Student Asked to Assist Adams State in Enrollment Research

Julie Waechter
Adams State College

This month, Adams State students, faculty, and staff will be asked to participate in a research project designed to help the college achieve targeted enrollment growth, according to Dr. Michael Mumper, senior vice president for Enrollment Management & Program Development.
“Our goal is to produce data to support sensible growth in enrollment. This research will help us develop more long term and sustainable revenue streams to offset state funding cuts,” Mumper said. The consulting firm Noel-Levitz is working with ASC to conduct the enrollment growth research project.
In February, the project will conduct focus groups and surveys of several of the college’s stake holder groups, including faculty, staff, and students. The focus groups will be conducted Wednesday, Feb. 16. In addition, all employees and students will be asked to complete an online survey toward the end of February. To encourage participation, those who complete the survey will be eligible for a prize drawing.
Some students will shortly be contacted by a focus group leader requesting their participation. Focus group leaders are Dr. Frank Novotny, Dr. Don Johnston, Eric Carpio, Lori Laske, Ken Marquez, and Walter Roybal. “This research is intended to produce enrollment increases into the foreseeable future,” Mumper added. “That growth will correspond to the campus-wide enrollment targets laid out in the new Strategic Plan. The plan sets very specific – and quite aggressive – enrollment growth targets – including adding 150 undergraduate students and 100 graduate students during the next two years.”
He said the research objectives include:
• Developing more long-term and sustainable revenue streams to offset state funding cuts
• Gaining information on ASC markets, defining opportunities to increase market share
• Identifying new graduate and undergraduate programs with potential for sustainable demand
• Improving recruiting techniques
• Expanding transfer student recruitment
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 Mumper, ext. 7346.