Strategic Enrollment Plan (2021)

Strategic Enrollment Plan

Black Hills State University

2021

INTRODUCTION

Beginning in 2001, except for small increases in 2010 and 2016, Black Hills State University has experienced a steady decline in enrollment. The largest incoming class was in the year 2010 with 669 incoming first-time, full-time students. In 2019 the University enrolled 436 first-time, full-time students. Over this same period student retention ranged from a low of 59% to a high of 69%. Most recently 65% of the Fall 2018 cohort returned for the Fall 2019 semester. The university’s need for a strategic enrollment plan was apparent. While the university’s 8-year strategic plan which launched in 2014 identified enrollment growth as an objective, the plan did not provide any strategies or other steps that the university could take to achieve growth. In the summer of 2019, a decision was made to prioritize enrollment and to consult with outside experts in both assessing the university’s current enrollment status and then put in place an enrollment growth plan.

The following strategic enrollment plan is the culmination of two years and many hours of work from staff and faculty members. The target activities identified through the planning process will be the focus of activities and budget decisions for the campus moving forward.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 2019 Black Hills State University entered a partnership with Ruffalo Noel-Levitz (RNL) to better understand and improve our enrollment and retention. This is a comprehensive effort including student communication, admissions, financial aid, advising, and academic programs. The project began with an external assessment conducted by Robert Baird, Senior Vice President for RNL. In early September, 2019, Baird spent two days surveying the campus, gathering enrollment data, and reviewing our structure, roles, responsibilities and outcomes. At the conclusion, he made a series of recommendations to university leadership to both better position the university for success and to put in place stronger recruitment and retention programming to stabilize enrollment and eventually realize growth.

After review of the assessment, BHSU engaged in a contract with RNL to develop a strategic enrollment plan and conduct a student satisfaction inventory (SIS). The strategic enrollment planning process was introduced to the campus at a Town Hall meeting with Dawn Fortin Mattoon, the SEP Executive Consultant from RNL on October 30, 2019. The SSI was administered in the Fall, 2019 with 683 students responding. In February, 2020, SEP working groups were launched. The groups represented five focus areas:

Academics
Admissions & Recruitment
Fiscal & Financial Aid
Student Success
Marketing & Communications

The working groups first engaged in a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat (SWOT)analysis and then developed situation analysis narratives over the next several weeks. The situation analysis identified opportunities for enrollment strategies. In May, 2020 a list of possible enrollment strategies was identified along with team leads and subject-matter experts. This list moved to the next phase of action or business plan development.

During the action planning phase many activities were found to be so immediately necessary that they were lifted from the process and implemented as a “just-do-it” item immediately. A few examples include significant executive and director-level leadership staffing changes, resurrecting the Student Success Center with both academic and career advisement, embarking on both financial aid and scholarship leveraging and marketing/communications consulting projects with RNL, and acquiring EAB Navigate as a more robust early alert and advising coordination tool.

In the spring of 2021, at the conclusion of the action planning process, thirteen action plans representing four broad categories of recruitment (funnel strategies); student success; a teaching and learning center and academic programs were presented to the President, Senior Leadership Team, and Strategic Enrollment Planning Committee. Action plan champions pitched the plans to the SEP steering committee. The pitch included projected enrollment from either new or retained students, cost of the initiative and total return on investment projections. The presentations were evaluated, and implementation plans developed. Funding sources for these plans comes from two primarily places: submitting a federal Title III Institutional Strengthening grant during summer 2021, and reallocating existing University resources.

A new Strategic Enrollment Management governance committee will be established to culminate the planning effort and will be responsible for continuous implementation, tracking and assessment of enrollment initiatives moving forward.

Retention taskforce & recommendations

The first activities associated with developing a BHSU strategic enrollment plan were begun by a First Year Retention Taskforce. Their charge was to make a set of recommendations (to the President) on improvements/changes that should be made on campus to enhance retention of first year students to return as second year students (freshmen to sophomore). At that time, the retention rate was 63%. These recommendations were intended to improve retention to at least 70%.

Members of the task force included:

Assistant Provost & Professor................................................. Pam Carriveau (Chair

Assistant Athletic Director.............................................................. Brock Anundsen

Articulation Specialist.......................................................................... Johanna Best

Assistant Professor, Human Services..................................................... Trenton Ellis

Dean, Business & Natural Sciences.......................................................... Greg Farley

Assistant Director, Residence Life.......................................................... John Ginther

Coordinator of Admissions, BHSU-RC..................................................... Jacob Hamik

Professional Adviser......................................................................... Janette Hettick

Assistant Director, Marketing & Communications................................ Kristen Kilmer

Director, TRIO.................................................................................. Ashley Kirchner

Director, Honors Program & Instructor, History........................................... Kelly Kirk

Dean of Students...................................................................................... Jane Klug

Director, American Indian Studies Center............................................... Urla Marcus

Director, Center for Hospitality & Business............................................ Hans Nelson

Assistant Professor, Accounting......................................................... Carol Racanelli

Program Assistant, Student Financial Services.................................. Melissa Simpson

Professional Adviser.................................................................... Clarissa Thompson

The Task Force came up with eleven different suggestions to positively impact our enrollment and retention, many of which became the foundation for the final chosen action plans.

Recommendation to create a central Advisement Center reporting to Academic Affairs responsible for GS 100, New Student Registration, Orientation, Career Services, Tutoring, and Academic Advisement. The Center would focus on students with 30 or fewer earned credit hours.
Recommendation that the position of Recruitment & Retention Specialist (R&R) be updated to Advising Specialist.
Recommendation to develop a stronger early alert and communication system utilizing Starfish to include advising notes and future advising assessment options.
Recommendation for increased mental health counselling services on campus.
Recommendation to develop a comprehensive prospective student communication plan for prospective students and families.
Recommendation for a full day summer orientation/registration event.
Recommendation to train key stakeholders in systems thinking to better leverage existing resources for student retention.
Recommendation to rebrand Green & Gold Days and develop a six-week welcome program including orientation and GS 100.
Recommendation to develop three living Learning Communities for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021.
Recommendation to develop a more strategic academic program management system.
Recommendation to create a Student Success governance committee focused on retention and completion with wide campus representation.

The actual strategic enrollment planning process began by establishing a steering committee whose role was to oversee the entire SEP process and ultimate plan. The steering committee was composed of:

VP for Academic Affairs and Provost Dr. Priscilla Romkema (Co-Chair)

(Dr. Christopher Crawford)

Director of University and Community Relations Corinne Hansen (Co-Chair 10/19 – 7/20)

VP for Finance & Administration Kathy Johnson

VP for Enrollment Management Dr. John D. Allred (Co-Chair)

(Dr. Lois Flagstad)

Dean/College of Liberal Arts Dr. Amy Fuqua

Assistant Provost Dr. Pam Carriveau

Psychology Professor Dr. Cheryl Anagnopoulos

Business Professor Carrie Stringham

Director of Marketing & Communications Corinne Hansen

Director of Admissions Joe Rainboth

(Barbara OMalley, Eric Liese)

Assistant Director, Marketing & Communications Kristen Kilmer

The SEP Steering Committee coordinated and reviewed the situation analyses and action plans as well as made recommendations to the Senior Leadership Team.

Five working groups were created around the key areas of enrollment for BHSU. These groups were coordinated by the Strategic Enrollment Planning (SEP) Steering Committee and provided a framework for the SEP project. Chairs of the working groups (the outer circles in the graphic) also served on the SEP Steering Committee to ensure appropriate focus areas for each group and to reduce potential duplication of efforts. President Nichols invited participants to serve on the working groups and included a mix of faculty, subject matter, and focus area experts, a blend of new and seasoned BHSU perspectives. A list of the working group membership is attached in the Appendix A-G of this document.

Academics

The Academics working group focused on BHSU academic strengths and opportunities. This included innovation of program offerings and delivery. The group identified academic partnerships, the Black Hills Geography, High Impact Practices and Program Assessment as key areas for enrollment growth.

The Academic Working Group was tasked to understand the relationship between program demand, target audiences, and the BHSU program portfolio. The working group studied the job market nationally, in the State of South Dakota, and regionally in the Black Hills. They gathered additional information on the broad skills most sought on a national level by major employers, as provided in The Chronicle of Higher Education and other periodicals. Finally, they studied our current programs to determine our strengths and where data suggest improvements may be needed. Finally, the group worked to identify programs and courses that attract traditional students to the Spearfish campus, programs that serve the place-bound Rapid City higher education needs, programs that meet workforce demand, 2+2 programs with South Dakota technical institutions, articulation agreements with Wyoming Community College District, and opportunities to expand online programs for a broader audience.

Student Success

During fall of 2019, a BHSU Retention Task Force had been tasked with studying first-year retention at BHSU. Their work resulted in a list of recommendations which served as a springboard for this planning effort (see page 102). To populate this group, select members of the Retention Task Force were identified to continue as a member of the Student Success Working Group, and several additions were made. This working group built on the work that was completed by the retention task force. The focus for this group expanded to look at retention beyond the first year and through completion of the BHSU degree.

Admission & Recruitment

The Admission & Recruitment Working Group experienced chair and membership changes during the SEP process. The Interim Director that started the project left after two months and an internal staff member served as Interim until a Full-time Director of Admissions was hired in April 2020. The group examined the admission work, organization, sources for lead generation and spent much of the year, developing data and reporting structures to understand the BHSU funnel.

The original focus for the group included:

Clarify the BHSU target student and identify how to reach them;
Improve in-state recruiting;
Understand and expand out-of-state recruiting;
Capture a greater share of the technical institute transfer market;
Examine the funnel data and determine avenues to improve conversion and yield at each touchpoint;
Review and improve the campus visit and cross-train with financial aid;
Review processes related to recruitment and pre-enrollment student processes, and
Review best practices in the industry;
Consider admission/recruitment approaches for the main campus, Rapid City campus as well as online offerings.

Fiscal & Financial Aid

This working group focused on the BHSU allocation of financial aid. The group expanded on the enrollment-aligned revenue generation ideas that were developed with the budget reduction plan (12/19) which included:

Alignment of grant opportunities with target enrollment groups,
Examine the online infrastructure needed to meet growth goals, and
Collaborate with student success working group regarding housing initiatives.

The scholarship process, the FA self-service portal, student communication regarding financial aid, financial aid packaging, student financial need, scholarship best practices, tuition waivers, and holistic financial aid leveraging provided a framework for this working group's focus area.

Marketing & Communication

This group was tasked to identify and articulate the BHSU story. The group focused on BHSU promotion considering outcomes, stakeholder feedback, and communication channels.

Situation Analyses

Each of the working groups generated data-informed narratives telling the story of how Black Hills State University is performing relative to each of the focus areas. The situation analyses provided historical context and benchmarked BHSU against its peers and competitors as appropriate.

Data

The working groups were provided data by the BHSU Institutional Research Office.

Communication

The President's Office coordinated scheduling and communication for SEP. Town Hall meetings were held in October 2019, September 2020, and April 2021. The University also provided a portal and shared the progress of the SEP project throughout the process.

Mission, Vision, Planning Assumptions and KPIs

Mission & Vision

The SEP project promoted a review and updates to the BHSU mission and vision statements. Both revisions were developed initially through input from the Presidents Senior Leadership Team. The President then presented the ideas to Faculty Senate and to the campus at large through a Town Hall meeting and e-Update communications, inviting input and suggestions. The final version was approved by the Senior Leadership Team early 2021.

Black Hills State University Vision Statement

Black Hills State University will innovate to provide cutting-edge education, promote student success, be a sustainable campus, and serve as an economic engine for western South Dakota.

Black Hills State University Mission Statement

Black Hills State University is a regional, comprehensive, public institution that provides access to a higher education for aspiring students. BHSU offers a generous number of baccalaureate and select master’s degrees, generates new knowledge, promotes excellence in teaching and public engagement, and serves as a regional economic leader. Graduates make significant contributions to the workforce and the betterment of their community.

Ideal Outcomes & Priorities

The President, the Senior Leadership Team, and the SEP Steering Committee generated and validated a list of ideal outcomes and priorities for the SEP project.

The Steering Committee was first to capture outcomes and priorities, and the President and Senior Leadership Team endorsed and expanded on those concepts.

Increase and sustain enrollment
Develop a strong recruitment plan for BHSU which includes identifying target markets and student "fit"
Brand BHSU to strengthen identity and promote strengths
Capture and articulate the Black Hills State University story
Solidify the university's mission while futuristically shaping its academic profile and student services to meet changing needs
Align academic programs to regional workforce needs and emerging academic degrees
Become data-driven in decision-making by determining essential data and developing data nomenclature, definitions, and comprehensive resource guides
Create a campus culture of "outcome" focus with both processes and communication
Assess student needs with data and be proactive and organize with clarity of wants versus needs
Understand the entire student life-cycle and touch-points at BHSU; identify and remove barriers to retention (barrier busters); examine populations of students that do not persist
Create co-curricular integration and determine ways to make academic programs more powerful with high-impact practices including living-learning community initiatives
Emphasize cross-cutting skills of general education (ethics, civic engagement, writing) in promotion and value of BHSU
Develop a community and corporate engagement plan that emphasizes Spearfish, Rapid City, and Western South Dakota
Develop a recruitment plan [possibly in conjunction with International programs] a comprehensive package for recruiting students from various foreign countries or US territories so that it can offset future demographic changes that may occur in this decade.
Clarify how BHSU-RC, online, and dual-enrollment support the university mission:
- Strategically increase delivery of on-line courses/degrees
- Determine purposeful partnerships for BHSU-RC

Key Performance Indicators

Enrollment

Headcount: undergraduate; graduate; total
FTE: undergraduate; graduate; total
Student credit hours: undergraduate, graduate, total
Cohort headcount: first-year; transfer
Enrollment by location (campus, RC, on-line)
First-year and transfer cohort retention rates
Persistence rates of 2 to 3 year and 3 to 4 year
First-year and transfer Cohort graduation rates 3 year (transfer); 4 and 6 year (FY)
Dual-enrollment and Rising Scholars (total and conversion)

Student Quality/Shape

Student demographic, gender, race, Pell-eligible, first-generation, etc.
Entering ACT/GPA/class rank, national merit
Student to faculty ratio
Student satisfaction
Student engagement via student organization involvement

Program Quality

High-impact practices (first-year seminar, undergraduate research, internships/student teaching, capstone courses/projects)
Program accreditation
Degree attainment of faculty
Exam pass rates (PPST, CPA, etc.)
Placement rates (at graduation; 1 year)
Graduation rates for target populations (i.e., Pell recipients)

Market Position

Market share
Employee satisfaction

Fiscal

Net revenue
Net revenue/student
Residence hall occupancy rates
Student loan debt
Donor participation/endowment size
Scholarships awarded (overall amount; percentage; average per student)

Strategy Summaries

Action Plan Evolution

Early in July the President and Senior Leadership Team reviewed the larger list of individuals who had participated in developing situation analyses in the following areas:

Academics
Admissions & Recruitment
Enrollment Analytics
Undergraduate Enrollment
Student Engagement & Satisfaction
Student Outcomes
Student Financial Aid
Student Success
Graduate Enrollment
Market Position
Marketing & Communication

From these participants and analyses, Action Planning Groups were developed and given a charge to review the information provided and develop specific initiatives that would positively impact enrollment and retention. Over the course of two consultation visits these 11 teams were able to parse out 13 new proposals. As plans expanded, portions of the plans were carved out and put into action immediately. Others were discussed at length and will be picked up in future years as staff capacity and budgets allow.

The following insights and activities gained through this process became “just-do-it items” and are currently either in progress or already complete:

Updating our institutional vision and mission statements.
Strengthening our use of TargetX as a communication resource
Staffing changes
- Director of Admissions
- Vice President for Enrollment Management
- Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Director of Student Financial Aid
- Director of the Student Success Center
Create a new Student Success Center with professional advisors
Include in the Student Success Center a new Career Services function and staff
Make staffing and focus changes at BHSU Rapid City
- West River Health Sciences Center
- Hospitality & Business Center
COVID – 19 Mandates
Beginning to work through the Financial Aid Leveraging consulting project with RNL
Communication Assessment with RNL
Advising Quality Initiative including all 4 years
Implement a new student portal
Create 4-year plans including course rotation and sequencing
Logo redesign
Implement a new Content Management System for the BHSU website – Cascade
Integrating FAFSA information push into TargetX communication planning
Acquire and implement EAB Navigate for advising continuity, early alert, and milestone tracking

Acquire and implement Handshake

Action Plans & Prioritization

In December and early January, the action planning teams worked closely with our RNL consultant to revise the narrative descriptions, implementation timelines, evaluation and assessment metrics, budgets, and enrollment projections. Early in the process it became apparent that writing a federal Title III Institutional Strengthening Grant would provide some of the financial resources required to fully implement the emerging plan. Thus, in tandem with the SEP, a small Title III grant writing team was formed, and an outside consultant hired to assist with writing the grant application.

On January 26, 2021, each Action Plan Group pitched their enrollment strategy to the Senior Leadership Team, SEP Steering Committee, and Title III grant writer. Each group had a ten-minute pitch followed by five minutes of questions to ensure that each action plan was fully understood. On January 27, 2021, the Steering Committee discussed the strategies and considered prioritization considering the following criteria:

Strategic alignment with BHSU mission
Effort required to implement
Cost of initiative and possible alternative resources (including redirected institutional funds and inclusion in the upcoming BHSU Title III grant request)
Enrollment impact
Return on investment
Likelihood of success
Campus resistance and readiness
Impact on other initiatives

The SEP Steering Committee was thoughtful in its deliberations and identified opportunities to adjust the action plans. The Senior Leadership Team finalized the strategy implementation plan after our RNL consultant identified five broad categories that encompass each of the SEP strategies. The five categories are:

Enrollment Analytics
Recruitment / Funnel Strategies
Student Success Center Strategies
Teaching and Learning Center Strategies
Academic Program Strategies
Financial Aid Leveraging

Enrollment Analytics

Develop an Enrollment Analyst Position

This strategy builds on the work and discovery that has occurred during the SEP process. This action plan calls for the development and hiring of an Enrollment Data Analyst. This position will develop stronger and more structured data standards that will solidify admission, retention, and enrollment reports, fuel inputs for future decision making and support early alert systems and the University’s on-going enrollment management function. It will also further develop our predictive modeling and information dashboarding capabilities.

Create a Data Committee

This action plan will also include the launch of a Data Committee. The Data Committee will include: the Enrollment Data Analyst, an enhanced institutional researcher, and representatives from the Registrar’s Office, Admissions, Student Financial Aid, the Student Success Center, the new Center for Faculty Innovation, and the Provost’s Office. The group will be initially charged with the development of a “data cookbook” clarifying data definitions for BHSU.

Recruitment/Funnel Strategies

Throughout the SEP process, we carefully analyzed the BHSU recruitment funnel and determined that refinement of the inquiry pool is necessary. Admissions has worked diligently to understand our market share at various high schools and the return on investment relative to various inquiry sources. Since our inquiry-to-admission rate is high relative to national averages and our Admissions Office staffing is limited, a focus on yield for admitted students is our priority. Two initiatives were included in the Recruitment/Funnel Strategy category. These strategies are designed to support inquiry refinement and enhance the admission-to-enrollment rates.

Admission Marketing

The Admission Marketing initiative included a communication flow audit and consideration of additional student staff to work as tour guides. The communication flow audit was deemed a “just do it” during the Fall Semester 2020. The audit was completed in January 2020 and recommendations from the audit are being implemented into our current communication plans to students at all levels of the funnel.

The remaining aspect of the initiative includes hiring additional student workers to serve as tour guides. During the pitch and prioritization discussions, the SEP Steering Committee and Senior Leadership Team determined that the tour guide request should also be a “just do it” and that this plan should be fully implemented as soon as possible.

Admission Operations

The Admission Operations action plan included a request for Admission Welcome Center staff. This request was not prioritized however through additional conversation it was determined that existing student employee funds would shift to the Admission Office to support the requested need through student hires.

Student Success Center Strategies

Academic Advisement

A significant outcome of the prioritization summit was the decision to shift from our existing faculty advising model for upper-division students to a professional advisor model within the Student Success Center to serve all levels of student advising needs. This change will better position faculty for student mentoring through training provided by the Center for Faculty Innovation.

