VP of Enrollment out!

[valpopal]

Of the total 2022 fall enrollment number of 2964, 340 identified as Lutheran, or 11.5%.  Romans made up 16%. 

With Padilla's strategic plan focus on becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution, these Lutheran to Catholic numbers will not improve. Only 0.2% of "religious" hispanics are Lutheran, and in the overall hispanic population the number becomes negligible. A majority (nearly 60%) of all hispanics identify as Catholic.

[David81]

The reports about enrollment challenges at other schools roughly comparable to VU should tell us something. It's only going to get more difficult, through no fault of VU's or that of any other institution. For many reasons, the applicant numbers simply aren't there. Personally, I think it's unwise for any regional, private university to plan on significant undergraduate enrollment growth, unless it's based on a very smart plan rather than the usual magical thinking. Furthermore, any school such as VU, whose center of gravity leans traditional while being neither "woke" nor evangelical Christian, has to push on its recruiting sweet spots, while understanding the prevailing profile of Gen Z:
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/05/14/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and-facing-an-uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far-2/

Despite the challenges of building undergraduate enrollment, I would be very disappointed if VU attempted to go whole hog on creating distance learning graduate programs mainly for purposes of revenue generation. At that point, the special properties of the University give way to a model of higher education more consistent with high-volume, often for-profit universities. And personally, I have this feeling that many of these specialized masters degrees and certificate programs that are being whipped up out of thin air will eventually flame out because they are so contrived and don't deliver much value.

Concededly, these suggested avenues do not lead to any easy fix in terms of enrollment. In fact, they point to the status quo or perhaps mild expansion or mild contraction. I don't think any of these options are bad if the University can manage to stabilize itself financially while retaining and developing its core programs. Successful fundraising could be the difference here.

[crusadermoe]

Diaspora hits the button of concern for me. If you broaden the identity of the school too much and you water down the teaching level, then what is the compelling value of choosing Valpo over the state university branches?

Every once in a while I wonder if IU might like to buy the campus and move their IU-Northwest branch here from the Gary campus.  In that scenario, OPK's  goal of marking the identity of the campus with a huge chapel building in the middle would seem to have failed. There are enough assets for VU to consume even as they run deficits. But if expediency and self-sustenance becomes the guide, then what is really the core mission?

It also seems like several donors made large gifts to permanently endow professors in a named Chair of Lutheran Music or Professor of Lutheran this or that. What percent of the student body are those instructors influencing?

[David81]

Diaspora hits the button of concern for me. If you broaden the identity of the school too much and you water down the teaching level, then what is the compelling value of choosing Valpo over the state university branches?

Every once in a while I wonder if IU might like to buy the campus and move their IU-Northwest branch here from the Gary campus.  In that scenario, OPK's  goal of marking the identity of the campus with a huge chapel building in the middle would seem to have failed. There are enough assets for VU to consume even as they run deficits. But if expediency and self-sustenance becomes the guide, then what is really the core mission?

It also seems like several donors made large gifts to permanently endow professors in a named Chair of Lutheran Music or Professor of Lutheran this or that. What percent of the student body are those instructors influencing?

In terms of losing its core identity, I'm not overly concerned about VU going that route. However, with church memberships everywhere falling significantly and Gen Z applicants less likely to be closely tethered to a specific faith tradition, maintaining a strong Lutheran identity is harder to do than it was a half-century ago. In this sense VU, is in direct competition with other Lutheran-affiliated schools.

I do think that VU should relentlessly beat the drum of emphasizing development of the whole person, including deeper learning, appreciation for values and faith, and preparation for the workforce. I don't think the University need pick, or should pick, between the liberal arts and professional/practical training. In a world that is all too given to extremes, there are still plenty of folks who appreciate the balance.

As for a Chair of Lutheran Music, if someone decides to endow it, great! Even if only a handful of students are drawn to it, any faculty position covered by a charitable gift potentially frees up money for a slot in another curricular area.

[crusader05]

One piece I'd be interested in is what percentage of these private lutheran schools are also lutheran themselves vs parents that are just opting for a private school over a public.

I wonder if the pool even at those schools is so diluted as to it not being that valuable and in regards to having a specific admissions person targeting them, that's not the same as not focusing on them but can just be that there is not an anticipated ROI to justify a fully salaried position just for that.

