It's interesting to bring up the fund-raising department turnover. If you look at the staff under valpo.edu/alumni you will see just two alumni among the top several leaders or front-line people. Your best donors are in their 50s or older. The 91 alumna has only reached her early 50s. In the 90s and 2000s I think there were several alumni in those roles. Continuity is even more important in those roles than enrollment roles because the donor-staff relationships can go on for 10-15 years rather than 4 years.
Someone has some explaining on how they are going to resolve this and a plan to move.
Indeed.
IMO, they don't necessarily need an experienced higher ed administrator with enrollment experience with a string of similar positions on their resume. In fact, that might be the wrong profile for what's needed. The nitty-gritty enrollment management work can be the #2 person's charge. They need someone with a professional background who believes in the university, knows it deeply enough to sell its many assets to today's 17-18 year olds, and will be out there -- including time spent on the road and in the community -- as a known and identifiable figure.
The person that we worked with in University Advancement for many years got promoted and they had someone else start managing the relationship with us last year. No problem there...always good when good people get promoted. However, several months later she left Valpo despite getting promoted.
Consistent with prior posts, accountability for excessive leadership turnover starts with the senior executive...especially if they were hired or promoted during his/her tenure.
I may be naive here, but I would presume several old school donors, particularly the LCMS donors, are not pleased about the university separation from the church.
Valpo has not separated from the LCMS. It was never controlled by the LCMS legally. Although most students in the 50's and 60's came from that background. Today the Chapel has two full time clergy. One from the LCMS and one from the ELCA.
Indeed.
IMO, they don't necessarily need an experienced higher ed administrator with enrollment experience with a string of similar positions on their resume. In fact, that might be the wrong profile for what's needed. The nitty-gritty enrollment management work can be the #2 person's charge. They need someone with a professional background who believes in the university, knows it deeply enough to sell its many assets to today's 17-18 year olds, and will be out there -- including time spent on the road and in the community -- as a known and identifiable figure.
I agree with all this, and would add that it'd be good for any VP of Enrollment to have some understanding of and willingness to advocate for the wholistic reputation of the university in C-suite meetings.
Over this last couple years as we've seen SO many (self-created?) headwinds in terms of bad news & optics about program cuts, pawning art, falling rankings, nastiness towards faculty, etc. Although the demographic & financial situation is objectively tough and some of this was unavoidable, a lot of these things seem at least partially to be 'own-goals.' Though I have no clue what conversations go on there, I've often thought the Enrollment/Admissions people must or should be cringing insofar as all this makes their job harder. And shouldn't the VP of Enrollment ideally have some clout to help the rest of the administration avoid the most stupid or counterproductive decisions and enrollment-killing optics? As part of the President's Cabinet, a VP of Enrollment has just as much if not *more* power than the Provost, and you'd think s/he would have an interest in getting the regional & national academic reputation of the university back on track as a pretty key element in attracting students.
I know David commented earlier on this topic last week, but the department needs a Powell. Someone who has a deep passion and care for the school and is willing to go above and beyond their job station to see the school thrive. Powell is basically a marketing director and a basketball coach gift wrapped into one person. I need not speak on his feats as they speak for themselves both on and off the court. Most notably the REV foundation and their efforts, as well as being out and about in the community gathering buisnesses for NIL ventures. Some of them being big whigs within Valpo.
Where this diamond in the rough may reside...or if they exist at all...only time may tell.
Sure, charisma would be great, and some kind of Powell-analogue 'coach/marketer' personality in Enrollment would be wonderfully energizing.
But I'd still feel better if I thought there was somebody in the President's Cabinet with an eye towards fundamentals of recovering or building the university's profile in the ways that matter for university enrollment trends today. At the very least, when the Board/President's Office is making decisions, we need somebody in those Cabinet meetings who can say, 'Uh, actually that's going to really damage enrollment; can we maybe *not* give that particular dysfunctional optic, when we're really trying to build X and Y realities and narratives of strength?" It seems to me a VP of Enrollment, in addition or maybe in the absence of the Provost, could or should be that sort of voice!
