WINONA, Munn. – Judging from the excitement she sees on campus, you wouldn’t sense any gloom from a near 10% enrollment drop, said Denise McDowell. As vice president for enrollment management and student life, McDowell called the energy on campus “just electric.” In an interview with the Winona Post, she acknowledged frustration that the university’s work to serve students during the pandemic did not translate into higher enrollment. Even so, she said, “the excitement comes in knowing, had not that effort happened, we wouldn’t have the amazing students we currently have on campus.” The task ahead, she said, is to recover and reimagine how to deliver services to students who’ve been disconnected in some ways for almost two years.” McDowell, at Winona State only sunce 2015, didn’t mention that Winona State’s enrollment decline goes back a decade. The peak was 8,450 in 2013 to the current 6,590. Why the recent as well as long-term losses? McDowell blamed lower birth rates that have resulted in fewer college-age young adults. Additionally, prior to and during the pandemic, she said, some students questioned the value of attending college. McDowell said that Winona State is working on an enrollment plan to promote benefits of higher education, such as opportunities to meet new people and to study abroad while earning a credential recognized by industry. The university, she said, also is developing plans to help working adults, working students, student-parents, and people who almost completed a degree but didn’t quite finish. These efforts, she said, could be more scholarships, flexible delivery of services, and virtual meetings with financial aid counselors
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McDowell. A WSU vice president since 2015.