The University of Delaware’s Chris Lucier has seen the college enrollment management process evolve into a multi-stage approach that follows student progress individually from first contact through graduation.

Lucier, UD’s vice president for enrollment management, shared his perspective on current strategies and challenges during a luncheon meeting of the University of Delaware Association of Retired Faculty (UDARF) held May 3 in Clayton Hall.

While enrollment grew in public and private universities following World War II with passage of the GI Bill, by the 1970s institutions of higher education were beginning to feel the pressure of enrollment competition, Lucier said.

Today’s concept of enrollment management began in the mid-1970s through the vision of John (Jack) Maguire, then dean of admissions at Boston College, Lucier said.

“Maguire began to look at how things were before, when admissions was a stovepipe operation,” Lucier said. “Under the old system, a student applied to college, went to the admissions office. Maybe someone there helped them contact someone in financial aid, and after that the work of the admissions people was considered finished.”

Lucier said that following their limited contact with admissions, students went to a large room, registered for classes and basically survived on their own until graduation.

“Jack Maguire started looking at the data to see what was happening at each stage” of the student’s campus experience, Lucier said. “He also sought to tie these stages together into more of a continuum as a student progressed from first contact through graduation.”

Maguire’s findings led enrollment management professionals to seek better documentation of the connection between these stages, and in the 1980s, the concept was further advanced by Don Hossler at Indiana University, Lucier said.

Enrollment management at UD today is a coordinated effort that includes the offices that report directly to Lucier – Undergraduate Admissions, Student Financial Services, and the Registrar’s Office, as well as the colleges, academic support offices, and student life.

“Fifty-five percent of our general fund is derived from undergraduate tuition, so we have to be efficient in getting students who will be successful and persist to graduation,” Lucier said. “We also have many other things that we have to balance because we are the state’s flagship university and we have a land grant mission.”

Helping to fulfill this responsibility is the University’s Commitment to Delawareans, which provides access and opportunity for a quality education to students from the First State, Lucier said.

The commitment is a blueprint for high school students and their parents that includes stated academic requirements to gain admission. The program’s goal is to make a UD education affordable to all qualified residents by meeting the full demonstrated financial need up to the cost of in-state tuition, fees, a stipend for books, and on-campus room and board.

“We also want great students, and we are looking for quality that can be measured in many different ways,” Lucier said. “By and large, we want students to do well in our classrooms and be a part of their own learning experience.”

Enrollment management at UD also requires a priority commitment to recruit and an enroll a diverse class that includes underrepresented minority students and international students, Lucier said.

A record 4,407 applications were received from underrepresented minority students for the Class of 2020, a 25 percent increase since 2013 and the most in UD history, he said.

“Surveys and studies show that diversity also is tied to educational excellence,” Lucier said. “I think that most of us realize that when we think about the complex issues we are faced with today and will be in the future, the best ideas and the best conversations will come from people with very different perspectives.”

Competition is increasing for attracting a diverse and qualified student cohort in light of a declining yield in the University’s traditionally strong recruiting areas, Lucier noted.

“The number one factor for a student making a decision today is the perception of an institution’s academic excellence,” Lucier said. “This also includes student and parents views of the faculty, facilities and curriculum.”

Affordability ranks a very close second place for prospective students and their parents, Lucier said.

“It comes down to their view of the outcomes,” Lucier said. “They want to know if their education will help them getting a job or advance their graduate school opportunities.”

Lucier concluded by discussing a new approach to aid retention and persistence to graduation, the Student Success Collaborative. The retention management system combines technology, research and predictive analytics to help UD positively inflect degree completion outcomes for at-risk students.

“I will tell you that so far, if you talk to people who have seen the system, this will transform our ability to support student success,” Lucier said. “Faculty are involved in our leadership team and we are working with the deans and department chairs and the faculty on how we ensure effective implementation.”