Edu-leaders

When speaking to alumni, students, faculty and staff of Tarleton State University about their experiences at the Texas institution, it is not uncommon to see tears in their eyes. They emphasize their strong ties to the public institution, its beautiful campus, rich traditions and long-held legends. Unfortunately, the institution is also one of the state’s best kept secrets.

“In the past, marketing has not been a priority,” explained Denise Groves, dean of Enrolment Management/University registrar. “Many people in our own state haven’t heard about us. This lack of awareness definitely impacts our enrolment numbers.”

The institution’s enrolment numbers were also being eroded by other factors. The state of Texas created a new university from one of Tarleton’s standalone campuses, resulting in a loss of about 1,800 students for Tarleton which the University needs to recoup. The State also reduced funding while restricting institutions from raising tuition or fees. To compound matters further, Tarleton’s competition is not institutions of a similar size, but rather larger institutions around the state.

“We compete with the large institutions like Texas Tech and Texas A&M,” said Groves. “The larger institutions send t-shirts and glossy magazines to prospects, and an army of recruiters to the high schools. We don’t have those kinds of resources. The field is big, and since we are smaller, we have to play much smarter.”

To help address these challenges, Tarleton made a strategic decision to elevate its enrolment strategy to “enrolment by design rather than enrolment by chance,” said Groves. “We have always prided ourselves on our rich history and traditions. But we recognised that this is an area where we need to reinvent ourselves. We have to become more competitive, yet be very mindful of our limited resources and be fiscally responsible.”

Tarleton also gained a big proponent of strategic enrolment management in the form of its new president, F. Dominic Dottavio, PhD. Under his leadership, the University formed a new Division of Enrolment and Information Management.

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