SBU emphasizing increased enrollment
May 16, 2006
BOLIVAR – Sharina Smith, senior director of marketing and communications at Southwest Baptist University (SBU), is part of an emphasis to reverse a three-year decline in enrollment that the Noel-Levitz professional consulting firm of Des Moines, Iowa, is spearheading.
Smith, who began work Feb. 13, said that her position is part of an overall restructuring of the university’s philosophy and methodology when it comes to student recruitment. Her job, she explained, has been moved out of development and into enrollment management. She is part of a team that may eventually grow to include five members, including the department of Web services and the department of alumni services.
“I’m in charge of not only admissions marketing, from the first time a student sees SBU in print or on the Internet, to once they’re enrolled, how do we keep them happy while they’re here,” she said.
Smith lives in Springfield, where she formerly was on the administrative staff of Ridgecrest Baptist Church. She graduated from Bryn Mawr (Pa.) College with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and from West Chester (Pa.) University with a master’s of science and administration degree in leadership for women.
Noel-Levitz is being paid $350,500 over three years to help SBU in financial aid, market research, student profiling and increasing the university’s prospect pool.