Tutoring & Supplemental Instruction

The Tutoring and Supplemental Instruction action plan for the Spearfish campus was initially cut from pitch presentations due to staff overload but will be fully developed in a later phase of SEM implementation based on pending Title III funding. Tutoring services are currently being developed at our Rapid City Center.

Career Center

The Career Center action plan was deemed a “just do it” during the prioritization summit and the institutional funds have been shifted to facilitate full implementation during the 2021-22 budget cycle. This includes converting a shared position within the President’s Office and Student Success Center into a full-time Career Center Coordinator and funding for a part-time Graduate Assistant position. To supplement the coverage lost within the President’s Office, the Enrollment Management Division Program Assistant will become a shared position between the Enrollment Management Division and the President’s Office.

BHSU Engage

The BHSU Engage: Work-Study internships action plan included one-time costs which will be funded through existing institutional resources. The one-time costs include establishing expectations, criteria, and a system for work-study position allocation at BHSU. This enrollment initiative will be a joint activity between the Center for Faculty Innovation, the Student Success Center, the Financial Aid Office, and the Business Office.

Financial Literacy

The Financial Literacy initiative to increase financial literacy training and instruction for students will move forward with $5,000 in one-time operating funds and $12,000 in new ongoing budget to fund a graduate assistant.

CENTER FOR FACULTY INNOVATION Strategies

Four of the action plans created a Teaching & Learning Center including a Director position Center operations budget. This shared position and operations budget will be included in the coming Title III grant proposal. As we have continued to refine the Title III grant proposal, the name of the center has been changed to the Center for Faculty Innovation.

GS 200

This action plan calls for offering multiple sections of a newly created course to be taken by students in semester two of their first year. The course will focus on financial literacy and additional student success skills, rounding out a full year of student training withing the university first year experience program.

Faculty Mentoring

The implementation of the Center for Faculty Innovation will include an intentional approach to shift upper-division advising to the purview of the Student Success Center and facilitate faculty as student mentors with an intentional focus on building faculty-student relationships and assisting students in areas such as internship, undergraduate research, and job searches, etc..

Innovative Teaching

The Center for Faculty Innovation will be home to the BHSU Instructional Designer and serve as a best practice, sand-box space to work with faculty to become highly effective instructors.

High Impact Practices

Several BHSU high impact best practices were identified during the SEP processes. This initiative provides space, support, and institutional knowledge to leverage such practices throughout the curriculum.

Geography and Partnerships

The Geography and Partnerships action plan evolved from the Academic Programs working group. This initiative is based on the existing relationship with the Sanford Underground Research Facility. The enrollment initiative identifies opportunities to better leverage the partnership, focus on majors for increased enrollment, and expand the relationship to new content areas and new programs in the future. After careful consideration, it was determined that the Geography & Partnership initiative should be integrated into the proposed Center for Faculty Innovation. The initiative includes $9,000 of reoccurring release time and marketing funds that will need to be funded institutionally in the next budget cycle.

Academic Program

Experiential General Education

The Academic Programs working group continued to develop and refine a model that customizes the South Dakota Board of Regents prescribed general education curriculum with experiential learning for BHSU students. This initiative will be included in the Title III grant and total Center for Faculty Innovation fund requests. This plan will use an outside vendor (EMSI) software to study labor market demand for the region.

Academic Program Portfolio

The Academic Program Portfolio plan provides a methodology for understanding the productivity of BHSU’s existing programs and establishes a foundation for future program development that aligns with the institutional mission and workforce demand. The plan called for a Data Analyst position. After careful consideration, the Senior Leadership Team determined that there is an opportunity to repurpose existing personnel resources to support this task provided that a one-time investment of outsourced market research guidance is available as well as an EMSI license.

Financial Aid Leveraging

BHSU has contracted with RNL to analyze our student enrollment as impacted by the financial aid and scholarship offer presented to the student during the recruitment cycle. We will develop a more targeted approach to scholarship awarding, allowing us to be first in the mailbox with the best scholarship offer targeted to help a prospective student make the decision to attend BHSU.

Enrollment Goals, Projections, & ROI

Enrollment Funnel

Documenting and understanding the traditional “funnel” model of student enrollment is an important part of the larger enrollment picture. The funnel model is a way of thinking about the process of college admissions and enrollment. You “top load” the funnel with as many potential students to recruit as possible. They are often called “leads”, “prospects” or “inquiries”, depending on institution-preferred labeling, historic context and existing systems.

This leads to a wide “top” of the funnel i.e.: many students to start recruiting. As students proceed through the funnel and the enrollment process, many make other school and life choices and may become disinterested in the university. The farther “down” the funnel you go (through the next, more committed stages of the college enrollment process), the fewer students exist at each stage. A typical funnel model and timeline for college enrollment is visualized as follows along with our Fall 2019 and 2020 funnel data:

Fall 2019		FUNNEL STAGE	Fall 2020
Headcount	Percentage	FUNNEL STAGE	Headcount	Percentage
18,454		INQUIRIES	52,157
2,186	12%	APPLICATONS	1,391	3%
1,904	87%	ADMITS	1,160	83%
526	28%	ENROLLED	420	36%

Enrollment Targets: Dual Credit, Graduate & Online Enrollment Targets

During our review of the completed SWOT analyses, we considered enrollment strategies for a number of different populations including, but not limited to, undergraduate, dual enrollment, graduate, transfer, international, and online-only student populations. We determined that activities targeting traditional undergraduate and transfer students would yield the most immediate positive enrollment growth. The other populations will be addressed as we are able to solidify our undergraduate base and curriculum offerings.

Dual enrollment students, though an important population adding to our overall headcount, enroll at approximately a 13% yield rate as opposed to the traditional admission funnel. This group of students take advantage of reduced rates for college level coursework, but BHSU as the provider of those courses does not tend to be their institution of choice where regular admission is concerned. We have determined that our finite budget dollars are better spent on other student enrollment campaigns, but BHSU will continue to provide dual credit opportunities for local students.

Enrollment Trends

Below is a table of historical and projected enrollments. Projections for First Time Freshman are based on the work we have completed during the SEP process. Projections for the other three student groups are based on historical trends.

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
UG First Time Freshman	587	555	490	521	437	500	515	530	546	563	580
UG High School	369	495	533	559	416	450	464	477	492	506	522
UG International	59	64	61	65	51	56	54	53	51	50	48
Graduate	432	231	290	174	195	105	110	116	122	128	134

In evaluating which audiences to pursue with enrollment initiatives we determined to go primarily after the first-time new freshman audience. A dual enrollment target was also considered extensively, but at the end of the day the net revenue provided by a dual enrollment student yields approximately $144.05/credit hour less than a new first time freshman student. We will continue to offer dual enrollment courses and will increase our efforts with this audience once the academic quality initiatives included in this plan are completed. We will also look for future opportunities to improve our international and graduate enrollment audiences once we have solidified our undergraduate base.

BHSU SEP Enrollment Impact

One of the primary purposes of the preceding action plan and prioritization activity was to project the new enrollment, retention, and net tuition revenue impact for BHSU. The following is a summary of the projected impact on overall enrollment through 2026. The left half (unshaded) portion indicates the projected increases based on the action plan to which they are attributed. The right half (shaded) are anticipated enrollment totals based on increases from Fall 2019 and 2020 base enrollments. The duplication risk factor adjusts the increases for possible overlap in plan impact.

	Projected Enrollment Increase					Impact on Overall Enrollment (3608 F2020)
SEP Strategy	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Enrollment Analytics	53	89	113	142	172	53	89	113	142	172

	Projected Enrollment Increase					Projected Impact on Overall Retention (3608 F2020)
Recruitment / Funnel Strategies	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Recruitment - Admission - Marketing	14	32	55	81	109	14	32	55	81	109
Admission Operations	10	21	35	50	66	10	21	35	50	66
Subtotal	24	53	90	131	175	22	48	81	118	158
Unduplicated Admission / Recruitment (10%)	22	48	81	118	158	458	484	517	554	594

	Projected Retention Increase					Projected Impact on Overall Retention (3608 F2020)
Student Success Center Strategies	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Peer Mentoring (SSC)	25	42	51	56	60	25	42	51	56	60
Career Center (SSC)	10	23	44	75	113	10	23	44	75	113
BHSU Engage! Work-Study Internships (SSC)	8	13	17	20	21	8	13	17	20	21
Financial Literacy (SSC)	9	23	31	40	43	9	23	31	40	43
Upper Division Professional Advisors - (SSC)*	4	7	8	10	11	4	7	8	10	11
Subtotal	56	108	151	201	248	56	108	151	201	248
Unduplicated Subtotal (25%)	42	81	113	151	186	3,650	3,689	3,721	3,759	3,794

	Projected Retention Increase					Projected Impact on Overall Retention (3608 F2020)
Teaching and Learning Center	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
GS 200 (TLC)	5	12	20	30	39	5	12	20	30	39
Faculty Mentoring (TLC)*	5	7	8	11	11	5	7	8	11	11
Innovative Teaching (TLC)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
High Impact Practices (TLC)	20	34	44	51	54	20	34	44	51	54
Experiential General Education (TLC)	5	16	32	55	84	5	16	32	55	84
Geography and Partnerships (TLC)	15	26	48	70	92	15	26	48	70	92
Subtotal	50	95	152	217	280	50	95	152	217	280
Unduplicated Subtotal (25%)	38	71	114	163	210	3,646	3,679	3,722	3,771	3,818
Total Unduplicated TLC and SSC	80	152	227	314	396	3,714	3,811	3,911	4,026	4,136

	Projected Enrollment & Retention Increase					Projected Impact on Overall Enrollment & Retention (3608 F2020)
Academic Programs	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Academic Program Portfolio	0	30	94	199	310	0	30	94	199	310
No Duplication	0	30	94	199	310	0	3,702	3,807	3,918	3,918

SEP Subtotal	101	230	402	630	864	3,709	3,838	4,010	4,238	4,472
SEP Unduplicated Total (5%)	96	218	382	599	820	3524	3646	3810	4026	4248

Resource Needs to Fund the Plan

It was determined during the action plan prioritization exercise that funding for the selected action plans and those projects pulled from the prioritization exercise as just-do-it plans would be funded through one of four sources: 1) One-time funds prioritized for enrollment and retention projects; 2) a reallocation of existing resources; 3) new base budget dollars generated through increased enrollment and retention tuition revenue; and 4) inclusion in a Title III Institution Strengthening Grant. The following table outlines anticipated funding sources for the action plans and just-do-it-activities.

SEP Strategy	Existing Budget One-Time Expense	Reallocation of Existing Resources	New Recurring Base Expense	To be included in Title III Grant
Enrollment Analytics			$97,498.00

Recruitment / Funnel Strategies
Recruitment - Admission - Marketing		$12,600.00
Admission Operations		$32,000.00

Student Success Center Strategies
Coordinator of High Impact Practices (SSC)				$75,100.00
Asst. Director for Career Services (SSC)		$66,000.00
BHSU Engage! Work-Study Internships (SSC)	$3,000.00
Financial Literacy (SSC)	$5,000.00		$12,000.00
Upper Division Professional Advisors - (SSC)*				$100,000.00
Supplemental Instruction + tutoring				$80,000.00

Teaching and Learning Center				$154,000.00
GS 200 (TLC)			$20,000.00
Faculty Mentoring (TLC)*
Innovative Teaching (TLC)
High Impact Practices (TLC)
Experiential General Education (TLC)
Geography and Partnerships (TLC)			$9,000.00
Subtotal
Unduplicated Subtotal (25%)
Total Unduplicated TLC and SSC

Academic Programs
Academic Program Portfolio	$50,000.00		$15,000.00
Subtotal
No Duplication

SEP Subtotal	$58,000.00	$110,600.00	$153,498.00	$409,100.00

Future structure of BH Strategic Enrollment Management

As strategic enrollment planning transitions to implementation of the plan, oversight will transition from the Steering Committee to a Strategic Enrollment Management Governance Committee. The committee will implement strategic goals, enable plan implementation, evaluate budget initiatives, monitor goal progress through a KPI report card, and make recommendations to the President and Senior Leadership Team.

The committee will be made up of representatives from the following areas, with a goal of keeping the group manageable and able to respond to changes impacting both near and long-term planning.

Vice President for Enrollment Management (Chair)
Enrollment Analyst
Director, Admissions
Director, Student Success Center
Director, Student Financial Aid
Assistant Provost, Provost’s Office
Controller
Director, Marketing & Communications
Director, Center for Faculty Innovation

The group will also be responsible to develop and monitor the enrollment and retention dashboards and take appropriate action to ensure BHSU is on track to reach our enrollment and retention goals. Our immediate enrollment and retention goals are:

Reach 70% retention by Fall 2022 and 75% retention by Fall 2026.
Increase our first-time, full-time enrollment from 436 to 580 by 2026.
Increase overall campus undergraduate enrollment from 3,608 to 4,250 by 2026.

Each action plan will be evaluated on both the completion of implementation objectives and various success indicators.

ACTION PLAN	OBJECTIVES	INDICATOR	OWNER
Data Analyst Contribution to Incremental New: 43 Incremental Transfer: 6	Develop job description Data Cookbook Populate Tableau Dashboard Development Advising Modeling Tutoring Modeling		Student Success Center
Admissions Tour Guides Contribution to Incremental New: 10 Incremental Transfer: 5	Free up professional staff Help student create tie to campus		Admissions Office
Professional Academic Advising Model	Target caseload 300 students Communicate with students each semester	% of caseload met each semester % of students with 4-year plans Retention Rate Persistence Rate 6-year Graduation Rate NSSE Results	Student Success Center
Tutoring	Courses identified through DFWI data Targeting GE Courses Develop tutor selection process Establishe methods of tutoring, scheduling process (navigate) and equipment needed Develop tutor training program and application Develop tutor evaluation Campus promotion and awareness (F’21) Pursue national certification for SI and tutoring (F’22) Incorporate early alert referrals (Navigate) (F’22)	# of subjects offered DFWI percentages Retention Rage Persistence Rate 6-year Graduation Rate NSSE Results Student evaluations Faculty survey	Student Success Center
Supplemental Instruction	Courses identified through DFWI data Faculty assignment Student incentive Identify all sections of X courses	DFWI percentages Retention Rate Persistence Rate 6-year Graduation Rate NSSE Results	Student Success Center / Center for Faculty Innovation
Career Center Contribution to Incremental New: 5 Incremental Retained: 5	Internship Program Assess career offerings, faculty perceptions, and outside employer perceptions of services at BHSU Accounting job fair Part time job fair Educational job fair Interest inventories Type inventories Community connections Internship coordination Improve our first destination survey process and results	# of internships available # of fair participants Inventories offered Retention Rate Persistence Rate 6-year graduation rate NSSE Results	Student Success Center / Career Center
BHSU Engage Contribution to Incremental New: 4 Incremental retained: 4	Develop internships Develop position syllabi Formalize Work-study request process	# of ENGAGE Options % of Work Study funds utilized # of internships developed NSSE Results Retention Rate Persistence Rate	Career Center / Financial Aid Office
GS 200 Contribution to Incremental Retained: 5	Formalize Skills Academy curriculum Get GS 100 & 200 approved as graduation requirements Transition ownership of GS 100 & 200 to Center for Faculty Innovation	Retention Rate # of students with a resume Persistence Rates NSSE Results	Center for Faculty Innovation / Student Success Center
Financial Literacy Contribution to Incremental retained: 9	Create stand-alone modules Insert into GS 200 curriculum	NSSE Results	Business Office / Center for Faculty Innovation
Faculty as Mentors Training	HIP participation Training through CFI	NSSE Results	Center for Faculty Innovation
Innovative Teaching	Summer faculty course development Professional Community participation	DFWI Rates NSSE Results Persistence Rates	Center for Faculty Innovation
High Impact Practices in GE Contribution to Incremental New: 15	Infuse Skills Academic curriculum Implement Blank Resume Introduce D2L Portfolio during GS 100	% of syllabi with outcomes language # of students with resume	Center for Faculty Innovation
Academic Portfolio	ON HOLD for BoR Productivity Policies Evaluate EMSI data for program development	# of new degree & certificate programs developed Existing programs evaluated New program evaluation rubric	Center for Faculty Innovation / Institutional Research
Peer Advising Contribution to Incremental retained: 25	Student participant selection rubric Student mentor selection Weekly check in with students	% of students keeping weekly check-in appt Retention Rate NSSE Results 6-year Graduation Rate	Student Success Center

Net Revenue Report

The Net Tuition Revenue Dashboard/Report will monitor the year-over-year point in time enrollment including scholarships and bottom-line anticipated revenues. The reporting format will note the start of the semester as Week 0, and weeks prior as a negative countdown (e.g.: Week -5, five weeks prior to the semester start).

RNL AFAS Dashboard

The AFAS Dashboard will track student point of admission based on the financial aid & scholarship award offered and accepted or declined. The goal of this tracking is to refine our aid package offers to maximize aid available to our neediest students as well as increase new student enrollment yield rates.

Enrollment Dashboard

The Enrollment Dashboard will show the enrollment funnel by student type (new freshman, transfer, resident, non-resident, etc.) source code, location, and high school or transfer institution.

Planning Timeline

Short Term Plan

Present the campus Strategic Enrollment plan to the BH campus community.
Oversee implementation of enrollment action plans.
Establish the enrollment reporting process.
Consider new scholarship awarding structure based on RNL - AFAS Aid Leveraging results.

Mid-Term Targets

Determine multi-year recruitment, enrollment and retention goals broken down into monthly tracking segments by source, location, and student type.
Collaborate with the Student Success Center on Navigate retention tracking.
Develop a campus communication process to keep stakeholders informed of our enrollment and retention progress.

7. Conclusion

It is anticipated that this plan will guide future enrollment and retention decisions. Based on the projections and data gleaned from these exercises, the Black Hills State University expects significant progress in improving our enrollment, retention, and overall student experience.

APPENDIX A

Strategic Enrollment Plan: Academic Working Group Situation Analysis, Sept. 1, 2020

Members:

Dr. Ann Bolman, President Western Dakota Technical Institute

Dr. Amy Fuqua, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts (chair)

Mr. Hans Nelson, Director for the Center of Hospitality and Business, BHSU—Rapid City

Ms. Dawn Kennedy, Registration Officer

Ms. Kelly Kirk, Instructor of History

Ms. Debbie Liddick, Assistant Director of Facilities and Sustainability

Mr. Rich Loose, Director of Institutional Research

Mr. Kory Menken, Executive Director Spearfish EDC

Dr. Betsy Silva, Associate Professor of Physical Education

Dr. Craig Triplet, Assistant Professor of Exercise Science

Dr. Jeffrey Wehrung, Associate Professor of Business Management

Ms. Deb Wolf, Director of Educational Outreach SURF

Executive Summary

The working group’s task is to make recommendations for changes and improvements to BHSU’s academic programs that would better align curriculum to current market needs. We also have chosen to emphasize improvements that would make best use of our existing resources including geography and cultural identity. To do so we have studied the current job market both nationally and in the region of South Dakota and the Black Hills. We also have information on the broad skills most sought on a national level by major employers, as provided in The Chronicle of Higher Education and other periodicals. Finally, we have studied our current programs to determine where our strengths are and where data suggest improvements may be needed.

Thus far we have determined that the greatest and fasted growing needs are for professional programs serving heath care, management, and applied liberal arts. We are also exploring the relevance of forestry and tourism to four-year college programs since these are significant contributors to the regional economy. Additionally, we recommend changes to existing programs, both professional and academic, to provide students with the skills most frequently required in job advertisements in the region. We recognize that careers in non-technical areas are less related to a graduate’s major than to the skills acquired through that major. Thus, modifying programs to enhance development of these soft or essential skills is necessary.

Finally, the group recommends structural and cultural changes across the university to allow for continuous adjustment of curriculum to market. We recommend creating infrastructure for 1) collaboration with outside stakeholders (WDT, SURF, Monument Health, Ellsworth Air Force Base, etc.). 2) robust and ongoing faculty development based on a mechanism for finding, studying, and dissimilating information about best practice. 3) adjustment to the assessment process to focus on skill development and market alignment.

