it has reached the 17,000-enrollment mark. While these numbers are not yet official, just seeing that 17,000 number lets us know that we have yet to reach our full growth potential. This has taken a monumental effort to push NVC higher than last year. Getting the attention of students is even harder and more importantly getting them to enroll and pay on time is like taking a reluctant teenager to the dentist. As of Aug. 20, NVC had 17,433 students registered with about 93 percent of students paid. Over the last two weeks, we have seen an increase in enrollment of 979 students. Earlier in the summer, fall enrollment numbers were precarious because a very low percentage had paid or set up a payment plan to their tuition. In addition, a change in the billing cycle led to the challenge of communicating to students that there was just one payment deadline. To combat this, NVC implemented strategic enrollment strategies this summer which appear to have paid off. With focused efforts across the entire Student Success team, they looked at lead measures such as the number of students tested, signed up for orientation, registered for refreshers and SDEV. Each department developed team-specific efforts to bring in the fall 2015 class. For example, NVC’s can-do spirit really showed last Friday and this past weekend. Student Success staff were rolling up their sleeves and helping students get into and find classes, and academic chairs were adding class sections as they assessed the demand for more classes. Deans and faculty were also registering students on the spot and finding ways to assist students. In the first two weeks of August, we served 213 more first-time-in-college (FTIC) students as compared to last year and over 200 (FTIC) students were enrolled this past Saturday alone. Student Development classes are also on pace to have record enrollments. It’s estimated that along with Flex II enrollment, SDEV enrollment will reach 3,000 students – the largest in NVC history. Beyond just enrolling students, we have been making sure we give them the tools to be successful. When students come for orientation, they are introduced to different departments and resources on campus. In addition, the students are introduced to the fully implemented faculty-led Math Pathways advisement model. Student Success staff have even pre-loaded USB wristband drives with helpful phone numbers and academic lingo to help students on their journey. The work to get students in classes and a record enrollment has been a campus-wide effort the whole summer, involving Student Success, Academic Success and College Service department personnel. Admissions staff has been cold calling students to help them with registration and emailing students with unpaid balances. Public Relations has continued to put out communication via the Web and NVC’s social media channels to make sure students get the message beyond email. We also had a robust team of volunteers that pitched in to help at New Student Orientations. All of these efforts and this ‘can-do’ spirit gave NVC the fuel it needed to reach this historical enrollment. [image 2] [image 3]
