Enrollment planning program asks for student input

Photo by: Will Gentry

Oklahoma Christian University’s new program, the Strategic Enrollment Planning process (SEP), aims to bring together different voices to improve student success on campus – and they’re asking students themselves for input on how to improve.

“The Strategic Enrollment Planning process is designed to bring together academic planning, enrollment planning and financial planning and put them all together,” Executive Vice President Bill Goad said. “We have been planning in all those areas, but making an integrated plan where all of those fit together is one of the results we expect in this process.”

The SEP will look at what the university offers and find ways to better promote the best of Oklahoma Christian to match prospective students’ interests.

“We are trying to take a look at everything we do at OC to attract students to Oklahoma Christian,” Michael Mitchell, director of admissions and recruiting, said. “Are there other ways we can do that better, are there opportunities for growth? Are there things we are not doing that we should be doing, and are there things that we are doing that we should stop doing?”

Oklahoma Christian has grown in its recruitment process over the years, seeing slight annual increases in enrollment. However, part of the process is to make sure that the university continues the trend by retaining the “right” students.

“It is not a matter of fact that we need more students; it is, ‘Are we getting the right students for what we offer?’” Mitchell said. “If we only retain 80 percent of our students from freshmen [to] sophomores, then let’s retain more students like the 80 percent and not like the 20 percent that leaves. We want to increase our efforts on students who are most likely to succeed at Oklahoma Christian.”

The university, according to Mitchell, has not yet reached its full potential.

“We have reached a point where we are not done growing as a school, but we just don’t want to get more students,” Mitchell said. “That is not a good way to operate. We want to make sure that we grow in a way that makes sense and that is healthy.”

Part of the Strategic Enrollment Process is making sure that students are given every opportunity available to succeed.

“The other part of the process that we can do better is … looking at the demand for academic programs and marketing,” Goad said. “What kind of programs do students want, want kind of majors do they want and being able to respond to those demand factors. Part of the process is listening to what others want to do. We have to see if we can make a plan that makes sense for the university.”

Students at Oklahoma Christian are encouraged to give suggestions on what they would like to see the university improve.

“There’s a survey available to students that asks a few specific programs that they might be interested in and other recruiting ideas,” Goad said. “Students are encouraged to recommend ideas that might help students to be successful and [get] more students to stay and graduate from OC.”

The school board of trustees will scrutinize every comment and suggestion on the survey for the Strategic Enrollment Planning by students, faculty and staff.

“We will take every comment that comes from students into consideration,” Goad said. “Every suggestion that is made will be looked at, and some may be possible and some may not be possible because they might suggest something we do not have the capability to do.”

According to senior Julie Hudson, future students are attracted to Oklahoma Christian because of the care and love the school gives to students.

“I think students want to come here because of the sense of community we have and also the amount of activities we have,” Hudson said.

According to Mitchell, if there is one thing the university needs to change during this strategic enrollment planning process, it is making sure that more people know about Oklahoma Christian.

“Future students are looking for a place where they will be known, where their spiritual development will be cared about and where they will receive a great education,” Mitchell said.

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