Preliminary SWOT Analysis

Strengths (internal)

Small/intimate student/professor ratio (201, smaller in upper level).
Do not utilize TA/GA/RA to teach it is faculty in front of the classroom.
Quality/strength of the faculty and instructors.
Impressive accreditations make us competitive.
Faculty know content (this from NSSE data?).
Annual assessment is being done, some departments/colleges have a really strong assessment procedure.
Opportunities for undergraduate research.
Opportunities for hands-on projects (ex: sustainability).
Internships/community relationships this varies by department, yet shows the strength of connection between the university and members of the surrounding communities.
Relationships with students we get to know our students, the issues faced both in and out of classroom.
Honors Program- recruits and retains students, helps create community, capstone projects and research.

Weaknesses

Quality of instruction/pedagogy how to convey the knowledge faculty have?
Lack of consistent faculty development in pedagogy.
Lack of adequate remediation for faculty who perform poorly in the classroom.
Discussion of quality not a topic of conversation, culture of silence surrounding this topic.
Topics covered within courses misinterpretation of academic freedom and what students within the discipline need to understand/comprehend.
Annual assessment aligning outcomes with course curriculum, and relevancy.
Helping students “sell” themselves that they have learned these life/soft skills (communication, organization, research, critical thinking) even if they have a degree that doesn’t have the job in the degree title (history, English, political science, Spanish) internships central location.
Lack of career center.
Lack of oversight of internship opportunities (are students getting a quality experience?).
Lack of oversight within university for graduate school/graduate students.
Small numbers of support staff/better utilize the staff that is here.
Thinly stretched faculty (Need for strategic hiring).
Not replacing science educator within education department (with future growth of Sanford, yet no one leading department in future education of STEM educators).
Lacking undergraduate program in sustainability (identify how to develop this/certificates) (would require hiring).
Lack of ability to hire for new programs without reallocating or hitting something somewhere else.
Opportunities from weaknesses:
- Opportunity to change how we address the assignments we assign (how this develops critical thinking, teamwork, communication, research) (language within syllabus and assignment sheets).
- Develop components of curriculum that make essential skills overt.
- Self-reflection and self-advocacy.
- Speed dating (connect program with general education).
- Strategic use of human resources.
- Selling adaptability/agility (technological agility).
- This might help students realize the relevancy of their courses/content.
- Syllabus level adjustment/changes.
- Can we come up with strategic certificates/programs/minors that rely on collaboration amongst existing programs? Maybe help meet some of those workforce needs?
- Instead of “jobs within the field” can we expand the definition to “jobs that use field skill sets”?

Opportunities (external)

Helping students learn how to understand their skill sets/educate on connections between liberal arts education and marketable skills (career development for our students).
Build relationships between community/businesses and faculty/programs.
Further develop relationships/provide more opportunities for undergraduate research leads to development of skills.
Opportunity to develop centralized career center/internships.
Support of community they want students, want to provide opportunities.
There is a search on to fill high need areas think very creatively about how to fill high need areas, provide certifications/degrees/programs that are both academic/technical/professional.
Support for building the workforce.
Strategic Leadership (or sustainability) degree with Ellsworth (NAU’s contract is expiring with Ellsworth) this is an excellent way to build Masters (flexible modality is going to be key).
Leveraging education and outreach with the growth of LBNFDUNE project at Sanford Lab (safety, environmental, engineering, managing, safety, finance, contractors and subcontractors).
Develop programs that will help support the healthcare economy.
PT (ND has three programs, SD has one).
Nursing.
If workforce needs are a focus statewide, then we need to streamline processes that allow us to react/respond to changes in workforce.
Partner with RC High School Pathways Program.
AAS to BS degree (from WDT to BHSU).
Develop undergraduate research opportunities with Monument Health and their connection with Mayo Clinic.
Can we align programs and research with regional workforce needs in healthcare?
OT, PT, Speech Therapy, Nursing, athletic training.
nonmedical in health: insurance, health administration (MHA), accountants, data analysts, cybersecurity, IT.
Tourism is another area of development and focus statewide.
can still be developed further within the Business Department (small program, only one faculty member, currently developing a minor…..reconnect Tourism program).
Some specific applied skills can they be added into a curriculum to strengthen the “sell” of that degree?
For example: grant writing, more GIS (drones, ESRI software, surveying), a coding class (this could be a great opportunity to connect with other institutions such as Mines, WDT, etc.).
Teaching and selling adaptability.
Dual enrollment opportunity to bring students in/recruitment from dual credit.
future reliance on dual credit to meet teaching needs within local schools.
Define and improve WY articulation agreements.
We accept WY credits.

Threats

Fear that small student/professor ration and intimacy are under threat due to funding pressures.
Risk of oversaturating local markets if all start requiring internships, oversight to ensure a quality internship experience.
Not always support for a four-year degree at statewide level (funding, politics) or for liberal arts.
Population does have a limit/bottom think about long term sustainability of a program (such as master’s degrees through Ellsworth, number of teachers getting an M.Ed.).
Not planning to replace science educator.
Lack of highly skilled healthcare workers and our inability to fill those gaps.
Restrictions of program development due to the BOR and state system.
Makes it impossible for BHSU to fulfill regional workforce needs.
Dual enrollment changes how long a student is at the university, amount of general education credits they are taking, feel they must be tracked into degree field sooner.
Lack of connection with schools in the area (harder to recruit or bring high school students into the university from dual credit online classes).
Inability to hire in strategic places for new programs (or even existing programs).

Research

Market analysis. With the assistance of Tom Johnson of Elevate Rapid City, we obtained and studied research on the current job market in the broader region of South Dakota and the Black Hills. We focused on the largest demands in addition to emerging demand. We also identified skills requested in job advertisements and listed on resumes.

Internal data. We studied internal data to determine which academic programs may have strengths and weaknesses we should consider. We mainly studied trends in numbers of majors and credit hours; WFDI rates; and graduation rates. Questions emerging from that research are discussed directly below. The most significant pieces of data and our analyses are included in appendices to this document.

NSSE data. We identified questions relevant to our purposes and studied student responses for a better sense of their perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of programs.

External information. A study of general education programs and research on general education were included.

Initial Findings

High DFWI rates are noted in Human Resources, Business Administration, Exercise Science, and Mass Communications. Also, high DFWI rates occur in some specific classes, Biology 151, for example, and some accounting courses. We note, however, that the DFWI rates have been remarkably consistent in the last four years even while enrollment has dropped across disciplines. This consistency may suggest that any increased challenges to retention are not because of increased DFWI rates. However, high rates may suggest a long-standing need for improvement in curriculum and instruction.

Exercise Science is a point of concern. Graduation rates are comparatively low. We need to examine this popular program more carefully, looking at, among other things, incoming ACT scores, GPA, gateway courses, and IDEA surveys.

Mass Communications is also a concern. Numbers of students and graduates appear to have fallen more than it has because of the recent curriculum change that moved many graphic design and photography students out of emphases in MCOM and into the BFA programs. However, we need to consider improvements to this program.

We note a drop in American Indian Studies, Sociology, and Political Science but believe this maybe largely due to national trends rather than weaknesses in the programs. However, we note the unique opportunity for BHSU to have a strong AIS program with outreach to tribal colleges, reservation schools, and the community.

Data indicate that the tourism program is on the decline, although BHSU is in a geographical area with heavy need in tourism.

A study of the education programs seems to indicate more strength in elementary education than in secondary education. We would expect to see programs of relatively equal size, but the elementary education program is significantly larger. Drops in secondary education are particularly noteworthy in history and English. Additionally, we have a low number of graduates in science education, an area where teachers are needed.

We considered the opportunities specific to our region and university history. Among these are tourism in the Black Hills, the Sanford Underground Research Facility, the national forests, the size of health care relative to the overall economy, our history as a normal school. Given that resources are currently thin, we believe we should leverage these opportunities fully.

Given our geographical and administrative connections to SURF, the committee considered the need to realign science and math education with the work of the Educational Outreach division of the Sanford Underground Research Facility. Further discussion of this element of our work is directly below.

Deeper Analysis of Existing Programs

Two teams have worked in different ways to identify which existing programs are strongest and which ones are weakest. Unsurprisingly, their results are similar.

Approach 1 (Rich Loose)

A study of current enrollment and three-year trends. According to this model we can identify which programs have the highest enrollment and which ones have the lowest. We also tracked which ones had the lowest and highest changes in enrollment over three years. From that information, we identified the 25% of our programs with both the lowest enrollment and the greatest decline in enrollment. We dismissed some as irrelevant to our work--for example, those that are composite majors related to other, healthy programs; those with recent, major curriculum changes; and those already being phased out.

From this information, we determined that the following programs should be considered our weakest ones:

Human Services
Outdoor Education
Physical Education
Spanish and Spanish Education
General Studies (RNL has drawn our attention particularly to this program)
MS in Curriculum and Instruction

The committee does not currently recommend cutting these programs but rather exploring their potential and the reasons for their weak enrollment.

Approach 2: (Betsy Silva, Craig Triplett, Jeffrey Wehrung)

This approach involved multiple factors including enrollment, 6-year graduation rate, accreditations, and (minimal) job placement data. This work is on-going. [appendix and summary needed]

Recommendation for Alliance with SURF

The committee discussed the value of SURF and the fact that there is little to no coordination between our faculty and the staff there. We discussed the value of studying “unsettled science,” and Debra Wolf explained the process by which she and her staff help create curriculum to help are teachers teach science as a critical thinking process rather than simply as a study of discovered facts. We created a separate ad hoc committee with the approval of the provost to consider how we could create an alliance, revise curriculum, better connect our education programs to K-12 public school systems and make a name for BHSU in science and math education. That committee is performing its own research and will make detailed recommendations for curriculum changes.

Recommendations for New Programs:

Note: Ongoing research will be needed to determine need for future programs. However, we wish to note possibilities based largely on data provided to us by Tom Johnson, Director of Elevate Rapid City. This information included that provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (US and SD), historical data gathered from job advertisements, and applicant materials.

Health Service Management

Significant growth in our region’s job market are in healthcare. Given that BHSU is not able to provide nursing or other medical programs, we believe we should focus on health-care management either with a new program or modification to existing programs. Such changes would at least include courses in medical terminology. Further research from job listings and collaboration with Monument Health is needed.

Tourism

Tourism is a large and growing field in the region, and BHSU’s Tourism and Hospitality Management program was designed to meet this need. However, this program is not strong. The committee discussed the problem that many jobs in this field are low-wage, seasonal jobs not requiring a college degree. We should consider ways to make a highly applied associates degree following what Dr. Nichols describes as an “earn and learn” model with close connections to industry for developing curriculum, providing internships, and employing graduates.

Forestry

The same holds true for Forestry as for Tourism. BHSU seems an ideal location for a forestry program. A logical model is for such a program to fit into the existing biology program as an element of that bachelor’s degree. Current work is being done to provide forestry as a new specialization for the BS in biology. Connections between industry and the School of Natural Sciences have been made, and work is ongoing.

Management in Technical Fields

Research thus far shows a strong and growing need in the region for managers in technical fields. Our group has concluded that the best way to meet this market need is with 2+2 agreements with technical schools in the region to provide key elements of a business/marketing degree to those who already have specific, technical skills. Ann Bolman, President of WDT and member of our group, fully agrees. We propose block credit transfer for students with associate’s degree. The remaining coursework for the bachelor’s degree would focus on marketing, accounting, finance, and communication. Coursework would emphasize applied rather than theoretical. Preliminary work is already being done in this area with the proposal of the major in leadership.

Business. Management Across the Curriculum

We have a new art management minor that combines business and art courses. However, better collaboration is needed between the disciplines to provide experience, for example, in the areas of working for non-profits and grant writing. We recommend exploring ways not only to improve this program but to provide management background for those in the arts and other areas of the liberal arts.

We should reconsider the proposal for the Applied Liberal Arts program, a major that makes use of any existing, non-professional minor for the development of essential skills; includes additional, deliberate focus on those essential skills (communication, collaboration, problem solving, and critical thinking); provides additional, specific skills chosen by the student in areas such as finance, graphic design, or technical writing; and offers seminars in job market readiness. This proposal exists as an Intent to Plan tabled at the Board of Regents under its previous executive director. Alternatively, elements of this proposal could be used to revitalize existing programs.

Recommendations for Modifications to Existing Programs

Special Education

This program is currently offered online with some opportunity for face-to-face coursework. We recommend that a face-to-face option be provided for every class and for students to be advised to take face-to-face courses wherever possible. This change is at the repeated request of K-12 administrators on the School of Education Advisory Board. The emphasis in online learning in this program originally suited the need for existing teachers to become certified also in special education. However, our new MAT in SPED now meets that need. Evidence for this has come from SSI.

Education in Relation to Business and Computers

We recommend a possible revamping of inactive Business Education program in light of current trends in education. Increasingly, computer teachers are also teaching courses in economics and other elements of business. We should consider combining training in these areas.

Finance

Our current program is probably more theoretical than applied. We need to explore ways to prepare certified financial planners estate planners and to emphasize practical skills.

Computer minor

This program is currently a mix of math and business courses. It should be revised to provide a generalized understanding of computer technology for those who will serve as technical support to business and other organizations. DSU has the state’s more technical programs, but we could provide a program appropriate to the generalist. An Intent to Plan was created and should be revisited.

Articulation

Given the decline in our number of transfer students as indicated by internal data, we should explore all other possible articulation agreements: 2+2 agreements, block transfer, etc.

Additional Research and Findings:

NSSE. Analysis if NSSE data to determine student satisfaction with programs.

In summary, while there were some interesting findings among the details, we focused on major take-aways from this study. We noted that responses indicate some need for revision of the management program, the inclusion of applied elements in many disciplines, more community-based projects, and help with career planning.

General Education. We course requirements for general education at BHSU are set by the BOR; however, we can adjust curriculum at the syllabus level to emphasize needed skills and to make outcomes more obvious to students. Discovering how other institutions tackle this challenge will help us make recommendations for allowed changes.

BHSU’s current program requirements for General Education are fixed. In a nutshell, they are as follows: 2 courses in composition, 1 in math, 1 speech, 2 lab science, 2 social science, 2 humanities. Many programs in social science require an additional course in humanities, and many humanities programs require additional work in social science. This plan was made at BHSU to help offset cuts in the general education program in those areas. We usually call this the reciprocity agreement. Requirements added as part of the reciprocity agreement are not considered part of the General Education program but rather as a part of each major.

See Gen Ed requirements: https://www.bhsu.edu/Portals/0/Academics/Records/BHSU%20Gen%20Eds%20updated%205.1.2020.pdf?ver=2020-06-01-143925-683

Other Universities: BHSU’s general education program is similar to that of other state institutions. Those studied include University of North Carolina, State University of New York, and the University of Washington. These programs focus on the development of skills (math, composition, speech) and knowledge (social science, natural science, arts and humanities). What is missing from most programs is a deliberate integration of skill development and knowledge base.

Consideration of what is needed nationally. According to the American Association of Colleges and University, curricula should make clear connections between the development of a knowledge base and of high order skills. They should also pay attention to equity, life-long learning, and professional development. Other useful sources include:

Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Age by Joseph Aoun

General Education in the 21st Century: A Report of the University of California Commission on General Education in the 21st Century.

We recommend revision of the general education program at the syllabus level (because the curriculum itself is set by the BOR) to do the following.

Emphasize the application of knowledge to individual experience, public life, and the marketplace.

Make the development of skills overt in each general education class.

Develop structure for ongoing collaboration of general education faculty across disciplines.

Revise approaches to assessment to measure both skill development and students’ perception of relevance of curriculum to their experiences and goals.

Alliance with SURF. Following our effort to make an alliance with Education Outreach for SURF, we agreed to look more deeply into other regional resources. Identifying areas for alliance is part the next stage of the university’s work in enrollment management.

Additional notes:

Given existing trends in the workforce in addition to current changes resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the university should consider how to prepare students to work from home or at a distance.

How can we enhance the campus experience—particularly following a semester fully online. Students will be eager to be together again. How can we make use of that renewed recognition of a need for community in revisions of programs?

We do need more data, and we need ground truthing to establish what skills are needed and therefore how best to revise programs.

We need an established protocol for finding best practices and regular check-ins with those who employ. These are needed structural changes, and we hope they would allow us to adjust our curriculum continuously, so we are more responsive to the marketplace.

APPENDIX B

Strategic Enrollment Plan: Admissions & Recruitment Working Group Situation Analysis, Sept. 1, 2020

Members:

Melissa Barth - Director, Spearfish Chamber

Johanna Best - Registrar’s Office

Van Delist - ROTC/National Guard

Janette Hettick - Retention/Recruitment Advisor, Liberal Arts

Jane Klug - Dean of Students

Charlie Lamb - Research/Biology

Eric Leise - Director, International Studies

Joe Rainboth – Admissions (chair)

Ven Thompson (data) – IT

Jayce Winsell, Admissions

Thayer Trenhaile - Athletics Development

Megan Vetter - Former Assistant Director of Admissions (BHSU)

Executive Summary:

The Admissions & Recruitment working group gathered data, processes documentation and anecdotal insights related to the historic recruitment and admissions practices at BHSU. This report examines the “current state” of recruitment and admissions at BHSU, while comparing to historic data from past years and looking ahead to areas of opportunity and growth for the future. Data has been collected from: BHSU Institutional Reporting, SDBOR Factbook, various internal academic and student service departments and various reporting from Ruffalo Noel Levitz. The group’s general perception is that Black Hills State University is a reputable, regional degree-granting institution with many good, hard working people in the mix and significant room for future stabilization and growth. A focused, intentional approach to improving operational efficiencies, university brand identity, human resources capital and customer service mindsets will go a long way toward increasing recruitment and admissions practices, campus wide.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

BHSU’s strengths include the university’s location, size, and accreditations and accolades. Our location provides us access to numerous national parks, monuments, and forests. The size of BHSU fosters a caring and collaborative community between students, faculty and staff, where students feel safe and secure. Students are afforded the opportunity to make a positive impact on campus and within the community through student organizations, leadership and service experiences.

Weaknesses

Historically, admissions processes have been vague and undefined, leading to inconsistency in communication with prospective and current students, lack of coordination and frustration between departments, and a perception of institutional disorganization. Lack of a data-driven target market beyond geographic location and significant staffing issues have led to questionable financial and human resource/time allocation.

Opportunities

There are abundant opportunities for BHSU to enhance its recruitment within the region. These include developing corporate relations with local businesses to increase co-ops and internships; partnering with national industries which provide education funding to their employees; and, enhancing the relationship with Ellsworth Air Force Base (EAFB) and the South Dakota National Guard (SDNG). These efforts can be complimented by building strong relationships with the local tourism industry and developing a resource database for external funding opportunities to better target populations of potential students.

Threats

Among the many threats, the current competition around dual-credit (DC) students, a group among which BHSU has historically done well, poses

challenges to maintaining BHSU’s enrollment. Additionally, high school graduates within our region are increasingly diverse, meaning BHSU will properly service and support these students to attract and retain them. This demographic shift is compounded by a trend toward vocational and other 2-year programs versus traditional 4-year liberal arts degree. Finally, the emergent concerns related to COVID-19 have highlighted the need for BHSU’s recruitment strategy to be nimble and adaptable to quickly changing landscapes.

