Addendum #4

PRESIDENT'S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES – 10/8/04

Enrollment Update

*          Over 5,000 guests participated in the Campus visit Program this past year, an all time high.

*          Over 5,000 applications for admission were submitted to the University for the fall 2004, an all time high.

*          Over 4,000 of the applications were granted acceptance to the university, an all time high.

*          Total students participating in Orientation was 1,953, an all time high.         

*          Incoming total new freshmen will be approximately 1,960, an increase of 125 or a 6.8% increase. 

*          New Baccalaureate, First-Time, Full-Time freshmen will be approximately 1,405, an increase of 119 or a 9.3% increase.  These new freshman will now be in the pipeline to contribute over a four year period to our overall enrollment targets.

*          Academic Credentials will be at or slightly higher than last year, which should be the highest ever.

*          Of the 1,405 new Baccalaureate First-Time, Full-Time freshmen, 66% are from Michigan, and 34% are from outside the state of Michigan.  Of the 34%, 173 or 12.3% are from Illinois and 214 or 15.2% are from Wisconsin, indicating success in our recruitment strategies to attract out of state students.  This is evidence of our progress to become the “University of Choice “in the Midwest.

*          Transfer numbers are indicating that we will be approximately the same as last year.

*          Graduate enrollments will decline for the 3^rd straight year.

*          Estimated final fall semester enrollment will be approximately 9,425, an overall increase of 1.1%.

*          Final fall credit hour total is expected to be up 2.2%

*          Our current goal is to have an enrollment of 10,329 by 2007.  Our path to reach that level is through increased enrollments from the Lower Peninsula and neighboring states because the Upper Peninsula alone will not support the demographics to achieve our goal.  Our current plan to aggressively recruit and market in these regions will keep us on the right path.  Every year each region is looked at, evaluated and new strategies are implemented to help us maximize our efforts.  In addition, the University develops new initiatives that will aid in the recruitment effort.

*          Resource allocation in staff and dollars is re-evaluated annually.  Our admissions, recruitment, and marketing staff are dedicated to using our resources to the best possible advantage for the University.  We are confident that our investment in staff and financial resources is on target and will help us continue to reach our enrollment goals. 

Technology Advisory Group Update

I am pleased to announce that Mr. John Dean, Vice President, Global E-Business & Chief Information Officer at Steelcase, Inc. has agreed to serve on our Technology Advisory Committee/Board and to identify similarly placed persons at other Michigan companies (not furniture) who might also be willing to serve on our advisory group.

We are looking at scheduling a one day meeting of this advisory group on campus during the winter semester that will likely include several interactions with NMU representatives.  The purpose of the meeting is not to review NMU but to provide the campus community with group members' views of the future relating to technology, education and the economy. 

The day-long meeting would look something like this:

     1)    We would host a luncheon and meeting with the advisory group and NMU executive leadership (such as President, Vice Presidents, Deans) the purpose of which would be to get the advisory group's thoughts on where technology is going from their perspective.

     2)    We would take the advisory group on a tour of our campus to show the technology we have and are using both in instruction and from the standpoint of conducting the university business. 

     3)    We would organize a panel forum where the advisory group would give their view of the future.  The forum would be open to the campus and designed to give faculty, staff and students a chance to hear the unique (or shared) views of the advisory group members.

Advisory group members could arrive in the morning, we could have our exec meeting and lunch, a campus tour followed by the panel forum, and some could be fly out that day and some early the next morning.

Alternatively, group members could arrive the evening before, we could have a campus tour and panel forum capped off by a luncheon and exec session.  We could then have everyone to the airport for afternoon flights.