New administrator to focus on YSU enrollment

New administrator to focus on YSU enrollment

New administrator to focus on YSU enrollment

Youngstown

Youngstown State University has created a new position to address enrollment.

YSU trustees last week approved the associate vice president for enrollment planning and management. The position, which would be part of the Student Affairs Department, will pay between $82,981 and $112,406 annually.

“Our future financial stability rests primarily on our ability to maximize enrollment,” according to the rationale for creating the job that was submitted to trustees.

The last couple of years, the university has realized an enrollment decline after years of near-record numbers.

Fall 2012 enrollment slipped 5 percent to 13,813, compared with fall 2011’s 14,540. The number of students enrolled also fell the previous year from 15,194 in fall 2010 to 14,540 in fall 2011.

The rationale also says YSU and Central State University are the only institutions in the Interuniversity Council that don’t have an executive officer solely charged with enrollment management.

YSU’s Northeast Ohio competitors have coordinated “significant resources to maximize their enrollment efforts,” it says. Each university has more than 30 marketing staff compared with YSU’s 10 and each has 15 to 25 admission professionals compared with YSU’s seven.

“Our enrollment efforts could be enhanced significantly by attracting a senior enrollment management professional with a proven track record for success,” the rationale said.

The job qualifications include a master’s degree in marketing, student personnel, higher-education administration or a related field and at least five years progressive experience in enrollment management, student recruitment and retention or university marketing.