Data

Strengths

BHSU is ranked ninth Best University for Outdoor Adventure and is located near a plethora of national monuments, parks and nature highlights for hikers, campers, historians, and outdoor enthusiasts.
Deadwood SD (15 miles)
Black Hills National Forest (50 miles)
Devils Tower (60 miles)
Crazy Horse (67 miles)
Mount Rushmore (70 miles)
Wind Cave (103 miles)
Badlands (106 miles)
Jewel Cave (100 miles)
Minute Man Missile Site (106 miles)
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (214 miles)
Bighorn Mountain (163 miles)
Yellowstone National Park (380 miles)
Spearfish has been noted to be in the Top 20 of the Best Small Towns in America: https://www.bhsu.edu/About-BHSU/Black-Hills-of-SD
BHSU is accredited by:
The Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)
The National Association of Schools of Music
Recognized by The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). https://www.bhsu.edu/About-BHSU
Student to Faculty Ratio is 20:1 https://www.sdbor.edu/mediapubs/factbook/Documents/FY2020Factbook_011420.pdf
Student have rated BHSU as a safe and secure campus where students are well cared for by Residence Life and Student Health Services and Counseling staff. (RNL SSI 2020)
BHSU has 90+ student organizations https://www.bhsu.edu/Student-Life/Clubs-Organizations
Students can travel around the world to student and have cultural emersion programs for exciting and life-changing experiences. https://www.bhsu.edu/Student-Life/International-Service-Learning-Program-BHSU ; https://www.bhsu.edu/About-BHSU/News-Events/bhsu- student-travels-to-slovenia-as-part-of-exchange-program-1

Weaknesses

Anecdotally, parents and prospective students have reported high levels of frustration with admissions processes, and have reported using communications from other institutions to lead them through the process (BHSU Registrar & Admissions staff).
83% of students found financial planning services somewhat/very helpful (road2college.com parent survey).
Thirty employees have worked within 5-7 Admissions positions in the past 10 years; titles and duties have constantly changed and there is no consistent way in which employees are trained (BHSU Human Resources & Admissions Staff).
The cost of replacing an employee is estimated at between 90-200% of that employee’s salary, not to mention uncalculated costs of lost relationships with on- and off-campus stakeholders, lost morale, and lost institutional knowledge. (SHRM, 2020).
Target X could be more effectively used to identify and target specific segments of the prospective population (Admissions staff).

Opportunities

Currently BHSU has no co-op agreements in the region.
Military population currently enrolled who qualify for DoD or VA benefits of total statewide population.
Total Veterans (both RC/BHSU): 116 of 72,284 Statewide
Total Active Duty or National Guard Dependents (both RC/BHSU): 56 of 8,400
Ellsworth Airforce Base Active Duty Members (RC 17, Online 4): 21 of 3,800
South Dakota National Guard (BHSU 26, Online 3, RC 7) 36 of 4,200 (3100 Army 1100 Air)
Tourism and Hospitality program low number of students and no new majors in 2019.
Large numbers of national companies provide $5-8 to employees (approx. $5k tax deductible) for higher education such as AT&T, BP, Bank of America, Chipotle, Disney, & Home Depot. Wal-Mart has a direct education guide to funnel employees to certain IHEs https://walmart.guildeducation.com/catalog?page=0&hitsPerPage=10&clickAnalytics=true

Threats

Along with USD, BHSU enrolls the highest number of DC students in the BOR (BOR Factbook, FY2020)

Enrollment in DC is expected to climb past 8,000 unique students through 2026, from a current level of approximately 5,500 unique students (SD LRC Analysis, Nov. 18, 2019)

BHSU and NSU already have a scholarships aimed at recruiting DC to degree programs; as of AY21, SDSU and USD will also offer a scholarship. Need date on matriculation of DC students to BHSU over the past 5 years.

Kids Count data show since 2015 in South Dakota the number of Hispanic school children from PK-12 has increased from 6900 to 9600, African- American children from 3950 to 4550, and multi-racial children from 4500 to 6900; over the same time the number white children stayed steady at 101,000. Similar data for surrounding states can be sourced from Kids Count.

Average student debt at BHSU was $30,000 in 2018/2019; need comparison data for other BOR and regional universities; and average earnings of BHSU grads 1, 5 and 10 years post-graduation.

Takeaways

Strengths

BHSU needs to incorporate the strengths of our small and safe campus community, location and student engagement opportunities. We need to help student understand that they are not a number on campus, rather they are an important member of our campus community.

Weaknesses

BHSU should review and overhaul communication and processes for new and prospective students, vetting for clarity, common sense, and timeliness. The plan and processes should be standardized and shared with all departments involved in the recruitment/enrollment process.
BHSU should identify target student populations using both SEP matriculation (funnel) data and retention data through graduation; admissions and marketing should then carefully curate marketing/ communication strategies with these target populations and allocate fiscal/staff resources accordingly.
BHSU should create new onboarding and training processes for all employees related to institutional culture and brand. Human Resources should work in tandem with departments including Admissions to review use of staff time, improve efficiencies and supervisory practices, and create/improve training and retention of employees directly involved in the recruitment/orientation process.

Opportunities

Develop lasting relationships with business to provide co-op and internship opportunities to current and future students. Recruit from employer pools.
Develop a targeted strategy toward Military Populations in the region focuses on Service Members, Veterans and Families.
Reexamination of the Tourism and Hospitality program and how it fits into recruitment.
Partner with industries that direct employees to colleges and universities with in their corporate education programs.

Threats

BHSU needs to examine the use of the DC scholarship and develop a targeted recruitment strategy to increase enrollment of DC students into BHSU degree programs.
BHSU needs to develop a focus on recruiting and supporting diverse students; doing so will also ensure BHSU can remain nimble in having different groups of target students.
BHSU need to develop a coherent value proposition, support it with data, and incorporate it into the recruitment strategy.
The recruitment strategy needs to incorporate emergent uses of technology to reach students and parents (among others) in different ways, allowing BHSU to make quick adjustments to its strategy as needed, while maximizing the number of prospects it reaches.

Enrollment Data & “The Funnel”

Documenting and understanding the traditional “funnel” model of student enrollment is an important part of the big picture. The funnel model is a way of thinking about the process of college admissions and enrollment. You “top load” the funnel with as many potential students to recruit as possible. They are often called “leads”, “prospects” or “inquiries”, depending on institution-preferred labeling, historic context and existing systems.

This leads to a wide “top” of the funnel i.e.: many students to start recruiting. As students proceed on “down” the funnel, though the

enrollment process, many become disinterested in the university. The farther “down” the funnel you go (through the next, more committed stages of the college enrollment process), the fewer students there are at each stage. A typical funnel model and timeline for college enrollment is visualized as follows:

Prospect/Inquiry → Application → Admitted/Decision → Committed/Deposited → Enrolled

UG Freshmen funnel data:

Term: Fall 2015
Site Location	Inquiries	Applied	Admitted	Admit Rate	Enrolled	Yield Rate
Internet/Online	NA	7	4	57%	3	75%
Other	NA	12	11	92%	3	27%
Rapid City Univ Center	NA	159	123	77%	78	63%
Spearfish	NA	1,199	1,021	85%	429	42%
Grand Total	20,177	1,377	1,159	84%	513	44%

Term: Fall 2016
Site Location	Inquiries	Applied	Admitted	Admit Rate	Enrolled	Yield Rate
Internet/Online	NA	20	15	75%	6	40%
Other	NA	19	11	58%	1	9%
Rapid City Univ Center	NA	186	154	83%	93	60%
Spearfish	NA	1,359	1,092	80%	461	42%
Grand Total	13,340	1,584	1,272	80%	561	44%

Term: Fall 2017
Site Location	Inquiries	Applied	Admitted	Admit Rate	Enrolled	Yield Rate
Internet/Online	NA	14	12	86%	8	67%
Other	NA	21	15	71%	0	0%
Rapid City Univ Center	NA	178	155	87%	97	63%
Spearfish	NA	1,439	1,272	88%	447	35%
Grand Total	17,501	1,652	1,454	88%	552	38%

Term: Fall 2018
Site Location	Inquiries	Applied	Admitted	Admit Rate	Enrolled	Yield Rate
Internet/Online	NA	27	22	81%	7	32%
Other	NA	20	16	80%	1	6%
Rapid City Univ Center	NA	144	125	87%	82	66%
Spearfish	NA	1,625	1,472	91%	390	26%
Grand Total	18,228	1,816	1,635	90%	480	29%

Term: Fall 2019
Site Location	Inquiries	Applied	Admitted	Admit Rate	Enrolled	Yield Rate
Internet/Online	NA	24	22	92%	8	36%
Other	NA	30	23	77%	5	22%
Rapid City Univ Center	NA	153	134	88%	75	56%
Spearfish	NA	1,918	1,698	89%	431	25%
Grand Total	29,651	2,125	1,877	88%	519	28%

UG Transfer funnel data:

Term: Fall 2015
Site Location	Inquiries	Applied	Admitted	Admit Rate	Enrolled	Yield Rate
Internet/Online	NA	40	31	78%	22	71%
Other	NA	5	3	60%	0	0%
Rapid City Univ Center	NA	164	142	87%	109	77%
Spearfish	NA	344	280	81%	188	67%
Grand Total	1,307	553	456	82%	319	70%

Term: Fall 2016
Site Location	Inquiries	Applied	Admitted	Admit Rate	Enrolled	Yield Rate
Internet/Online	NA	55	42	76%	29	69%
Other	NA	8	6	75%	2	33%
Rapid City Univ Center	NA	138	122	88%	89	73%
Spearfish	NA	290	236	81%	152	64%
Grand Total	734	491	406	83%	272	67%

Term: Fall 2017
Site Location	Inquiries	Applied	Admitted	Admit Rate	Enrolled	Yield Rate
Internet/Online	NA	46	36	78%	20	56%
Other	NA	8	6	75%	4	67%
Rapid City Univ Center	NA	174	148	85%	104	70%
Spearfish	NA	312	270	87%	159	59%
Grand Total	824	540	460	85%	287	62%

Term: Fall 2018
Site Location	Inquiries	Applied	Admitted	Admit Rate	Enrolled	Yield Rate
Internet/Online	NA	36	27	75%	18	67%
Other	NA	9	6	67%	0	0%
Rapid City Univ Center	NA	98	87	89%	68	78%
Spearfish	NA	257	225	88%	136	60%
Grand Total	744	400	345	86%	222	64%

Term: Fall 2019
Site Location	Inquiries	Applied	Admitted	Admit Rate	Enrolled	Yield Rate
Internet/Online	NA	34	22	65%	8	36%
Other	NA	7	5	71%	0	0%
Rapid City Univ Center	NA	109	90	83%	65	72%
Spearfish	NA	229	194	85%	118	61%
Grand Total	13,947*	379	311	82%	191	61%

* Includes a large cold-call name buy/one-time buy from CBSS of 13,907 Prospect names. Data is also pulled from TargetX, whereas 2015-2018 Inquiries da* ta was pulled from EMAS CRM archives, so may not be wholly comparable.

Observations from 2015-2019 Freshmen and Transfer funnel data:

Freshmen Funnel

Inquiry numbers increased steadily year over year.
Application numbers increased steadily year over year.
Admitted numbers increased steadily year over year.
Admit rates varied by year, from 80%-89%.
Enrolled numbers were relatively steady for 3 years, dropped, then bumped back up.
Admit to Enrolled Yield Rates steadily declined year over year. Why? Inflated funnel?

Transfer Funnel

Inquiry numbers – Steady and predictable until 2019, where large CBSS name buy purchase took place.
Application numbers varied up and down from 2015-2017 and have declined since then.
Admitted numbers mirrored Application numbers. Declining since 2017.
Admit rates have remained relatively consistent from 82%-86%.
Enrolled numbers mirrored App and Admit numbers. Declining since 2017.
Admit to Enrolled Yield Rates have trended down from 70%-61%.

Yield Rate context (Freshmen)

South Dakota College Application Week started in 2014. It is one week, in the fall, where every high school senior in the state may apply for college admission for free – zero application fee required. Outside of this week, a $20 application fee is required.
Freshmen data, above, from 2015-2019 includes these free applications, where students could use one SDBOR common application to apply fee-free to all 6 BOR institutions, with no commitment.
For the current FA20 recruiting cycle, the SDBOR Common Application did not exist. During SD College Application Week 2020, students had to intentionally search out and apply directly to BHSU, using our stand-alone internal application.
During these fee-free College Application Week periods, the following number of “soft” (little commitment) applications were submitted to BHSU:

CAW 2017 (10/30-11/3)	359
CAW 2018 (10/29-11/2)	858
CAW 2019 (11/4-11/8)	448

Feeder High Schools Funnel

Enrollments from local feeder schools vary year over year and tend to correlate closely with the actual graduating high school senior class size in those specific schools.

Black Hills State University Office of Admissions Processes Audit

Updated November 2019

The purpose of this audit is to document which Admissions Office practices involve handling paper, involve Banner alone, involve TargetX alone, or that use other software.

Admissions Position	Paper	Banner	TargetX	Other Software
Director/CRM Coordinator	Project documentation and plans Enrollment reports List information		All prospects are uploaded here and managed through student stage lifecycles. Run reports. Create dashboards. Research student info.	Excel Word Names/lists purchase through Cappex, College Board (SAT), ACT/NRCCUA,CBSS. ACT and SAT now send test scores electronically (no more paper) from students requesting scores sent to BHSU. SQL Server Reporting
Assistant Director and Admissions Representatives	Applications Contact Cards App Guides/Travel Pieces Agenda items for Preview Day		All documents are posted in SharePoint Applications	OneDrive ImageNow Banner
Admissions Assistant (position eliminated; duties being absorbed by existing staff)	Entering applications. Applications come from either app guides handed out to students, or on the website spec/ readmits have an options to choose paper application. This is where the student is able to print from home, fill out and return to our office. 20+ per week. Name changes Maybe a few per week. Transcripts/ test score review (if not electronic- so coming through mail) 200-300 per week, depending on how close to semester start. Money orders for applications Acceptance letters	Accepting Students Rate changes/ updates Activating/ inactivating programs Transcript/ test score entry SSN entry Email/ address/ personal information update	Not Using	Access: Running acceptance letters Image Now All documents from banner are scanned/ linked to image now-transcripts, test scores, applications, acceptance letters, name changes etc. Report Manager Reviewing applications Acceptance letter review Check rate codes/ update in banner for billing information Ecap Fee waivers Moving students from non- paid to paid
Veterans Resource Coordinator	Certification printouts from the VA-Once website. I have to print on average (7) sheets of paper for each student each semester. ==> 2 Certification sheets, 1 class schedule, 2 billing statements, 2 transcript sheets. It equates to about 1,080 sheets of paper per semester. Print Request For Pay forms. Normally I will use at least 4 sheets of paper per semester to print my RFP's.Invoice sheets for Tuition Assistance. I will normally use 4 sheets of paper per semester to print my invoice sheets. Emails - I have to print verification docs when they come in via email. I would say at least 500 sheets of paper to cover this process per semester. Military Info forms. This is my in- house form students manually complete to let me know they want use their VA benefits. I print at least 40 for the semester. The rest are completed online. The sheets are then automatically emailed to me, at which time I print them, and put them in their folders. Status sheets (degree plan sheet). I print one per student (that is new) each semester. So approximately 30 sheets each semester.	SFAREGQ - I view/print Class Schedules SFAREGF - I view/print billing statements TSAAREV - I view/print billing statements SOAHOLD - I put deferments on accounts (CH 33, STA, FTA, ROTC) SZAVETS - I input Veteran info on this screen (i.e Which VA benefit they are using; Term Dates) SFASTCA - I view/print dropped classes, complete withdrawals SGASTDN - I view/print which major/minors the student is pursuing; check academic standing SAAADMS - I check admission statuses SOATEST - I verify student test scores SGAADVR - Look up advisors (names) for students. SPAIDEN - I get Soc. Security #s, Email info, and/or Ph#'s.	Not Using	VA Once - I use this website to certify classes for my GI Bill students GoArmyEd.com - I use this website to submit invoice for students receive ROTC scholarships and Federal Tuition Assistance. Evision - I use this to print BHSU transcripts. ImagePro - I use this to print transfer college transcripts. StayWell Portal - Access for health benefit info, etc. Starfish - To receive info on students who have been flagged Degreeworks - It's a program for Student Advisors. It is located in our BHSU Snap portal (Dawn Kennedy authorizes use). I can use it to check on students current status, and what classes they have left to complete their degrees.
Dual Credit Coordinator	Paper Print out of course lists for events Enter review transcripts and test scores that need to be scanned into image now Contact Cards Dual Credit Publications (handouts, event agendas) Print out of course lists for events Enter review transcripts and test scores that need to be scanned into image now Contact Cards Dual Credit Publications (handouts, event agendas)	Entering Applications (mostly Rising Scholar applications that can not be done online) Processing Dual Credit application signature pages, add/drop forms, continuing registration forms, credit waiver forms, immunizations. These can come in by mail, fax, or dropped off and need to be scanned into image now End Advisor Holds	Accepting Applications Fee rate updates Add Holds Activating/ inactivating programs in SGASTDN Enter transcripts & test scores View Billing View Registrations View test scores Update Personal Info	Email Communications Tracking enrolled students Excel- Various Spreadsheets on course availability, course lists, F lists Image Now- Transcripts, test scores, HSDC applications, add/drop, reg forms, credit waivers are scanned and linked in image now. Transcript and test scores are then entered in Banner ECAP – Move applications forward Outlook – Shared Group spreadsheets for apps and reg forms One Drive- Shared Folder with testing center

APPENDIX C

Strategic Enrollment Plan: Fiscal & Financial Aid Group Situation Analysis, May 2020

Discussion

Financial need continues to be one of the most significant barriers to pursuing a post-secondary degree at Black Hills State University. Students that attend BHSU do so while accumulating approximately $25,000 in student loan debt. The most recent default rate for BHSU from FY16 data is 8.2% according to the U.S. Department of Education. Even though BHSU’s scholarship awards have increased exponentially in recent years, we are still ranked 5^th out of 6 Regental universities in SD on the total foundation funded scholarships awarded and have the lowest per capita scholarship allocation in the Regental system. Since BHSU is the 3^rd largest institution, ranking 3^rd in scholarship awards would be appropriate. Nearly 80% of BHSU students receive some form of financial aid representative of the fact that their first hurdle to obtaining a degree is paying for college. If a student can’t readily identify a way to pay for college, they may not enroll so whatever we can do to assist students in finding ways to pay for their education, the better off the students and BHSU will be. Two important steps for students to find a way to pay for college are the successful completion of the FAFSA and the BHSU scholarship application. BHSU already provides financial aid assistance nights at regional highs schools, but we need to provide even more assistance for completing these forms and reduce as many barriers to their completion as possible. Because nearly 80% of our students use some form of financial aid, financial literacy needs to improve for both students and parents. Developing a financial literacy program to develop skills for college and life after graduation will enhance students’ abilities to understand their financial situation, to better navigate the challenges of financing their education, and to understand the lifetime value of a degree. The U.S. Financial Literacy and Education Commission, which is chaired by the Secretary of the United States Treasury, recommends mandatory financial literacy courses for higher education institutions in its Best Practices for Financial Literacy and Education at Institutions of Higher Education report from 2019.

BHSU’s guaranteed scholarship program, the Buzz Bonus scholarship, has not been changed for over a decade. In 2018-2019, 407 students received the Buzz Bonus, less than 10% of the student body. As the cost of education continues to rise and students find it more difficult to finance their educational costs, it is more important than ever to expand financial and scholarship resources for BHSU students and to ensure we optimize the impact of the limited resources available to us. BHSU’s scholarship program could be focused on students with the average ACT score of the students BHSU enrolls.

As a four-year degree continues to be questioned by the public at large, degrees that are more focused on workforce development and are achieved in a shorter time frame are important. As BHSU reaches out more deliberately to regional businesses to better serve their workforce needs, BHSU could allocate more scholarship dollars to freshman students who enter two-year academic programs. As BHSU expands these offerings to address workforce needs in the region, new students will be attracted to the institution.

Foundations in America have taken a large financial hit in the market in the first quarter of 2020 from the effects of COVID-19. BHSU’s two foundations are no exception with 60 percent of our endowment invested in the market. This will have a negative effect on our scholarship program. If the stock market doesn’t rebound after its first quarter of 2020 performance, our total scholarship allocation from the foundation for both new and returning students will drop from $952,380 in FY21 to $552,380 in FY22. Although this is highly unlikely, it does emphasize the dependence upon the U.S. economy for our scholarship awards. The FY21 awards will remain at $952,380 regardless of market performance this year. One way to help the foundation staff increase donations is to have each college and area of study more deliberately target potential donors in their specific fields. An annual campaign to help student navigate the financial challenges of COVID-19 is also being discussed.

Working on campus is one way for students to increase their financial aid package. Many opportunities for student work exist on campus today with BHSU spending over $1 million each year on student labor; however, since BHSU does not have a career center, there is not one central location for students to go to find employment opportunities. The new Student Success Center in the renovated E.Y. Berry Library due to open in Summer 2022 will include a Career Center. Building a robust student employment program that delivers meaningful work experiences and earnings for students will help students work to finance their education. All federal work-study is allocated each year. In fact, in some years, funds are borrowed from the SEOG allocation to complement federal work-study as allowed by Title IV regulations.

