When Latoya Jenkins hit the stage, she was energized.
The Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Engagement at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore could easily have felt worn down as she and her staff had been working tirelessly recruiting UMES’s incoming freshman class.
However, she had a special pep in her step as she and her staff saw the fruits of their labor as it was announced UMES had hit its highest new student enrollment since 2015.
“This was because of all the hard work that we have put in as an institution to get to this day,” she said. “… When (the school year ended) in May, we were talking about where we would end up? Where would we be when we came back to campus?
Jenkins said this initiative started with a focus on student retention leading to the establishment of a profile and make-up for the incoming first-year class.
The undergraduate enrollment data showed the average standardized testing scores of 1013 for the SAT and 21 for the ACT, with a grade point average of 3.24 for this incoming class. The current Top 10 majors being pursued at UMES included business administration, criminal justice, sports management, and biology.
In all, more than 7,000 students from 2,050 high schools representing 60 nations and 47 states plus Washington, D.C. applied to UMES.
Part of the plan to attract the increased freshman student body was a campaign to allow the university to have a greater reach.
“Two years ago, we kicked off a national strategy taking us from the UMES website and putting us on platforms all around this nation that said to students whether they were in Maryland or whether they were in the Congo of Africa. UMES is poised, in the midst of a pandemic, to bring you on and help you meet your educational goals,” Jenkins said.
Through phone calls, application reviews, interviews, and events such as “New Hawk Day,” the university was able to hit its milestone number.
“We left no stone unturned so that those parents and families and students would know what we have to offer,” she said.