[vu72]

One piece I'd be interested in is what percentage of these private lutheran schools are also lutheran themselves vs parents that are just opting for a private school over a public.

Let me take a shot at this--as I was a graduate of a Lutheran High School--mine was on the east side of Cleveland.  At the time, my class has 75 graduates, most coming from affiliated Lutheran grade schools across the city and burbs.  Of the 75, probably 8-10 went on to Valpo with another 5 -7 going on the Concordia River Forest, now Concordia Chicago. So at Valpo, a steady stream of kids showed up from both Lutheran High Schools in Cleveland, both Lutheran High Schools in Detroit, all three in Chicago, the one in Fort Wayne and many others.

I can't comment on the other high schools but can report on mine.  It is well and successful but the demographics have changed rather dramatically.  What was a 95-5 white to black enrollment is likely more like 5-95 today.  Very bright young folks, but it is now a Lutheran school in name only, and now serves as more of a way to avoid the local underperforming public high schools.  It is a prep school where kids are not exposed to the Valpos of the world.  Why they aren't is a better question.  We were raised with Valpo in our grade schools. These kids probably never heard of it.

This is reflected in Lutheran colleges across the country.  Concordia Chicago, which was strictly a Lutheran Teachers College in my day, now has 6084 students, 4410 of which are graduate students.  Their enrollment is listed as 17.1% Lutheran, 21.2% Roman 36% Non-Christian or not reporting.  St. Olaf College, located in "Lutheran Land" Minnesota, has had its Lutheran enrollment cut in half from 2001 to 2018.

It becomes a demographic issue which seems simple but really isn't.  Concordia, in 1970, never dreamed of having 4400 grad students and 1600 undergrad.  Yet it does, and the school remans open as a result.  Valpo, no doubt, would love to have hundreds of additional Lutheran students, but students today are far less focused on religious affiliation and much more on career path only. It is what it is...

[FWalum]

Just to clarify, the university chair in Lutheran Music is not a new position or new endowment. It's just open because the former (long-term) endowed university chair in Lutheran History voluntarily left in the era of lay-off/pay-cut chaos to go to Duke Divinity School instead, and the uni is only now re-filling it.

Just to clarify, Dr. Christopher Kock (his name is spelled with a C, but the forum software kept censoring his last name) has held the Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair in Lutheran Music/Director of Bach Institute since the chair was endowed and is currently still directing the Bach Institute until at least the end of this semester. He has stepped down from the endowed chair and VU is currently advertising for the position. As a matter of fact he is conducting a performance of the Messiah at the Chapel on December 21st. I encourage all forum members to check this out. (full disclosure, my niece is one of the performers) The Bach Institute Presents: Messiah His current university title is Senior Research Professor. I have no knowledge of him or any of the other "Lutheran" chairs going to Duke, but that is certainly a possibility and as ValpoDiaspora says it would probably be the sane thing to do.

The Duesenberg's have endowed 3 current chairs (they actually had a fourth chair in the Law School) at VU: The Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair in Religion and the Arts, in Lutheran Music, in Christian Ethics. As someone who works with endowments I want to assure forum members that it is virtually impossible for an endowment to be "eaten up elsewhere in administration". Endowments at VU and nearly every non-profit higher education institution in the US are governed by UPMIFA (Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act)(UPMIFA is enacted in 49 of the 50 states).

[vu72]

Just to clarify, the university chair in Lutheran Music is not a new position or new endowment. It's just open because the former (long-term) endowed university chair in Lutheran History voluntarily left in the era of lay-off/pay-cut chaos to go to Duke Divinity School instead, and the uni is only now re-filling it.

Just to clarify, Dr. Christopher Kock (his name is spelled with a C, but the forum software kept censoring his last name) has held the Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair in Lutheran Music/Director of Bach Institute since the chair was endowed and is currently still directing the Bach Institute until at least the end of this semester. He has stepped down from the endowed chair and VU is currently advertising for the position. As a matter of fact he is conducting a performance of the Messiah at the Chapel on December 21st. I encourage all forum members to check this out. (full disclosure, my niece is one of the performers) The Bach Institute Presents: Messiah His current university title is Senior Research Professor. I have no knowledge of him or any of the other "Lutheran" chairs going to Duke, but that is certainly a possibility and as ValpoDiaspora says it would probably be the sane thing to do.

