We are starting this academic year with a number of new degree programs. BSE in Electrical Engineering and BS in Artificial Intelligence and BS Human Centered Design at the undergraduate level, and 8 master’s programs on Artificial Intelligence, Digital transformation, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Human Centered Design, Smart Manufacturing, Social Work, Software Engineering, and Supply Chain Management. A Ph.D. in Computing. A special education personal preparation program. Accelerated online degree completion program adding Health care administration, and Psychology degrees...

These and other programs we have been working on for future academic years as part of our strategic transformation will change the student body, and how we teach them. There will be more graduate students, more students in online programs, and more international students in programs that prepare the students for their careers in Michigan. We are working to make sure that the offices that support them have additional resources, and offer workshops for faculty and staff to prepare them for these changes.

Mark your calendars for October 4 and November 8, 12-3pm. We have two nationally known speakers coming to our campus (Ashley Finley and Kate McConnell from AAC&U) to interact with our faculty and academic advisors on the topic of student career readiness with a focus on skill sets and critical thinking. These sessions will occur within the context of our general education innovation efforts. There will be many engagement opportunities towards a refined general education vision. Thanks to the faculty/advisor group that are working to make the general education program innovative, and exciting, where students can relate the skills that they learn to their careers.

This academic year, more and more of our incoming undergraduate students have spent a significant portion of their high school years during the pandemic, affecting them in multiple ways. We are going to have these students in our classes. In partnership with several offices and departments on campus, the VPAA office hosted breakfast series with 7 different area high schools to gather insights on preparing for our incoming freshman class, who have unique needs due to the pandemic's impact on their high school experience. From these discussions, we are developing and sharing key recommendations for academic units to address the needs of these students.

New programs are certainly part of the enrollment success. And, last year we had great success in enrollment. In fall 23, the overall credit hours went up by 3.4%. In Winter 24, by 9.5%. As of today, our credit hours are up 8% relative to last fall.

SOM up 16%; CHS up 5%; CIT is up 10%; CASE is up 7%; SON is up by 4%. Overall enrollment is about 6,500 up by 6%; This is great success, and more importantly a continuing success! Thanks to the efforts of many, faculty developing new programs, new courses, enrollment management team, marketing efforts, advisors among them.

Here is where we experienced most growth:

Transfer enrollment is up 32% relative to last fall; 80% up relative to lowest in fall 22; New graduate enrollment is up 19% relative to last fall; 55% up relative to lowest in fall 22;

These are the good news. Now, let’s also recognize the challenges we are facing, where we need to work together.

Enrollment increase was not across the board. There are some programs that are struggling; some areas need our attention. There are also some groups of students that need more of our time.

Recent growth is nice but we are still down 20% relative to 10 years ago. We all heard of the cliff in MI HS graduates. Down 13% since 2008, and another 10% decline expected in the next 15 years.

Relatively, we are lagging in FTIAC enrollment; up by only 4%. Same for continuing UG up only by 4%. Same for continuing GR enrollment up by 6%. So, most of our recruitment is transfer students, and new GR students, and we are having difficulty with FTIAC recruitment, and retention of recruited continuing UG and GR students. FTIAC retention rate that is public has been stagnant at 77%. Six-year graduation rates of FTIACs that is also public has also been stagnant at 45%.

The mix of students in our classes is also changing: We have fewer seniors, and a growing population of freshmen and sophomores, and a growing population of transfers. At undergraduate level, relative to last fall, we have a significant decline in undergraduate enrollment of men, which is down nearly 7%. There is an increase in part-time students’ interest in online modality; There is a growing interest of full-time students in modalities that mix online with in-person

instruction. At graduate level, the same pattern of increasing part-time student interest for online, and increasing full-time student interest for mix mode courses are observed.

As we introduce new programs, it is important that we also improve existing ones, make sure they meet our students’ expectations, the job market’s expectations, and our fiscal responsibility is fulfilled. Through our new program review process, over the next few years, we will be reviewing all programs, undergraduate and graduate, accredited or not, on a rotating schedule with a focus on program improvement. This process represents a significant culture change, and a major undertake for academic units. Incidentally, lack of recent program reviews came up as an issue with HLC that we must address this and report back in the next 3 years. So, this new program review policy was very timely.

We are also working on developing a Leadership academy in Winter 2025 that will offer a series of workshops on professional development that will add shadowing opportunities in fall 2025. With these, our hope is to see more of our faculty as our future faculty administrators with sufficient foundational knowledge, skills, and experiences for their success.

Effective April 2026, Department of Justice is mandating that web content and mobile applications conform to accessibility guidelines; that our digital platforms are inclusive and accessible to individuals with disabilities. This ruling affects all of us, faculty and staff, and we only have 2 years to get our courses and other web content ready. ODE and ITS are working to build resources to guide the university- wide efforts, including training for actions the faculty can take right now, such as captions for video content, proper document formatting for screen readers, and AI tool Wolverine describer that can provide descriptions of pictures. Keep an eye for email communications on these. There was an email on this topic, SPG on accessibility, on August 13th, please pay attention to the information on that email.

In conclusion, we had many successes as we are entering the new academic year, we are also facing new and continuing challenges; We need to work together to address these.

With these in mind, I wish everyone a productive new academic year!