Mike Frantz, M.A.
Mike’s track record of success as a vice president for enrollment management at three institutions has translated to goal achievement as his client institutions. Mike serves as an interim vice president for enrollment management; conducts admissions, marketing, enrollment and financial aid assessments; and coaches new and aspiring enrollment managers.
mike@dutcher.llc
mike@dutcher.llc
Mike Frantz, M.A.
A wise college president, when asked what kind of business he was in, answered, “I’m in the business of changing lives.” What an awesome and fulfilling responsibility we have in higher education.
What I’ve done for 30 years has made it possible for young women to find their voices and confidently stand behind their opinions, for young men to learn that the respect of others, their differences and unique stories make this a better and more interesting existence, for single mothers to gain financial independence and emotional intelligence while simultaneously showing their children that the sacrifice of late study nights at the kitchen table is worth it, for those whose passions have taken a left turn from one profession to an empowering other. That is the business of changing lives for the better.
On a personal note, I have been married to a tenured full professor for 32 years during which time she has become a widely recognized educator and national expert on the First Amendment. Together, we parented a daughter who sandwiched three years of service in the Peace Corps between her undergraduate and master’s degrees; she now lives abroad teaching us that one person can change the world one cause at a time. In addition, we have an unofficially adopted Rwandan son we shepherded through baccalaureate and master’s program; he is now a business professional legally navigating the labyrinth of the U.S. immigration system
Mike Frantz, M.A.
515 Gran Drive
Storm Lake, Iowa 50588
Cell Phone: (712) 291-0555
Education
Master of Arts—University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 1987
Bachelor of Arts—Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa, 1986
Higher Education Experience
Dutcher LLC—September 2019-present—provide interim and consultative services to colleges and universities
Enrollment Consultant—April 2019-present—monthly on-site consultation and mentorship for new chief enrollment officer
Interim Vice President of Enrollment—October 2018-March 2019
University of Mount Union, Alliance, Ohio
Vice President of Enrollment—2012-2018
Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa
Highlights of tenure:
Broke institution’s application record by 12% in 2016-17, then surpassed that mark by another 35% in 2017-18.
Set record for acceptances in 2017-18.
Students of color represented 28% of incoming class in 2018.
Successfully managed per student net revenue.
Regarding enrollment in the adult, degree-completion programs, I led the efforts to reverse a downward trend by posting back-to-back, year-over-year gains in new starts for the first time since 2010-11 in 2015-16.
Had the largest freshman class in almost a decade.
Role
Initially hired to supervise the directors of the undergraduate, residential campus admissions office and the financial aid office. Over my appointment, new duties were assigned that had me, at various times, also supervising the director of athletics, the University Marketing and Communications department, and the director of recruitment for the 16 sites operated across Iowa, and undergraduate, online programs. Also served as the university lead in a partnership with a company charged with recruitment and student success measures for fully online graduate and undergraduate degree programs. The position reported to the President and served on the President’s Council.
Responsibilities
Strategy Planning and Implementation—Directed strategies that relied heavily on data collection and research analysis, and driven by a communication-intensive, relationship-building process
Leadership/Management—Managed strategic planning and development for the office including: long- and short-term goal setting, annual recruitment plans, internal and external communications, staff training and development, and data collection and analysis.
Financial Aid Planning—BVU participated in a financial aid leveraging analysis program. Served as lead individual responsible for the financial aid budget planning and allocation. Led two pricing studies to determine optimal gross and net price points.
Reporting Systems and Information Management—Led weekly staff meetings, reviewed internal and external office reports, created committee and full Board of Trustees reports, and monitored all forms of internal and external admissions data.
Additional Responsibilities as part of role of Vice President:
Member of President’s Cabinet—primary university leadership group charged with setting strategic direction, evaluating and implementing policy, developing institutional budget. Together, we led a university-wide “Prioritization” process that examined all campus programs ultimately creating $3M in funds for re-allocation, a major portion of which went to strengthen academic programs and employee compensation.
Campus involvement—served on Admissions & Retention Committee of the Faculty, often present at Dean’s Council, Orientation Committee, Conditional Admissions Committee, staffed the Marketing Committee of the Board of Trustees and multiple ad hoc committees.
Vice President of Enrollment—2009-2012
Robert Morris University, Moon Township, Pennsylvania
Became the first vice president of enrollment. Unified the admissions and financial aid offices under one reporting structure. The admissions and financial aid offices served all traditional full-time and part-time undergraduates, non-traditional undergraduates, Master’s, doctoral students and online students.
