Strong enrollment forecast, new tuition rebate energize latest Board of Visitors meeting
by Neil Harvey
June 21, 2024
A string of recent accomplishments and institutional initiatives brought a higher level of excitement and optimism to Radford University’s latest quarterly Board of Visitors meetings, held June 6-7 at Kyle Hall.
Key achievements discussed by the board included double-digit enrollment increases signaled for the fall semester – fueled by Radford's newly implemented a new 1.5% tuition rebate that in-state undergraduates will receive over the next year; the election of the board’s new rector and vice rector; and a significant makeover of both Radford's brand and its website, among other milestones.
"I do believe that a little bit of celebrating is in order today," President Bret Danilowicz announced at the start of his report to the board. "Radford University's accomplishments over the past year are definitely having positive impacts on our performance metrics, but also on our community spirit."
He cited the most recently recorded freshman deposits, up from 1,119 last year to
1,552 this fall, indicating an increase of 27%, and the rise in deposits for transfer
students from 533 to 812, which represents a 52% spike.
Nursing deposits for the next semester are up as well – 58% for freshmen and 28% for
transfers – as are deposits from first-generation, Pell-eligible and military-affiliated
students. Campus visits by prospective students and families exceeded 1,000, or about
60% more than last year.
"We appear poised to experience a significant enrollment increase for new students starting in this fall semester,” the president said, adding: “We will be using the Radford Tuition Promise to stabilize enrollment as we planned, but at a higher enrollment than even I had envisioned. And that's a very positive place for us to be.”
Danilowicz, in his remarks, also thanked Dannette Gomez Beane, vice president for enrollment management and strategic communications, for her role in that progress.
In unveiling the Business Affairs and Audit report, that committee’s chair, Tyler Lester ’15, called the tuition rebate “a result of strategic and conservative budgeting on the part of the university, combined with generous increases in state supports from the governor and the General Assembly.
“That translates to a net zero increase in tuition for Radford students and families this year, which is substantial,” Lester said.
“This is really tremendous,” Rector Debra McMahon said of the rebate. “It’s the nature of this board to do the right thing by the student, and this is an example of exactly that.”
In keeping with that spirit, the board agreed to renew the Tuition Promise for a second year.
Jeanne Armentrout, chair of the Academic Excellence and Student Success Committee, delivered her report, which included the announcement of the selection of the new dean of the Davis College of Business and Economics, Donna Weaver McCloskey, and the board approved her faculty tenure effective July 10. McCloskey most recently served as associate dean of undergraduate programs at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Armentrout also discussed her committee’s ongoing curriculum analysis, which continues to examine academic structures and to create or modify programs “to make sure that we are meeting students’ needs, teaching efficiently and growing appropriately.”
"Enrollment and retention are stronger than they have been in many years,” Armentrout noted, adding that transfer enrollment "is particularly strong this year.
“That is all reflected in the work that was done because of the Tartan Transfer initiative, which should be finalized with up to 10 regional community colleges before the fall semester,” she explained.
Further into the meeting, in a pair of unanimous votes, the board chose Marquett Smith ’85 to become its next rector, for 2024-2025, and named Tyler Lester ’15 as vice rector. Smith, the current vice rector, has held that title since June 2023.
“It’s really wonderful to have Marquett and Tyler in these positions,” McMahon said after the vote. “It’s a really great warm-up for this coming year, hitting the ground running already, and we couldn’t be in better hands.”
McMahon and fellow board members Robert A. Archer, Jay A. Brown and Georgia Anne Snyder-Falkinham will complete their current terms on June 30. Brown has previously served as vice rector; McMahon was rector for the past two terms; and Archer spent three terms as rector and another as vice rector. Snyder-Falkinham first joined the board in 2012, and Archer, Brown and McMahon each came on in 2016.
During the June 7 meeting, the board recognized their service with resolutions of commendation.
“It has been such a great pleasure to serve on this board,” McMahon said. “It has really taught me a lot about people and higher education, of course, but the collegiality of the board has been unique in my experience, and I just feel so honored to have been a part of it.”
Also receiving commendation from the board: Professor of History Kurt Gingrich, who joined Radford’s faculty in August 2000 and whose research concentrates on the British Empire and the history of the Atlantic World. Gingrich is concluding his term as faculty representative to the board.
As she presented Gingrich’s resolution, board member Jennifer Wishon Gilbert read a quote from one of his students, who noted: “His tone is passionate, his insight profound and his witticisms acute.”
Troy Stallard ’24, this year’s student representative to the Board of Visitors, delivered his final report, offering updates on such projects and initiatives as the Peer Mentoring Program; the Health and Wellness Task Force; and the recent Virginia Women’s Veteran Appreciation Ceremony, which honored Radford’s faculty, students, staff and alumni who are also female veterans.
Stallard, an Air Force veteran himself, was active in the Radford University at Carilion (RUC) Office of Student Affairs and helped establish RUC’s Military Resource Center. He graduated with a degree in emergency services and minors in biology and chemistry. In May, he started work as the resident director for the medical and health science governor’s school at RUC.
"I will take the lessons that I've learned from all of you and this university,” Stallard told the board, “to point my mentorship lens toward our next generation of health professionals and efforts to combat healthcare shortages, and [to] draw gifted students to our New River and Roanoke Valley universities and colleges."
Some of that work is already done. Board member Archer, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Army, noted that recent data indicated an increase in incoming veteran students.
“Troy had a lot to do with that, so thank you very much,” Archer told him. “Thank you for your service.”
Additional reports to the board included:
- Several recommendations and ongoing analysis from Radford’s Artificial Intelligence
(AI) Task Force from that group’s co-chairs, Executive Director of the Vinod Chachra
IMPACT Lab Matt Dunleavy and Director of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
(CITL) Charley Cosmato.
- An overview of response planning for campus unrest, led by Dean of the College of
Humanities and Behavioral Sciences Matt Smith.
- An examination of data concerning standardized testing scores – currently not required by Virginia’s colleges and universities – presented by Vice President for Enrollment Management and Strategic Communications Dannette Gomez Beane.
The June 6-7 agenda and other related materials are available on the Board of Visitors’ web page, and the full meeting can be streamed in its entirety on the university’s YouTube channel.