While the St. Michael's campus is steeped in more than a foot of snow, Jerry Flanagan is plowing through mountains of applications. Last year St. Michael’s received 3,500 applications, says Jerry Flanagan, vice president for enrollment. The numbers this year are expected to equal or exceed last year’s, he says.
The high school graduate phenomenon
The number of students accepted next fall has the potential to change the community but Flanagan isn’t worried.
“Increasing numbers in applications does not mean increasing class size,” Flanagan says.
There are two phenomena generating the large pool of applicants, he says. The first is that the number of high school graduates has reached a peak this year and more of them are applying for higher education, he says.
The second is the easy access to applications such as online versions and no-cost applications, Flanagan says. St. Michael’s will not be waiving their application fee, he adds.
“We are not just opening the flood gates,” Flanagan says. “We aren’t looking for large numbers for the sake of large numbers.”
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Jerry Flanagan sits at his desk piled high with applications from college-hopefuls. (Photo by Kate Reynolds) |
Currently St. Michael’s is enjoying a rise in applications, Flanagan says. Statistically the class of 2012 will be very similar to the class of 2011. According to the St. Michael’s College Web site, the class of 2011 received 3,504 applications. Out of those 3,504 applications, 2,423 were accepted. In the fall, 532 of those students enrolled.
“The increase allows us to look at each application holistically,” Flanagan says. “We want to select students that will benefit from and contribute to the college.”
St. Michael’s admission looks at many different needs when projecting a class size. The first is what type of number St. Michael’s needs for overall enrollment and the second is the size of class as indicated by the college and previous graduating classes. While the college grows in size, Flanagan also evaluates the quality at the school.
“We have an early projection of 540 students for the class of 2012,” Flanagan says.
The number is not concrete and won’t be solidified until all students accept admission to the college.
Flanagan emphasizes finding the right students to invite to the college.
“Current students will be graduating soon and receiving degrees,” Flanagan says. “That degree will be valuable if St. Michael’s is viewed as a respected institution. So it is very important that the next generation has a quality experience also.”
The marketing mix
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The Hoehl Welcome Center deals with most programming that concerns prospective students. (Photo by Kate Reynolds) |
In the St. Michael’s marketing process, they avoid the word "small" because it might not be appealing to some prospective students, says Anne Conaway Peters, director of marketing at St. Michael’s College.
There are many selling points that the college does market. Students leave St. Michael’s well-prepared to find a career. The personal relationship between students and faculty is very close. The sense of community is strongly emphasized and the location is also a top selling point, she says.
St. Michael’s will be more aggressive in informing people about the benefits of attending the college, Flanagan says. St. Michael’s has relied heavily on word of mouth to promote itself, he says. One way to take that promotion further is the Just One Campaign is a program on campus where current students can recommend one person that might be interested in St. Michael’s, he adds. By submitting some information about them, they will begin to receive mailings from the school, he says.
A bigger house?
Housing coordinator Sheryl Fleury says she doesn't worry about housing for the class of 2012 as much as she does for 2009.
Even with select members of 2009 allowed to live off-campus, the school will still be overwhelmingly residential. The residential policy will not change due to the incoming class of 2012, Fleury says.
To accommodate the residential campus, many changes took place last year. In Alumni Hall, the lounges were converted into bedrooms and all triple rooms were in use, Fleury says.
“My friends already live in the basement lounge of Ryan Hall as sophomores,” sophomore Ed Griffin says.
“2012 will most likely be sized like 2011, which is manageable in terms of housing,” Fleury says. “There are no construction plans”
A smaller community is better in terms of staff-to-student ratio. Students get what they pay for. University-sized institutions lose the intimate connection, Fleury says.
“I know people’s faces,” she says. “I’m not good with names, but I think each should feel important in my eyes.”
Voices of the community
Peter Harrigan, associate professor of fine arts says he thinks the size of future classes will impact current students and faculty.
“We are already strained for resources like class space and technical support,” Harrigan says.
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A group of St. Michael's students walk to class on a snowy day in February. (Photo by Kate Reynolds) |
The small classes advertise a more personal experience in the dorm, the classroom and in the community. A large lecture class would not allow professors to provide one-on-one attention to students, he says.
“I have been here for 17 years and back then there was between 1600 to 1700 students, which was more manageable,” Harrigan says.
“This school is smaller than my high school but larger than most of my friends classes at other colleges,” first-year student Katelyn Nickerson says. Nickerson comes from a small town and says that the school is the right fit for her. She describes the school as a community where she sees familiar faces all day.