It’s no secret that it’s been a tough year for college admissions nationally.
UNCG’s Division of Enrollment Management has a new leader and new initiatives aimed at growing enrollment and improving student outcomes.
Learn how Vice Chancellor Tina McEntire is managing enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how she and her team are preparing for the looming “enrollment cliff” all colleges are facing.
Q: How has the pandemic impacted enrollment?
TM: We had a decline in applications for fall 2020, and we enrolled less students. But we’ve recovered nicely – we’re happy to report that we’ve seen about a 5% increase in applications compared to last year, and we’ve admitted more students at this time (February 2021) compared to last year. We have also seen increases in first-year retention. Going into the fall of 2021, we’re in good shape, but students are just beginning to make their choices of where to attend college next year.
Q: How has UNCG been reaching prospective students during the pandemic?
TM: We are trying to provide prospective students the best opportunity in a bad situation. The Admissions Office is offering very small group tours – one family to one tour guide – and we continue to offer a multitude of virtual visit sessions. UNCG implemented a new virtual tour so that students, families, and even alumni can visit the campus from their homes.
The Admissions Office is also doing a lot of personal outreach. We have ramped up our social media channels and are constantly engaging with students. The admissions counselors text with them a great deal because students feel more comfortable texting than reaching out by phone or email.
Q: What is the “enrollment cliff,” and how will it impact future plans?
TM: During the 2008 recession, people stopped having children at the same rate, and the national birth rate declined. Eighteen years later, we’ll see the impact that the 2008 recession had on higher education. There will be less 18-year-old students in the nation beginning in 2025, which will appear as an enrollment cliff where the demographics fall off quickly for 18-year-olds.
At UNCG, we’re focused on a well-balanced approach. We’re not putting all of our eggs into one basket. While we will always recruit 18-year-olds coming out of high school, we’re also focused on transfer students, online students, graduate students, and adults who have some college credit but never finished their degrees. We want to drive enrollment and growth, but we want to do it in a way where we are managing enrollment, and it’s not managing us.
Our alumni can be critical players in showing Spartan pride and telling others about the incredible value of a UNCG degree. We all play a role in recruiting students by talking with people in our community about the academic excellence and the wealth of opportunities that the “G” has to offer.
WHAT’S NEW IN ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
• One-stop shop website – dubbed “Spartan Central” – for students to access financial aid, registration, billing, etc.
• Redesigned campus tour, starting in renovated Elliott University Center’s Maple Room
• Revamped scholarship program
• Virtual recruitment and campus tours
• Revived relationships with high school counselors
• Greater presence in Raleigh and Charlotte markets
By Alyssa Bedrosian
Photography by Martin W. Kane