OUR VIEW: Because campus enrollment remains largely unchanged, administrators need to hire a vice president of enrollment management.

There is a clear lack of substantial increase to the amount of newly enrolled students. If the school wishes to grow and thrive, it must have more revenue to fund its endeavors and that has to come from more students, not higher tuition. The university desperately needs to shift its attention to enrollment.

According to the Board of Regents, there is a motion to move from automatic acceptance to Texas high school seniors within the top 10 percent to acceptance of the top 25 percent. This helps to manage students’ desire for higher education, and encourages those students that are unsure whether college is even a possibility.

In addition, Board members approved, in concept, creating a new vice president — one solely to oversee enrollment. Keith Lamb, now vice president of enrollment management and student affairs, would devote all his time to student affairs.

While it may seem expensive, enrollment growth funds everything. The admissions and enrollment count have proven the inefficiency of the system as of now, and to create an active and full student body, we need someone whose sole focus is to increase the student population.

Suzanne Shipley, university president, is open with her desire to establish this town as a college town, but we have to have the numbers to coincide with that. As of now, we are severely lacking in student enrollment and retention, so this isn’t feasible without an effective, efficient vice president of enrollment management.

Administrators have to stop pushing this issue under the rug and address it head on, otherwise we only see enrollment decline or remain stagnant as it is.