The Duesenberg's have endowed 3 current chairs (they actually had a fourth chair in the Law School) at VU: The Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair in Religion and the Arts, in Lutheran Music, in Christian Ethics. As someone who works with endowments I want to assure forum members that it is virtually impossible for an endowment to be "eaten up elsewhere in administration". Endowments at VU and nearly every non-profit higher education institution in the US are governed by UPMIFA (Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act)(UPMIFA is enacted in 49 of the 50 states).

I was told by the Head of the Music Department (Dr. Maugans), that Chris Kock is retiring.

[crusader05]

He is I believe but the title of Senior Research Professors is often given to retiring professors so that they can continue to claim Valpo in scholarly work or utilize access to the university and it's resources without having to say, pay for access to journals etc. They may also still do some work at the university outside of teaching as a professor.

[FWalum]

I was told by the Head of the Music Department (Dr. Maugans), that Chris Kock is retiring.

That is correct, we had a reception for him at homecoming. The post I quoted made it seem like he was already gone and I wanted to let others know that he was still doing the Bach Institute performance on 12/21.

[David81]

Okay, so the pool of Lutheran high school students being drawn to a Lutheran university is in decline. As vu72 said, it is what it is.

In light of that reality, consider a slight shift: Might the VU marketing "hook" borrow from the business school's mission that includes values-based practices? That appeals to a wider swath of kids who may identify with faith traditions, as well as others who are thoughtfully drawn to explorations and applications of values, rather than engaging in more tired debates over, say, political ideology?

For an excellent example of that perspective, I offer the b-school's Journal of Values-Based Leadership, which publishes readable, thought-provoking pieces reflecting the journal's title: https://scholar.valpo.edu/jvbl/

Something along this theme speaks to a niche that VU might nurture and develop to attract some really good and smart young people. It also promotes a more practical diversity of ideas and perspectives, without getting as bogged down in the divisive social/political discussions of the day.

[valpotx]

All due respect to those of you that are Lutheran and religious.  However, I didn't know very many Lutherans during my time at Valpo, which was 20 years ago now.  I will also be honest that growing up in Texas, I had never run into any Lutherans.  I knew of Martin Luther, but never ran into anything known as Lutheranism, until I heard of and arrived at Valpo (I grew up 'occasionally' Presbyterian).  You don't want to tie yourself to such a small population (9-10 million in the US?), especially with the youngest generation now leading to around 50% of folks (and climbing) that are completely non-religious. It's not a sustainable business model/population, given the key indicators involved.  Even Houston Baptist University is known as Houston Christian University as of this athletic year.

Interesting note on the post above mine, is that my sister graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont, and is fluent in Spanish, with bits of French.

[vu84v2]

ValpoDiaspora - I appreciate your thoughtfulness and the depth of knowledge that you bring. I believe that you are an academic, which I am as well. However, my career and engagement has been in the "other side" of your arguments. I have a degree in engineering from Valpo and am a professor at a different private university. I do feel that there is substantial value in humanities, but I feel that many of your comments, while intelligent and insightful, miss the perspective of the professional schools.

I don't specifically know how the financials work at Valpo (though I have an idea), but I do know how they work at my university and some other private universities. The bottom line is that the professional colleges within a university are often subsidizing humanities and other aspects of the College of Arts and Sciences. For instance, if a professional college at my university starts a new program to attract new students and raise new revenues, the university "taxes" the professional college 30-40% of the revenue from the program so that money can be redirected to fund programs within the university that do not have sufficient funding. Further, when our college created a revenue generating program that shows viability (after implementation has begun) or brought in a large number of new students (my college's new student enrollment was up 40% for Fall 2022 and represented two-thirds of the university's year-over-year new student enrollment increase), we were told that we cannot hire any additional tenure-track or clinical faculty to cover the additional load. For the increased new student enrollment, we had a full court press to attract students - which included nearly every potential student meeting with a faculty member one or more times (and we are quite a bit bigger than Valpo). The justification for not allowing us to hire more faculty - it is not fair to the other colleges who did not have the same enrollment increase and had previous reductions. Beyond the problems subsidizing other colleges places in our ability to serve our students, this also substantially demotivates anyone in our college who considers initiating further new programs or further efforts to increase our college's enrollment.

The professional colleges want humanities/liberal arts to succeed, and are likely OK with some subsidies - but not huge subsidies and not forever (this was also going on before COVID). If you want to succeed you need to sell your value - not to yourselves, but to the decision-makers: incoming students and their parents. I see fewer programs existing or proposed within humanities/liberal arts and very few that generate additional revenue and margin. The justification for these programs is that they create societal value and enhance the university's identity, so other parts of the university should happily give us more funding.

