​Chancellor Lays out Plans for Improved Enrollment and Strengthened Engagement

Chancellor Bernie Patterson focused on a bright future for UW-Stevens Point during his State of the University Address Aug. 28. 

Nearly 300 faculty, staff and community members attended the event in which Patterson acknowledged challenges in recent years but focused on progress being made at the university.  

Patterson lauded the contribution of shared governance to UW-Stevens Point, crediting them for initiating a process in which administration, faculty, staff members and students worked to create a shared positive vision for the University.

Chief among the school's challenges is the decline in enrollment, which Patterson attributed to past missteps combined with a strong economy that pulls people into jobs, unfavorable demographic trends in Wisconsin and competition among colleges for a shrinking pool of prospective students. Patterson recognized UW-Stevens Point's new admissions and recruitment team, which has had good results in recruiting for the 2020 school year. 

Patterson outlined several action items for the future:

1. Develop a data-driven program review process by December.

2. Re-energize the strategic planning process to be open, collaborative and produces plans with clear expectations and metrics.

3. Review and modify as appropriate UW-Stevens Point's vision statement.

4. Merge University Communications and Marketing with Admissions, Recruitment and Financial Aid reporting to a new chief marketing officer.
   

5. Finalize reorganization of academic units, as reported last spring.

6. Continue to make progress on having an inclusive, welcoming environment on campus. 

7. Initiate a public branding campaign. With UW System support, BVK, a marketing firm in Milwaukee, is working with University Communications and Marketing on the campaign, which will be launched this fall.

8. Re-engineer enrollment management to leverage financial aid and scholarships to increase enrollment and retention.