So, while I can sort of resonate with the picture you're painting, Rez, of the VP of Enrollment getting out there amid NW Indiana business and shmoozing with 'big whigs in Valpo,' I worry that is a bit too folksy of a picture of what Enrollment/Admissions really needs to accomplish. Valpo has already relied too much on a rather parochial (and honestly maybe outdated and inaccurate) chummy imagination that "the local community respects us so much and loves our Valpo excellence!" Certainly, the uni ought to pursue good relations with the local community, and probably much more than it does. But at the end of the day, even if we are engaged and beloved in Valpo, the uni's enrollment ain't going to come primarily from big or little whigs in zip code 46383. Higher ed enrollments today -- largely because of the rankings we've discussed & lamented plenty here -- are regional and national, with reputational narratives playing out across small, medium, and vast digital distances by word of mouth, social media, news stories, ranking publications, etc.
I am just not convinced that VU Administration has ever really understood or reckoned with this wider ecology of US higher ed in the online era. Or if any of the quickly turning-over VPs of Enrollment have understood this and tried to move to shore up VU's historic reputation anew in this current landscape, then unfortunately any positive efforts at an upward trajectory have been overwhelmed by the much stronger signals and narratives of decline that the uni keeps giving off.
So I think the analogy between a VP of Admissions and a coach ultimately fails, because a sports coach has a more campus-focused role and a more concrete path of success to realize and narrativize. A VP of Admissions doesn't really see their 'wins' on a home court or even at a visiting stadium. S/he wins when that high school internship advisor in Madison or that uncle in Cleveland or Boston replies to their teen in person/text/messenger, 'Oh, sure, Valpo - that's a good school!" S/he loses every time somebody shares the latest announcement of program discontinuances and every Jack and Jill on the internet adds the 'cry' and 'cringe' emojis to the post.
Sure, charisma would be great, and some kind of Powell-analogue 'coach/marketer' personality in Enrollment would be wonderfully energizing.
But I'd still feel better if I thought there was somebody in the President's Cabinet with an eye towards fundamentals of recovering or building the university's profile in the ways that matter for university enrollment trends today. At the very least, when the Board/President's Office is making decisions, we need somebody in those Cabinet meetings who can say, 'Uh, actually that's going to really damage enrollment; can we maybe *not* give that particular dysfunctional optic, when we're really trying to build X and Y realities and narratives of strength?" It seems to me a VP of Enrollment, in addition or maybe in the absence of the Provost, could or should be that sort of voice!
So, while I can sort of resonate with the picture you're painting, Rez, of the VP of Enrollment getting out there amid NW Indiana business and shmoozing with 'big whigs in Valpo,' I worry that is a bit too folksy of a picture of what Enrollment/Admissions really needs to accomplish. Valpo has already relied too much on a rather parochial (and honestly maybe outdated and inaccurate) chummy imagination that "the local community respects us so much and loves our Valpo excellence!" Certainly, the uni ought to pursue good relations with the local community, and probably much more than it does. But at the end of the day, even if we are engaged and beloved in Valpo, the uni's enrollment ain't going to come primarily from big or little whigs in zip code 46383. Higher ed enrollments today -- largely because of the rankings we've discussed & lamented plenty here -- are regional and national, with reputational narratives playing out across small, medium, and vast digital distances by word of mouth, social media, news stories, ranking publications, etc.
I am just not convinced that VU Administration has ever really understood or reckoned with this wider ecology of US higher ed in the online era. Or if any of the quickly turning-over VPs of Enrollment have understood this and tried to move to shore up VU's historic reputation anew in this current landscape, then unfortunately any positive efforts at an upward trajectory have been overwhelmed by the much stronger signals and narratives of decline that the uni keeps giving off.
So I think the analogy between a VP of Admissions and a coach ultimately fails, because a sports coach has a more campus-focused role and a more concrete path of success to realize and narrativize. A VP of Admissions doesn't really see their 'wins' on a home court or even at a visiting stadium. S/he wins when that high school internship advisor in Madison or that uncle in Cleveland or Boston replies to their teen in person/text/messenger, 'Oh, sure, Valpo - that's a good school!" S/he loses every time somebody shares the latest announcement of program discontinuances and every Jack and Jill on the internet adds the 'cry' and 'cringe' emojis to the post.
Admissions directors who are deeply clued into their institutions actually enjoy, or maybe even downright love, to see how the students they had a role in admitting are doing. This is especially the case with following interesting, promising students who weren't admitted all on the numbers, i.e., various tangibles stood out that tipped an admissions decision.
I hasten to add that Powell is not all charisma, no substance. He brings both dimensions in abundance.
Do you know why I chose Valpo?
I’d been comparing Ohio U, Xavier, Butler and Valpo.
When I visited Valpo, there was an unexpected snowstorm and things were a mess.
We did a tour of the school and one of the mothers on the tour was in a wheelchair. Her wheelchair got stuck, so the Valpo people hoisted her up, brought her inside and back in her wheelchair.
That was my personal tipping point. If they’d do that for her, I’d be interested in going to school here.
Definitely, I agree the school spirit and humanism matters! We certainly want a VP of Enrollment who loves the students, is involved on campus, helps to cultivate a ethical culture!
I guess I'm just saying that I just don't expect any VP of Enrollment to turn around the enrollment decline with 'gool o'l Valpo' vibes while the uni is spewing bad news. Keep in mind VU has been posting unsustainable year-over-year losses of -100 or more in the freshman classes -- we've lost nearly a third of our undergrad enrollment! -- and I don't think it's because our Admissions people are not big enough fans of the school. I wasn't that close to them or their work, but Ray Brown and Jill S-S actually always seemed quite passionate about Valpo, very engaged in the ways you'd expect admissions recruiters to be in and around campus, etc. And they seemed like all-around decent people who would definitely not want a woman in a wheelchair left in the snow!!!
So that's all absolutely good and necessary, but it's clearly not sufficient to overcome the stronger worrying signals the uni is all too often projecting. If something like 'Valpo heart' or 'Valpo spirit' were enough, we would not be seeing enrollment keep dropping by double and triple digits each year. VU Admissions needs the uni Board/Upper Admin to actively stop doing things that imperil our broader reputation. Or else its like expecting somebody with high blood pressure to get healthy thru positive thinking, even as their kitchen is stocked with steady diet of toxic McNuggets and salty frozen TV dinners.
I do hope Padilla finds someone good for the role. Maybe the 5th time's the charm?
Given the decade-long decline in student enrollment, I have a difficult time imagining that successful, experienced admissions directors or assistants will be interested in Valpo’s opportunity.
If Padilla hires someone that’s not a yes person yet not a complete antagonist and also loves the university and the mission/identity (TBD), that would be a step in the right direction.
BTW, Powell is doing very well and a real positive, but how you handle athletics is a bit different from academics. However, the $500k buyout on Lottich is paying out handsomely for the university in several avenues.
Sigh, another small Midwestern religiously-affiliated college singing a swan song:
Has this board talked about the other three VPs that Valpo lost this year? Steve Janowiak and Carrie Whittier are both at other institutions, and Angela Vidal-Rodriguez is no longer listed on the university website.
These are all under the loose umbrella of student experience.
Yeah, the Greek life students were pretty upset about the cuts of Whittier and Janowiak. https://www.valpotorch.com/news/article_7a9f8be6-6c16-11ef-bb82-5bfb95e5b3af.html
Honestly don't know what's going on with Angela Vidal-Rodriguez. She's no longer on some of the pages where the AVPs are normally included but I hadn't heard anything about her being gone, and googling her name did pull up a VU profile (though I'm not sure if that means much... The uni is pretty inept at fully taking down people's web profiles when they leave, so we have a lot of departed folk still searchable even if they're removed from other sections of the website.) I'm FB friends with her and she hasn't posted anything about Valpo since July '24. Not sure!
