Anthony Ballo Admissions & Recruitmentem.unm.edu/Documents/em-newsletter-spring15.pdf · Anthony Ballo Admissions & Recruitment Spring 2015 Vol. 5, Issue 2 Administration and Finance - [PDF Document] (2024)

Spring 2015 Vol. 5, Issue 2

Administration and Finance Dee Dee Romero, Associate Director Anthony Ballo, Manager, Systems and Programming Admissions & Recruitment Matt Hulett, Director Deborah Kieltyka, Associate Director Communications Center Anthony Gallegos, Operations Manager Financial Aid & Scholarships: Brian Malone, Director Joseph Gonzales, Associate Director One-Stop Enrollment Services Carolyn Gutierrez, Operations Manager Registrar’s Office Alex Gonzalez, Registrar Elizabeth Barton, Associate Registrar

Questions or comments?

Email: [emailprotected] Corine Gonzales, Strategic Support Manager

Message from Terry Babbitt, Associate Vice President

Dear Colleagues,

It is startling that another semester and academic year are coming to a

close. Spring is an apprehensive time for UNM administration with the

university budget process intensifying upon adjournment of the New

Mexico Legislature. In reality, the budget process at UNM begins early

in the fall term with deliberations around actual costs of benefits and

utilities coupled with revenue projection updates from current tuition and

fees.

The State of New Mexico fiscal outlook is also reviewed during that time

and we were reminded how volatile forecasts can be in an energy-centric

economy. When the price of oil dropped from over $100 a barrel in

September to under $50 in February, the projected new state funding

available was reduced by $200,000,000. What does this mean to UNM?

Well, we receive approximately 5% of the state budget so if you apply

that to new money available then the drop in oil prices possibly cost

UNM $10,000,000 in new money. That kind of difference could have

contributed to compensation increases, benefit supplements and covering

gaps left in budgets due to enrollment decreases.

Speaking of enrollment and budgetary implications, I mentioned last

semester that even a slight enrollment decrease has substantial budget

repercussions. Our 2% decrease in fall and spring credit hours resulted in

a $3,600,000 budget deficit for 2014-15 that initiated current year and FY

16 cuts from units across campus.

Maintaining enrollment allows UNM to remain an affordable, high

quality institution that has a meaningful and positive impact on the life of

every student we recruit and retain. Each of you contributes to our

enrollment goals and your commitment to our students and campus is

greatly appreciated.

Registrar’s Office The Office of the Registrar has been busy working on several projects. For the past year we have been working with IT to upgrade our old degree audit system to Uachieve and implement Udirect. It is our plan to release the new systems this summer which provide better functionality for students to monitor their degree progress and set up a road map detailing the courses needed to complete the degree. We will be sending out more information as we get closer to our release date. The Registrar’s Office has been participating in a working group to implement a preferred name policy at UNM. We recognize that many students prefer to use a name other than their legal name to identify themselves. As long as the use of this preferred name is not for the purpose of misrepresentation, the University acknowledges that a “preferred name” can and should be used where possible in the course of University business and education. More information will be released as the policy and process is finalized. As we move to the newer version of Banner one of the system improvements is Registration. This new module will provide a better student experience for searching the schedule of classes, catalog, and registering. It will also provide a new registration summary and calendar functionality. We will be spending some time this summer testing this new module. Our Catalog and Curriculum team have been working hard to incorporate the many changes in curriculum and course requirements in to our new catalog which will be released towards the end of May. Lastly, we would like to welcome James Rasp who is the new Program Specialist in the Veterans Resource Center. James will lead our efforts in ensuring that our student veterans have the necessary resources to be successful students. Please stop by and welcome James to UNM and the Veterans Resource Center.

Admissions Office

The Admissions Office and the enrollment management division have partnered with Royall & Company to expand recruitment outreach through the spring with the intent of increasing undergraduate enrollment in the summer and fall terms. For maximum effect, a deliberately aggressive implementation was accomplished within a few weeks. The office has also spearheaded additional collaboration with university colleges and departments to increase personalized communication to new undergraduate students. As a result, most newly admitted undergraduate applicants have received communication from their intended field of study and an invitation to further connect with the program. This effort is in addition to ongoing peer tele-counseling campaigns and other routine communication initiatives. The office also has been involved in efforts to enroll past students through the division’s Rejoin the Pack initiative and has supported retention efforts from within the division and from other areas such as STEM.

Despite challenging weather conditions, the office hosted a number of successful on-campus events for prospective students and families this spring and added an event for parents and families with children enrolled in the Santa Fe Public School district. The SFPS Parent Academy – College 101 event welcomed many first generation families to

campus to learn how they can support and guide their children through college preparation, application and earning a degree.

