The search for a new Vice President for Enrollment and Student Experience came to a close today as the final candidate, Ethan Logan, spoke about his ability to cooperate with others and stressed that his role is to foster the work of the Enrollment and Student Experience department, not to control it.
“There are wonderful people at this institution and others who have great experience, professionalism, and expertise that exceed my own,” Logan said. “I am resolute in the idea that I do not need to surpass their expertise and knowledge, I need to help them exercise it.”
Logan said progressive approaches to recruitment coupled with cooperation between recruiters and faculty are essential to seeing success in the area of recruitment.
He also encouraged the university to pursue new ways of reaching out to potential recruits while also trying to reach previously neglected demographics of young Kentuckians, especially in rural areas.
“Enrollment is going to be a challenge and that’s an important part of the conversation for WKU,” Logan said. “There is a tremendous amount of potential rural students around Bowling Green, but we can’t neglect the regional markets at traditionally pull towards UK or UofL.”
Logan expressed the need for change regarding traditional recruitment methods that tend to focus on historical performance and data when making future decisions. He recommended instead that recruitment should focus on individual factors that encourage student enrollment, such as financial aid and student engagement.
“Student engagement is the key to successfully attaining and retaining students,” Logan said. “That’s the student experience in the classroom and the faculty and staff’s cultivation of the student’s career goals.”
Logan has worked at Texas Tech University since 1999 in various enrollment-focused positions, most recently as Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management from 2017 to now.
Texas Tech University, with a population of 32,000 students, is comparable in size to WKU’s population of 18,143. Logan used this fact as a way to demonstrate his ability to successfully administer over mid-size college recruitment programs.
Logan is the fourth and final candidate to speak on campus about their goals for the vice president position.
Other candidates include P.J. Woolston, who spoke last Monday, and Matthew Aschenbrener, who spoke last Tuesday. The third candidate, Wendy Beckemeyer, spoke Monday of this week.
The final decision as to who will fill the position is to be made by Cheryl L. Stevens, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Amanda L. Trabue, Vice President for Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement.
News reporter Michael J. Collins can be reached and [email protected]. Follow Michael on Twitter at @NotMichaelJColl.
