Comprehensive CAS Enrollment Management Plan Unveiled

When Dr. Edwin Martini accepted the challenge to be the CAS dean focused on WMU’s “learner centered” pillar, he knew he had some tough work ahead of him. By far the largest college at the University, CAS serves thousands of students in majors across the entire campus, generates over half of WMU’s annual credit hours, and delivers the overwhelming majority of the general education curriculum.  “As the foundational college at WMU, on which the pillars of a learner centered, discovery driven, globally engaged education rest,” writes Martini, “CAS must actively craft a plan for its future.”

The 2013-18 College of Arts and Sciences Enrollment Management Plan is a proactive approach, according to Martini, one with four clear, realizable goals that can be measured in meaningful outcomes. “The plan is focused on areas in which we have greater college and department-level control, or in which we could exert a greater degree of control,” explains Martini. The goals include:

• Optimizing enrollment and credit hour production
• Enhancing student retention and success
• Developing and supporting customized recruiting and yield activities for particular units
• Maintaining and developing innovative programs with an emphasis on synergy across key programs and units

Martini is especially pleased with how the program directly supports the CAS Strategic Plan to “strengthen the value, impact and relevance of the college in the face of resource challenges. The four goals of this plan stem directly from our strategic planning process and are designed to support and enhance our mission, vision, and core values,” explains Martini.

The College of Arts and Sciences Enrollment Management Plan is a product of numerous face-to-face meetings with each of CAS’s 26 units and the College’s experienced advisors, resulting in generous, transformative feedback and a plan with many stakeholders. In addition, its development has been based on a systematic analysis of enrollment, recruitment and retention data, and an examination of best practices at other universities. According to Christopher Tremblay, associate provost for enrollment management at Western Michigan University, “this roadmap is an outstanding example of specificity in goals, measurement outcomes and a commitment to the recruitment and retention of our students.”

“Being proactive and creative about enrollment management is good for the college and good for Western. Most of all, though, it’s good for students, a way of honoring our commitment to help them be successful Broncos,” said CAS Dean Alexander Enyedi. “We understand that the future of WMU rests on providing students with a strong and vibrant liberal arts core,” he added “and we are committed to doing everything in our power to achieve that vision.”