By Alex Cook | Staff Reporter
The fortunes of WSU Vancouver are being tested as enrollment stagnates, and along with it operating revenue from student tuition. This has triggered a shakeup in the administration, as outgoing Chancellor Mel Netzhammer reassigns responsibility for the enrollment problem among vice chancellors.
The challenge is steep. Approximately 800 students, accounting for $7 million in tuition, have been lost since WSU Vancouver’s peak enrollment in 2019. This decline is due not only to the pandemic’s direct blow to Vancouver but also to the harm experienced by nearby community colleges – chief sources of students who transfer to WSU Vancouver. Without the steady stream of transfer students, WSU Vancouver struggles to fill classrooms and stabilize its budget.
Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations Jenny Chambers-Taube is now in charge of Enrollment Management, succeeding Domanic Vanthom, who previously managed it under the umbrella of Student Affairs. Netzhammer announced this transition, effective Jan. 2, via email in December.
“It’s taking a chance, but my hope is that by having a new perspective, the oversight of Finance and Operations, it will open up new possibilities,” said Netzhammer in an interview with The VanCougar.
Netzhammer also likes the idea of Vanthom focusing his efforts more on Student Affairs as a secondary benefit of this change, but stated that the primary focus Vancouver seeks is this new perspective on enrollment by Chambers-Taube.
But what exactly is this “new perspective?”
Chambers-Taube told The VanCougar she plans to emphasize assured admissions programs and academic advisors who can speak with transfer students about their credits and classes. The goal is to bring in more transfer students to make up for their decline due to the pandemic.
Transfer students aside, Chambers-Taube is making more of an effort to bring high school students to see the campus for themselves, interact with faculty, and participate in classes. On Feb. 25, for example, the BIO 107 class will bring high school students to sit in on that class. Talks with other faculty to do similar things are ongoing.
“It’s these kinds of partnerships that make our recruitment efforts more personal and relatable, which is what we want potential students to think about when coming here,” said Chambers-Taube.
Chambers-Taube also has a stated interest in affordability. A new financial aid officer has been hired to focus on recruitment and spreading awareness of financial aid and use of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). While the Pell Grant can cover lower-income students and higher-income students can handle themselves, those stuck in-between often get left behind, unable to afford higher education. She stated that this will be a primary focus in the future, but no current plans are in place to address this problem.
Broadly, Chambers-Taube said she believes in taking a chance on something to see whether it works.
“I am someone who is willing to take a chance on something, try something, it might not work, but if it does not work, we learn from that and try something else,” she said. “I think higher education needs to get out of being traditional. It can be bureaucratic, that’s not how I lead my units.”
However, the question ahead is whether the changes will be enough. Plans are still fuzzy as things move forward, and with new leadership moving in, the race to deal with the enrollment crisis is on.
The question remains: will these plans bring in a new generation of WSU Vancouver students?