Enrollment is one of the University’s most important strategic priorities. What are the biggest opportunities—and challenges—you see in Rochester’s current enrollment landscape?
Higher education is facing significant headwinds, but the University of Rochester is well positioned to navigate them while remaining true to its Meliora values. I’m honored to lead a talented team in the Enrollment division and work with colleagues in the school admission offices who work hard each day to achieve our goals and change the lives of our exceptional students.
One challenge is the decline in international student demand facing universities across the country. International students have long been a defining strength of URochester, contributing to the intellectual and cultural richness of our campus. While the environment has become more uncertain, we continue to attract outstanding students from around the world whose contributions strengthen our community.
Another challenge is the demographic cliff, as the number of college-bound high school graduates declines across much of the United States. At the same time, enrollment competition is increasing. To remain visible and competitive, our admissions team engages thousands of prospective students and families each year through recruitment travel, events, and strategic outreach.
These challenges also create opportunities to highlight what makes URochester distinctive. We offer the resources and research opportunities of a leading research university within a collaborative, medium-sized campus environment. Students benefit from close relationships with faculty while gaining access to world-class research, clinical, creative, and professional opportunities.
For undergraduate arts, sciences, engineering, and business students, the flexibility of the Rochester Curriculum remains one of our greatest strengths. Students are drawn to the freedom to explore across disciplines and create an educational experience that reflects their interests and ambitions.
We also have an opportunity to demonstrate the value of a URochester education. Through generous donor support and thoughtful financial aid strategies, we continue to meet the full financial need of admitted undergraduate students in arts, sciences, engineering, and business while expanding merit scholarship opportunities. Just as important, we continue to see strong outcomes among our graduates.
As artificial intelligence reshapes society, we must also articulate the value of an education that combines technological fluency with the uniquely human skills of creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. URochester is well positioned to be a university where AI amplifies human potential and helps prepare students for the future.
How is the University’s evolving approach to enrollment strategy helping us better recruit, enroll, and support students across undergraduate and graduate programs?
The University’s long-term success depends on our ability to recruit, enroll, and support students in an increasingly competitive environment. That is why we have adopted a more coordinated and strategic approach to enrollment across undergraduate and graduate programs.
Over the past year, we have strengthened collaboration among school leaders, admissions teams, and campus partners through the creation of Enrollment Strategy and Operations (ESO). ESO serves as a central hub for enrollment planning, recruitment strategy, marketing coordination, analytics, technology, and student pipeline development.
A major focus of this work is graduate enrollment, particularly master’s programs. Historically, graduate recruitment and marketing have largely operated independently within individual departments. Today, we are building a more integrated approach that allows schools to benefit from shared marketing resources, stronger analytics, coordinated recruitment efforts, and modernized enrollment technology while preserving their expertise in program development, market positioning, and discipline-specific recruitment.
We have also integrated enrollment marketing more closely with University Marketing and Communications, creating a more unified approach to prospective student engagement, institutional storytelling, and brand awareness. At the same time, we are modernizing our use of the Slate platform to improve reporting, operational effectiveness, and communication with prospective students throughout the enrollment journey.
Most importantly, this work is about ensuring that every prospective student has a consistent and engaging experience with URochester from their first interaction with the University through enrollment and beyond. Enrollment strategy is no longer the responsibility of a few offices. It is a University-wide effort that requires alignment across schools and units to support sustainable growth and long-term competitiveness.
By acting with strategic intention and coordinating our efforts, we are positioning URochester to attract exceptional students and strengthen our academic mission for years to come.
How do enrollment strategy and student success connect, and what should faculty and staff understand about their role in supporting both?
Enrollment and student success are inseparable. Attracting talented students is only the first step. Our goal is to ensure those students thrive academically, personally, and professionally throughout their time at URochester and leave prepared to make meaningful contributions in their careers and communities.
Every member of the University community plays a role in that effort. Prospective students and their families form impressions of URochester through countless interactions with faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Those interactions help communicate what makes our University distinctive and often influence a student’s decision to enroll.
One of URochester’s greatest strengths is the combination of a world-class research environment and a culture that values personal connection. Students have access to extraordinary academic, research, clinical, artistic, and professional opportunities while also developing meaningful relationships with faculty mentors, advisors, researchers, and staff. That balance is increasingly important to students who want the opportunities of a major research university without getting lost in the crowd.
Faculty and staff contribute directly to student success through teaching, mentoring, advising, research opportunities, career preparation, and community-building. Those efforts help students persist, graduate, and achieve success beyond the University.
We are especially grateful for the many ways faculty and staff help welcome the thousands of prospective students and families who visit our campuses each year. Whether participating in an admissions event, hosting a classroom visit, connecting with a prospective student, or simply sharing enthusiasm for URochester, those interactions help create a sense of belonging and demonstrate the collaborative culture that defines our institution.
As we look ahead, enrollment growth and student success should not be viewed as separate goals. They are mutually reinforcing priorities that advance our mission and support our commitment to providing an exceptional undergraduate and graduate education. Continued success will require all of us to work together with a shared sense of purpose, productive urgency, and confidence in URochester’s future.