Chairs: Warren Burggren, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Elizabeth With, Vice President for Student Affairs
Members: Jean Bush, Acting Senior Associate Vice President for Finance; Allen Clark, Assistant Vice President for Institutional Research and Effectiveness; Tom Evenson, Dean of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service ; Gilda Garcia, Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity; Earl Gibbons, Vice Provost and Associate Vice President for International Education; Troy Johnson, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management; Deborah Leliaert, Vice President of University Relations, Communications and Marketing; Melissa McGuire, Director of Orientation & Transition Programs; Jim Meernik, Acting Dean of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies; Vish Prasad, Vice President for Research and Economic Development; Tom Rufer, Assistant Vice President Auxiliary Services; Jean Schaake, Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences; Dale Tampke, Dean of Undergraduate Studies
At the first meeting, priorities for the PEC were identified. They included:
The PEC has set a long-term goal of repeating (or recreating), on an annual basis UNT ‘s enrollment Quadfecta that was achieved in Fall 2010. This quadfecta is an increase in each of the following enrollment categories:
The initial focus has been on boosting new enrollments and setting a target enrollment for the future. At the same time, much discussion took place regarding retention, time-to-degree, and graduation rates, which are reflected in the “Student Academic Success” aspect of the quadfecta. The Council created three subcommittees -freshman, transfer, and graduate- to discuss the issues associated with each and to determine future enrollment numbers for each group.
To assist the Council and its work, a slide-rule-type model was created to enable the members to see the impact of increased enrollment on many factors including: tuition rate, number of faculty, space, advising, staffing, financial aid, scholarships, distance learning, retention, faculty load, students on academic probation/suspension, and distribution by college. This model allows the PEC to identify future needs of the university to accommodate growth, including staff, scholarships, and faculty.
The PEC has set the enrollment target of 45,000 students by fall 2016. This is growth of approximately 25% or about 9,000 more students than fall 2010 enrollment. Reaching the 45,000 target requires approximately 4% overall growth per year. The target distribution of the growth is 25% graduate students and 75% undergraduate students. The target will be achieved through increases in both new student enrollments as well as increases in continuing student retention rates.
The PEC has discussed the importance of managed and targeted growth to ensure that we provide a quality experience for students. Therefore, a strategic approach will be used to grow in areas that have capacity for growth and in ways that assist the university in its pursuit of a national research university status.
Proposals were made to the President’s Finance Council (PFC) to request funding in areas that will assist in reaching the enrollment targets. The PFC funded the following initiatives to begin immediately:
The PFC requires each initiative being funded to adequately measure the effectiveness of these new initiatives before continuing funded would be approved.
Next steps for the PEC include:
Other Councils and Council reports