Data

BHSU Student Financial Aid Profile

Seventy-nine percent of BHSU students receive some form of financial aid and the average award for BHSU students is the lowest in the SD Board of Regents system.

Source: https://www.sdbor.edu/mediapubs/factbook/Documents/FY2020Factbook_011420.pdf

Default Rates

According to the Department of Education, 8.2% of BHSU students were in default in FY16.

	FY16	FY15	FY14
Default Rate	8.2	9.3	8.5
No. in Default	89	115	109
No. In Repay	1,077	1,225	1,282

Source: https://nslds.ed.gov/nslds/nslds_SA/defaultmanagement/cohortdetail_3yr.cfm?sno=0&ope_id=003459

FAFSA Applications - For several years in a row, only 60% of those eligible completed the FASFA.

“Completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is one of the best predictors of whether a high school senior will go on to college, as seniors who complete the FAFSA are 63 percent more likely to enroll in postsecondary education,” according to the National College Access Network, which advocates for college access, especially for underrepresented students.

Source: https://hechingerreport.org/are-too-few-college-students-asking-for-federal-aid/

A federal study sought answers to why students don’t fill out a FAFSA. These students identified the following factors for not filling out the FAFSA (students could select more than one reason):

33% thought they or their family could afford school or college without financial aid.
32% thought they or their family may be ineligible or may not qualify for financial aid.
28% did not want to take on debt.
23% did not have enough information about how to complete a FAFSA.
22% did not plan to continue education after high school.
15% did not know they could complete a FAFSA.
9% thought the FAFSA forms were too much work or too time-consuming.

Source: https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/01/14/new-research-shows-why-students-dont-fill-out-fafsa

Western South Dakota has a low rate of FAFSA completion. Below you will find a map that shows the FAFSA completion rates in SD and the surrounding areas through 15 months of availability as well as a current data set reported through March 27 of 2020.

Source: https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/application-volume/fafsa-completion-high-school

BHSU FAFSA Filers

FAFSA filers as of 5/13/20 for 2021– 2,459
FAFSA filers as of 5/13/19 for 1920 – 2901 - total FAFSA filers 4,038
FAFSA filers as of 5/14/18 for 1819 – 3192 - total FAFSA filers 4,358

Source: BHSU Financial Aid office

BHSU New Student FAFSA Filers

As of 6-15-20, we have 1,246 ISIRs for 2021 new freshmen compared to 1,459 in 2019.
This is down 14.6% from last year.

Federal Work-study Unmet Need

18/19 year - $5,200
19/20 year - $4,644

Source: BHSU Financial Aid office

Potential Data Source – BHSU study of why our students don’t complete the FAFSA.

Freshman FAFSA Completion

As of May 18, 2020, BHSU is down 7.2% in prospective student (new freshman) FAFSA filings from the previous year. The University of South Dakota was down 8% at the same time frame.

Source: BHSU IT department and https://www.sdnewswatch.org/stories/s-d-colleges-face-vast-logistic-and-financial-unknowns-heading-into-next-academic-year/

BHSU Financial Aid Award Letter

Appendix A provides copies of the correspondence students receive. Scholarship letters come from admissions, the colleges or the foundation. These should be consolidated so students receive a single letter.

Retention rate of Buzz Bonus

Fall 2019 Data below

Potential Data Source

Annual Retention and Retention by Award Amount

Source: BHSU Institutional Research Office

Scholarship	Recipients	Retained	Retention Rate
Buzz Bonus Freshman	406	299	73.65%
Buzz Bonus Sophomore	393	347	88.30%
Buzz Bonus Junior	287	261	90.94%
Buzz Bonus Senior	217	215	99.08%
Grand Total	1,303	1,122	86.11%

Pell Eligible Students with Unmet Financial Need

Source: BHSU Institutional Research Office

Fall 2019	Students	Avg Unmet Need
Transfer, BOR	8	$11,411.88
Continuing	542	$8,598.00
First-time	169	$8,010.94
Readmit	40	$10,950.53
Non-degree Seeking	3	$11,663.67
Transfer	61	$10,168.50
UG Grand Total	823	$8,746.72

BHSU Scholarship Awards

2018-2019 Scholarships Awarded
	Amount Awarded	Number of Students
BHSU Foundation Buzz Bonus	$375,500	407
BHSU Foundation Additional Support	$640,053	336
Yellow Jacket Foundation	$1,146,819	221
Institutional Awards	$315,500	223
Resident Assistance	$229,926	32
Room Waivers	$127,972	54
Meal Plans	$0	0
BHRC Awards	$2,975	11
SD Opportunity	$236,600	174

Tuition Reduction Programs Currently Available

Senior Citizen
Grad Fellows and Assistants
Military Discounts (various)
WICHE
Child of Alum
South Dakota Advantage Program (instate tuition for adjacent states.)
Employee
Visually Impaired
Teachers
Minnesota Reciprocity

Continuing Eligibility Requirements for Scholarships

Continuing Eligibility Requirements for SD Board of Regents Scholarships

South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship (4 year award)
Dakota Corps Scholarship

See SDBOR website. https://www.sdbor.edu/student-information/Pages/Scholarships.aspx

Continuing Eligibility Requirements for Renewable BHSU Scholarships

Source: BHSU Foundation Scholarship Office

Buzz Bonus (4-year award)

3.0 Cumulative GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters.
Must have completed 60 BHSU credits after 4 semesters.
Must have completed 90 BHSU credits after 6 semesters.

University Advancement Scholarship (4-year award)

3.0 Cumulative GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters.
Must have completed 60 BHSU credits after 4 semesters.
Must have completed 90 BHSU credits after 6 semesters.

Residence Hall Half Room Scholarship (2 year award)

3.0 GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters.

Jeb Clarkson Scholarship (3 year award soph/jun/sen)

3.0 GPA
Must attend full-time each semester, taking only BHSU credits.

Joe & Elaine Floyd Scholarship (4 year award)

15 credits per semester

Joseph & Martha Nelson Scholarship (4 year award)

Maintain a major in biology, chemistry, physical science, environmental physical science, or mathematics.
Minimum cumulative GPA of
- 3.0 after 2 semesters
- 3.2 after 3^rd and 4^th semesters
- 3.4 after 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th semesters
Complete 30 hours of BHSU credits per academic year

Weiland Scholarship

2.0 GPA
Must attend full-time each semester, taking only BHSU credits.

Mahoney Running Scholarship (4-year award)

3.0 GPA
Complete 15 BHSU credits per semester

Delger-Krier (2 year award)

Renewable if making appropriate progress towards a degree
Determined by Scholarship Coordinator

Child of Alumni (in-state tuition)

2.5 GPA
Complete 30 BHSU credits per academic year

Continuing Eligibility Requirements for University Funded Scholarships

Early Scholar (2 year award)

3.5 GPA
Must complete 30 BHSU credit hours after 2 semesters

Northern Hills Jacket Incentive (4 year award)

Gold Tier – up to $1000 per year

3.8 GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters
Must have completed 60 BHSU credits after 4 semesters
Must have completed 90 BHSU credits after 6 semesters

Green Tier – up to $500 per year

3.5 GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters
Must have completed 60 BHSU credits after 4 semesters
Must have completed 90 BHSU credits after 6 semesters

Southern Hills Jacket Incentive (4 year award)

Gold Tier – up to $1000 per year

3.8 GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters
Must have completed 60 BHSU credits after 4 semesters
Must have completed 90 BHSU credits after 6 semesters

Green Tier – up to $500 per year

3.5 GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters
Must have completed 60 BHSU credits after 4 semesters
Must have completed 90 BHSU credits after 6 semesters

Presidential Medallion (4 year award)

Gold Tier – up to $4000 per year

3.8 GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters
Must have completed 60 BHSU credits after 4 semesters
Must have completed 90 BHSU credits after 6 semesters

Green Tier – up to $3000 per year

3.25 GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters
Must have completed 60 BHSU credits after 4 semesters
Must have completed 90 BHSU credits after 6 semesters

Jacket Tier – up to $1000 per year

3.0 GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters
Must have completed 60 BHSU credits after 4 semesters
Must have completed 90 BHSU credits after 6 semesters

Humbert Hall Room Scholarship (2 year award)

3.0 GPA
Must have completed 30 BHSU credits after 2 semesters

FY19 BHSU Student Labor Funding

	# of Students	$ Spent
Institutional Work-Study	443	$1,048,272
Federal Work-Study	162	$316,765
Graduate Assistants	22	$190,734
Unduplicated Headcount	558

Participants in the Regional Employer Listening Sessions

President Nichols and Kory Menken from the Spearfish Economic Development Council held listening sessions for regional employers to determine their workforce needs. These are the entities that participated.

Spearfish Economic Development Corporation
Black Hills Community Bank
Ainsworth-Benning Construction
Landmark Realty
Help-U-Rent
City of Spearfish
Northern Hills Training Center
The Rose Group
Spearfish Forest Products
Spearfish Canyon Healthcare
Lynn, Jackson, Shultz & Lebrun
Two Points Ranch
Greg Hollibaugh, CPA
Governor’s Office of Economic Development
South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation

Black Hills Energy
Prairie Hills Transit
Qdoba/City Brew
First Westisern Insurance/HUB International
Black Hills Pioneer
South Dakota Center for Enterprise Opportunity
Spearfish Holiday Inn
Ketel Thorstenson, CPA
Monument Health
Butte Electric
The Barn at Aspen Acres
Pioneer Bank and Trust

Pell Eligible Students’ GPA and Financial Aid Award Packages

Hathaway Scholarship Criteria

This data can be used to scholarship WY students that don’t qualify for the Hathaway.

Source: http://www.uwyo.edu/admissions/scholarships/hathaway/qualifying-and-eligibility.html.

Regional Cost of Tuition & Fees and Room & Board

Source: SD Board of Regents Factbook

Retention rates of athletic teams

Statistics show that athletic teams have higher retention rates so if we treat our scholarship recipients as part of a “team” will they retain better?

BHSU Program Cost

	Total Cost	Average per credit
(AA) General Studies Major B.AA.GENST	$16,247.00	$270.78
(AS) Applied Health Sciences Major B.AS.AHSC	$16,548.80	$275.81
(AS) Business Administration Major B.AS.BADM	$17,468.00	$286.36
(AS) Human Services Major - B.AS.HMS	$16,296.40	$271.61
(AS) Tourism & Hospitality Management Major B.AS.TOUR	$18,355.40	$286.80
(BA) Spanish Major B.BA.SPAN	$32,183.00	$268.19
(BFA) Graphic Design Major BBFA.GDS	$33,415.40	$278.46
(BFA) Photography Major BBFA.PHOT	$33,415.40	$278.46
(BFA) Studio Art Major BBFA.SAR	$33,415.40	$278.46
(BS/BA) English Major B.BA.ENGL/B.BS.ENGL	$32,230.40	$268.59
(BS/BA) History Major B.BA.HIST/B.BS.HIST	$32,230.40	$268.59
(BS) American Indian Studies Major B.BS.AIS	$32,230.40	$268.59
(BS) Biology Major B.BS.BIOL	$33,090.30	$275.75
(BS) Business Administration - Specialization in Accounting B.BS.BAD	$34,448.00	$287.07
(BS) Business Administration - Specialization in Economics & Finance	$34,448.00	$287.07
(BS) Business Administration - Specialization in Entrepreneurial Studies	$34,448.00	$287.07
(BS) Business Administration - Specialization in Human Resource Management	$34,448.00	$287.07
(BS) Business Administration - Specialization in Management B.BS.BAD	$34,448.00	$287.07
(BS) Business Administration - Specialization in Marketing B.BS.BADM	$34,448.00	$287.07
(BS) Business Administration - Specialization in Tourism and Hospita	$34,448.00	$287.07
(BS) Chemistry Major B.BS.CHEM	$33,512.30	$287.07
(BS) Communication Studies & Theatre Major B.BS.CMST	$32,799.20	$273.33
(BS) Composite Communication/English Major B.BS.ENGC	$32,183.00	$268.19
(BS) Corporate Communication Major B.BS.CCOM	$33,542.00	$279.52
(BS) Environmental Physical Science, Composite Major B.BS.ENPS	$33,290.40	$277.42
(BS) Exercise Science, Composite Major BBS.EXS-MGT	$33,527.00	$279.39
(BS) Exercise Science, Composite Major BBS.EXS-SCI	$33,390.50	$278.25
(BS) Human Services Major B.BS.HMS	$32,230.40	$268.59
(BS) Mass Communications Major B.BS.MCOM	$32,230.40	$268.59
(BS) Mathematics Major BBS.MTH	$32,988.95	$274.91
(BS) Music, Composite Major B.BS.MUSC	$33,447.00	$278.73
(BS) Outdoor Education, Composite Major BBS.OE	$32,794.90	$273.29
(BS) Physical Science Major B.BS.PHSC	$33,601.90	$280.02
(BS) Political Science Major B.BS.POLS	$32,230.40	$268.59
(BS) Professional Accountancy Major BBS.PAC	$42,959.60	$286.40
(BS) Psychology Major B.BS.PSYC	$32,230.40	$268.59
(BS) Sociology - Specialization in Culture & Society B.BS.SOC-CLTS	$34,839.00	$267.99
(BS) Sociology - Specialization in Law & Justice B.BS.SOC-LWJS	$32,230.40	$268.59
(BS) Sociology - Specialization in Social Resilience B.BS.SOC-SRES	$32,230.40	$268.59
(BSED) Art Major - Teaching B.BSED.ART	$35,955.80	$280.90
(BSED) Biology Major - Teaching B.BSED.BIOL	$26,190.20	$218.25
(BSED) Early Childhood Special Ed Major B.BSED.ECSP	$33,270.60	$277.26
(BSED) Elementary Education Major B.BSED.ELED	$33,073.40	$275.61
(BSED) English Major - Teaching B.BSED.ENGL	$32,883.00	$274.03
(BSED) History Major - Teaching B.BSED.HIST	$32,883.00	$274.03
(BSED) K-12 Special Education Major B.BSED.SPED	$33,026.40	$275.22
(BSED) Mathematics & Science Education, Composite Major - Teaching B.B	$33,610.20	$280.09
(BSED) Mathematics Major - Teaching B.BSED.MATH	$33,594.00	$279.95
(BSED) Music Education Major B.BSED.MUED	$33,720.40	$281.00
(BSED) Physical Education Major - Teaching BBSED.PE	$32,996.40	$274.97
(BSED) Science Education, Composite Major B.BSED.SC	$32,883.00	$274.03
(BSED) Social Science Composite Major - Teaching B.BSED.SSC	$32,883.00	$274.03
(BSED) Spanish Major - Teaching B.BSED.SPAN	$32,883.00	$274.03
(BSED) Speech Communication Major - Teaching B.BSED.SPCM	$33,451.80	$278.77
(BGS) General Studies - Bachelor’s Degree B.BGS.GENS	$32,183.00	$268.19

Source: BHSU Business Office and https://www.bhsu.edu/Admissions/Pay-for-College/Tuition-and-Fees/Program-Costs

Average Student Loan Debt

BHSU students averaged $25,722 of student loan debt in FY19 and over half of their total aid is from loans. Our goal is to reduce obligation aid to less than 50%.

Source: SD Board of Regents Factbook

Importance of Associates Degree Program Scholarships

Associate degrees are important to West River workforce development.

Source: Hanover Research study 2017-2018

The study indicated that certain associate degree “… programs demonstrate existing demand in South Dakota, with strong and reliable growth in Associate’s degree conferrals over the last five years.” Another conclusion from the study suggested that, “Some fields, such as Computer Programming and Human Service, show average growth at the national level, but robust interest and high local growth rates suggest that South Dakota may be under-saturated relative to other places.”

Importance of Financial Aid Package When Applying to College

Source: Hanover Research study 2017-2018

As part of the Hanover Research effort, students from the Black Hills region were surveyed about a number of items related to BHSU and higher education in general. Among the questions asked:

“How important are the following factors when deciding where to apply for an undergraduate program?” With regard to financial aid package an institution offered, 37% indicated this was “Very Important” and 37% indicate this was “Extremely Important.”
“When forming your opinion of a college or university, how influential are the following factors? Affordability – 32% indicated “Very Influential” and 50% indicated “Extremely Influential”.

Market Fluctuations from COVID19 Impact Foundations

Source: Dow Jones Data Market

Retention of work-study students to determine value of on-campus employment

Source: BHSU Institutional Research

Students’ Satisfaction with BHSU Financial Aid

		Black Hills State University – SSI
Flag	Item	Importance	Satisfaction	/	SD	Gap
	5. Financial aid counselors are helpful.	6.40	5.21	/	1.70	1.19
	12. Financial aid awards are announced to students in time to be helpful in college planning.	6.45	5.14	/	1.63	1.31
	17. Adequate financial aid is available for most students.	6.48	4.85	/	1.68	1.63
	82. Campus item: Students receive adequate and accurate information about financial aid programs and resources.	6.47	5.01	/	1.68	1.46

	91. Financial aid as factor in decision to enroll.	6.26

Source: RNL Student Survey, 2019

Average ACT score of students attending BHSU by grade level compared to our scholarship award levels

Source: BHSU Institutional Research

Credit Hour Impact from Scholarship Increase

Source: BHSU Institutional Research and Budget Offices

Observations

New Scholarship Program

BHSU should revamp its current Buzz Bonus scholarship program to something more relevant and impactful for our current students and more reflective of BHSU’s student profile.

Consider the following:

Target WY students who aren’t eligible for the Hathaway scholarship, or those that only qualify for the lowest scholarship award. This may be targeted specifically in northeast WY.
Provide a cohort-based scholarship that provides a structure for scholarship recipients to feel more like a team from their first day of college similar to how athletic teams function.

Award scholarships to students enrolled in associate degree programs that help the West River workforce including new associate degree programs that are developed.
Keep a repository of dynamic information to track the freshman cohort with the revamped scholarship program to understand the impact of the changes and create a vehicle for continual process improvement.
Award more scholarships based on need rather than merit. Two example distribution charts are shown below. Additional questions include:
- Should scholarships be awarded in static bands or should there be a matrix that determines the amount based on where the student falls in the chart?
- Are students eliminated on any single variable like too low of an ACT or no need?
- Are the ACT and need variables weighted equally and separately, does one take priority, or is there a matrix of combined values?
- Does the award continue in subsequent years?

Financial Aid Matrix

This is needed to break down the student population to track yield, aid distribution and net revenue returns based on cost of programs and aid distribution. Our goal is to increase net tuition revenue. In order to do that, goals need to be established for incoming student populations that drive net tuition revenue growth.

Increase Available Scholarship Resources

BHSU should identify additional resources to increase annual financial support to students.

Implement an annual giving program so scholarships are not solely relying on the endowment.
Have departments reach out to alumni from their specific discipline to increase the donor pool resulting in more scholarships to award each year.
Improve tuition discounting level

Financial Literacy

BHSU should improve overall financial literacy to students and their parents. The Academic Working Group will expound on these strategies further while the Fiscal & Financial Aid Working Group will provide content for the agreed upon solution.

Expand financial literacy help sessions and consider hosting work sessions for both on-campus and off-campus individuals. Specific venues for transfer of financial literacy information could include:

Create YouTube tutorial sessions about financial literacy (FAFSA, Student bills, SDePay, 1098T)
Provide solutions to frequently asked questions
Identify quick tips to navigate the process
General walk-through
Chat access with a financial aid counselor to answer questions

Offer a 3-credit course on financial literacy.
Recognize that most student will require some form of financial aid and place importance on helping students compete the FASFA form.
Realizing there is a need for student loans, examine the loan advisement sessions and consider improving them with more frequency.

Work-study Jobs

BHSU should recognize the importance of student employment filling the financial gap towards the cost of education.

Create a career center that will be a central location for all on-campus work-study positions.
Promote successful careers that are possible after a financial investment in education.

