PROUD TO BE A POSSE Senior Naiomy Guerrero reflects on her past four years in the Posse Scholar program. Story on page 7 PHOTO BY EMILY GREEN
TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012
Indiana’s Oldest College Newspaper INCOMING CLASS SIZES AND APPLICANTS
2005
617
2006
695
2007
694
2008 2009
3,505 4,172
2011
612
2012
601
ILLUSTRATION BY MARGARET DISTLER
4,461 4,700
747 642
Number of applicants
4,269
625
2010
Students in incoming class
5,347 5,204 4,962
Applicant numbers down significantly, admissions hopeful By NANA ADUBA-AMOAH news@thedepauw.com
In the last two years, total applications received dropped by 385. According the to Dan Meyer, vice president of admissions, the decrease in applications could be a reflection of alternate marketing strategies. A lot factors could potentially contribute to the lower number of application submitted this year, one being an altered philosophy on how names are gathered for prospective students. For the past two years, the Office of Admission experimented with a senior search program where about 40,000 names of high school seniors were submitted into a system. Although these names generated a lot of applications, it did not result in a high number of deposits. As a result, for the class of 2016, they made the decision to change the firm that processed their search name, and reduced the number of students they reached out to in order to have a better convergence of the people who actually would apply.
They are currently experimenting with a different marketing firm and although it might not have produced a high response rate yet, Meyer is certain that it will generate a better quality of students.
“We need to work harder on our application pool because a strong, vibrant application pool reflects a quality institution.” — Dan Meyer, vice president of admissions
“We didn’t dump more applicants in the pool and hope they will apply,” Meyer said. “We changed it and focused on students, who from the start, are a good fit for DePauw.” Director of Strategic Communications Jonathan Coffin also stressed the importance of how this new approach could invite a better quality of students. In Coffin’s opinion, Presi-
dent Brian Casey’s “Core Admissions Goals” covered at the faculty meeting Monday afternoon has an indirect effect on the decreasing number of applicants. Some of the goals Casey outlined included increasing the standards for merit aid to ensure that it will associate with exceptional merit. “We’re rewarding exceptional academic achievement and raising those standards,” Coffin said. Although Coffin is unsure of what the future holds, the lowered number of applications submitted this year reflects the beginning of a new and long process. “Over time, it would not be unlikely that the number of applications could likely increase,” Coffin said. “We also want to make sure that we are enrolling students that will have an opportunity to succeed in an institution like DePauw.” Nevertheless, Meyer is aware that some strategies should be implemented to refine the application process for the future. “We need to work harder on our application pool because a strong, vibrant application pool reflects a quality institution,” Meyer said.
VOL. 160, ISSUE 49
Search for new VP of academic affairs to start in August By MATTHEW CECIL news@thedepauw.com
President Brian Casey announced today at the monthly faculty meeting that he will lead a committee to search for a new vice president for academic affairs at the start of the 2012-2013 school year. Current Vice President for Academic Affairs David Harvey will remain in the position through next year but said he will not be involved in the search. After that time, he will return to teaching chemistry and biochemistry. “I think David [Harvey] served a role of somewhat strengthening faculty governance, of bringing faculty voices into academic planning in ways that they might not have been before,” Casey said. “Because he emerged from the faculty, he had high faculty credibility. So if I look at one of his great achievements, it’s making the voice of the faculty heard in a more robust way, and I think we’ve benefitted from that.” Harvey has served in his current position for three years, starting with the 2009-2010 school year. Casey said he projects the search for Harvey’s replacement will run through the entire academic year and hopes the new vice president can start in the summer of 2013. He said the committee, which also includes members of the faculty, will likely use an independent consultant to help with the search. Although the official process has yet to begin, Casey said the ideal candidate will have high academic credibility, served as a department chair or dean, been involved in academic planning at an institution and participated in the national discussion on pedagogy, curriculum and faculty development. “I think there’s a lot shifting, and I want to bring to bear on our conversation what’s been happening around the country,” Casey said. “[I’m looking for a candidate with] a very strong vision of what it means to be a liberal arts college now in the 21st century — what the challenges are, how do we move forward in this type of education, what new fields are emerging, what new ways of teaching, how you bring the faculty and students together.”