Murray State’s Board of Regents met Friday to discuss several topics, but one issue was at the center of nearly all agenda items: how to boost enrollment.
Board Passes Strategic Enrollment Management Plan
Murray State Board Of Regents voted to move forward with a new strategy to bolster student enrollment, and while they commended the work of a university committee the plan presented did not impress board chairwoman, Susan Guess. “ I was expecting more of a blueprint like you’d see in the business world and this is more like a list of action points,” she said.
Vice President for Student Affairs Don Robertson presented the plan along with Interim Chief Enrollment Officer Charlotte Tullos. The strategic plan includes focus areas including marketing and communication, recruitment and policies and finances. The details of these focus areas included improving communication with families and students and revamping policies to improve enrollment.
Guess said the new strategy wasn’t a “comprehensive plan” and didn’t differentiate from previous enrollment plans.
Robertson said the feedback from the board was what his team was looking for. He said when the board returns for the December meeting the second phase of the plan will be more detailed. The plan comes as Murray State has seen consecutive years of broad enrollment declines.
The university has yet to release final enrollment numbers for fall 2018.
Student Admissions Are Up, But What Does That Mean?
Director for the Transfer Center and Undergraduate Admissions Maria Rosa reported the number of undergraduate students admitted to Murray State is up compared to October of last year.
She said President Bob Jackson has visited 16 schools within 10 counties of Murray State’s service region. She said a goal is to have Jackson visit every county within the service region by the end of the fall. Other efforts to increase enrollment included hand-delivered acceptance letters by Jackson and visits from Student Government Association members and Regents.
Rosa said just because more students are being admitted to Murray State, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will enroll in classes next fall. “15 years ago high school students would apply to two or three, maybe four colleges, now their applying to eight, 10, 12 institutions.”
Backlogged Deferred Maintenance
Regent Don Tharpe spent considerable time discussing a backlog of maintenance issues on campus that, he believes, can be a deterrent to incoming students. While a university priority list in place for these projects, Tharpe pressed for a detailed plan. Deferred maintenance concerns are not new to the university, in a 2014 WKMS report the university’s deferred maintenance projects totaled more than $51-million. Student Regent J.T. Payne said the condition of the dorms is a question often asked by high school students. “That’s a very common question is ‘well how is residential life?’ and I talk about our residential college system and so on so forth, and the follow-up question is: ‘no I’m talking about how modern are your dorms?” Payne said.
Excitement For Outsourcing Dining Services, But Not Health Services
The switch to outsource health services and dining services on campus is yielding mixed reviews from students and faculty. Regents Payne, Phil Schooley and Katherine Farmer said they have heard several complaints from students and faculty about outsourced health services. Payne cited the recent outbreaks of pink eye and staph infections among the student population. “It’s a topic that several of you have approached me about, that we must look at it and we will as Jackie Dudley and I go through the next budget cycle,” Jackson said.
The decision to outsource dining services was met with more enthusiasm. As Executive Director of Auxiliary Services David Looney spoke about Murray State’s recent deal with food services company Sodexo, Regent Don Tharpe asked him to “talk more about the national brands,” that Sodexo could potentially bring to campus. Looney said there’s a current plan in place to put an Einstein’s Bagel in Waterfield Library, but other brands could follow.
“Whenever we talk about national brands we can’t have a conversation in Murray, Kentucky without mentioning Chick-fil-a,” Looney said. “It’s a hot-touch point and we know people get excited about, so we’re going to do everything we can to bring a Chick-fil-a here. But Sodexo has roughly about 30 different national brands in their portfolio.” Looney said.
Presidential Search Committee Announced
While this was not a specific agenda item during Friday’s meeting, the board announced a Presidential search committee to find a replacement for the post recently vacated by Bob Davies. Board Chair Susan Guess said Vice-Chair Lisa Rudolph will lead the committee. Other members include: Faculty Regent Katherine Farmer, Staff Congress President Marion Hale, Regent Dan Kemp, Regent Don Tharpe, Former Murray State President Tim Miller, Student Regent J.T. Payne, Madisonville Regional Campus Director Heather Roy, and the CEO of CSI in Paducah Steve Powless. Guess said the committee is holding two to three forums in November to get public feedback about the search.