Financial Aid Office

A thorough review of how the office is structured, how responsibilities are assigned, and the timing and wording of the financial aid award letters is important. Training for both the admissions and financial aid offices on consistent messaging and personalized financial aid video presentations should be incorporated into the value proposition message for our potential students.

Financial Aid and Scholarship Awards

Currently students receive multiple communications from BHSU. Consolidating these awards as much as possible to provide them a complete financial aid package should be investigated.

BHSU Financial Aid Award Letter

Student ID: XXXXXXX

Gabrielle,

BHSU has processed your application for federal financial aid for the 2020-2021 Award Year.

To access your financial aid offer, log into MyBHSU/SNAP with your Yellow Jacket email and password. If you have NOT set up your Yellow Jacket email, please set it up and then sign into MyBHSU/SNAP.

Contact the Help Desk at BHSU if you need help setting up your Yellow Jacket email.

Once you have logged into MyBHSU/SNAP, your financial aid offer will be available to view and accept or decline.

Financial Aid
Financial Aid Self-Service Menu
Campus
Award
Award for Aid Year
Select Aid Year

Remember to review all tabs and requirements prior to accepting aid.

For more financial aid information, refer to BHSU Financial Aid.

Costs and Tuition Calculator for 2020-21 are located at BHSU’s Pay for College.

BHSU Financial Aid Office
bhsufinancial@bhsu.edu

APPENDIX D

Strategic Enrollment Plan: Student Success Working Group Situation Analysis, May 2020

Every student matters!

As higher education has evolved over the last 20 years, the aged assumption - that students come and students go - has been replaced with a student valued approach where nearly every institution competes to keep students. This change has been especially prominent in regional comprehensive institutions where keeping students beyond the freshman year and graduating them is one of the two highest priorities – recruitment and retention is highlighted in every strategic plan at SCUs.

Black Hills State University continues to be challenged relative to retaining and graduating students in recent history. Obviously, retention impacts graduation – if you don’t keep them, you’re not graduating them. With a freshman to sophomore year retention rate habitually in the low 60%, the institution systemically loses nearly 40% of our freshman class. There are a myriad of reasons for this loss: inadequate support systems, lack of freshman focused advising, student demographic challenges, financial need, unrealistic academic expectations, and general lack of student engagement. Despite the recent reintroduction of Starfish and a freshman seminar, retention lags. Simply put, the challenges grow faster than the manner in which the institution has been able to respond.

In a direct effort to respond to lagging retention performance, in early fall 2019 a Retention Task Force was empowered with studying the challenges related to retention and developing strategies to quickly respond. Their work was largely concluded in December 2019 where the task force proposed 11 specific strategies to the campus and leadership. Obviously, it was during this same time that RNL was engaging with the campus on developing a Strategic Enrollment Plan.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The size of the institution makes it easier to track and know students
Small class sizes support student learning and the development of relationships between faculty and students
Students can engage in more HIPs at a small institution
Technology is available to support student success (D2L, Starfish, DegreeWorks)
Beautiful location, particularly for students interested in outdoor recreation
College town vibe- restaurants, arts, entertainment
Campus is perceived as safe
Wide variety of student organizations
Professional advisors are knowledgeable, competent, and efficient
Many support programs on campus projecting a “culture of care” (TRIO, MAC, WAC, Honors, athletics, veterans, CAIS, SELC, residence life, counseling and student health, faculty)
General perception that students have a strong work ethic

Weaknesses

Lack of career development services
Aged faculty advising model
Complex systems and policies are BOR dictated and not student friendly
Information is spread across campus (siloed) making it difficult for students, parents, and faculty
Students highly reliant on financial aid (Pell eligible, first generation, farm/ranch kids, native population)
Lowest retention rate among BOR schools

Opportunities

Expand use of early alert systems
Develop a consistent advising philosophy, strategy, and communication
Develop more opportunities for HIPs
Communicate strategically about the value of higher education

Threats

As tuition and fees increase it makes it more difficult for students to attend and stay engaged in college
Lack of political support for higher education and BHSU specifically
COVID19 effects will be immediate and will have long-term substantial impacts

Retention Highlights

All Cohort	Persistence %	Retention %	2 Yr Retention %
Fall 2015	86%	63%	54%
Fall 2016	89%	69%	54%
Fall 2017	87%	62%	50%
Fall 2018	84%	62%

Pell Eligible	Persistence %	Retention %	2 Yr Retention %
Fall 2015	83%	59%	50%
Fall 2016	88%	62%	47%
Fall 2017	84%	56%	42%
Fall 2018	81%	57%

First Generation	Persistence %	Retention %	2 Yr Retention %
Fall 2015	86%	59%	51%
Fall 2016	86%	68%	47%
Fall 2017	87%	54%	45%
Fall 2018	80%	55%

Observations

The institution would benefit from an integrated enrollment management approach.

SSI, item 57 shows that students perceive some sense of “run around”
SSI, item 71 strongly shows that students do not feel they have a channel for complaints. PSOL, item 15 is strongly consistent.
PSOL, item 10 strongly suggests that the institution does not respond quickly to information requests.
PSOL, item 22 strongly indicates students do not know who to contact for services.

The institution would benefit from a revising the freshman advising model as well as upperclassmen advising model with faculty.

Comments from the SSI reveal some dissatisfaction with advising. This aligns with the perception of the working group and the task force findings.
SSI, item 55 shows that students do not feel major requirements are clear and reasonable (not significant).
PSOL, item 2 strongly suggests that advisors are not available by phone or email.

The institution would benefit from additional academic support (tutoring) for students.

SSI, item 47 suggests students need additional feedback about progress in their courses.
SSI, item 58 indicates students have concerns about the quality of instruction they receive.
PSOL, item 24 shows that students do not feel tutoring services are available for online courses.
NSSE, item 14b demonstrates that compared to institutions in the Plains Public comparison group, fewer BHSU students believe the institution emphasized providing support to help students succeed academically.
NSSE, item 14c shows that compared to institutions in the Plains Public comparison group, fewer BHSU students believe the institution emphasized using learning support services (tutoring services, writing center, etc.).

The institution would benefit from developing greater opportunities for and participation among students in high impact practices.

NSSE, items 11e and 11f indicate that BHSU seniors report significantly lower levels of participation in culminating senior experiences and conducting research with a faculty member than do seniors in the Plains Public comparison group in 2018.
NSSE, overall HIP participation reports that only 43% of FY students participated in one HIP and only 4% of FY students participated in two HIPs, which is statistically lower than the Plains Public comparison group.
NSSE, overall HIP participation indicates that BHSU seniors report total participation in HIP practices at rates comparable to the comparison groups but were statistically lower than comparison groups specifically in study abroad opportunities, research with faculty, and culminating senior experiences.

The institution would benefit from a career services operation.

This aligns with prior work by the task force and is supported by item 49 of the SSI where our students are less satisfied.
PSOL, item 5 indicates students are unsatisfied about career advice from advisors.
PSOL, item 19 strongly shows lack of student satisfaction with career services.

The institution would benefit from greater financial stability of students. (Referred to Financial Aid working group).

SSI, item 17 shows that our students report less satisfaction with the level of financial aid they receive. PSOL, item 9 is strongly consistent.
SSI, item 11 shows that students are not satisfied with billing practices. PSOL, item 23 is strongly consistent.
SSI, item 66 reveals that students do not feel that tuition paid is a worthwhile investment. PSOL, item 6 is strongly consistent.
SSI, item 73 strongly shows that students do not feel their fees go to good use.

The institution would benefit from activities that help students engage on-campus.

SSI, item 1 shows that our students don’t feel a sense of belongingness. This is echoed in the SSI comments where a significant number of students report a lack of activities.
SSI, item 37 reveals that students do not have a sense of pride about campus.
SSI, item 42 strongly shows that students do not have adequate weekend activities.
SSI, item 24 strongly shows that students do not have school spirit regarding athletic programs.
SSI, item 9 strongly shows that students do not feel that a variety of intramural programs are offered.

APPENDIX E

Strategic Enrollment Plan: Marketing & Communication Working Group Situation Analysis, May 2020

Members:

Dr. Ryan Amys, Assistant Professor, Master of Science in Secondary Education

Dr. Trenton Ellis, Assistant Professor, Human Services

Dr. Michael Isaacson, Assistant to the VP of Student Affairs and Title IX/EO Coordinator

Mr. Gus Karinen, Coordinator, Web Development

Ms. Kristen Kilmer, Assistant Director, Marketing & Communications (Chair)

Ms. Julie Targy, Campus Visit & Events Coordinator

Ms. Taylor Watkins, Dual Credit & Rising Scholar Coordinator

Dr. Erica Whitiker, Assistant Director, Student Union & Engagement

Ms. Jayce Winsell, Assistant Director, Admissions

Ms. Robin Zebroski, Vice President, Strategic Marketing and Communications

Executive Summary

During the strategic enrollment planning process at Black Hills State University, the Marketing and Communications Working Group reviewed available data and compiled our collective firsthand knowledge to analyze the current state of BHSU’s marketing and communications efforts and propose suggestions for gaining additional market share, improving brand perception and employee satisfaction, expanding community relationships and corporate partnerships, and improving marketing reach and penetration.

In our discussions we have found that much of the necessary data to properly measure the University’s marketing and communications efforts is lacking, and the data that is collected is not widely disseminated across campus.

Our analysis is focused on the following five areas although each of these areas are significantly interconnected and also overlap ongoing work in each of the other SEP working groups:

Market Share
Brand Perception
Communication and Media Channels
Marketing Reach and Penetration
Employee Satisfaction
Community and Corporate Partnerships and Engagement

Market Share

BHSU currently doesn’t fully capitalize on available market within the state and region. In eight of our top feeder high schools, BHSU’s market share has been decreasing over the last five years. It currently averages 10 percent across these schools. This is especially concerning considering three of these schools are located in Rapid City, the state’s second-largest city, where BHSU has a significant presence offering courses at BHSU-Rapid City. There is also untapped opportunity in markets outside the state, especially in the surrounding states in which we offer in-state tuition.

The 10-year history of enrollment at institutions of higher education in the state and region show that although a decrease in enrollment has been experienced across the board, it has been a more prevalent trend at BHSU than other schools.

As market share directly correlates with enrollment, BHSU must regularly review market share and identify strategies to proactively address any decreases.

Notes to be added/addressed:

Looks like pretty significant growth projected in high school graduates in North Dakota and Colorado.
- Moderate growth in South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming.
- Flat or slightly declining numbers in Montana, Minnesota and Iowa.
BHSU does recruit students from pockets in Alaska and Arizona. These states also have projected high school graduate increases. May be potential here.
Texas is another market we’ve looked to expand, and it looks like there is growth in that market as well. Would need to put effort to build pipeline and there would be obstacles to overcome – culture, weather, rural vs. urban.
Demographics are changing, both in the region as well as in South Dakota, making it even more important to address the needs brought to light in Erica’s doctoral dissertation research.
- Erica’s research contradicts the commonly held views on campus that we meet the needs of marginalized communities and high-needs students.
Need more guidance on gathering competitor data and data broken out by market – FTF, Dual Credit, Transfer, Graduate, and Online. I have some info that Rich pulled, but it’s not exactly what we’re looking for.

Info from Erica

Document campus diversity and inclusion initiatives? How do initiatives align with projected population shifts? Climate survey – gaps identified. Erica to follow up as post-dissertation research
- Current diversity and inclusion initiatives are centered around American Indians and International Students. We have the Center for American Indian Studies, and the International and Global Engagement Office. In April American Indian Awareness Week is held and the culminating event is the Wacipi Pow Wow. There are two student organizations connected to American Indian Identity and one student organization connected to International Student identity.
- We currently do not have a center, office, or professional position on campus dedicated to supporting other diverse or marginalized identities. Hispanic, Latinx, African American, LGBTQIA+, etc. students representing these identities participated in a study which revealed the need for spaces on campus where they could be fully seen and safe to just be themselves. There also aren’t any student organizations that represent these identities, with the exception of Pride. Pride is a student organization that represents the LGBTQIA+ community.
- The lack of direct resources does not align with the current projection of population shifts in student demographics. BHSU in 2018 and had more students who identified as Hispanic and Latinx than students who identified as Native American or American Indian. This doesn’t mean a need for less resources for the American Indian population, this means we need more resources for all other student populations who identify as a member of a marginalized population.
What groups are BHSU influencers of enrollment
- Minority Groups- in a study conducted of Minority/Marginalized students at BHSU, it was revealed that this isn’t a place where they would encourage other minority students to attend. Below is an excerpt from the published study “Social Justice and Retention: A Study of Marginalized Statistical Minority Students at a Predominately White Rural Midwest Institution” (Whitiker, 2019)

“The results of this study can inform several areas of practice at rural Midwest institutions. Resources for MSM students are critically low; as a result, retention is critically low. The participants in this study discussed many areas in which they could feel more supported if the resources were available. Based on their critique, I have identified seven key implications for practice.

Campus climate needs to reflect a promise of inclusive education. Students do not see themselves in the fabric of the institution. The climate of the campus needs to shift.
A center for diversity and inclusion must be created. Students need a space where they feel safe and heard without fear of judgment. The students who have counter-spaces have higher rates of retention and graduation.
Recruiting and retaining faculty and staff that represent the student population is a must. Key mentors are a critical part of MSM student success. This is especially important for African American males. These students need to have faculty and staff with similar life experiences in order to feel safe and seen.
The curriculum must be designed to support and affirm MSM students. There should be enough courses about African Americans and Hispanic heritage and influence that students can gain a minor degree. This is paramount to fostering a campus of inclusion.
Campus programming must be inclusive and reflective of all students, including the MSM population. Cultural programming is almost non-existent for MSM students. It is critical that resources be allocated for diverse and inclusive programming.
Student organizations need to be formed to support MSM students. This will create a place of belonging which combats their feelings isolation and the inability to be authentic.
For any of these recommendations for practice to be achieved, financial resources need to be allocated to support MSM student's identity development. Funding needs to be specifically allocated to create a center, recruit and hire faculty and staff, and add curriculum.”

Existing Data and Measuring Performance

Although the BHSU Admissions Office currently projects high school graduation rates in the state and region and monitors market share, this information is not widely used to determine marketing strategy and the allocation of resources. As an institution we need to deeply analyze where there is available market potential and determine how those markets align with our academic offerings. That data should then be used to focus marketing and communications efforts on gaining ground in the areas identified.
BHSU should conduct a thorough market analysis to identify in-demand skills and academic programs that align with current course offerings as well as markets that have potential for growth. This data should be reviewed to strategically market those programs that have potential and capacity for growth.
Valuable website metrics must be gathered on a regular basis and reviewed along with inquiry and enrollment data to measure current market share as well as identifying new and developing target markets.

Suggestions and Observations

Rapid City, the second largest city in the state of South Dakota, has experienced growth at a rate of approximately 1.4 percent per year for 20 years. As BHSU already has a presence in this region with BHSU-Rapid City, the University should develop a plan and dedicate resources to capitalize on this steadily growing market.
BHSU should continue to expand upon employer listening sessions held this fall to determine which programs and skills are sought after by employers and focus on marketing and communications efforts on those.
BHSU should expand its connections with the Tribal colleges, Western Dakota Tech, and regional community colleges to develop a strong relationships and a potential pipeline of students.
BHSU’s ability to provide support for high needs students as well as its connection with the Tribal community provides opportunity to build market share within the increasing population of high school graduates in Tribal communities.

Brand Perception

It has been nearly 15 years since BHSU conducted a comprehensive brand review, although similar findings during that review did align with the limited data gathered during the university’s 2016-2017 contract with EAB/Royall.

Students say they choose BHSU because of location and beauty of campus, quality educational programs and faculty, friendly atmosphere, campus safety, accessibility of outdoor recreation opportunities, quality of life, and individualized attention. When students choose other universities they frequently list academic reputation, access to the major they wanted, reputation in their field of study, and ability for graduate to get good jobs as reasons for not choosing BHSU.

Internally, we discussed that the BHSU brand is different depending on which department is talking and which audience we’re addressing. There seems to be a tendency to try to be everything to everyone. We also discussed anecdotal evidence that students, faculty and staff feel our brand is too focused on location.

However, some recurring themes came up throughout our discussions – Support for high risk needs students, strength of veteran and military offerings and support, location, strong programs in education, business, photography and graphic arts, etc.

While BHSU offers numerous strong programs, certain programs have received accreditations, media attention, and have produced prominent alums. These programs should be highlighted in our marketing efforts. Highlighting these programs and increasing awareness of those programs will elevate the perception of our other academic offerings.

The national narrative “is college worth it” also hurts our brand perception, and the perception of all institutions of higher education. BHSU has success stories to tell, but faculty, staff and current students have said they feel they lack knowledge of these success stories and they don’t feel confident in their ability to share the university’s accomplishments.

Notes to be added/addressed:

Perception survey data is pretty much non-existent and much of what we do have is 15 years old. With recent cuts in staffing, BHSU doesn’t have the capacity to conduct perception research.
- No data on Tribal College or American Indian school perceptions.
- No data on community college student, faculty, staff perceptions.
- Spotty data on high school counselor, principal, students.

Existing Data and Measuring Performance

Programs with accreditations and national recognitions.

BHSU’s School of Business in the Top 5% of Business Schools worldwide with AACSB accreditation.
BHSU’s education program, longstanding and highly thought of, has received numerous recognition for its (especially online) education programs.
Our science programs are connected to the country’s deepest underground laboratory. At Sanford Lab BHSU students in a variety of majors have the opportunity to collaborate with some of the world’s brightest scientific minds.

BHSU has conducted several employer listening sessions in the past year. In these sessions employers mentioned the need to talk about the degrees we offer in different ways, more in the context of how they are relevant to the job market.

Our price point compared to surrounding states provides an advantage for BHSU as Gen Z is more focused on finances and the ROI of a college degree (Chronicle of Higher Ed).
We provide value and access to students who might not otherwise have access to higher education.
BHSU offers students the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research that isn’t afforded to students at research institutions where research and mentorship is largely reserved for graduate students
BHSU is accessible to students in the “murky middle” students with mid-range academic scores.

Suggestions and Observations

Conduct a brand analysis and ensure all communications articulate this story.
Conduct a thorough brand and visual identity review including consideration of updating or changing the BHSU logo and/or mascot.
Determine and articulate key recognitions. Pursue additional recognitions that will appeal to the market.
Develop key talking points that can be articulated and shared across campus, and create a strong internal communication channel and digital asset management system to share these points and visuals for faculty, staff and students to share.
Have this be a part of the HR onboarding process.
Provide regular training and practice sessions to educate faculty and staff on ways to articulate the BHSU story and help build confidence when discussing our story with outside groups.
Create a formalized and easily accessible system for tracking student and alumni outcomes to aid in telling the BHSU story. This should exist as a collaboration between alumni/advancement and the academic areas and departments. A stronger Career Development Office could also help coordinate this information.

Communication

Notes to be added/addressed about the website:

Website not well resourced.
- $16,000 per year on CMS
- Minimal, one-off purchases of modules to add web functionality (less than $1,000 per year)
- One full-time web coordinator (serves both design and development needs.
- Minimal support from IT (largely back-end connections to databases, but these could be cleaner, more efficient, more user friendly, more valuable connections.)
- Approximately 5 Student Technology Fellows per year at 11 hours per week (# can vary based on funding and qualified applicants).
Website analytics are in the appendix. We have additional info I need to include as well. Interesting insights:
- I think Illinois visit numbers are surprising to me. (I’m checking with Admissions to see if they had purchased a lot of Illinois names. Same with New York.)
- I’m always surprised to see Bing in the top 3 of referring sites, but it’s still a fairly low percentage.
- Do you think our Spearfish numbers are internal traffic – BHSU faculty, staff, students?
- I would say Sioux Falls numbers show interest, despite what Admissions or other departments say about S.F. students not even knowing we exist.
- Again, really surprised by Chicago, LA, and New York City. Have to be Admissions purchases.
- Pages visited indicate we should put a little more effort into our /about-bhsu and /student-life pages. Admissions and Academics could use work too, but they are better than those other two pages.

