Eskam Named Assistant Superintendent for Strategic Enrollment Management

“We want to attract, retain, and graduate high-achieving cadets.” That’s what Lt. Col. Shannon Eskam, Ed.D., who recently stepped into the newly created role of assistant superintendent for strategic enrollment management/director of financial aid, has to say about her goal in the position. Reporting directly to Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85, superintendent, Eskam oversees the Office of Admissions, the Office of Financial Aid, Cadet Marketing, and coordination of post-wide retention resources.

Eskam, who came to VMI from her native Wyoming in 2022, originally served as director of financial aid. In her expanded role, she’ll be tackling some challenges common to many institutions of higher education across the country, chief among them a declining pool of high school graduates relative to historical norms—often referred to as the enrollment cliff. “This role allows me to help coordinate efforts from recruitment and retention,” said Eskam. In response to a competitive recruiting environment, Eskam would like to see everyone in the VMI family, from alums to faculty to staff, pull together to recruit the kinds of young people who will thrive at VMI.

“Part of this cliff is knowing that you have fewer high school graduates to go after, but then having a very streamlined plan that is targeted, that is completely comprehensive across post, and ensuring everyone knows what we’re looking for and who we’re looking for,” she stated. Eskam and her team continually monitor prime areas for recruitment within Virginia and across the country.

Recruitment, of course, begins with the Office of Admissions, where Lt. Col. Joseph Hagy and his staff reach out to high schoolers and their families. Eskam explained that VMI has made major strides in the area of admissions in the last 2 years—improving the VMI admissions application, allowing applicants to apply via the Common App, which is a standardized admissions application used by thousands of schools, as well as leveraging financial aid to help make VMI a viable choice. Shifts in admissions strategies have been and will continue to be an ongoing effort to help improve the enrollment funnel and meet enrollment goals.

Each day over the past academic year, Eskam noted, the Office of Admissions was moving toward a new normal, but problems with a congressionally mandated revamp of the FAFSA, the federal government’s form for determining student aid, slowed the financial aid process while recruitment for the current Rat Mass of 2025+3 was ongoing. Despite this challenge, VMI was able to meet its enrollment goal; going forward, Eskam would like to ensure that VMI is continually improving on the recruitment experience for incoming cadets and their families, even when things are outside VMI’s direct control, as in the case of the FAFSA delay.

“Now we’re hoping that the Class of 2026+3, which we’re recruiting for now, will be our new baseline for what’s coming in from inquiries in the admissions funnel to those that actually end up signing the book on Matriculation Day,” she commented. “We’ve really built out and developed our enrollment funnel in 2 years, and now that we’ve seen and gone through this initial transition with these new tools in place, it’s going to be really exciting to see it come together when everything is operating like it should be during an enrollment cycle.”

Getting promising young people in the door is but one half of Eskam’s role, though. Retention is also key, and in that area, she’s working with the Miller Academic Center, the dean’s office, athletics, the registrar’s office, and more to make sure cadets have everything they need to succeed. “I am looking forward to helping coordinate efforts to ensure we are leveraging data-driving insights to inform enrollment and retention strategies, to improve our cadet outcomes, and provide cadets support they need while here at VMI,” she said.

“I think we are at such a pivotal moment to really develop this in a way that not only maintains our reputation as a premier institution but also ensures our graduates are well-prepared to lead with distinction in an ever-changing world,” Eskam stated. “It’s such a new position, and it’s such a new path forward for the Institute, that I’m looking forward to helping contribute to the growth and success of the Institute and our cadets and to see what we can do with this.”