Dear colleagues,
HAPPY HOMECOMING! I hope the semester is going well for you thus far. While I haven’t been able to get to everything, I have enjoyed concerts, cultural celebrations, football and soccer, gallery openings, and cardboard boat races in the pond at Bagley. It has been a great start to the fall semester and I look forward to all the events in the days and weeks ahead.
I have a few updates for you today.
U of M System
I continue to engage with our system leaders and partners regularly. I am encouraged by what seems to be a renewed appreciation for the U of M System and continuing to leverage how we work together across it. The work includes regular meetings, presentations at the Board of Regents, appointment to systemwide work groups, and planned efforts to find synergies and implement collaborations.
Last week, I was also honored to be part of a UMD contingent who participated in the inauguration for President Rebecca Cunningham. Her inauguration was a celebration of her leadership and the U of M’s service and commitment to the entire state of Minnesota. Throughout the day, she emphasized her focus on the health and wellbeing of the university and the citizens of Minnesota. It was a meaningful event with UMD presence, recognition, and even Champ and the UMD fight song.
For those of you who are wondering, we are working through the early stages of planning for my inauguration at the start of the fall 2025 semester. It is not uncommon for Chancellor inaugurations to occur roughly one year into the role. I also see it as a great opportunity to wrap up our current strategic plan and launch our campus efforts around our future strategic priorities.
Enrollment
As the semester is now in full swing, I also wanted to provide you with an update on our enrollment. I am pleased to say that UMD continues to see a high level of interest from prospective students, with a record number of applications this past year (up 4% from the previous year). Our new undergraduate student count is up 2.5% and lands at 2196 (compared to 2140 last year). This is primarily due to a 16% increase in our new transfer student population.
We continue to see increasing racial and ethnic diversity among our incoming students, with 17% of our incoming student class being BIPOC, an 18% increase from last year.
We also continue to see improvements in the success of our students. Unofficial first-year retention numbers are up for the second year in a row, rising to 81%. This is the highest first-to-second year retention rate of the previous 16 years.
Please note that these enrollment numbers are based on first day enrollment data and there will be slight differences when we get the official data. It often takes into early October before we have final enrollment data.
While these statistics are promising, I want to emphasize the importance of our continued focus and work around student success and enrollment. I am grateful for the efforts from those in the enrollment team and their partners across campus who have played a part in this success.
Save the Date
Please mark your calendars for an all campus conversation on Wednesday, October 30 from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. in the Kirby Ballroom. At this gathering, in partnership with campus leadership, I plan to share an update after my first four months. More to come, but please save the date.
Thank you, |
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