University launches Undergraduate Enrollment Strategy project
In preparation for the 2022-23 academic strategic planning process, President Susan R. Wente has launched a strategic review of the University’s undergraduate enrollment position, partnering with the higher education research firm, Art & Science Group.
“Next year, we will begin to craft a vision for Wake Forest’s future,” Wente said. “To be effective in that work, we need to understand how the landscape for undergraduate enrollment has changed during the pandemic and where Wake Forest’s exceptional undergraduate education is situated within that landscape.”
Wente noted that the enrollment project’s work will unfold purposefully alongside the strategic planning process: “Art & Science will gather the data we need to understand what drives undergraduates’ enrollment decisions in regard to Wake Forest. This in turn will help us better understand how we are perceived, our distinctiveness and areas of opportunity.” Read more
Categories: Presidential News, University Announcement
Admissions updates for the campus community
The following is a guest post from Eric Maguire, vice president for enrollment.
While working remotely, the Undergraduate Admissions staff joined in solidarity with our colleagues throughout campus to 
sustain a strong and vibrant Wake Forest community. Our staff quickly pivoted from our signature face-to-face work to creative virtual efforts. For over six months, our work has included yielding our first-year class, conducting webcam interviews, hosting live virtual sessions, planning fall virtual visits and college fairs, and evaluating Early Decision applications.
Additionally, on Tuesday, September 8, in partnership with our student tour guides, we began to welcome back visitors in a limited capacity to the Porter B. Byrum Welcome Center. As we developed our campus-visitor policy and built our visit program, we consulted with members of Wake Forest, including Student Health Service. The health and safety of our campus community, as well as of our visitors, are of the utmost importance and, therefore, the cornerstones of our policy. In advance of the visit, we require prospective students to complete a registration process to become approved visitors. When confirming their visits, students and guests agree to adhere to a stringent set of directives, including a health screening and temperature check, remaining outside all campus buildings, and wearing a mask for the visit’s duration. At every step, as we crafted the Prospective Student/Family Campus Visitation Policy, we thoughtfully considered our campus community’s welfare.
Thank you for your support. We appreciate your partnership in helping to keep our community healthy while also sharing our campus with prospective students.
Categories: Guest Post, Inside WFU
Class of 2024 Enrollment Update
Guest post from Eric Maguire, Vice President of Enrollment:
To date, more than 1,500 students have submitted a deposit to secure a seat in the Wake Forest Class of 2024. We are excited to welcome the talented students who decided to call Wake Forest their collegiate home. The class’ academic credentials rival those of prior cohorts. More than half of students are ranked in the top five percent of their graduating class, and more than three quarters are ranked in the top decile. Among standardized test submitters, the middle 50 percentile SAT score is slightly ahead of last year’s class, while ACT ranges remain unchanged.
The Class of 2024 is also notable for its socio-economic and racial/ethnic diversity. Nearly 10 percent of the incoming class qualifies for Pell grants, while an equal proportion identifies as first-generation college students. Among incoming first-year students, 24 percent identify as either African American, Asian American, Latinx, Native American, or of multiple racial backgrounds. This representation is greater than in previous years. Nine percent of the incoming class are international students, North Carolina residents comprise 16 percent, and 56 percent of the class is female.
In a typical year, more than 1,500 students in the first-year class would signal a significant over-enrollment, as only a portion of those deposits would “melt” over the summer and recent classes have had about 1,400 students. This is far from a typical year, with lingering uncertainty because of the coronavirus pandemic. Although it is difficult to predict attrition of deposits and resulting class size with precision, we believe we are well-positioned for a variety of future possibilities.
We will know our final incoming class size and profile later this summer, but I would like to celebrate this high-achieving group of students who have made the commitment to enroll — and recognize staff who worked tirelessly to enroll such a talented and diverse group. Hats off to the Admissions and Financial Aid teams who made an incredibly quick pivot to remote yield activities and helped guide these students to enroll at Wake Forest.
And let me offer a special thanks to a few individuals who were promoted to new roles in January and whose efforts are reflected in our incoming class: Karen Vargas was appointed to serve as Dean of Admissions; Dawn Calhoun was promoted to Sr. Associate Dean; and Terri Legrand was tasked with leading a new department of Enrollment Compliance and Technology. Their work, in addition to Tom Benza’s promotion to Director of Financial Aid after the June retirement of Bill Wells, will serve us well for many years to come.
As we have made the transition to remote teaching, learning and work, please know that we appreciate our campus community’s tremendous effort to affirm and continue the many qualities which make Wake Forest such a special University. I hope you will join me in welcoming the Class of 2024.
Categories: Staff News, University Announcement
A Message from President Hatch
President Nathan Hatch emailed this announcement to students, faculty and staff on April 8:
Dear Wake Forest Faculty, Staff and Students,
After completing a national search that began last fall, I am pleased to announce that Wake Forest has appointed Eric Maguire to serve as Vice President for Enrollment, effective July 1. Mr. Maguire, who currently serves as vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid at Franklin & Marshall College, is known for his success in recruiting highly talented students, prioritizing academic excellence and increasing socioeconomic, racial and ethnic diversity.
We created the new vice president for enrollment position to enhance the University’s ability to attract the best students by strategically aligning undergraduate admissions and financial aid functions. In this role, he will have broad responsibility for recruiting, admitting and enrolling undergraduate students.
Mr. Maguire is a national thought leader in higher education enrollment who will bring creativity and strategic vision to this important role. He takes an innovative, student-centric and data-driven approach to admissions, which we are confident will build upon our success in attracting outstanding students to Wake Forest.
He is a first-generation college student and has a commitment to, and experience in, helping create more inclusive learning communities in American higher education. We fully expect he will bring an even greater diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, talents and experiences to our campus community.
You can read more about his accomplishments here.
I am grateful to the search committee – which Provost Kersh and I co-chaired – for finding such an exceptionally well-qualified admissions leader. I look forward to welcoming Mr. Maguire to the Wake Forest community.
Sincerely,
Nathan O. Hatch
President
Categories: University Announcement
