The Enrollment Worx Group is a committee of various Eastern departments that works to enable Eastern to meet its enrollment needs.

Implemented by President Bill Perry in Spring 2012, the group has been working to develop strategies for increasing applications, yield and retention.

Mary Herrington-Perry, the chairwoman of the Enrollment Worx group, said the recommendation for the birth of the group came from Noel-Levitz consultants in the spring.

“They key is sharing information and making sure everybody is on the same page,” she said. “There are all sorts of opportunities to collaborate.”

The committee consists of representatives from many aspects of Eastern including financial aid, integrated marketing, admissions and housing.

One of the aspects the group handles is financial aid, and Director Jerry Donna is a member of the group.

“They keep us apprised of what we’re doing in terms of allocating scholarship dollars,” she said. “We’re really trying to be strategic with financial aid in terms of offering just the right amount.”

Herrington-Perry said in the past, Eastern has over-awarded some students and under-awarded others, so the group is trying to find a middle ground to get students to come to Eastern.

“Those financial aid strategies help us to not only increase enrollment, but they also help us shape the entering class because we’re trying to target students who have a higher ACT score,” she said.

Herrington-Perry said the group has addressed issues like the Early Alert System, the two new positions in Admissions and the Strategic Enrollment Planning effort.

At the group’s last meeting on Oct. 10, Herrington-Perry disclosed the results of the College Choice Survey that Noel-Levitz implemented for Eastern applicants.

She said 1,204 students responded to the survey and the group was able to determine that the students were most influenced by their parents on their college choice.

“We know right off the bat that we need to do more communications that the parents are seeing,” she said. “One of the new things we’re doing is sending out a postcard so it doesn’t have to be opened by the student and the parents can see the information.”

Herrington-Perry said this is just an example of one of the things the group does to help communicate with each other better.

The group has six subcommittees: Academic Programs, Campus Visit Strategies, Communication Flow, Customer Service, GIS Map Worx and MyEIU Phase II.

“For Academic Programs, we’re looking at exactly what Eastern is offering and what workforce needs really are,” she said.

Herrington-Perry said Brenda Major is leading the subcommittee on Campus Visit Strategies, which focuses on open houses and campus tours to make experiences more positive for students.

The Communication Flow is managed by Pat Early, the assistant vice president for communications.

Sue Harvey is leading the subcommittee on Customer Service that makes sure that faculty and staff have the most positive interactions with students as possible.

Herrington-Perry said the GIS Map Worx subcommittee—led by John Stimac—is using geographic information sciences to help Eastern understand enrollment more.

The tools can plot maps that help the Enrollment Worx group figure out where students come from and use the data to improve enrollment.

The final subcommittee, MyEIU Phase II, is chaired by webmaster Ryan Gibson and helps attract prospective students and allows the group to communicate with students online.

The Enrollment Worx group meets twice a month, but can schedule to meet more frequently if necessary.

The Enrollment Worx group is in the process of interviews for the new assistant vice president for enrollment management, and are not meeting this week.

“I think we’re all sharing a lot of good information and we have such a dedicated team that’s totally supportive of EIU,” Herrington-Perry said.

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or redexter@eiu.edu.