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History
Black Hills State University has focused on enrollment stabilization across multiple fronts beginning with the Strategic Enrollment Plan launched in the Fall semester of 2021. This initial plan implemented 13 different action plans that have positively impacted our enrollment outcomes. Recently, we expanded our focus to address enrollment declines that continue at the Black Hills Rapid City campus. The BHRC campus provided programming to address traditional as well as non-traditional student needs in the past. The increase of competing online programming as well as cuts brought on by declining enrollments hampered the success of the RC campus.
Current Challenges
In the wake of declining enrollment and department efforts to follow Board policy dictating that low enrolled courses be cancelled, BHRC students frequently encountered class cancellations and overlapping scheduling. This negative situation was further impacted by communication challenges between the Spearfish and Rapid City campuses when scheduling courses required for the majors offered at the RC campus.
Another roadblock to success at the RC campus was the lack of available funding for marketing. Despite record growth in Rapid City, the BHRC campus was a well-kept secret. Efforts to promote BHRC were further diluted by the necessary attention and resources required to recruit on Ellsworth Air Force Base.
Strategies
The first effort undertaken by the Rapid City Strategic Enrollment Planning working group was to complete a S.W.O.T. analysis. The primary findings are as follows:
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STRENGTHS
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WEAKNESSES
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- Dedicated staff & faculty with strong commitment to students.
- Robust technical support & infrastructure
- Proximity to EAFB
- Night classes & tutoring services catering to working and non-traditional students
- Strong support for data-driven decision making
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- Poor communication between the RC & Spearfish campuses and with students
- Limited course offerings
- Staff shortages
- Frequent class cancellations
- Cumbersome registration processes
- Lack of consistent student tracking, especially for at-risk students.
- No University housing or student life
- Limited program offerings which don’t align with current workforce needs or student interests
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OPPORTUNITIES
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THREATS
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- Growing population of Rapid City
- Planned expansion of EAFB
- Potential partnerships with local entities like Rapid City Elevate, Western Dakota Tech (WDT), & RCAS
- Demand for specialized graduate programs & flexible learning formats (e.g., hybrid & afternoon classes)
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- Declining student population in the region
- Competition from online & technical programs
- Rising living costs
- Undervaluing of higher education
- Faculty turnover & competition from nearby institutions like South Dakota School of Mines & Technology & online universities.
- Increasing IT costs & lack of control over data governance
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From the issues and ideas identified in the S.W.O.T. analysis, the working group identified that our priority is to rebuild our reputation, guarantee course offerings, and identify specific programs to be offered at the Rapid City campus-ceasing efforts to try to offer everything that is available on the Spearfish campus. The group settled on “Start Here, Finish Here” as a value proposition, with a plan to focus on what had worked in the past, then strategically add programs that align with Rapid City workforce needs.
Objectives
With Start Here, Finish Here in mind, the working group identified programs that could offer their entire program at Rapid City. With some significant effort from Samantha Smith, Coordinator for the West River Health Sciences Center, the Department Chairs, and Deans the following programs were identified and the course rotations developed to provide consistent offerings for student academic planning.
The programs currently being offered at Rapid City are:
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Associate’s Degree
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Bachelor’s Degree
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Applied Health Science
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Accounting
Business Management
Education
Human Services
Psychology
Sociology
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We will add certificates and additional Associate’s degrees as they are developed and review market needs for specific graduate programs. The working group is currently developing electronic marketing strategies to inform the Rapid City and EAFB communities of the guaranteed course offerings associated with these programs.
The President’s Administrative Team has also reviewed staffing needs hiring a full time Financial Aid Counselor and Academic Advisor, as well as a part time Secretary to greet students. There are further plans for shared staffing between BHSU and SDSU to provide additional technical, custodial, and security personnel and to identify an Executive Director for the Rapid City Campus.
Conclusion
Several key findings emerged as the primary causes of declining enrollment despite the city’s population growth. These internal weaknesses include limited course offerings, poor communication between campuses, and non-existent marketing efforts. Strengths such as dedicated faculty, competitive tuition, and proximity to a military base provide a solid foundation for future growth. The current efforts to focus on limited programming with a Start Here, Finish Here value proposition, right sizing the staffing and student support resources, and regaining student’s trust with regard to program offerings will allow resources and marketing to target specific needs to turn around our current enrollment declines.