Gary Brown (Hollins University) on Navigating Enrollment Trends and Student Engagement in Higher Ed

On today’s episode of the Illumination by Modern Campus podcast, podcast host Shauna Cox was joined by Gary Brown to discuss the need prioritize innovative retention strategies and the key role student affairs plays in driving student engagement. 

Transcript

Voiceover: Welcome to Illumination by Modern Campus, the leading podcast focused on transformation and change in the higher education space. On today’s episode, we speak with Gary Brown, who is Vice President of Student Success, Well-being and Belonging at Hollins University. Gary and podcast host Shauna Cox discuss the need prioritize innovative retention strategies and the key role student affairs plays in driving student engagement. 

Shauna Cox (00:02):Gary, welcome to the Illumination podcast. I'm so glad you could join me today.

Gary Brown (00:07):Thanks so much. I'm glad to be here.

Shauna Cox (00:09):Absolutely. So we're here to chat all things enrollment in higher ed at the moment, enrollment in higher ed, and how to effectively engage students. I think that's a really important, yet difficult thing to do, especially today in a more digital environment and everything like that. Lots more competition. So I just want to start off our conversation by asking you, in what ways have enrollment trends shifted over recent years that you've seen?

Gary Brown (00:39):Yeah, so I mean, I think that's a really good question and I think there are a number of ways in which there have been some enrollment shifts. Certainly there are some people who as say you watch the demographics, you might see a decrease in overall enrollment across the nation and in particular states. And some of that is because of these demographic shifts. There are being less students of traditional college age that are going to colleges and universities. But then I also believe that people are really shopping around a little bit more. There's lots of access and in some ways beyond the timeframe in which there are limits on where a student could actually go and attend an institution, there's so much accessibility and many of our community colleges are doing really great work at helping students to set a major foundation for themselves. And so we find that students are going there and sometimes even kind of transitioning from there into the four year space.

(01:50):I think certainly there's been lots of folks around the adult degree seekers, folks who are non-traditional age or adult learners, if you will, coming back into institutions to either get rec credentialed or credentialed in a different way for the first time. And so I think we've seen all sort of trends. And so diversity I think is really at the top of mind. And for us, we don't think about it from that perspective as much as we think about belonging. We want to ensure that all of the students who are here, whatever demographic they might represent, have found their place within the institution so that we might be able to support them towards their degree.

Shauna Cox (02:32):Absolutely, and you kind of alluded to it at the beginning of your response there in terms of there's, there's many more options, there's competition, things like that. So what are some of those primary challenges that higher ed institutions are currently facing when it comes to trying to attract and retain their students?

Gary Brown (02:55):Honestly, I believe there's conversation around return on investment. It's something that I'm consistently thinking about in terms of what are the outcomes of our students and are we preparing them to go out into the workforce and actually make a really livable wage. I think the other thing that stands in a way or provides an interesting obstacle for us to navigate is the visibility of those who may not have gone to college but are doing very well. I mean, in this age of social media, you've got influencers and are soda folks who are very savvy, have figured out ways to monetize what it is that many people are publicly consuming and they may not have ever gone to an institution. And I think in some spaces we have students who are thinking about that. Is it worth my time to go to get a degree when I might be able to create my own platform and get my own following and then all of a sudden now I'm able to make money?

(04:02):And then certainly I think the third aspect is just competition. I mean, competition is super, super stiff right now across the nation related to higher education. And so many of us are competing for the same student. We are desiring for them to see our institution as the absolute right place for them. But to be quite honest, I think because there are so many options, we find ourselves competing in some very interesting ways and having to invest a little more to make our offer more attractive and those sort of things. And I think institutions that will win or institutions that actually would be able to prove the outcomes of the students that attend their institutions. Institutions that are able to create environments where people really feel like they do belong and that student success is really at the forefront. Those are the type of institutions I love to work within.

(05:12):And the type of colleagues that I like to work around are those who really have a focus on what are we really intentionally trying to do, and are we really, really truly carefully considering the outcomes of the work and the impact on those students? And what is the impact not just on that student, but on those students' families and those communities that those students held from. And looking at the work as being not just the work of helping to set that student in a certain trajectory, but the impact that we can make far beyond just as student and for generations to come.

Shauna Cox (05:54):Absolutely. And I love of the sense of belonging that students should have when they have with an institution. It's not just walking in the door, going to your class type of thing, going home, you're done. So I just want to ask, in today's environment, I think what students demand and what they want, what they're looking for has changed so radically even in the last five years. So what do today's students value most in terms of campus culture, both in a digital space and that in-person environment? I feel like those two components are something that institution and higher ed leaders are starting to grapple with due to the pandemic. Some have been doing it before, but nowadays it seems like everybody has to get on board with those two different environments.

