WSU enrollment projections are lower; new VP for enrollment named

Wichita State University has named Richard Muma the senior associate vice president for enrollment management.

Muma has been associate vice president for academic affairs and professor of public health sciences at WSU since 2011, according to a news release Monday. He’s worked at WSU since 1994.

The announcement comes at the same time preliminary enrollment counts from the school show a decrease in enrollment from this time last year.

Official enrollment numbers for all regents universities are not released until the 20th day of classes, on Sept. 19. WSU began classes Monday.

Preliminary numbers show a headcount of 13,710 for this year, a 3.6 percent decrease from 14,219 this time last year.

The data also shows a preliminary decrease in total student credit hours, from 161,976 in 2015 to 158,995 this year.

Muma said it’s still too early to know what enrollment will look like based on those projections.

The new role will expand on his current responsibilities of retention, online learning and continuing education, Muma said

“I’m excited about the challenge to work more broadly across the university and outside the university to make sure we have a diverse student body, supporting students, and providing good services to them,” he said. “Ultimately making sure they’re getting a degree so they can enter the workforce.”

Since taking over as WSU president in 2012, John Bardo has repeatedly emphasized increased head count as a goal and has said he wants to reach 22,000 students. He hasn’t said how long it will take for that to happen.

Enrollment at the university has hovered around 15,000 for years.

In July 2015, The Eagle reported that WSU had spent nearly $2 million on an out-of-state recruitment firm, Royall & Co., for mailings and lists of student names since 2013 to boost enrollment numbers.

In 2015, the university signed another contract with the company for an additional $665,000 through June 2016.

Muma said the university is continuing to work with Royall this school year.

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 12:41 PM with the headline "WSU enrollment projections are lower; new VP for enrollment named."