[valpo95]

ValpoDiaspora: I also respect your opinion and thoughtfulness. However, the institutions you mentioned have very different financial models, especially the endowments:

Berea College: $1.6B
Wash U. St. Louis:  $13.7B
Georgetown: $3.21B
Valpo: $254.2M
Hope: $229.2M
Middlebury: $1.5B

These numbers are from slightly different years, yet it gives a sense of the scale of resources available. Only Hope has a similar endowment - the others are many  multiples greater. The trick for Valpo was that for decades, students could get an education at VU that was equal to or better than any of the institutions on this list. It remains to be seen if that will continue in the future.

[David81]

The subsidies issue raised by vu84v2 has been very much the case at my university. The unit I teach in, the law school, has continually been used as an ATM for the rest of the university for as long as I've been there (28 years) and then some.

If the "tax" on our tuition revenue were, say, 10-20%, then I would be more understanding and supportive. But at times it has been more like 30-40%, to the point where even our accreditor has taken note and raised concerns. Furthermore, because we, too, are heavily tuition dependent, it means that the law students are paying that tax via heavier loan debt -- at a law school whose employment "sweet spot" tends to be smaller to medium sized law firms and government agencies that don't pay as well as BigLaw, where maybe 15% of our graduates go.

(By the way, the subsidies issue may provide part of the reason why the VU board of trustees pulled the plug on the law school, as terribly painful that was to the institution and the school's long and respected history. VU Law may have reached the point where other academic units would have to be taxed to keep it open and provide generous scholarships for attract students who would likely pass the bar exam. This very form of subsidization is what is keeping a good number of other private law schools alive, at least for now.)

[talksalot]

Interesting note on the post above mine, is that my sister graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont, and is fluent in Spanish, with bits of French.

My Grandfatherwas a Professor of Mathematics at Middlebury College from 1926 to 1967. He served as Dean of the Faculty from 1953 to 1967; my dad graduated in 1952 as a panther with a physics degree... Google the Campus and you'll see the name on the buildings... and the campus radio station is dedicated to dad.

[vu84v2]

ValpoDaispora - First, the professional colleges need liberal arts and the value of the education that they offer would be seriously diminished without liberal arts. The underlying problem is an imbalance between how professional schools and liberal arts perceive their responsibility to be financially sustainable. Again, my opinions are derived from what I see at my university - but I think that they translate to many other private universities. Let's start with fundraising. In my college, the Dean takes lead responsibility for fundraising for the college and spends over 50% of his time raising money (operations and involvement in many university issues and programs are delegated to Associate Deans and senior faculty). His view could be characterized as "I am the person most responsible for raising money for the college, but welcome and value involvement from University Advancement". In Arts and Sciences, the Dean spends far less time raising money and more time directly involved in university issues and operations. That Dean's view could be characterized as "University Advancement is responsible for raising money and I am glad to assist them in any way possible". See the difference. The result is that our college's two most recent Deans have raised substantial funds, including all funds necessary to build a new building for the college which opens in a few weeks - while some in Arts and Sciences demand 50% or more of the classes in the new building must not be associated with our college because the university needs to be equitable.

Relatedly (as I mentioned before), Arts and Sciences relies on University Enrollment to get new students - offering to help when asked. Our college, as well as other professional colleges, take proactive steps to meet with almost every prospective student and his/her family. From our perspective, Arts and Sciences views new student enrollment as an outcome from another organization, while the professional colleges view new student enrollment as a measure of their colleges' performance.

From my comments above, you could say that the liberal arts faculty and administration may respond that they are already working 60 hours per week with teaching responsibilities, working with students, research, other service, etc. In most cases, this is probably true - but it is no different for faculty and administration in the professional colleges.

The bottom line is that there is great value from liberal arts, sciences, etc. - but the value is not consistent with the degree of subsidies required from the professional colleges. We want you to succeed, but you need to become more financially sustainable...and that takes time and it takes skills that you may not have. But this is no different than any business that faces new trends and changes in the environment outside of its boundaries. No organization has an inalienable right to exist.