Gary Brown (06:50):Honestly, I believe that students are looking for places that prioritize accessibility. And accessibility I think takes on all forms. We generally in higher ed spaces think about accessibility from providing supports to some of our students who might have varying needs that they might qualify for supports under the American With Disabilities Act. But I think accessibility is really broader than that. It's about the ease of being able to navigate the institution, the responsiveness of offices and faculty and staff. It is about just really truly being able to feel a level of comfort, like the institution isn't too big for them. I mean, I think even within larger institutions, you find that they are creating specialized programs so that it doesn't feel so large to their students. And in institutions where I work at Hollands University here in Roanoke, we're a small private liberal arts institution. But to be honest, one of our real hallmarks of the student experience here is the family environment that we create and the way in which students are able to receive services and supports in a seamless way. So I think students want to feel like there's a level of connection between them and the individuals who work within the institution. They also want to feel like the institution cares for them because this is the place where they're going to spend so much of their time trying to get that credential that is going to help to help them get to the next space that they are aspiring to go.

Shauna Cox (08:45):Absolutely. And you mentioned it earlier and alluded to a little bit now, so I'm going to pull it out of you. When it comes to the investment required to engage and retain these students, so what innovative retention strategies should higher ed leaders prioritize in order to strengthen that enrollment and ensure that student's success and honestly that sense of belonging?

Gary Brown (09:11):Yeah, I think over my career, certainly I've been in higher education now over 20 years, almost 25. And as I think about how my career has progressed and things that have resonated with me, the COVID-19 pandemic certainly changed a lot of our environments, but I think different from some of the other experiences that I had, it really, really caused me to thoughtfully consider the fact that for many of our students, the institution is a lifeline. It is the place where they feel the most safe. It is the place where they feel there's the most stability. For some of our students, it is the place where there's the most structure and there's the most access to resources. When you think about the fact that institutions are drawing students from a variety of places, sometimes places that are very, very rural and may not necessarily have access to resources sometimes that are very metropolitan.

(10:16):But even in that we have a number of students who are first generation or they may be low income students. And so the institution really helps to become an equalizer for them. And so retention I think looks very different for us when we think about how do we maintain relationships with students in those times when they may not necessarily be within the institution. So what does retention look like when the institution is on a holiday break? What does it look like when the spring semester has ended and everyone is home for the summer? And so I think there's some innovative ways of leveraging opportunities like study abroad or internship requirements or collaborating with alumni associations or alumni within the areas in which our students reside and providing engagement opportunities that keep that student connected to the institution. At the end of the day, the name of the game as it relates to retention has always been about relationship building.

(11:28):And so you want to ensure that those students recognize that just because you may not necessarily be walking the campus every day, that doesn't mean that you're still not connected to us. We are still caring for you. We still desire to support you. What services can we provide to you even when you're not here? If you're a student who has been going to seek support from the counseling center, are there services that we can provide that will provide you access to that even when those offices might be closed for the weekend? And so we find our way trying to fill that gap. And I think the more institutions consider what we do in those moments where life is a little bit different from our students, I think the better off we'll be. We'll see some certainly increases and greater levels of consistency related to our retention.

Shauna Cox (12:25):And I love that you're thinking about the level of engagement, engaging students, even over holidays, summer. It's not just Monday to Friday only when they're in class. It's really engaging with them through their lifecycle of the institution. And not only that, almost pulling in that component of lifelong learning with the alumni to make sure that they're engaged and that they have that safe space and they can just grow, be themselves and help themselves advance in life, which is so great to hear. And I think student affairs is such a big component to this when it comes to engagement. So I want to ask, what role do student affairs play in helping enrollment growth and retention outside of the stereotypical pizza parties, barbecues, things like that that I think that department has had that perception or maybe stigma around them for so long?

Gary Brown (13:29):Yeah, I mean, I think certainly there's no secret that our students generally are probably engaging with student affairs practitioners for greater amounts of time than they are actually within the classroom. And so the work is really essential, and it certainly does go far above and beyond just the things that people kind of think about at the top of mind, the student activities sort of work. It is around ensuring that folks who work within student affairs understand and recognize the real value add that we are and how essential we are to retention. I tell you, I think institutions where the student affairs units or those individuals who work within student services where those units are not strong or in institutions probably where there's some struggle related to retention because we have such a great opportunity to engage with students and to help them navigate the newness of their college experience, to help them to connect the dots in ways related to the things that they're learning within the classroom, and then providing them opportunities to apply that learning and out of class opportunities.

