berglunds@lopers.unk.edu
UNK’s enrollment for this academic school year dropped by 3.7%, or 234 students. The decrease brought the total enrollment number for Fall 2022 down to 6,041. UNK had the largest percentage decrease in enrollment of all the Nebraska universities.
Alongside the enrollment drop, the admissions office faced some difficult staffing issues but will soon be back to a full office.
“Indefinitely, when you have an admissions turnover, you have lack of efficiency and lack of productivity,” said Jodi Holt said, the UNK Admissions director. “When you have a missing piece that you have to fill, it creates some issues for us for sure.”
Two-thirds of the UNK Admissions office consists of new staff members this year, including adding Holt as the new director. The Admissions team currently sits at 12 staff members, soon to be fully-staffed at 13 members on Sept. 16.
“I think this has provided a unique opportunity for UNK to attract some new talent,” Holt said. “We are always looking for recent graduates and alumni that have had a positive experience at UNK to become admissions counselors.”
Holt started working as the director of admissions in February 2021. Since then, the office has lost and replaced eight staff members. Four people remain in the same position as when Holt started.
“We had really great people who got opportunities to take their talent and work in other industries, private sectors, and other institutions and I’m really proud of that,” Holt said. “I’m really proud of the fact that the staff that left our office went on to do bigger and better things for themselves personally and professionally.”
In the last couple of months, the office has gained new specialists, such as a data systems coordinator, an admissions system coordinator and recruitment members. Holt said they are still currently trying to hire a diversity and outreach specialist.
“With our four new staff in our recruitment team it brings a lot of new energy, a lot of interesting viewpoints, a lot of diversity and just new talent, and that’s what we need,” Holt said. “Not only will it help admissions, but it will help all of enrollment management and the university as a whole.”