Communication Center All-Access Communication Center The Comm Center and SSSC One-Stop Center, continues its mission as a first point “Contact Center” that strategically brings together interconnected offices such as Admissions, Financial Aid, Scholarships, Records and Registration by offering assistance to students, parents, faculty and customers for the purpose of improving customer services and helping students navigate routine functions and answer first level questions. The Comm Center’s core services include incoming calls, live-chats, Ask-A-Question (AAQs) email inquiries, StudentInfo Answer support, and SSSC front desk (One Stop) support all in conjunction with delivering accurate information and excellent customer services. This report covers activities during the first quarter of 2015, ending March 31, 2015. During this period, the Contact Center received approximately 30,000 incoming calls, answering 27,255 for an average abandon rate of 9% after the first announcement, average speed of answer under two minutes, and overall handle time of 02m 49s with an average 89% customer satisfaction rating based on Opinio and RightNow survey systems. Commencing February 6th, started tracking SSSC One Stop walk-in traffic starting February 6th and thru April 15th SSSC One Stop assisted 2,151 customers and utilization of UNMs Enrollment Management StudentInfo Answers revealed strong usage of 101,622 with hits. Communication Center - Highlights:

Sarah Calcutt hired in February to manage front desk

operations. Special thanks to Geraldine and Stephanie for

their training in getting Sarah up to speed in record time.

Third straight first quarter year we achieved a reduction

in average abandon rate (after first announcement) on

calls from 11% in 2014 to 9% 2015 with an average

number of agents at 6.7 FTEs.

Expanded daily distribution of Opinio Customer Survey

via nightly Banner run using notes in RHACOMM.

Appreciation to FinAid for their help in setting up the

program.

Achieved an overall customer satisfaction of 89% slightly

below our goals of 90%.

Created [emailprotected] email to facilitate an ability

to send information to customers e.g. StudentInfo or

FastInfo Answers, UNM links to speed up communication

and accuracy of information.

Approximately 1,000 customers have been assisted at the

SSSC One Stop center, between February and March 30th.

Customer Feedback:

A special Thank You to everyone in the division of Enrollment Management for their continued dedication and positive contributions in helping achieve an 89% customer satisfaction rating during this period.

Financial Aid Office 2015-2016 Financial Aid Preparation

The Student Financial Aid Office is gearing up for the 2015-2016 academic year. Approximately 20,000 students met the March 1 “priority filing date” for the new year by filing their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) with the US Department of Education. Early filing is a great benefit to students. First, students maximize their potential to receive funding from programs with limited funding. Examples of these programs include, supplemental federal grants, state grants, the Perkins loan, and work study funds. Second, it provides students with ample opportunity to submit any additional required documentation and to prepare and plan for the new year. Lastly, it allows students to avoid last minute issues and delays in receiving disbursem*nts when the fall semester begins in August.

Filing the FAFSA is the first step in maximizing a student’s financial aid eligibility. Once the Student Financial Aid Office receives a student’s FAFSA, the file is reviewed, and we determine if any additional documents are required. We notify students via their UNM email (we also send a copy to

their “preferred” email address) of any additional requirements. The student can review all requests on their Lobo Web account. Many of the requests may be completed and submitted online.

Initial awards for the 2015-2016 academic year were sent to students via email on April 2. Awards for the upcoming year continue on a nightly basis moving forward.

2014-2015 Financial Aid Payments

While we prepare for the upcoming year, we continue to process aid for the current year. The numbers below reflect the amount of students assisted and the dollars they received throughout the year.

Recipients, by Program Type, 2014-2015 (as of April 10, 2015)

Dollars, by Program Type, 2014-2015 (as of April 10, 2015)

Employee Recognition

The Spring 2015 Enrollment Management Employee Recognition Awards program has selected the top performing staff and student employee for the spring semester. The committee received nominations from various departments and are pleased to announce the Spring 2015 recipients:

Staff Employee: Jarred Panger, Scholarships & Outreach Manager; Admissions Office

“Jarred is phenomenal! He has gone above and beyond to help me reach my goals and overall success of Admissions. His attentiveness has given me the energy and willingness to do more and exceed my goals.” “Jarred goes above and beyond what is expected of him as our Scholarship Manager to give students access to what UNM has to offer. I have been inspired by Jarred’s service-oriented and student-centered character.”

Student Employee: Tianna Spurlock, Recruitment Specialist II; Admissions Office

“Tianna consistently goes above and beyond what is expected of her as a student tour guide. She is an exemplary and rare student leader who makes a constant effort to see that each and every one of her students make a connection with UNM. An example of how Tianna goes above and beyond is that she personally writes and mails thank you letters to each student who attends a tour. She is extremely reliable for every task assigned of her.”

These employees will receive a monetary award of $100 each, a framed certificate and will be included on the plaque in the Wall of Honor at both SSSC and Student Employment Office.

Don’t forget to be on the lookout for Fall 2015 nominations – so that we can acknowledge more valued and hard-working employees!

Congratulations Jarred and Tianna!