(14:50):I think certainly we generally think about the education that a student garners within colleges and universities, and we often attribute that education to professors who are teaching within the classroom space. But I think those professors who actually do the greatest job are those who are able to make whatever it is that they're teaching applicable to life. And to make it practical. I think sometimes that only happens when there's a real connection between them and their partners in student affairs. And so the units that I have been fortunate to lead throughout my career, there's always been this heavy focus on professional development and helping to frame our work, not just around how do we make the campus live. I mean, that's something that student affairs units always seem to focus on. We want to make it live. We want the campus to be a buzz. And those things help in terms of recruiting students and allowing them to feel their level of activity and all the things that they can be involved in and what have you.

(16:03):But often, always, often, always frame the conversation is that it is not just that it is, are the things that we're doing to make the campus alive, are they then also contributing to that student's ability to navigate life after they leave the institution? And those are the outcomes. Those are the things that make the difference. Are students able to leave here and get into the institution that they might choose to pursue their graduate degree from? Are they able to leave here and to garner a job? Are they able to leave here and have some thought process around what it is that they are seeking to aspire towards? Do they maintain a level of connection and become vital alumni to support the institution so that we can continue to do the work? So the work of student affairs I think is highly valuable. I think because I am a student affairs practitioner, someone who kind of has come up in that way, I am always going to say that we are the heartbeat of the institution.

(17:10):I kind of hate that terminology in some ways because some people will say, well, the academics will say, well, we are the brains of the institution. But the truth is you can't have one without the other. You can't have the brains without the heart. You can't have the heart without the brains. And so I think we are the lifeline of the institution. We are those individuals that students are leaning to and grabbing onto, and that we are helping to, in some ways either push students forward or at times we may be even pulling them forward because recognize the potential that's within them.

Shauna Cox (17:52):Absolutely. What's required is such a level of collaboration there. And I really do love the fact that the student just doesn't end up, they don't start an end at four years. They're there for a lifetime. It's just a constant engagement, which I think is so important and alludes to the question of in what ways does student engagement in campus culture kind of contribute to that overall success and the reputation of an institution when they're taking an approach, as you mentioned, with that sense of belonging and engaging them for their lifetime.

Gary Brown (18:28):So I think student engagement is essential. If students are not engaged, then that ultimately means that we have a high probability of losing them. And so we want the engagement to be vibrant, but we also want it to be responsive to the needs that students have. So we can't just decide we're going to program and provide supports and services in a vacuum. Those things have to come out of the experiences that students have, our ability to assess what it is that's occurring and to then say, students have indicated that they need greater supports in these areas. Or when we look at our data, we recognize that this particular population of students needs some additional supports in ways that we had not initially considered. And so we want to position our engagement in ways that is responsive to the need in the moment. And it is not static.

(19:29):And I think what you'll see is you engage with alumni from institutions. You find that a lot of them have, there are some similarities in terms of the experiences. There are traditions that run the gamut and that everyone has some story about. But there are also these nuances that exist, programs that they were a part of that may have existed during their timeframe and may not exist any longer. But all of those things were done because it helped to deepen the level of engagement. It helped to deepen the good feelings that they had toward the institution, and that ultimately allows those alums to leave the institution and tout that they had the greatest college experience ever. And I often tell my staff and tell my team that our job is to ensure that the students who come to our campus to pursue their degree will gain an experience here that they would not have received anywhere else. And that is how it is. That's the measure of our success. And ultimately is what helps to build our reputation and helps us to get referrals from families and alums to say, Hey, I had a great experience. This is the institution you need to go, that you need to go to. So it is essential, and ultimately it is, I think, one of the most valuable aspects of the work that we do.

Shauna Cox (21:10):Amazing. Well, Gary, those are all the questions I have for you. But before I let you go, we're going to need a restaurant recommendation. So you're in Roanoke, Virginia. Where do people need to go?

Gary Brown (21:24):Honestly, the best restaurant that I have been to since I arrived in Roanoke in January is Table 50. I think I've probably been there, I don't know, maybe once a month since I arrived. I really enjoy the environment. They have great menu options. It's kind of small, kind of quaint. It's downtown, really great place. Roanoke has a vibrant food scene, but Table 50 would be my recommendation.

Shauna Cox (21:50):Amazing. I love it. I mean, if somebody's gone once a month, that's clearly a very good telltale sign. So amazing. Thank you so much, Gary. It was great having you.

Gary Brown (22:00):Thank you.