ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 6, 1996 TAG: 9608060084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: FERRUM
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
TUITION HAS GONE UP; the number of students has dipped slightly. The mission facing Dan Miller is no small task.
Mention change to Dan Miller and you won't see him squirm in his seat or see beads of sweat break out on his forehead.
Miller knows change.
At one point in his career, he left a small coed college in New York to take a job at Mississippi University for Women.
What might have been culture shock to some was an experience in learning to Miller, who has been hired as the first vice president for enrollment at Ferrum College.
Miller is well aware that he faces a challenge with his new job.
Ferrum has been through a rough year:
Enrollment is down, and tuition is up.
A March survey conducted by a faculty group showed that an overwhelming majority of the college's teachers are not satisfied with the leadership of its president, Jerry Boone.
The budget has been cut, and people have been laid off.
But when the problems are presented to Miller, he doesn't sigh and shake his head.
Instead, he smiles and says:
"Enrollment for the fall semester is only down about 14 students. With the year Ferrum has had, that's terrific."
Matt Conn, Ferrum's public relations director, tells Miller that the number has actually dropped from 14 to seven.
"See, things are getting better by the moment," Miller says.
It's obvious that Miller, 35, is an optimist.
At Alvernia College in Reading, Pa., where he served as vice president of enrollment management for the past six years, Miller was assigned the task of increasing Alvernia's student numbers.
To many, that might have seemed a daunting assignment.
There are five other colleges in the same county.
But Miller succeeded.
Enrollment at Alvernia is up 300 since 1990, the year Miller took the vice president's job, according to the school's public relations director.
Ferrum College administrators hope Miller's Alvernia strategy can work here.
At Alvernia, Miller was in charge of four departments - admissions, financial aid, enrollment retention, and publications.
Miller coordinated a focused effort that used direct mailings, advertising in national magazines, and computer database searches to find students who could be attracted to Alvernia's mission. (It's a small Catholic school that stresses public service.)
When he took the job at Alvernia, Miller said he realized the school needed to expand its boundaries to find students.
With today's global technology, Miller took advantage of all options; CD-ROMs chock-full of Alvernia information were sent to some prospective students.
At Ferrum, Miller steps into a job that has been molded to resemble his duties at Alvernia.
He will oversee student admissions, financial aid and enrollment retention - departments that have operated separately in the past.
Conn says he hopes Miller will help focus Ferrum's mission.
The school does a lot of things well, Conn said, but defining Ferrum in a concise manner isn't easy.
Miller is ready to start.
He's excited about a final report of a faculty summer study team that has been developing recommendations for the school's future.
And, Miller said, as soon as he set foot on Ferrum's campus several weeks ago, he was immediately impressed with the attitude faculty and administrators have for the school.
He also noticed the beautiful scenery of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which surround the school's campus in Franklin County.
Miller already has an idea on how to market Ferrum's out-of-the-way location, which can sometimes spark a snide comment.
"Why can't this be a Walden Pond?" he says.
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PHILIP HOLMAN Staff. Dan Miller, formerly a viceby CNBpresident of enrollment management at Alvernia College in Reading,
Pa., joins Ferrum College to help boost the school's flagging
enrollment numbers. color.