STUDENT AFFAIRS 18 ANNUAL REPORT Presentation College closes On Jan. 17, 2023, Presentation College (PC) announced that they will cease educational operations at their Aberdeen campus after the spring and summer 2023 sessions. Their decision to not enroll new students for the 202324 academic year was sad news to the community. Campus leaders cited budget difficulties and enrollment declines as significant challenges to their viability. Northern and more than 30 other colleges and universities have agreed to support PC students with teach-out agreements. Thomas Williams (Multicultral Student Affairs) and Brittany Bell (Residential Education) represented Student Affairs at two teachout fairs in January and February. The “Presentation Sisters founded the College in 1951 to fulfill its mission of rural health care and service through nursing education. The College later expanded to include academic programs in Health and Natural Sciences, and Social Science and Humanities, to support its mission of development of the whole person, in the Catholic tradition. Presentation Sisters have continuously sponsored the College and retained ownership of the campus land with the College as a separate nonprofit” (www.presentation.edu). Northern launches Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan After more than a year of work, the Enrollment Management Council (EMC), working with EAB (formerly known as the Education Advisory Board), formally launched a Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan in April 2023. A comprehensive, futureoriented SEM plan is designed to help meet enrollment goals by crafting strategies and prioritizing resources. Sean Blackburn, Dean of Students, served on EMC and helped present the SEM Plan at two campus forums on April 27. The SEM Plan was informed by the work of six Working Groups that met throughout summer 2022. Megan Frewaldt and Sean Blackburn (chair) served on the Student Engagement that Drives Retention Working Group. Thomas Williams served on the Retention Working Group. Quick Takes: 2021 classes, 90 percent were still enrolled as of the spring 2022 census date compared to 56 percent who did not participate in any HOWL experience. This data will be published in the next Assessment Report and confirms what has been known through prior reviews, national research, and anecdotal information: HOWL serves as a critical transition and retention program. It is therefore mission critical that we find a way to provide every student with an appropriate orientation experience commensurate with their plan of study at Northern. This analysis will continue in future summers to further understand the impact of orientation on student success. Residence Hall Satisfaction: Administering the Skyfactor Benchworks Residence Hall Survey was identified as a key effort in the on-going effort to improve the residence hall student experience and increase occupancy. Distributed to students after spring break 2022 by Director of Residence Life and Dining Services Marty Sabolo and his team, the survey received an impressive 31 percent response rate. The Skyfactor data was reviewed during summer 2022 and resulted in Residence Life creating 27 action items to improve student satisfaction within the residence halls. Those action items may be found on the Student Affairs website. “People are often surprised by what factors influence students’ satisfaction within the residence halls. Skyfactor provided us with a data-informed, nationally normed understanding of how our students are perceiving the halls,” said Sean Blackburn, Dean of Students. Some of those areas include timeliness of repairs; the cleaning staff and the cleanliness of the floors, bathrooms, and public space; internet connectivity; the quality of laundry machines and spaces; how safe it is to walk through campus at night; and whether their peers respect their study and sleep time. Residence Life hosted a focus group of students during the spring semester to understand the results of the Skyfactor survey data more fully and continue to develop their action plan. Approximately 10 of the action items identified in the fall semester are completed or are underway including the hiring of new facilities and residential coordinators. More items will be selected and completed during the next two academic years. “The Skyfactor Benchworks Residence Hall Survey has provided us with a game plan for the future of the residential experience,” said Marty Sabolo, Director of Residence Life and Dining Services. The Skyfactor Survey will be administered again in 2025. Assessment efforts advanced, continued…
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