Notes to be added/addressed about social media:

Social media audit showed many BHSU sites with many not used for several years, many not used consistently, many with low # of followers and engagement

102 Facebook pages
16 YouTube channels
50 Instagram accounts
33 Twitter
3 LinkedIn

Main BHSU Facebook page has nearly 13,000 followers
- Many of these are community and/or alumni
Main BHSU Instagram page has nearly 3,000 followers
- Many of these are current students although there are a fair number of prospective students that follow this as well.
Main Twitter page has just over 3,500 followers
- Mix of followers including current and prospective students as well as community/alumni
Admissions social media presence has been inconsistent, depending on staffing. Largely relies on shares from main BHSU pages.

Notes to be added/addressed about the internal communications:

Went to a centralized e-newsletter 6 years ago (prior to this anyone could send an all-campus email anytime about any subject.) The centralized newsletter is distributed twice per week. No metrics are available on open rates.
- Anecdotal stories and complaints are that no one reads the newsletter and no one ever knows what’s going on at BHSU.
- Informal student surveys conducted by our office contradict this narrative, but there’s no data to show.
The Student Engagement and Leadership Center uses the MobileUp App to communicate with students about events and activities.
Always seems to be point of discussion – how do we communicate with students and to some extent faculty/staff. There’s no consensus on what should be used, and there’s little support of the systems that are currently used like the e-Update and the MobileUp App. The campus has discussed:
- Student portals
- Text messaging
- Emails direct from departments
- Posters, table tents, etc.
- Faculty announcements in classes
- Website notifications
COVID pandemic has added to communication problems. Some groups, such as involved student leaders, anecdotally report having good/better communication through the crisis. Other students and faculty have expressed the opposite – a lack of connection to campus, a lack of connection to students, frustration with online course delivery and delayed response times.

Marketing Efforts and Resource Allocation

Marketing spends by four-year public institutions of higher education have increased by 43 percent since 2013 (Educational Marketing Group). In this time Black Hills State University has cut its marketing budget by nearly 50 percent. BHSU currently spends approximately $35,000 per year to market the University and its programs although there has been a lack of consistent funding. Much reliance has been on dollars allotted throughout the year in response to low overall enrollment, low enrolled programs, or the sudden launch of a new program.

This reach and penetration of this small spend is further reduced by a lack of strategy and advanced planning, largely due to budget not being allocated for strategic goals at the start of the year.

Notes to be added/addressed:

Marketing expenses are not well tracked. Marketing budget isn’t allocated for program marketing, so there are great divides across academic departments on what gets spent for marketing.
Data received from Budget Office shows that spending by the University Marketing Office is less than 30% of total university marketing spend (and frequently less than 25%).
Majority of money spent outside of University Marketing is spent on initiatives that aren’t tracked and these expenditures aren’t usually selected based on data or ROI. Some specific examples are represented in the Appendix campaign data.
Majority of University Marketing Office budget is spent on “have-tos” like employment ads, radio ads that ensure Athletic game broadcasts continue, printing for special initiatives. Once those items are removed from the budget, the Marketing Office frequently spends less than $15,000 on marketing annually.
Conversions are difficult, if not impossible to track, because of different technology systems not talking to each other as well as silos that exist between offices/departments.
There isn’t a strategic media buy plan as marketing dollars are not consistently funded and are often allocated on a “needs” basis when a program is low enrolled or a new program is being launched.

Existing Data and Measuring Performance

BHSU needs to align its marketing budget more closely to industry standards to remain competitive in the highly competitive higher education market.
BHSU needs to increase measurement of the impact of its marketing campaigns and share those with the campus community.
Broader use of website tracking and landing pages needs to be implemented to determine the ROI of marketing campaigns.

Suggestions and Observations

BHSU should establish a three-year budget for marketing and strategically plan for marketing spend each of those three years.
BHSU should identify areas that have the most demand and capacity to focus limited dollars and improve reach.
Metrics and ROI standards should be established for marketing campaigns prior to their launch.
Programs that have shown opportunity for growth have not been rewarded with resources for increasing capacity. This makes it difficult for those programs to maintain their growth momentum. Resources must be aligned to growth channels.
Communication needs to be consistent but adapted for different media channels. Different communication plans should also be reframed and rephrased for different audiences.

Employee Satisfaction

Although employee satisfaction hasn’t been being measured formally, the sentiment from the group is that employee morale and satisfaction has been on the decline in recent years. Anecdotal evidence suggests employee dissatisfaction, lack of empowerment, and a feeling of being pulled in different directions and always putting out fires.

Employee satisfaction directly and indirectly affects enrollment.

Every time a current student and prospective student engages with an employee, it has the potential to affect recruitment and retention.
Employee dissatisfaction can also lead to turnover, which in turn leads to a lack of continuity in programs or services offered to students as well as hindering the development of relationships with students, community and corporate partners, and even within our campus community.

Employee satisfaction consists of two main components – employee morale and employee engagement.

Employee morale – friendly, pleasant and productive employees that enjoy coming to work each day and feel their work is valued and purposeful.
Employee engagement – satisfied employees are more engaged on campus and in the community. This is highly interconnected with our efforts to increase community and corporate partnerships.
- Employees attend events. They talk to their friends and families about the great things going on at the university. Those friends and families then share with others, and all of this helps build the BHSU brand.

Existing Data and Measuring Performance

A Campus Climate Survey is currently being administered. Data will be available early Fall 2020.
Trying to get some of the higher level topics to include prior to Fall 2020 – Mike Isaacson and President Nichols are discussing.
BHSU should conduct a routine satisfaction survey to measure employee satisfaction and engagement. Reasonably priced options such as Great Colleges or Great Place to Work could be used.
BHSU should measure employee participation in campus events.
BHSU should measure engagement of BHSU faculty and staff in the community.
BHSU should measure employee turnover, especially in key areas that affect student enrollment and turnover.

Suggestions and Observations

Employee recognition measures haven’t evolved for many years. We would suggest reviewing and revising the current annual employee recognition event as well as other existing methods of employee recognition.
Many faculty and staff members don’t have access to professional development opportunities. The University needs to enhance career and professional development opportunities, making valuable trainings and development opportunities accessible to all faculty and staff members.
BHSU needs to encourage and provide opportunities for BHSU faculty and staff to get involved in the community.
The University must empower employees to represent BHSU by providing ready access to success stories, talking points, and digital assets. This is highly interconnected with brand perception.
A system for employees to provide suggestions should be instituted and efforts to review and employ these suggestions should be put in place.
A solid strategic plan would have a positive impact on employee satisfaction by decreasing the feelings of being pulled in different directions and always putting out fires.

Community and Corporate Outreach and Engagement

A university’s relationships and involvement in the region can aid or hinder enrollment as well as impact the growth and viability of the community itself. Community members can refer students to the university, speak highly of the institution, support and attend events, and donate time and money to the institution. Institutions, in turn, provide an economic base for communities as well as providing for a strong workforce and providing access to cultural and learning opportunities that might not otherwise be available.

Relationships with the community, business and industry, alums provide opportunities for our students, faculty and staff that then in turn affect enrollment.

Internships for students
Networking opportunities
Joint research and development
Co-sponsored events

University involvement in the community also leads to a stronger community. Stronger, more viable communities then lead to an increase in students over time.

Notes to be added/addressed:

We have notes from Employer Listening Sessions (see Appendix).
Need to add Rapid City economic development data.
Information on outcomes/alumni data is spotty. Would like to see EMSI. Struggling a bit to get info from our off-campus connection – he has other priorities.

Existing Data and Measuring Performance

Corporate partnerships haven’t been measured in the past and tend to be measured solely by monetary donations.
No data exist prior to this year for BHSU employer relationships due to data not being captured before changing systems.
Community engagement isn’t captured and quantified or reviewed to find opportunities for growth and value in these relationships.
Currently only 43 percent of the alumni listed in our database list who their employers are.

Suggestions and Observations

The University needs to improve its collection of its alumni, their outcomes, and their connections. A partnership with Elevate Rapid City to utilize their EMSI database should be capitalized on.
BHSU should develop opportunities for employees to network with organizations in the area.
Arrange faculty and staff visits to corporate and community partners. In turn have those partners visit campus.
Provide opportunities for all employees, not just select few.
- BHSU must expand and improve relationships with high school guidance counselors.
- BHSU should build upon existing alumni relationships in the area and nationally by connecting those alums with departments other than Alumni and Advancement.

BHSU Enrollment Trends

High School Dual Credit

Rising Scholar

Undergraduate

non-high school

Graduate non-degree seeking

614

723

Dual Credit

First-time Full-time Cohort (SD Resident only) with one or more BHSU dual credit courses at time of enrollment:

Cohort	SD FTFT BS Cohort Size	HSDC Students	% HSDC
FB2017	296	70	23.65%
FB2018	267	78	29.21%
FB2019	250	81	32.40%
All	813	229	28.17%

Available Market and Changing Demographics

Web Traffic Report - BHSU.edu

Summary

Purpose

The goal of this report is to give solid analytics data that can be used to determine strengths and weaknesses of the BHSU.edu website and how those may fit into the overall enrollment initiative.

These data can inform our decisions and may help point out issues that need improvements and reveal areas already working for further research.

Method

Google Analytics and Google Search Console were used to prepare all the data in this report. The timeframe of November 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019 was chosen to capture a full year’s worth of data. A website analytics error occurred in December 2019 - Jan 2020 leaving website data incomplete (in one view) for that period. To provide a full year’s worth of data, we looked at the timeframe from just before that.

Website Analytics

Web Traffic for Nov. 1, 2018 – Oct 31, 2019

Users are entering the website and viewing more than two pages. The 20% bounce rate is relatively low. The average session duration is 3:33 which indicates engagement overall, but this is not necessarily for prospective students.

Such numbers only give a vague overview of the traffic to the website and do not indicate intention of the visitors, nor do they reveal the true number of potential prospects. Current students, students’ family members, faculty, staff, and community members all visit the website and so these general numbers only provide an overview.

Page Views and Sessions

New users are primarily entering the website through organic search. NOTE: These numbers indicate Email is 0.02%, but that is not accurate since such sessions can also be categorized under Direct.

New Users

Site Referrals (search engines included)

These are the top websites for website traffic referral.

The “Direct” traffic is usually someone typing the URL, using a bookmark, or coming from a link in their email. An average of about 14,000 new users come to the BHSU website per month as a result of a Google search. Wikipedia is a top gateway for traffic, but not significant.

These numbers dwarf all the other smaller websites that bring traffic to the website, so they are not worth mentioning here.

TOP REFERRERS	% OF ALL	SESSIONS	NEW USERS
Google	63.64	695,165	170,329
Direct	23.36	255,120	105,932
Bing	1.90	20,799	3,393
Facebook(m)	1.89	20,656	14,577
Yahoo	1.4	15,337	3,625
Facebook	0.37	4,048	1,460
Wikipedia	.11	1,161	664

Geographic (Top USA States)

These top states for web traffic may point to market share and could reveal areas of further market research. The average time on the website along with the number of pages indicates the level of engagement. Interestingly, the relatively low number of visits from North Dakota might reveal low interest or a lack of advertising reach to that state.

STATE	VISITS	PAGES/VISIT	AVG TIME	BOUNCE
South Dakota	642,204	2.16	3:43	15.38%
Minnesota	83,727	2.21	2:51	31.04%
Illinois	48,520	2.03	2:27	37.76%
California	24,210	2.27	3:17	29.04%
Colorado	30,307	2.65	3:40	25.51%
Wyoming	38,346	2.82	4:10	14.00%
Texas	19,677	2.22	3:01	28.31%
Nebraska	17,448	3.04	4:07	21.44%
North Dakota	11,880	2.97	3:46	17.79%
New York	6,852	2.28	3:06	28.15%

Geographic (Top Metros)

These numbers give insight into the metro areas from which all traffic originates. In South Dakota, the numbers reveal the amount of interest from other areas of the state. Despite a higher bounce rate, larger metro areas average above two pages per session which indicates these visits are intentional.

STATE	METRO	VISITS	PAGES/VISIT	AVG TIME	BOUNCE
South Dakota	Spearfish	305,390	1.90	3:34	17.30%
	Rapid City	156,974	2.29	3:42	12.14%
	Sioux Falls	33,048	2.58	4:01	17.32%
	Sturgis	17,688	2.13	3:46	13.83%
	Belle Fourche	13,363	2.15	3:58	15.47%
	Pierre	6,327	2.95	4:13	13.94%
	Aberdeen	4,499	2.80	4:07	21.76%
	Brookings	3,684	3.09	4:04	15.01%
	Lead	8,854	2.32	3:47	12.63%
	Custer	5,460	2.21	3:36	17.47%
	Deadwood	3,855	2.06	3:50	12.84%
Illinois	Chicago	46,299	2.01	2:24	38.51%
California	Los Angeles	9,643	2.16	3:09	31.42%
Colorado	Denver	26,118	2.62	3:35	26.14%
Wyoming	Gillette	11,093	2.60	4:07	11.93%
Texas	Dallas/Ft. Worth	9,053	2.22	2:50	33.64%
Nebraska	Omaha	6,083	2.77	3:24	29.18%
North Dakota	Minot/Bismarck	8,562	2.92	3:43	17.37%
New York	New York City	4,999	2.23	3:06	28.43%

DEMOGRAPHICS: Age of Users (Sampling of 29%)

There are more users in the 25-33 range, but more visits from the 18-24 range. The average time is nearly four minutes and the bounce rate around 15% which indicates engagement level. These numbers don’t reveal much about the market since the reason for visits cannot be known from these numbers alone, but they do reveal important demographic information overall.

AGE	%	USERS	NEW USERS	VISITS	PAGES/VISIT	TIME	BOUNCE
25-34	28%	28,710	23,739	83,025	2.39	3:54	15.02%
18-24	20%	21,559	16,126	108,924	2.20	3:57	10.52%
35-44	18%	18,447	15,345	44,881	2.53	3:58	16.00%
45-54	17%	17,710	14,413	39,738	2.68	4:03	15.83%
55-64	11%	10,907	9,468	23,817	2.56	3:53	16.34%
65+	6%	6,310	5,429	12,853	2.52	3:58	18.66%

DEMOGRAPHICS: Gender (Sampling 31%)

STATE	VISITS	PAGES/VISIT	AVG TIME	BOUNCE
Female	204,219	2.42	3:59	14.08%
Male	137,615	2.38	3:59	13.07%

BEHAVIOR: Top Pages after visiting Front Page

(excludes Calendar, Records, Directories, Email, News, etc.)

PAGE	UNIQUE VIEWS	AVG TIME	BOUNCE
/academics	36,345	0:36	8.29%
/admissions	19,558	0:46	13.88%
/about-bhsu	16,662	1:27	26.73%
/student-life	15,906	0:50	21.27%

CAMPAIGN: SDSM&T Joint Advertising

WHEN: December 10, 2018 – March 15, 2019

This campaign was a good experiment to bring two local universities together to drive traffic through banner ads. Ads were geotargeted according to SDM&T’s formula and through Google Adwords. SDSM&T ran the campaign and BHSU paid half* and offered input on the web design and also provided relevant photos.

The results were not good because we determined that most of the traffic was driven by accidental clicks on mobile banner ads. Such clicks are not targeted and therefore of little worth.

PAGE	NEW USERS	AVG TIME	Pages/Visit	BOUNCE
campaign.sdsmt	586	3:00	1.92	46.66%

CAMPAIGN: Transfer Campaign

http://www.bhsu.edu/transferBHSU
WHEN: March 28, 2019 – May 1, 2019 (about one month)

This campaign was initially run through Midwest Marketing and produced clicks and form submissions. We did not track beyond this point to see how far inquirers went beyond their initial email information transfer guide request.

After this, and without knowledge of the Marketing Department, the Admissions department initiated several blasts to purchased email lists. These brought traffic and produced around 55 inquiries from a list of unknown. We did not follow how far along the Admissions process these inquiries went after their first inquiry.

First Campaign: March 28, 2019 – May 1, 2019

Total Number of Inquiries: 0
Analysis: Bad traffic resulted in plenty of hits, but not one inquiry.
Recommend: Never buy email blasts from this company again.

Channel	SESSIONS	AVG TIME	PAGES/VISIT	BOUNCE
(Other)	812	0:18	1.42	43.35%
Direct	162	3:59	2.90	33.95%
Display	37	01:32	1.19	48.65%
Organic	117	7:47	3.88	24.79%
Referral	10	9:14	2.10	0.00%

Other Campaigns: October 1, 2019 – December 10, 2019

Total Number of Inquiries: 55
Analysis: Good targeted list produced 55 inquiries. This is an average of 16% inquiry rate from all visitors, proving the landing page is effective.
Recommend: Purchase these lists again from the same vendor and measure.

Channel	SESSIONS	AVG TIME	PAGES/VISIT	BOUNCE
(Other)	297	3:51	2.63	40.74%
Direct	33	5:30	3.09	27.27%
Display	2	1:21	2.0	0%
Organic	20	8:07	4	0%
Referral	15	1:28	1.6	20%

Appendix F

Employer Listening Sessions

Appendix G

RNL Opportunity Analysis

High school graduate decline between 2013 and 2030 of 10% or more in SD
1. South Dakota
  1. 22 higher education institutions
  2. 71.8% college continuation rate
  3. 22% leave to go to college.
2. Colorado
  1. 81 higher education institutions
  2. 61.2% college continuation rate
  3. 21.7% leave to go to college.
3. Montana
  1. 23 higher education institutions
  2. 70.5% college continuation rate
  3. 22% leave to go to college.

Nebraska
1. 41 higher education institutions
2. 69.5% college continuation rate
3. 16.5% leave to go to college.
Wyoming
1. 10 higher education institutions
2. 60.4% college continuation rate
3. 21.2% leave to go to college

Enrollment Decision Factors
1. Financial Aid
2. Academic reputation
3. Cost
4. Personalized attention prior to enrollment
5. Campus appearance
6. Geographic setting
7. Size of institution
8. Recommendations from family and friends
9. Opportunity to play sports

BHSU Observations
1. Financial Aid
  1. Increase scholarships
  2. Need based dollars
2. Add an Academic Support Center
3. Admissions / Marketing
  1. Spread too thin
4. Develop a retention plan
  1. Proactive not reactive
  2. Strategic driven planning

Retention Task force
1. Develop SEP

Advisor resources

Improve Career Service

Registrar’s Office dedicated transfer position.

Student Success Center improve advising.
1. Develop strategic and annual enrollment plan to tie current and future initiatives to ROI and Net Tuition Revenue dollars
2. Strategic Enrollment Planning

Do we tell the BHSU story well?
1. Do we have a strong brand message architecture?
2. Not a first-choice institution
3. Willingness to acknowledge our best programs and take it on the road.

Expand outcome information and quantify.
1. Market research demand analysis, non-matriculated survey, paired research
2. Role faculty play in enrollment management.
3. Plan for adding undergraduate and graduate programs of study.

Campus Visit Recommendations

Financial Aid Recommendations
1. Important considerations
  1. Ability to pay.
  2. Willingness to pay.

Student Success – Increase retention and graduation rates.
1. Students persist when:
  1. they are making progress toward educational and career goals.
  2. They are satisfied with the quality of educational programs, services and environment.
2. Structure
  1. One person needs to be the Chief Retention Officer
  2. Develop a Retention Committee
  3. More clearly defined role of R&R’s
    1. Remove recruitment from titles and duties
    2. Potential first year advising

Recommendations to increase student success.
1. Planning
2. Data
  1. Year-end tracking
  2. Real time dashboards to track term behavior.
  3. Entering student survey
3. Student Transitions
  1. New student registration
  2. Orientation
  3. Green & Gold Days
  4. GS 100
  5. Evaluation of all transition programs
  6. Add stronger component of setting expectations
4. Advising
  1. Faculty model
  2. Do a better job with off and on ramps
  3. Develop advising training for new faculty
  4. No institutional definition and expectation for advising
  5. Break up conversations?
5. Academic Support
  1. Student Success Center
  2. Tutoring
    1. Math Center
    2. Writing Center
      1. Departmental tutoring
      2. Supplemental instructions

Student services & Student life support
1. Student life mission & philosophy
2. Counselling services
3. Customer services

Early Intervention
1. Formalize Early Alert system

RNL Solutions
1. Boost Enrollment
  1. Develop analytics to find the right students in the right markets.
  2. Adapt to how students navigate the process today.
  3. Strategically deploy multichannel engagement campaigns
    1. Direct mail
    2. Telephone
    3. Email
    4. Digital real time feedback
    5. Optimize your aid awarding strategy to meet yield objectives.
    6. Maximize student success toward graduation.
    7. Strategically plan for the long-term institutional enrollment success
  4. Shape class by enrolling students we seek.
    1. Identify the characteristics of your desired class mix.
    2. Focus on student demographics and academics profile when making search and outreach decisions.
    3. Target communications to specific groups with tailored messages that resonate.
    4. Implement actionable tactics aligned with your long-term strategy and build toward sustainable institutional objectives.
    5. Ensure student success by maintaining focus on the student experience, from awareness through graduation.
    6. Strategically plan for long term institutional enrollment success

RNL Partner Performance
1. Engagement up 2.5 times
  1. Inquiry rate of students searched with multichannel approach.
2. Completion is what counts.
  1. Greater than 92% application completion rates
3. Effective Strategy Impacts Revenue
  1. Our partners additional net tuition revenue per student $1,475 higher compared to other students.
  2. A more encompassing approach benefits your students to meet objectives.
4. Student Success is Institutional Success
  1. Our partners average a 4 point higher retention rate compared to other institutions.
  2. Develop the right strategies to best serve students.

