Emporia State’s enrollment numbers saw a 12.5 percent decrease in KBOR’s 2023 Fall Census. For former Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Success Shelly Gehrke, those numbers need to be taken into the context of ESU’s student life.
“I have tried to be in as many spaces, events, opportunities as possible, more so than any other semester to talk with students, and I feel like we’ve got our energy back. I do not presume that we are back to any sort of normal because our whole goal right now is to find ways to be responsive to our students’ needs and wants” Gehrke said when asked about how she thought enrollment numbers were affecting campus.
Campus life has been particularly hit by declining enrollment numbers. Undergraduate enrollment carried the bulk of reductions in student population: undergraduate enrollment decreased by 9.3 percent compared to a 3.9 percent decrease in graduate students.
One method that the university is looking at to improve enrollment numbers is by partnering with the enrollment app Niche.
“We are partnering with a third-party company called Niche. We’re doing a direct admissions strategy. This is in hope to capture students from further away than just Kansas,” Gherke said. “Now that we have the 48 states of in-state tuition, we will position ourselves within that platform of being awesome in nursing, awesome education.”
Education saw the largest decrease by degree area according to KBOR data, losing 243 students. By headcount, the three next degree areas which saw the largest decreases in headcount were: 103 in unknown or other, 43 in math, and 23 in business. Contrastingly, the four-degree areas which saw the largest increases were: 27 in general studies and humanities, 8 in recreation, leisure and fitness studies, 1 in biological and biomedical sciences, and 1 in communication, journalism, and related degrees.
Despite these numbers, Gehrke is optimistic about student life.
“We’ve been through our first round of tests and I haven’t had any great concerns. This time last year we had some different metrics that made me concerned. This year we might need more tickets to this event, or we might need to buy more drinks, we might need to support our students at a greater level because they want it,” she said.
KBOR data also shows that ESU saw massive decreases in its Hispanic and non-resident alien student categories. ESU lost 49.5 percent, or 245 students, in its Hispanic population within the last year. Contextually, the university lost 67 students between 2021 and 2022. Similar losses were felt in the university’s “non-resident alien” student population. ESU saw a 74.6 percent decrease, going from 409 students to 104 students.
Dr. Gehrke left her position as Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Success on Oct. 11, 2023. Cass Coughlin is currently holding this position in the interim. Undergraduate Admissions leadership is also changing over to Kelly Heine, Vice President for Marketing, Admissions + Communication
“I think there’s opportunities to review the organizational structure and ask if they have enough resources to be in high schools, to do all the things they need to process applications,” said Heine when asked what she viewed as a potential roadblock of undergraduate admissions. “It’s a huge job and our folks are busy and on the road constantly.”
In response to a question about ESU’s recruitment strengths, Heine said, “I think for a lot of students at Emporia State it’s the difference between thriving and surviving, and I think it’s really cool that there’s so many opportunities here for a really big experience. And I really like what the academic side is doing in terms of thinking about what those high impact experiences are.”
Heine closed on the broader strategy she’s hoping to implement for undergraduate admissions.
“I’m really big on consistency and frequency and to the level where you feel like you’re being obnoxious so that it’s just this steady, steady drum beat drum beat of who Emporia State is and what we can offer,” she said.
