Noel-Levitz Examines Enrollment Growth at ASC

Jessie Harper & Julie Waechter
The Paw Print

On February 16, Noel-Levitz came to the Adams State College campus to conduct interviews and direct focus groups for the student enrollment growth research.
The purpose of this research, according to President David Svaldi, is to “find a more strategic approach to recruit new students to the campus in order to make Adams State College a better place to be for students, faculty, and staff members despite budget cuts.”
These strategies may include adding more faculty members to our education programs and adding or revising areas of study that could use improvement.
According to President Svaldi, “This research is necessary in order to overcome the suffrage of enrollment as the economy worsens.”
The enrollment growth research project is separated into two different parts; the physical focus groups, which occurred on February 16, and online surveys sent out to each student’s e-mail address. The focus groups were separated into different sub-groups. One of the groups was a student group, consisting of new, current, and potential students. The second group was the classified staff, consisting of staff members in junior and senior level. The third group was undergraduate and graduate faculty members.
There were certain rules regarding the regulation of the focus groups. The rules are based on standard methodology practice. Under this rule system, nobody with superiority over any of the participants is allowed to be in the same group as their department chair.
Students who attended the focus groups were awarded a $20.00 gift card to Wal-Mart, while faculty and staff were awarded free lunch.
Up next on the enrollment growth research agenda are the surveys. These surveys range from online, over the telephone, and hard copy surveys. It is strongly recommended that everybody participate in these surveys, as it is a change to make changes on campus. Data will be collected from students, faculty and staff, high schools, high school guidance counselors, and transfer coordinators.
After the surveys are conducted, Noel-Levitz will write a report of recommendation based on importance to the college, as well as cost budgeting. The final step of this research project will be to write a long term plan of projects on the agenda for the next years to come.
Project steering committee members include Bill Mansheim, Dr. Frank Novotny, Judy Phillips, Dr. Donald Johnson, Karla Hardesty, Walter Roybal, and Mark Schoenecker. The research should be completed by the end of March, with an analysis and report on the findings due in June. A website/blog on the project will be established, to allow the campus to follow progress of the project. Any questions may be directed to Dr. Mumper, ext. 7346.