Kim focuses on enrollment, new council formed
Jean Kim used an acronym to sum up UI President Chuck Staben’s goal to increase enrollment — BHAG.
“Organizations need a BHAG — a big, hairy, audacious goal — to mobilize people into a direction to accomplish something huge, but important and necessary,” she said.
To accomplish this goal, Kim, the new vice provost of Student Affairs and Enrollment Managment, will lead the new Enrollment Management Council that will aim to create a long-term enrollment strategy for UI. Kim said the council plans to meet once every two weeks and will have its first meeting Feb. 5.
Kim said the council will focus on the two Rs of enrollment: recruitment and retention. She said the council’s goal will be to increase the number of undergraduate and graduate students on the Moscow campus, but expects different colleges to have different challenges when it comes to recruiting new students and retaining current ones.
“We really need to look at the issue systematically and strategically,” Kim said.
Kim said she anticipates the council would take a look at the first and second-year experience to increase retention efforts. She said studies show students who complete their first two years are more likely to graduate from a four-year program.
All UI college deans have agreed to serve on the council, as well as Jeanne Stevenson, vice provost for academic affairs and Marty Ytreberg, chair of Faculty Senate.
“I was really pleased to hear from, really each and every one of them, their enthusiasm about serving on this council,” Kim said.
Kim said she is excited about working with staff members in the enrollment management office to improve day-to-day recruiting strategies. She said the office has already seen operational improvements over the past months with the help of Mj Huebner, a contracted consulting director hired by UI.
On the student affairs side of her position, Kim said she plans to improve career services, and in particular, make sure students reach their next professional goal. She said career services should focus on preparing students for a more mobile professional world.
Kim said UI will need to track student success after graduation to see how future career services impact students.
“Currently, it’s not clear to me that we really know what the outcomes are,” she said.
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected]