Eastern’s plans for increasing enrollment will be discussed in an open forum 11 a.m. to noon Wednesday in the Arcola-Tuscola Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Blair Lord, the vice president for academic affairs, said he would present a slideshow of the strategic enrollment planning process, which began at the start of the fall semester.

Noel-Levitz consultant Colleen Murphy has visited campus several times to lead the strategic enrollment planning committee through the steps recommended to increase enrollment, Lord said.

After preparation and data analysis, the committee is on the strategy development step of the seven-step process.

Lord said the process is nearly half complete and would continue through the spring semester.

“(The strategic process) is ongoing, it’s active; it’s not like a done deal,” he said. “This won’t be like going to a lecture and learning the results. It will be where we are, where we’re headed next and what we’ve done so far.”

There will be opportunity for attendees to comment on the process as well.

“I’ll have a structured way to get some feedback from them on what we’re doing so they have the chance to weigh in and give us the benefit of their thoughts on this,” Lord said.

The steps and people involved with the strategic enrollment planning process are outlined on the Eastern website. The website also includes a document with links to data on recruitment and enrollment.

Lord said the forum would elucidate some of the key points in the data.

“There’s a ton of information out there which has been available to the steering committee, planning council, and now of course to the entire campus if you want to go,” he said.

Seeking advice to increase student enrollment is leading Eastern to become more proactive, Lord said.

“I think it’s a positive that we saw a challenge and now we’re doing something about it,” he said. “We’re doing something about it at a time when the state and the country as a whole, and higher education generally is challenged.”

Lord said enrollment in higher education institutions has been declining at the state and national level for the past two years, and college degrees have become increasingly important.

“This is a time when the public policy makers say they want more people with higher education backgrounds as we look ahead,” he said.

Lord said the strategic planning steering committee would continue to keep the campus informed of its progress.

“It’s part of the process of keeping the campus informed and involved, and it’s an important process,” he said. “We will probably have some more as the spring goes on and the strategic enrollment planning process continues.”

Stephanie Markham can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].