On Thursday, Feb. 6, the council of administrative policy and the college personnel and budget committee gathered in SUBO’s Gold Room to discuss policy and updated enrollment data at Brooklyn College.
President Michelle Anderson opened the meeting by introducing a goal of increased and clarified advisement for students, announcing the administration’s plan to update Brooklyn College’s website to make contact information for advisors and department chairpersons clearer and easier to find. She mentioned enhanced advisement for transfer students in particular.
“We have a lot of room to grow,” Anderson said about the transfer program.
The topic of transfer students was a popular one, surfacing again when Anderson brought up systematic errors in the application of transfer credits.
“We are going to deliberate on some of that data,” said Anderson.
According to Lillian O’Reilly, the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Retention, transfer enrollments for the Spring semester have been flat, 1,013 incoming transfer students falling a little short of the administration’s targeted 1200.
Transfer applications for fall of 2020 hang at about 3,800, an 18 percent decline from last year. BC’s lagging enrollment for transfers reflects a CUNY-wide average, however.
“The only college really doing well in transfer students right now is Baruch,” O’Reilly said.
Between freshman and graduate students, however, the college’s enrollment for the spring semester swelled slightly in comparison to 2019, and freshman applications for the fall are currently at an estimated 4 percent increase, according to O’Reilly.
O’Reilly moved the discussion from enrollment data to waitlist applications, passing out a plan to committee members for updating information on BC’s website to include clearer application steps and tutorials on navigating waitlists. The communication plan, O’Reilly said, “explains…the process, and what communication goes out when, and what people in the registrar’s office are responsible for the various stages of the waitlist.”
The committee deviated from waitlisted applications to discuss class waitlists. Administrators expressed endeavors to create a broader formula for handling them, while faculty members hoped to send senior students to the tops of the waitlists. As the committee debated, several faculty members made a point to praise the hard work of the administrators, creating a communal atmosphere for the discussion. President Anderson cited their good will as the largest factor in instigating positive change.
“It makes someone’s week,” she said.
She also promoted contribution and discussion of all ideas in moving forward with goals for the college.