The first three freshmen classes under my leadership set institutional records of 720, 895, and 783 students respectively. There was a modest increase in quality and net revenue while diversity held steady. Acceptance rate has declined 15 percentage points in three years.
Master’s enrollment reversed a multi-year decline in 2010, before falling back in 2011, primarily driven by significant losses in graduate education caused by public school budget woes. Doctoral programs all boast wait lists. Online enrollments are growing.
Role
The Vice President supervised the Dean of Enrollment and the Director of Financial Aid. The Vice President reported to the Provost, was a member of the President’s Cabinet, served on multiple campus committees and regularly reported to the Board of Trustees.
Responsibilities
The Vice President of Enrollment at Robert Morris University was responsible for (but not limited to) the following management areas:
Strategy Planning and Implementation—Directed strategies that rely heavily on data collection and research analysis, and are driven by a communication-intensive, relationship-building process
Leadership/Management—Managed strategic planning and development for the office including: long- and short-term goal setting, annual recruitment plans, internal and external communications, staff training and development, and data collection and analysis.
Financial Aid Planning—RMU participated in a financial aid leveraging analysis program. Served as lead individual responsible for the financial aid budget planning and allocation. Served as lead member behind a long term pricing study and analysis.
Reporting Systems and Information Management—Led weekly staff meetings, reviewed internal and external office reports, created committee and full Board of Trustees reports, and monitored all forms of internal and external admissions data.
Additional Responsibilities as part of role of Vice President:
Member of President’s Cabinet—primary university leadership group charged with setting strategic direction, evaluating and implementing policy, developing institutional budget.
Campus committee involvement—served on Middle States Committee, Dean’s Council, Budget Committee, Black History Month Committee, multiple ad hoc committees.
Vice President of Enrollment Services—2008-2009
Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing—2004-2008
Vice President of Enrollment Services—2002-2004
Dean of Enrollment Services—1998-2002
Interim Vice President of Advancement—Nov. 2007-May 2008
Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Original position supervised and provided strategic and tactical direction for full-time undergraduate admissions and financial aid. First promotion added responsibilities for part-time, undergraduate enrollment and continuing education. Second promotion added responsibilities for institutional marketing and branding along with implementation and oversight of Student Service Center (a “one stop” center comprising the services of financial aid, registrar, enrollment processing, cashier and information desk). Interim position provided guidance and support for fund raising during leadership transition. Final position was the result of promotion of marketing director to direct report to president.
From 1998-2007, freshmen enrollment grew from a class of 379 to an all-time high of 630 with simultaneous drop in acceptance rate of 16 percentage points, decline in discount rate of 4 percentage points, and increase in ethnic diversity from 5 to 11%. Freshman enrollment record has not been surpassed.
Highlights of institution-wide branding and marketing effort include prominent exposure within a variety of publications including: The Chronicle of Higher Education, USA Today, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, National Public Radio and Associated Press, in addition to numerous smaller market newspapers.
Role
The Vice President supervised the Director of Admissions and Director of the Student Service Center. The Vice President reported to the President, served on the President’s Cabinet, and was a member of several campus committees.
Responsibilities
The Vice President of Enrollment Services at Wilkes University was responsible for (but not limited to) the following management areas:
Strategy Planning and Implementation—Directed strategies that rely heavily on data collection and research analysis, and are driven by a communication-intensive, relationship-building process
Leadership/Management—Managed strategic planning and development for the office including: all staffing, territory development, long- and short-term goal setting, internal and external communications, staff training and development, and data collection and analysis. Utilized predictive modeling, the creation of statistical models designed to predict the likelihood of prospects, inquiries, and applicants to enroll, as well as several trend analyses.
Financial Aid Planning—Wilkes University participated in a financial aid leveraging analysis program. Served as lead individual responsible for the financial aid budget planning and allocation
Reporting Systems and Information Management—Led weekly individual and staff meetings, composed weekly staff reports, internal and external office reports, committee reports, Board of Trustees reports, and managed all forms of internal and external admissions data.
Additional Responsibilities as part of role of Vice President:
Member of President’s Cabinet—primary group charged with setting strategic direction, evaluating and implementing policy, developing institutional budget.
Campus committee involvement—served on Mentoring Task Force, Admissions and Financial Aid Committee, Budget Committee.
Additional Demonstrated Skills
Budget—Oversaw budgets for all areas of operation, including $1M+ marketing budget and $22M financial aid budget.
