Collaborative Leadership Enables Freed-Hardeman University to Increase Enrollment

John W. Dysart
President
The Dysart Group, Inc.

The higher education landscape is rapidly changing. Despite the general acceptance of the concept of enrollment management as an effective vehicle for understanding admissions, financial aid and retention, few schools have successfully brought together the three departments in an effective manner.

Freed-Hardeman University adopted a new organizational structure to ensure that the enrollment management plan is a truly collaborative effort. The University has created a leadership team that includes the Director of Admission, the Director of Financial Aid and the Chief Retention Officer and these individuals have worked together in making all of the decisions regarding enrollment management.

Such collaboration allows for examining the impact of recruitment strategies and tactics on retention. Financial aid policies and procedures can be adopted to enable the school to meet recruitment and retention objectives. The structure is still unique in the industry. While many institutions include the three divisions under the leadership of a Vice President of Enrollment, it is unusual to have a structure with three equal partners.

Early outcomes for Fall 2013 are encouraging.

• Applications for admission are up by 9%.
• The number of students accepted for admission grew by 21%.
• The number of newly enrolled students increased by 11%.
• Retention for first-year students increased by 7% compared to last year.

It is likely that this truly collaborative approach to enrollment management leadership will pay dividends in the future.