[vu72]

All due respect to those of you that are Lutheran and religious.  However, I didn't know very many Lutherans during my time at Valpo, which was 20 years ago now.  I will also be honest that growing up in Texas, I had never run into any Lutherans.  I knew of Martin Luther, but never ran into anything known as Lutheranism, until I heard of and arrived at Valpo (I grew up 'occasionally' Presbyterian).  You don't want to tie yourself to such a small population (9-10 million in the US?), especially with the youngest generation now leading to around 50% of folks (and climbing) that are completely non-religious. It's not a sustainable business model/population, given the key indicators involved.  Even Houston Baptist University is known as Houston Christian University as of this athletic year.

Interesting note on the post above mine, is that my sister graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont, and is fluent in Spanish, with bits of French.

Well, you probably never set foot in the chapel either! As for the Lutheran population in and around Texas, tx really needs to get out more. There is a sizable German population in Texas and as a result several Lutheran churches.

[valpotx]

All due respect to those of you that are Lutheran and religious.  However, I didn't know very many Lutherans during my time at Valpo, which was 20 years ago now.  I will also be honest that growing up in Texas, I had never run into any Lutherans.  I knew of Martin Luther, but never ran into anything known as Lutheranism, until I heard of and arrived at Valpo (I grew up 'occasionally' Presbyterian).  You don't want to tie yourself to such a small population (9-10 million in the US?), especially with the youngest generation now leading to around 50% of folks (and climbing) that are completely non-religious. It's not a sustainable business model/population, given the key indicators involved.  Even Houston Baptist University is known as Houston Christian University as of this athletic year.

Interesting note on the post above mine, is that my sister graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont, and is fluent in Spanish, with bits of French.

Well, you probably never set foot in the chapel either! As for the Lutheran population in and around Texas  ok really need to get out more. There is a sizable German population in Texas and as a result several Lutheran churches.

I did set foot in the chapel, and was extremely bored . I get out plenty, but not enough to see 1% of the state's population: https://www.texasalmanac.com/articles/religious-affiliation-in-texas

"Several Lutheran churches" in a state that is the size of Texas, is not saying a lot.  Again, I am not saying that there aren't sizeable populations of Lutherans in the Midwest, but if around 1% of the people in Texas identify as Lutheran, my claim stands up that it is likely that I didn't run into any Lutherans down here.

[valpo tundra]

As always, an interesting discussion from this crew, however, not too focused on Brian O'Rourke. He is leaving on good terms, given the circumstances. He is credited with some departmental changes which should last into the future and seems to have earned some respect. Apparently, he didn't feel like his financial support was on par with what was needed. At the same time, he didn't want to leave Valpo in the lurch and is doing all he can to have a seamless transition. He may go into consulting which might be his way of acknowledging the substantial challenges that all higher education faces now and will continue to face for years to come.

[valpo tundra]

78crusader-your comments on the "let's get VU" campaign by the NWI Times local newspaper leaves out several nuances. First of all, the recently retired President, CEO and Chairman of Lee Enterprises, which owns The Times and is the fourth largest newspaper company in the country, is a Valpo grad. Mary Junck credits her interest in Journalism to her time at Valpo when she became the editor of The Beacon. She has always spoken highly of her alma mater. The most recent series of publishers of The Times, however, have been tied to the local political kingpins. We are only a year or so removed from VU and the City of Valparaiso suing each other so you can read a lot into many things.

[crusadermoe]

Good to hear that.  I know we speculate a lot on this board on the university. Thanks for the apparent solid fact about Brian. He sounds like a very capable person.

[crusader05]

This is a bit off topic but segues with what Tundra mention: the Mayor of Valpo, who I have heard was behind a bit of the animosity between campus and city is not running for a second term with the former Mayor planning a mayoral bit again.

[VUSupport]

If Valpo wants to get a handle on Enrollment, they need to call up the former Retention person that made great strides on campus a few years ago in Dr Andrea Welch. She got campus buy in from faculty and staff and is the big name in the Higher Education ranks. She was there before Brian got here and would have given Valpo a seamless transition. Unfortunately they'll probably drop the ball and go elsewhere. The huge problem with Valpo admissions is the Director Bart. The man should have been let go years ago and is a huge reason in the declining numbers. I can go on, but it will fall on deaf ears, as President Padilla has his own agenda .

[valpopal]

Update: The new VP of Enrollment and Marketing will be Jill Sifuentes Schur, a 2004 VU business grad who has been working at Loyola Chicago since 2011.