International student recruitment—Wilkes University’s international student population grew from 10-150 in ten years. Had direct responsibility for increase. Have traveled extensively throughout SE Asia on business and Europe for pleasure.
Consulting Work
Mike Frantz Enrollment Services—2018-present
Edgewood College (WI)—ongoing
Mount Saint Mary’s University (MD)–ongoing
RuffaloNoelLevitz—2004-2017
Hired as an Associate Consultant and subsequently promoted to Senior Associate Consultant. Provided enrollment consulting services to:
Paul Smith’s College (NY)—27 visits, 2004-2008
University of St. Mary (KS)—9 visits, 2006-2007
Oral Roberts University (OK)—2008-2010—11 visits
University of Dallas (TX)—2010—3 visits
Alderson-Broaddus College (WV)—2010-2011—7 visits
American International College (MA)—2011-15—26 visits
Southern Utah University (UT)—2015-2016—7 visits
Wentworth Military Academy (MO)—2016-20187—4 visits
Stamats Communications—2002-2003
Hired to conduct one- and two-day visits to institutions of higher education regarding enrollment challenges.
Freed-Hardemann University (TN)—2002; comprehensive recruitment audit and written report
Schreiner University (TX)—2002; comprehensive recruitment audit and written report
Oglethorpe University (GA)—2003; recruitment audit and oral report
University of Michigan-Flint (MI)—2003; recruitment audit and oral report
Emerson College (MA)—2003; comprehensive campus visit program audit and written report
Accreditation Evaluator/Team Member
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Part of 5-9 member accreditation team; direct responsibility for
standards related to admissions, student affairs and institutional integrity
McDaniel College (MD)–2013
Hamilton College (NY)—2011
Ming Chuan University (Taiwan)—2010
Pace University (NY)—2009
The Cooper Union (NY)—2008
Hood College (MD)–2007
Director of Admissions—1994-1998
Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa
Between 1994 and 1998, Buena Vista University saw a 10.4% growth in enrollment. Buena Vista University also achieved a ten-year high in transfer students, and the institution set a record for freshmen and new student enrollees in the Fall of 1997. In addition, between 1994 and 1998, the University enrolled four of the five largest freshmen classes in its history. Enrollment records have not been surpassed.
Role
The Director of Admissions at Buena Vista University served as a leader and manager for all elements of the Office of Admissions including: all major decision-making; office organization; strategy development and implementation; staff hiring, firing, and evaluation; and internal and external communications. The Director also managed the budget and expenditures including advertising, direct mail, supplies, phone, and computer hardware and software. This highly visible position required hands-on involvement with campus events, external university relations, and university image development. The Director reported to the Vice President for Enrollment Management and directly oversaw admissions counselors, school specialists, support staff and student workers, in addition to serving as a liaison to faculty, administration, students, and external constituencies.
In addition, as Director at Buena Vista University, I led marketing efforts for a new graduate program, and was successful in expanding the program from its first to second year. Admissions met enrollment goals for each of the graduate program’s first two years, and numbers of enrolled students tripled from the first to second year.
Associate Director of Admissions—1992-1994
Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa
Assistant Director of Admissions—1991-1992
Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa
Admissions Counselor—1989-1991
Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa
Professional Presentations
Iowa Association of College Admissions Counselors
Campus Visit Programs, 1994
College Fair Programming, 1995
Staff Training and Development, 1997
USA Group Noel-Levitz
Predictive Modeling—Four teleconferences 1996-1997
Summer Institute—1996-97
American Marketing Association
Predictive Modeling—1996
A Majority of One–2007
National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Retention (formerly National Enrollment Management Institute)
Predictive Modeling—1997
Use of Prospects in Predictive Modeling—1999
A Different Take on the Enrollment Funnel—2006
A Majority of One—2007
How to Climb the Enrollment Ladder—2010
Brand Your Cattle Not Your College…unless—2011, 2012, 2013
There is no Recruitment or Retention in the PhD—2014
Academic Impressions
Understanding Enrollment Management Challenges: A Program for Finance Officers–2015
Pennsylvania Association of College Admissions Counselors
Creating a Family Friendly Workplace—1999
Using Predictive Modeling to Maximize Enrollment—2003
The Use of Merit Scholarships in Recruitment—2004
How to Climb the Enrollment Ladder–2010
Carnegie Communications
Five Years, 50% More Apps and 60% Higher Enrollment—2004
The College Board
Research, Review and Re-Brand—2005
References
Available upon request