A Message from President Aceves

Dear Colleagues,

In our efforts to craft the institutional strategic plan, we have also been focused on promoting a forward-looking culture on our campus. And while we are committed to planning, we want our initiatives to be action-focused with clear goals and objectives guided by our plans.  At next week’s Town Hall, I will share how our planning environment supports the institutional strategic plan and how divisional and unit plans support our strategic direction. I also intend to share my goals for the upcoming year.

Leading the unit plans is the strategic enrollment plan.  I asked Dr. Senthil Kumar to reflect on the structure and details of this three-year plan and how it will guide the institution's admission and recruiting efforts. 

“Our Enrollment Plan formalizes the recruitment and financial aid efforts over the current and next three fiscal years. The plan offers measurable objectives that align with each goal and clear timelines to ensure we can make sufficient progress toward achieving those goals. The Plan is designed to be strategic, forward-thinking, multi-year, intentional, and integrated, able to achieve quantifiable outcomes and provide regular performance evaluation and benchmarking.

Based on 10-year new and total historical enrollment data, we developed a four-phase strategy ranging from Recovery to Launch and Take Off.

As part of the Recovery phase, we spent the last year working to bring Regis back to pre-pandemic enrollment. Currently, total new enrollment for FY 2024 stands at 2,023 students (traditional and post-traditional), a 57% increase year to date over FY 2023. With this increase in new enrollment, we significantly reduced the Fall total enrollment decline from 15.5% last year to under 1.5% this year. Nationally, the current enrollment declines average 7.6%. This is a good early indicator that we are beginning to stabilize enrollment.

The projected new enrollment increases over the next three years will put Regis on a positive trajectory and in a solid position to carry us beyond FY 2027. Here are the goals and some key objectives from the plan:

Goal 1: Enhance Traditional Student Recruitment

Objective 1.1: Increase Regis University Exposure in High Schools in Colorado

Objective 1.2: Continued Focus on Student Engagement

Goal 2: Post-Traditional Enrollment Expansion

Objective 2.1: Targeted Enrollment Increase in Anderson College of Business &

Computing

Objective 2.2: Expansion and Support to Meet Demand for Health Care Programs

Goal 3: Catholic and Jesuit High School Partnerships

Objective 3.1: Increase Enrollment from Catholic and Jesuit High Schools

Goal 4: Cultivate Global Diversity

Objective 4.2: Expand Global Awareness and Partnerships

Goal 5: Sustainability & Affordability

Objective 5.3: Increase Affordability through Strategic Aid Packaging

Goal 6: Brand Visibility & Recognition

Objective 6.1: Provide Unmatched Prospective, Applicant & Deposited Student

Experiences

Objective 6.5: Market Perception Study

‘Key to the full implementation of the Enrollment Plan is an organized accountability structure that includes clear expectations, assigned responsibility, and solution-focused collaboration that unifies everyone at the university for the success of our students,’ said Kristine Bureau, Chief of Staff/co-chair of SEM Enrollment Plan.”

Witnessing the transformation of our enrollment strategy this past year has been inspiring. I am grateful to Senthil and his entire team for their vision, innovative thinking, and for fostering a culture of excellence. The strategic enrollment plan will be essential as we craft the unit and operational plans to help us build a more just and humane world through transformative education at the frontiers of faith, reason, and culture.

Kindly,

Salvador D. Aceves, Ed.D

President