Our enrollment operations will be improved by organizing into a strategic enrollment management framework. Our goal is to create a framework that serves as an interconnected set of functions supporting both recruitment and retention. First, we will hire staff and leadership committed to this effort. Second, we will organize these functions (admissions, financial aid, marketing, and support) into an integrated set of units. Third, we will prioritize innovative recruitment of potential cadets and cadet-athletes (who traditionally constitute more than one-third of the incoming class). Finally, we must leverage data analytics and technology in new ways to optimize these operations and assess their impact. These four actions will be the first in a series of steps to update our approach and regain a competitive advantage in these areas.

VMI is physically and mentally demanding in ways that most institutions are not. Nonetheless, VMI has very respectable retention and graduation rates. Our most recent six-year graduation rate is 77%, which is 15-points above the national average (NSC, 2016 cohort). Among Virginia four-year public institutions, VMI’s graduation rate is five points higher than the average. However, our most recent retention rate was 82%, which is 9th place among Virginia public colleges and universities, 15-points below the front-runner. To become a top five Virginia school, we must improve our retention rate without decreasing academic and physical rigor. There are four strategies that will help us meet this challenge. First, we must adopt a data-and technology-intensive approach to academic advising and support. Second, we must augment advising and support by rethinking our approach to classroom engagement, especially in core curriculum courses. Third, we must address growing high school deficiencies in core knowledge areas—such as mathematics, writing, and history—before cadets matriculate because failing a core curriculum class increases the likelihood of attrition. Fourth, we must be exceptional in our fund raising and operational excellence efforts, with particular emphasis on controlling the costs of education. Together, these four efforts will benefit the entire VMI community: cadets, parents/guardians, faculty, staff, and alumni.

We provide an educational experience that tests and improves cadets’ capacity for perseverance and resilience in ways that prepare them to support and defend the nation in times of peril. It is not a sink-or-swim approach, however. Cadets must have access to the best support services available. Ensuring access to top notch support demonstrates our commitment to cadets’ success in each component of the three-legged stool: academics, military, and athletics. We will build out our cadet health and wellness services, with a focus on ways that best support our unique educational experience.