by Logan Meriwether, Student Reporter
With enrollment numbers down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Northwestern officials say they have big plans to get enrollment back on track.
Northwestern had a 7% overall decrease in enrollment this year, university officials said in a news release Oct. 1. Enrollment at the Alva campus is down 5.4% from the 2019-2020 school year. At the university’s Enid campus, enrollment is down 13.8%. At the Woodward campus, enrollment is down 23.6%.
This is a financial burden for Northwestern and will continue to be one until enrollment numbers go back up, according to Calleb Mosburg, dean of student affairs.
Northwestern has 1,835 students on its campuses, with 1,188 of those on the Alva campus, officials said.
Mosburg and Matt Adair, the head assistant dean of student affairs, have been working to find new ways to bring in students, they said.
Mosburg said the university’s recruitment staff has been working hard since COVID-19 hit in March.
The coronavirus pandemic kept Northwestern from being able to have the Freshman Connection day in April, which is a way for Northwestern to bring in high school seniors. Seniors get a chance to visit the campus and enroll at the university.
“Our recruitment staff worked really hard making phone calls and reaching out to all high school seniors,” Mosburg said.
Northwestern enrolled 325 freshmen this year. Last year, the university had 350 freshmen.
Mosburg and Adair say they are focusing on increasing enrollment.
“We are taking a two-pronged approach,” Adair said. “Our first priority is to have something to market, and our second priority is to have someone to market to.”
Adair said he had to figure out how he is going to reach out to students without seeing them face-to-face.
After talking with his recruitment staff, they decided to do several more mailings each month and have recruiters, heads of departments and student advisors call students to help bring them to Northwestern.
One of the biggest events Northwestern has for incoming freshman is Ranger Preview.
More than 300 high school seniors attend the event each year and receive a $600 scholarship.
Because it is not safe to have that many people in one area at a time, Adair and others came up with the idea of having a virtual Ranger Preview through YouTube. Students can sign up and attend Ranger Preview virtually, and they will still get the scholarship for attending.
Adair said he is optimistic and hopes to have greater attendance numbers than ever before.
He said this would allow students from farther away to attend without having to take a long drive.
Collin Stork, one of the head recruiters, said he has had a difficult time being able to go inside high schools.
He works in the southwest part of Oklahoma, where most schools are in the orange sector for their numbers of COVID-19 cases.
Stork said he has to leave recruitment items like enrollment forms, posters and other items to get students information outside the schools he visits.
He then has to come back to pick the items up after the students have filled them out.
Stork said he is excited for the virtual Ranger Preview. He thinks it will bring more freshmen than ever before to Ranger Preview.