UWindsor launches five-year enrolment strategy

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The University of Windsor has embarked on a mission to increase enrolment while facing a series of hurdles, including student retention, uncertainty around immigration rules — and graduates who say they’d go somewhere else if they could start over.  

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UWindsor’s board of governors approved a new five-year plan this week, but implementation had already begun with initiatives such as the recently announced Mechatronic Systems Engineering (MSE) program. 

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“We’ve already started actioning some of the diversification efforts,” said Chris Busch, the university’s associate vice-president of enrolment. “We’re relooking at what international enrolment looks like. We’ve launched mechatronics. A lot of those things are already underway.” 

Busch presented the 2024-2029 Strategic Enrolment Management Plan, the result of a 20-month process, to the board on Tuesday. 

The 52-page report states that an ideal size for University of Windsor is between 18,000 and 20,000 students, with 70 per cent of those in undergraduate studies.  

As of fall 2023, the university had 17,994 students enrolled. About 67 per cent were in undergraduate programs. 

The university projects undergraduate enrolment directly from high schools to increase from about 2,000 a year to 2,500 over the next five years, along with “a gentle uptick” in transfers from colleges and other universities.  

A decrease in new enrolments for master’s programs is expected, from about 3,500 a year to just under 3,300. 

UWindsor expects to offset that with initiatives including a revision of the MBA for Managers of Professionals program, a new electric vehicle stream, and expansion of the Master of Nursing Practitioner program, among others. 

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PhD enrolment levels are expected to remain steady over the next five years. 

While initial enrolments are not expected to decline significantly, the report states that retaining students is another issue.  

“Our institution acknowledges facing higher attrition and lower persistence rates than our peers, affecting our ability to retain undergraduate students year-over-year until their degree completion,” the report states. 

Surveys revealed “a concerning trend,” with 30 per cent of first-year and graduating students rating their experience as fair or poor. The same percentage of final-year students would not choose UWindsor again if given another chance. 

The report states that students leave for many reasons besides dissatisfaction with the university. 

“After the pandemic, I think a lot of learners struggled with the transition back to in-person learning,” said Busch. “Sometimes we see that. But also, these days, individuals are complex.

“Some people are having financial difficulties and therefore may leave. Alignment to the programs and wanting to support them more holistically is a fundamental element to drive retention in an upward manner.” 

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The new plan will target four key population groups, essentially aimed at deepening domestic recruitment: Indigenous students, Black students, students from Southwestern Ontario, and students transferring from colleges. 

Busch said the university plans to set up additional programs with colleges to develop “more robust transfer relationships.” 

“We get a large number of our students from the local catchment area, but we are also seeing tremendous growth in other areas of Ontario,” he said. “We want to be able to diversify with that.” 

The university is looking to maintain a balance of about 70 per cent domestic students and 30 per cent international. While it doesn’t intend to increase international enrolments, UWindsor does want to broaden where students come from, to “reduce over-reliance on a few regions.” 

In fall 2023, about 55 per cent of international applications were from China and India. The university aims to redistribute a portion of that to multiple other countries, ranging from Mexico to Indonesia.  

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Those plans, however, hinge on what the government has in mind, said Busch.  

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced in January it is capping the number of international students allowed into the country. 

To that end, the government announced this month it was immediately ending its fast-track visa program for students from 14 countries. 

“IRCC has brought some dramatic changes to immigration,” said Busch. “That’s going to have an impact on our plan and we’ll have to refine it. But if we look at demographics in the region, new programs that are coming on board, a lot of that has been built into the plan already.” 

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