ACADEMICS AND CAMPUS ENVIRONMENT

Strategy Three

Shape the enrollment profile to reflect the educational goals of an urban research institution that provides a student-centered learning community.

  (supports USF St. Petersburg goals 1 and 6)

Overview

USF St. Petersburg now serves approximately 4,600 students seeking graduate and undergraduate degrees. Enrollment has increased approximately 9 percent for each of the last three years. Approximately 48 percent of the student population attends full time. USF St. Petersburg will continue to shape its undergraduate profile to increase the number of traditional-age, full-time students as well as to increase the number of out-of-state students. The institution will continue to strengthen its articulation with feeder transfer institutions and will increase graduate enrollment over the next five years. USF St. Petersburg is committed to recruiting high-quality faculty to provide instructional service to a growing student body while maintaining its reputation as an institution where "the world will recognize your degree and your professor will recognize you." These strategies will further USF St. Petersburg's goal to maintain its Doctoral/Research Extensive status while retaining its student-centered environment.

Actions

1.  Refine and enhance recruitment and outreach efforts to increase enrollment and shape the undergraduate student profile. The goal of these actions is to support a rich residential campus environment for traditional-age students while simultaneously increasing the quality of student admissions at all levels.

•  Increase Fall term First-Time-In-College (FTIC) headcount by 65 percent by Fall 2008.

•  Increase the quality of the FTIC student body as measured by test scores and high school class rank as well as by the number of National Honor Society members, students who took Advanced Placement tests, Valedictorians, Bright Futures Scholars, National Merit finalists, International Baccalaureate graduates, Achievement Scholars, and Honors Program students.

•  Increase Fall term undergraduate transfer student headcount by 40 percent by Fall 2008.

•  Increase the quality of the undergraduate transfer student body as measured by students' GPAs at their previous institutions as well as by the number of Academic All-Americans, Phi Theta Kappa members, and USFSP Honors Program students.

•  Continue efforts to diversify the student body by:

- increasing the percentage of minority students

- increasing the percentage of full-time undergraduate students

- increasing the percentage of full-time graduate students

- increasing the number of international students

- increasing the percentage of out-of-state FTIC students

- identifying and implementing academic programs of interest to minority students.

2. Increase graduate enrollment to strengthen the research enterprise and to address the needs of the communities the institution serves.

•  Increase Fall term new graduate student headcount by 30 percent by Fall 2008.

•  Increase the competitiveness of graduate assistant compensation in selected programs to attract the best students.

3. Determine and implement the strategies required to ensure the ability to attract and enroll a highly qualified and diverse student body.

•  Identify and develop additional sources of funds for scholarships and other forms of financial aid.

•  Evaluate staffing levels in enrollment- and student-service areas to determine if they are adequate to serve projected enrollment growth.

•  Develop and implement a sustainable First-Year Experience program that establishes and promotes a nurturing and supportive environment.

•  Establish a smooth transition process for transfer students through effective internal communications and coordination of services.

•  Strengthen relationships with transfer-student feeder institutions.

•  Strengthen community outreach to support opportunities and services for college-bound minority students.

•  Continue to enhance and strengthen the Honors Program and monitor student enrollment and the number of courses offered.

4. Determine and implement strategies to ensure retention and progress toward graduation of a growing, diverse student body.

•  Develop new and enhance existing programs and services that promote student retention and degree completion.

•  Continue to improve academic advising and career planning services.

•  Develop new and enhance existing college- and program-specific services that facilitate retention and graduation of students.

•  Continue to build a highly qualified and diverse faculty from across the nation and world in order to maintain a low student-to-teacher ratio.

5. Form a campus-wide taskforce on enrollment management to develop a comprehensive student enrollment plan covering the next five years.

•  Develop a five-year enrollment management plan.

•  Continue the effort to extract data from the University databases to establish local enrollment benchmarks and trends required to develop a comprehensive student enrollment plan.

•  Increase the diversity of the student body.

•  Expand minority recruitment efforts.

•  Increase the number of scholarships available to students from underrepresented groups.

Accountability

Selected Accountability Measures