Eastern Connecticut State University (Eastern) is one of the four universities in the Connecticut State University System – the largest public university system in Connecticut. Eastern currently enrolls 3,898 full-time and 1,000 part-time undergraduate students. Eastern occupies a unique position within the CSU System as the state’s only public liberal arts institution (new mission statement, December 1998). As part of this mission, Eastern focuses primarily on serving full-time undergraduate students with programs in the liberal arts and professional studies. In addition, it serves part-time undergraduates and a small number of graduate students. Eastern prepares graduates who stay in Connecticut and make a difference in addressing Connecticut’s critical workforce needs—skilled educators, mathematicians and technologists. Low-income and minority individuals in the state and region continue to be under-represented in these critical career fields (Nellie Mae Foundation New England 2020 report.)

Because of its affordable cost, Eastern serves students from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. Among the 20 national COPLAC (Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges) member institutions of higher education, Eastern consistently ranks in the top three for students receiving financial aid (Princeton Review website – http://www.princetonreview.com/home.asp). Currently, 70 percent of Eastern undergraduates are being awarded financial aid; 38 percent receive Pell Grants; and 51 percent are first-generation students. Students of color represent 15 to 17 percent of its degree-seeking undergraduates, with the expectation that the percent of minority students will increase in the next five years. With such a high-need student body, Eastern historically has strived to provide financial and academic support to its undergraduates, while building stronger articulation pathways with regional community colleges and by supporting pre-college academic enrichment and preparation programs.

Eastern has increased its focus on issues of retention of all its students, recognizing that most students who come to Eastern are the first in their family to go to college, or come from low-income backgrounds or are of minority status. In 2000, the need for more effective retention efforts became part of the commitment the institution put forth in its self-study for NEASC accreditation. Retention and graduation rates were key elements of that self-study – the other was developing a liberal arts curriculum. Starting in 2000 Eastern began tracking retention and graduation rates more carefully and was able to make some moderate progress in both rates. In spite of the increased number of applications from strongly prepared students, Eastern’s share of low-income and first-generation college students has remained relatively stable, with a slight increase in the percent of students of color. This enrollment profile has required Eastern to serve a wide range of students, without giving preference to wealthier students.

The University’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness has had a great deal to do with the leadership of Dr. David G. Carter who served as President of the University for 18 years. During his tenure, Dr. Carter greatly improved the quality of the institution’s academic profile and physical plant. He also was instrumental in attracting a more diverse student body and a more diversified faculty and administrative staff. His leadership in the creation of a liberal arts curriculum at Eastern reflected a commitment of the University to provide a high quality education for its increasingly diverse student body. The new mission emphasized that Eastern strives to be a model community of learners of different ages from diverse cultural, racial and social backgrounds. Eastern’s commitment to economic, ethnic, and cultural diversity has resulted in a student body with a high percentage of first-generation college students, students of color and from low income backgrounds relative to most public universities in New England.

With the appointment of Dr. Elsa M. Núñez as Eastern’s new President in August 2006, the commitment to diversity and equity is being continued. One of Dr. Núñez’ first actions at Eastern was to initiate a new strategic planning effort with the primary objective of strengthening retention and graduation for all Eastern students. Eastern’s strategic planning process was announced in fall 2006 and was in full swing in late spring 2007. More than 250 University faculty, staff and students, as well as people from organizations outside the University, were involved in the process, through active participation in four subcommittees, all reporting to the overarching Committee on the Future of Eastern (COFE - See Portfolio for details). One subcommittee (the Driving Forces Subcommittee) was charged with the collection and analysis of data of external and internal factors affecting student profile, retention, and graduation rates.

Members of the Driving Forces Subcommittee, assisted by a recognized statistical expert on multivariate models (Dr. W. Neal Fogg from Northeastern Univ.), began to develop a sophisticated statistical model to analyze how groups of variables impacted retention and graduation of different groups of students. Success factors such as SAT scores, admission rating, placement test scores, credits earned during the first year, and GPA were examined as to their relevance to the model. A second subcommittee, the Horizontal Subcommittee, developed eight strategies focused on strengthening institutional support, curriculum, advising, and student life that also would strengthen student retention, success, and graduation. Two other subcommittees, Governing Ideas and Vertical Distinction and Distinctiveness, dealt with institutional mission/ core values, and assessment/enhancement of academic programs, respectively.

During 2006-2007, Eastern’s long-standing Enrollment Management Committee worked in conjunction with the strategic planning initiative, investigating and analyzing a range of variables (including admission ratings, financial aid, and student affairs-related variables leading to graduation) to understand who was retained and who graduated. The Enrollment Management team invited a recognized expert in the areas of enrollment management and retention to assist in this work. A set of recommendations was provided to the strategic planning team to clarify factors related to improving retention and graduation. Based on the preliminary investigations and recommendations, Eastern will launch a major Strategic Enrollment Management Initiative. This effort will develop and implement a comprehensive, inclusive enrollment management plan, to recruit, retain, and graduate a diverse, academically-qualified student body as evidenced by significant increase in the retention and graduation rates.