Appendix G

FIRST YEAR RETENTION TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS

1. We recommend the creation of an Advising Center on campus that would report to Academic Affairs. The Center’s staff should include a Director, First-year Advisors (3), Career Advisors (2), and one Dual Credit Advisor. The center will coordinate GS 100, NSR, Orientation and Tutoring. The First-year advisors in this office will be the main points-of-contact for all First-year students including exploratory, probation and transfer students under 30 credit hours (note Dual Credit does not count towards this total). The office will also serve as the home to the Starfish Campus Administrator, and the campus Career Advisors who will plan and execute the Part-time and Full-time job fairs, coordinate the intern programs and create workshops around career development. The center will also coordinate with Marketing to compose a Parent newsletter and manage a webpage for parents of current students.

2. We recommend that the position of Recruitment and Retention Specialist (R&R) undergo a title change to College of Liberal Arts, College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, College of Business and Natural Sciences Advising Specialist and remain within their respective colleges. They will act as the advisor for all Sophomore [defined as >30 hours of BH credit; note Dual Credit does not count towards this total], Exploratory, Transfer, Probation, and Suspend students. The Advising Specialists will also provide important training to the faculty in their college about registration, advising and other retention resources and tools. The Advising Specialists will also have some duties of the Registrar’s office and be able to lift registration holds and override pre and co-reqs to move the registration process along. Additionally, they will serve as the main point of contact between the colleges and the Advising Center, and will communicate with the advisors in that office any changes to programs and registration related issues.

3. In order to better support the Advising Center and the college Advising Specialists, we recommend a more robust plan of communication across campus as it relates to advising through Starfish with the goal of developing better record keeping and improving our ability to make future advising assessments.

4. We recommend that a combination of increased awareness, diagnoses, and need for mental health counseling in our current student population requires additional staffing of counseling professionals. Staffing levels at regional peer campuses suggest an increase of at least one fulltime counseling position is needed.

5. We recommend BHSU develop a comprehensive communication plan that provides step-by-step guidance to prospective, admitted and newly registered students and their families as well as validates their decision to choose BHSU by highlighting the University’s academic strengths and opportunities for experiences outside the classroom.

6. We recommend a full day summer registration event with new programming in order to better convey to students and parents the information they need to have in order to successfully transition to BHSU in the fall.

7. We recommend training key stakeholders at BHSU in systems-thinking to better leverage existing resources. By using a systems approach BHSU will be better able to identify root causes for low retention and prioritize strategies for improving student retention

8. We recommend expanding and rebranding BHSU’s orientation/move-in weekend and welcome week, currently known as Green and Gold Days. We propose a six-week welcome program, which will include significant academic program integration, separate orientation for transfer students and incorporation of GS 100 course content.

9. We recommend BHSU implement three Living Learning Communities (LLCs) for the Fall 2020 – Spring 2021 academic year.

10. We recommend BHSU academic programs develop more strategic academic program management by establishing the role of program coordinator within academic programs and more clearly identifying the expected program actions regarding recruitment, marketing and communication, event coordination, course development and management, and program assessment and evaluation.

11. We recommend BHSU establish a standing Student Success Committee focused on student retention and completion with representation from professional advisors, career advisors, faculty, the Provost’s Office, the Registrar’s Office, Admissions, Student Engagement, Financial Aid, TRiO/SSS, Athletics, Honors, the Center for American Indian Studies, and BHSU-RC.

Appendix G

FINAL REPORT FROM RUFFALO NOEL LEVITZ

April 28, 2021

Laurie Nichols, President

Black Hills State University

1200 University Street

Spearfish, SD 60564

Dear Laurie,

Thank you so much for inviting RNL and me to support your vision for Black Hills State University to develop your strategic enrollment plan. It has been a privilege for me to collaborate with you and the BH team for the past nineteen months. My visit to your campus on April 6-7, 2021, marked the last of my eight SEP consulting visits to BHSU. You have developed a strong SEP, both in the initial set of strategies and in the process that you have institutionalized to guide strategic enrollment thinking and action at the university in the future.

During our last visit, we made the final preparations for implementation. We shared the plan highlights and process with your advisory board and in a final SEP Town Hall meeting. We also met with action plan leaders that will transition to strategic enrollment management and implementation.

It has been an absolute pleasure to work with you on this project. Thank you for your continued and excellent leadership of our Strategic Enrollment Planning process. Your leadership is transforming Black Hills State University and ensured that our SEP participants remained energized and innovative for the task of sustaining and growing the university’s enrollment.

I am honored to be a part of the BHSU community and hope to be able to support you in the future with the development of your next institutional strategic enrollment plan.

If you have any questions about this report, please give me a call (269-365-7192) or send me an email (dawn.fortinmattoon@ruffalonl.com).

Sincerely,

Dawn Fortin Mattoon Ed.D, MBA

Executive Consultant

DM/yrh

c: John Allred, Vice President, Enrollment Management, BHSU

Priscilla Romkema, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, BHSU

Lew Sanborne, Vice President, RNL^®

Adam Connolly, Vice President, RNL^®

Sarah Keating, Vice President, Recruitment Consulting Services, RNL^®

Nicole Burley, Senior Consultant, RNL^®

Goals and Schedule for SEP Visit Eight

Goals

Discuss BHSU’s SEP initiatives and their implementation with strategy leads.
Consider the performance of SEP initiatives, individually and collectively, in the broader context.
Discuss ongoing SEP assessment and modifications.
Review the process and timeline for the consideration and prioritization of potential SEP initiatives.
Discuss the ongoing SEP campus communication plan.
Share the SEP work with the President’s Community Advisory Council.
Provide SEP update and next steps to the BHSU campus via a town hall meeting.

Schedule

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

8:00a.m. – 10:00a.m. President’s Community Advisory Council – Joy Center

10:30a.m. – 11:30a.m. Title III/SEP Budget Review Meeting – Joy Center

With Chuck Dervarics via Zoom

11:30a.m. – 1:00p.m. Lunch – The Hive

1:00p.m. – 1:30p.m. Prep Time

1:30p.m. – 2:30p.m. Senior Leadership Team Review of SEP

2:30p.m. – 3:00p.m. Prep for Town Hall – Dawn and Dr. Allred

3:00p.m. – 4:30p.m. Town Hall – Club Buzz or Zoom

4:30p.m. – 5:00p.m. Review of Day with Drs. Allred & Romkema and Dawn

Wednesday, April 7, 2020

8:00a.m. – 10:00a.m. Recruitment & Funnel Team

9:00a.m. – 9:50a.m. Student Success Center Team

10:00a.m. – 10:50a.m. Teaching & Learning Center Team

11:00a.m. – 11:50a.m. Academic Programs Team

12:00p.m. – 12:50p.m. Lunch – The Hive

1:00p.m. – 2:00p.m. - Dawn meeting with President Nichols

2:00p.m. – 3:00p.m. Wrap up with Dr. Romkema & Allred

Strategic Enrollment Plan

On the morning of April 6, we presented your strategic enrollment plan to your President’s Community Advisory Council. That afternoon, you hosted a Town Hall meeting both in person and via Zoom to share the strategic enrollment plan and next steps with the campus community.

Title III Grant

A critical component to your Strategic Enrollment Plan funding is based on receiving a title III grant award. On Tuesday morning, following the President’s Community Advisory Council, several members of the BHSU team met with Chuck Dervarics, your title III grant writer to align the Strategic Enrollment Plan with your title III grant request. The BHSU Title III planner spreadsheet from that meeting is attached to this report.

Funding

Following the Title III Grant meeting, the Senior Leadership had a final funding discussion regarding the Strategic Enrollment Plan. During this meeting, we discussed funds that were moved to support strategies and confirmed institutional budget needs for FY22.

SEP Strategy		Existing Budget One-Time Expense		Reallocation of Existing Resources		New Recurring Base Expense		To be included in Title III Grant
Enrollment Analytics						$97,470.00

Recruitment / Funnel Strategies
Recruitment - Admission - Marketing				$12,600.00
Admission Operations				$32,000.00

Student Success Center Strategies
Peer Mentoring (SSC)								$75,100.00
Career Center (SSC)				$66,000.00
BHSU Engage! Work-Study Internships (SSC)		$3,000.00
Financial Literacy (SSC)		$5,000.00				$12,000.00
Upper Division Professional Advisors - (SSC)*								$100,000.00
Supplimental Instruction + tutoring								$80,000.00

Teaching and Learning Center								$154,000.00
GS 200 (TLC) Faculty Mentoring (TLC)* Innovative Teaching (TLC)						$20,000.00
	High Impact Practices (TLC) Experiential General Education (TLC) Geography and Partnerships (TLC) Subtotal Unduplicated Subtotal (25%) Total Unduplicated TLC and SSC						$9,000.00

	Academic Programs
	Academic Program Portfolio Subtotal No Duplication		$50,000.00				$15,000.00

	SEP Subtotal		$58,000.00		$110,600.00		$153,470.00		$409,100.00

Strategy Review

On the morning of April 7, John Allred and I met with several individuals that will be involved with the implementation of strategies. What follows are summaries of those discussions.

Recruitment and Funnel Team

This team consists of:

Joe Rainboth Director of Admission

Brock Anundsen Assistant Athletic Director/Events & Internal Operations

Sherry Post Senior Programmer / Analyst

Implementation steps:

Admission Operations

The admission operations action plan included a request for a Senior Secretary/Program Asst.

and an Admission Processor. These positions were shifted to 10–12 student support ($32,000) that will provide backfill for existing staff members.

The additional student support will address staffing needs at the welcome desk and support application processing.

Metrics for these positions are:
- Application process time
- A post-visit survey
- Conversion of visitors to enroll
Challenges for this action plan include several admission office student staff are graduating and there is a need to build a progressive admission student employment plan as part of the action plan implementation.
- Athletics has a progression plan in place for student employees that can serve as a model for the admission office.
- Brock will provide athletic best practices and needs (from coaches); map protocols for visits; systems that support the athletic recruitment processes; and academic areas that participate in athletic admission.
KPIs for the admission operation will be reported by the new Enrollment Analytics position
- Headcount
  - Traditional Undergraduate

2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	2026-27
10	15	20	25	30	30

Transfer

2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	2026-27
	5	7	9	11	13

New Student Credit Hours
Enrollment by Location
Market Share
- Territory goals
  - High School
  - Out of State
  - Regions (SD)

Student staff will be trained in the Summer 2021 and in place for Fall 2021 recruitment season.
Tasks in the admission office will be aligned to support the goals.
The admission operations goals will be coordinated with the enrollment analytics position.
The admission office will be highly engaged in the continued implementation of Salesforce.

Admission Marketing

This plan was prioritized for immediate implementation.
The admission and marketing communication teams are implementing recommendations that were provided with the RNL communication audit.
The admission office has hired and implemented the student ambassador tour guide step.
The admission office will continue to analyze data and determine future source strategy (with support from the Enrollment Analytics position).
KPIs for this action plan include:
- Headcount
  - Traditional Undergraduate

2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	2026-27
	14	23	33	42	51

Funnel Goals

	Baseline	Fall 2022	Fall 2023	Fall 2024	Fall 2025	Fall 2026
Application Increase		10%	15%	20%	25%	30%
Admit Rate	82%	82%	82%	82%	82%	82%
Yield Rate	61%	60%	60%	60%	60%	60%

Applications	379	417	436	455	474	493
Admits		342	357	373	388	404
Enrolled	191	205	214	224	233	242
Net Gain		14	23	33	42	51

Enrollment Analytics

This action plan was prioritized and is planned to be funded by shifting existing institutional funds in the FY22 budget plan. This position is planned to begin on June 22, 2021.

This funded position is expected to lift the first to second year retention by 1% per year.
This funded position is expected to increase the applied rate from 7% to 10%.
This funded position is expected to improve the top of the funnel through source analysis, predictive analytics, and better tracking.
This position will serve on the data governance committee and oversee or collaborate to:
- BHSU data cookbook completion
- BHSU data definitions
- BHSU accountability report card
- Enrollment Reports
- Data warehousing
- Alignment with ISP

Implementation of the ongoing suggestion box and SEP vetting process for innovation one-time funds.

Student Success Center

The Student Success Center will serve as the central hub for several enrollment strategies that are also tied to the Title III grant.

Peer Mentoring

The implementation team is analyzing Fall 19 data to:

Determine participant targets and process to include: invites, recommendations, and selfapplications.
Build criteria (campus connection; geographically distant; minority status; alignment with Center for American Indian Studies (20 – 30 students) for participating.
Create syllabus and integrate Peer student employment with BHSU Engage.
Build skill progression and responsibility.

The implementation timeline is:

Secure Title III Grant – Summer 2021
Recruit/train/prep October – Dec. 2021
Pilot Spring 22
Full launch Fall 22
On-going continuation and evaluation
Persistence rates and dashboards from the Enrollment Analytics position
- Adjust based on data
- Predict with analytics
Student evaluation/SIS
Align with advising
Analyzed Fall 19 data; determining targets with opportunities for recommendations and selfapplication as well as invites
Build criteria (campus connection; geographically distant; minority status; alignment with Center for American Indian Studies plan 20 – 30 students)
Create syllabus and use as BHSU Engage
Build skill progression and responsibility
Recruit/train/prep October – Dec. 2021
Pilot Spring 22 full launch Fall 22
On-going continuation and evaluation

Advising

This initiative was added at the prioritization summit. This strategy is to add two professional advisors to the Student Success Center and shift faculty upper division advising to mentoring specific to content areas and socialization to career fields or progression to graduate programs. The funds for this position will be built into the Title III grant request. The next steps are:

Secure the Title III Institutional Strengthening Grant
Establish dashboards including persistence, retention, graduation rates, and student satisfaction to track all advising activities.
Track time to completion and number of credits at graduation as a KPI

Tutoring and Supplemental Instruction

This action plan was not completed before the prioritization summit but was deemed a priority by the leadership team. The Director of the Student Success Center will complete the action plan and determine how to expand on existing tutoring and supplemental instruction support in coordination with the teaching and learning center. The next steps include:

Identify and assess what is currently happening.
Finalize action plan and next steps for implementation.
Analyze D, F, W grades in coordination with the teaching and learning center.
Provide navigation and orientation for individuals across campus that are involved with tutoring.

Career Services

During the prioritization summit, the leadership team committed to the funds for a full-time career services coordinator effective with the 2021-22 budget. During our final SEP implementation discussion, it was determined that a graduate assistant position would be requested with a Title III grant to support the career services area and oversee the BHSU Engage initiative.

Teaching and Learning Center

The teaching and learning center is a comprehensive strategy that emerged from the strategic enrollment planning at BHSU. All of the additional costs associated with the teaching and learning center will be requested with the title III grant proposal.

BHSU Engage

The BHSU Engage action plan involved a campus-wide intentional approach to provide student employees with relevant experience for their careers. This initiative is included in the title III grant request. The next steps include meeting with Dr. Carriveau to map the action plan steps and coordinate on-campus employment positions. The Director of the Teaching and Learning Center will support learning outcome integration for BHSU engagement. The TLC Director will assist on campus employers to identify and document skills and content connections.

GS 100 and 200

The center will include oversight of the existing GS 100 and new configurations to be determined for a GS 200.

Financial Literacy

The financial literacy action plan was added to the title III grant request. The implementation team determined that a graduate assistant would implement the financial literacy action plan. The Graduate Assistant will report to the Business Services team and be housed within the Student Success Center. The content and materials developed for financial literacy will be integrated into the GS 100 and GS 200 new configurations. Following the SEP consultant’s eighth visit, the University indicated that funding for the position and the reporting lines for the position will be determined in the future.

High Impact Practices

The teaching and learning center will identify, promote and facilitate high-impact practices across the BHSU curriculum. The IUPUI Rise model will be reviewed as a potential guide for this implementation.

Innovative Teaching

During the prioritization summit, it was determined that the Teaching and Learning Center would serve as a hub for innovative instruction at the University. The existing instructional designer position will be integrated as a team member of the teaching and learning center.

Faculty as Mentors

The faculty as mentors action plan evolved during the prioritization summit. As indicated above, upper division advising will shift from faculty to professional advisors in the teaching and learning center. Faculty members will have access to faculty development that supports career mentoring as well as academic and professional integration in coordination with the BHSU–HLC quality initiative.

Experiential General Education

This action plan will be implemented within the Teaching and Learning Center. Dr. Pam Carriveau and Dr. Amy Fuqua will co-chair the action plan implementation.

Geography and Partnership

This initiative will also be housed in the Teaching and Learning Center. Deb Wolf and Kelly Kirk will co-chair the geography and partnership, implementation team. Additional implementation team members will include the Director of Teaching and Learning Center, Nichole Reiner, Director of Education, and outreach to SURF from BHSU and Cindy Haugland.

Program Portfolio

This action plan will focus on building and refining the BHSU program portfolio to align with employer and student demand. Jeff Wehrung will lead this initiative with an implementation team that includes: Scott Chandler, Scott Clarke, Betsy Silva, Don Cobel, and Amy Fuqua. The team will begin meeting before the end of the Spring 2021 semester. Following the steps outlined in the action plan, they will secure an EMSI license either in coordination with the State Board or through existing Academic Affairs resources. They will determine how to outsource the EMSI data analysis as well as plan for a shared governance approach to the process.

Observations on Implementation

The majority of the SEP action plans are based on a Title III funded grant. Working with Chuck Devariks, your Title III grant writer based in Washington D.C. to secure a 2021 BHSU title III grant is imperative to the implementation of your SEP plan. The implementation teams are planning according to the Title III award timeline.

Implementation Essentials

As we prepare to launch BHSU’s SEP, you will want to be mindful of the following set of implementation essentials.
Maintain an active and focused SEP leadership group with defined responsibilities
Communicate the SEP launch and ongoing process
Connect SEP to the development of your next institutional strategic plan and other planning processes
Link to the budget planning and academic planning processes
Assessment and modification of individual SEP initiatives and the overall plan
Integrate new opportunities and challenges into the plan
Plan for any impacts on infrastructure and capacity limits

Innovation and future potential strategies

Vice President Allred and I discussed using the SEP process to support innovation at BHSU and as a tool to vet potential strategies. VP Allred identified a model of small incentives funds that could be applied for through a four-step process that includes SWOT analysis, a situation analysis, an action plan, and a "shark tank" type pitch. This process will help ensure innovation through new ideas within a defined structure that helps to prioritize time and resources. Timing for a Shark Tank would not be considered until after the evaluation of the first year of SEP activities.

Institutional Strategic Plan

I applaud your plan to update and renew the institutional strategic plan using the SEP plan and twenty months of University effort as a framework. As we discussed, it would be my honor to assist you with that plan. As your institutional strategic plan consultant, I would be able to expedite the process based on my deep knowledge of the institution. I would also help to ensure the implementation, assessment, and evaluation of the strategic enrollment plan. In addition to the areas identified in the graphic below, you may want to also include a branding/marketing plan. I have attached a proposal regarding the institutional strategic plan support and welcome the opportunity to further discuss your institutional strategic plan.

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