September 23, 2022

Fall 2022 admission data

The Office of Admissions would like to thank and recognize all of you, our campus partners. Because of our combined efforts, the University enrolled 2,579 first-year students, an increase of 25.1%! It truly does take a campus to recruit and enroll a student, and we would not have seen this success without all of you. While official numbers are not yet in from all of the Michigan public universities, WMU’s increase in students is at least double that of our sister institutions! Here are some other first-year enrollment highlights:

• Yield rate: +1.7%
• Average GPA: 3.55 (highest in WMU history)
• ACT and SAT test scores are also the highest in recent history
• Diversity: 24% students of color (+2% over fall 2021)

Here’s to building on this success and bringing in even more students in fall 2023!

Dunbar Hall construction progress

This week marked a major milestone for construction on Dunbar Hall: The roof of the future dance studio is gone. Throughout the next few weeks, the structure to frame the studio will start to go up. Watch a week-long time-lapse video.

Oct. 1 is the deadline for April 2023 graduation applications

Once the deadline has passed, students may submit a late application by Dec. 1 or apply for the next available graduation term. Please direct students interested in submitting a late application to contact Jessica Pickett. Late applicants will be charged $200 in addition to the $55 graduation fee. 

As with previous application campaigns, the Registrar's Office utilized a multi-pronged approach comprised of targeted communication, general communication and support/partner communication.

Targeted communication

Eligible undergraduate and graduate students received personalized emails and phone calls. Eligibility is determined by Degree Works percentage (65% and above), advisor approval (those who have been approved to graduate but have not applied) and credits earned (12+ for students in master's programs and 40+ for students in doctoral programs). We also contacted all students enrolled in certificate programs to reiterate that students earning both a certificate and a degree must file separate graduation applications.

All of these students will receive a follow-up email in November regarding the Dec. 1 late application deadline.

General communication

The application deadlines have been incorporated into our general messaging as well, including: 

• Our "welcome" email, sent to all enrolled students on the first day of the semester/session, contains an entire section regarding the application deadlines (in addition to listing the deadlines in a calendar format).
• Our registration email, sent approximately two weeks before registration periods begin, contains application deadline information for juniors, seniors and graduate students.
• Our home page has showcased the Oct. 1 deadline since early August.

Support/partner communication

Thanks to collaborations with the Office of Marketing and Strategic Communications, the Office of Information Technology and Online Education, we have been able to share the Oct. 1 deadline via an announcement in Elearning, dates on the WMU Events calendar, a write-up in WMU Today and posts on WMU social media.

We also worked with numerous departments and colleges to run a new flyer on nearly all of WMU's digital display screens.

Since Aug. 1, the Registrar's Office has provided 11,300+ targeted notifications. We will also be offering virtual and in-person assistance on a walk-in basis next week: 

• Monday, Sept. 26, through Thursday, Sept. 29, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Friday, Sept. 30, from 8 to 11:30 a.m.

More information about walk-in assistance was sent to students via email earlier this week.

We know that many of you have been calling, emailing and meeting with students to help them make the application deadline. Thank you. Your work is appreciated and your efforts are making an impact. Please contact John Scott with questions.

Updates from Student Financial Aid

Student Financial Aid and Bronco Express

Bronco Express is now housed in the Student Financial Aid office located in the Faunce Student Services building on the west side of campus. For more information, please visit wmich.edu/finaid/new. 

Updated hours as of Monday, Sept. 12

Drop-ins and phone calls: Monday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to noon. Our adjusted hours are supporting the necessary time needed to improve our processing of documents for our students. 

Consumer information 

In compliance with federal law, the Office of the Provost will be emailing all enrolled students a notice of availability of institutional and financial aid information, known as consumer information. This information can be accessed online.

Federal Work-study

Financial Aid would like to remind departments, supervisors and timekeepers of the auditable requirements for using Federal Work-study funding. Please review the Federal Work-Study Compliance and Audit section online. Learn more at wmich.edu/finaid/workstudy/employers/campus.

Staff spotlight with Jeremy Glefke, associate director of financial systems

• What is it like working at WMU? Always evolving, exciting place to work 
• Describe WMU in three words: Brown and Gold
• What hashtags best describe your personality? #jokester #helpful #drive #determination
• Where is your happy place in Kalamazoo? University Roadhouse, many sports games watched with buddies (when we did not have the cable channels to watch them at home) and dates with my then girlfriend and now wife
• What is something people don’t know about you? I like to work on/restore old trucks and cars 
• What has been your favorite project at WMU? Being a part of bringing CampusLogic to the campus to help aid in the student success and ease when it comes to their financial aid experience

Admissions recruitment partner spotlight

The Office of Admissions would like to recognize Amanda Jeppesen, coordinator, Student Employment in Merze Tate College, as a fantastic partner! Ms. Jeppesen has assisted with the development of the mentoring program for admissions student ambassadors, including preparing our team on how to train mentors, how to identify mentors and teaching mentors how to guide new hires.

Amanda has also helped to improve our hiring process for student ambassadors; she has advised on a rewrite of our job listing, improved our employment application to make it more accessible and offered numerous recruitment strategies. Admissions is able to hire stronger student candidates because of Ms. Jeppesen’s dedication to helping us succeed.

Free shredding event on Oct. 14

To encourage proper disposal of the University’s protected information, the GLBA Committee is hosting a free document and media shredding event on Friday, Oct. 14, from 10 a.m. to noon near Sangren Hall (Lot 41).

Updates from the Graduate College

Defense submission deadlines for fall 2022 graduation

Dissertation

• Deadline to schedule defense: Oct. 14
• Last day to hold defense: Oct. 28
• Defended dissertation to Graduate College: Nov. 4

Specialist project and master's thesis*

• Defended specialist projects and master’s theses due in the Graduate College: Nov. 11

*Master's thesis and specialist projects defenses are not announced through the Graduate College. 

Check the Graduate College's website for the spring, SUM I, SUM II and fall 2023 deadlines.

Graduate and Professional School Fair

The WMU Graduate and Professional School Fair will be held in person from 3 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11, in the East Ballroom of the Bernhard Student Center. Please share this event with anyone who may be interested in exploring their options for advanced studies.

Nearly 80 graduate and professional schools from WMU and throughout the United States will participate in the fair. This FREE event is open to all who are interested in pursuing graduate education. Event details can be found at wmich.edu/grad/grad-fair.

The Registrar's Office will close at 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 30

All staff members will be attending a workshop/retreat. The office will reopen on Monday, Oct. 3, at 8 a.m.

Did you know? A fun fact from the Registrar...

As of this morning, graduation application reminder emails have been opened in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Peru, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.