According to Jason Black, who has served as assistant vice president for enrollment management and dean of admission for all 12 years, it’s the university administration’s flexibility and commitment to the mission that have allowed enrollment to continue to grow.
The university saw its total undergraduate and graduate student population increase from 4,658 in 2009 to 5,729 in 2020, a near 23% increase in 12 years. In this current academic year, enrollment consists of 3,576 undergraduate and 2,153 graduate/ professional students, representing 47 states, the District of Columbia and 30 countries.
When asked which campus partners contribute to the success of Samford's recruitment, Black says he could provide a name from every department on campus. While the recruitment effort is led by the Office of Admission, with support in the 10 schools, each department uniquely contributes to recruitment. This may be a faculty member who lets a potential student observe a class, a food service employee who serves visiting families in the cafeteria or a groundskeeper who provides visitors a beautiful first impression of campus.
Westmoreland has been an integral part of this collaboration. He has held high expectations for the Office of Admission and fully supports its efforts. He has traveled anywhere that was requested, hosted groups in his home, spent time learning the admission process and spoke at any event he could.
“His greatest support has come in his unconditional commitment to keeping this institution moving forward and bringing it to the forefront of a lot of peer sets that people probably never thought we would compete with—all for the sake of recruiting students to a place that could help them understand the hope that they have in Jesus Christ,” said Black.
One example of how Westmoreland has added his own personal touch to recruitment is through sending handwritten notes to all incoming freshman. He started this in a year when there were 850 incoming freshmen. He would write the notes as deposits were received, many times recalling personal encounters he had with the student. The next year, he decided to write an additional 300 notes to students who had been admitted to Samford, but had not yet committed. Westmoreland's goal is simple—to serve students and their families as they pursue God's purpose in their lives.
“I had the good fortune of seeing Dr. Westmoreland be the same individual whether he was speaking at convocation or teaching a class or just walking across the quad,” Black said. “He deeply cares about people and the impact you have on them. I think that will be his greatest legacy as it relates to enrollment, that no matter what success you have, it has to always remain about the people.”
