Admissions, Retention and Financial Aid Committee

ARFAC Meeting of 24 February 2005

Present: Paul Jackson, Beth Christensen, Steve Reece, Michael Kyle, Bill Green, Rachel Erickson (student senator)

1. A Vision for Admissions and Financial Aid. The committee spent a majority of its meeting time in conversation with Michael Kyle about his vision for admissions and financial aid at St. Olaf College, the challenges the institution faces with respect to recruitment, and ways to engage the St. Olaf community in the development and execution of a strategic enrollment plan.

    • The Context – Current & Future challenges
      • Population numbers project an 8-15% decrease in the traditional applicant pool in next decade (White/Caucasian). Need to branch out from this pool.
      • Competition with 3 major groups of colleges/universities
        • Regional ELCA colleges (Gustavus, Luther, ConcordiaMoorhead)
        • Large research universities (U Minnesota-Twin Cities, UWisc-Madison)
        • Selective Liberal Arts (Carleton, Grinnell, etc.)
        • Application overlap (Gustavus, St. Thomas, UMN, UWisc-Madison, Carleton) Increase in students of color
      • Meet target enrollment numbers in St. Olaf College strategic plan
        • 15% diversity in student body
        • Enroll 730-750 students/entering class
        • Meet community targets: 42-45% male, 40-55% Lutheran, 45-55% Minnesota
        • Meet demonstrate financial need of students
    • Verifying where we are at. Hardwick-Day will perform a bottom to top review of the Admissions and Financial Aid areas of the college so that division can create a Strategic Enrollment Plan for the next 3-5 years. The resultant report will address financial aid processes, admissions processes, comparisons to peer groups and practical norms, with the goal of determining the appropriateness of our current strategy/vision and level of resources. Hardwick-Day will be on campus the week of March 7. ARFAC is planning to meet with the group during community time/lunch on Thursday, March 10 to discuss how ARFAC can play a meaningful role in the resultant Strategic Enrollment Plan. Report is expected by the end of April 2005.
    • Goals for Admissions and Financial Aid
      • Meet enrollment targets of the college strategic plan and create a Strategic Enrollment Plan.
      • Grow the applicant pool 5-10% per year for the next five years.
      • Identify and intentionally expand into new markets.
      • Make St. Olaf College the 1 st choice of more students.
      • Engage others in the recruitment process (alums, church leaders, faculty, etc.)

2. Admissions Timeline and Applicant Contact Briefly discussed the admissions process timeline and established an agenda item for our next meeting. The Question In what ways can St. Olaf College have meaningful contact with applicants throughout the entire application process?

3. Next two ARFAC Meetings

Council with Hardwick-Day, Thursday, March 10 at 11:30 am. Place TBD.
Regular meeting, Thursday, March 17 at 11:30 am. Place TBD.

For more information about Hardwick-Day, see the following web site. http://www.hardwickday.com/

Respectfully submitted,
Paul Jackson