When Mickey Burnim first lived in the Washington area it was 1980 and he was on a 15-month assignment for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Now, 27 years later, the new Bowie State University president is back in the region and hoping to have a lasting effect.
“My goals are really pretty simple,” he said. “I want to strengthen the university so that it is a better institution, a stronger institution than when I came.”
Though Burnim took office in September 2006, he will be officially inaugurated this week as Bowie State’s ninth president.
“I think the university’s future really hinges upon its ability to grow its enrollment,” Burnim said. “So our top priority is enrollment growth.”
Currently, 5,404 full time graduate and undergraduates attend the historically black university. By 2012, the university projects 6,075 students will attend the school.
“Enrollment growth is critically important because that is the most visible indicator of a progressive, relevant and effective institution,” Burnim said.
By the end of the academic year, and possibly as soon as January, Burnim said the university’s comprehensive enrollment plan will be complete. Burnim said the plan will address ways to attract more students from community colleges and for the university’s graduate programs.
In addition, he said, “We will do things to try to attract more students from outside of Prince George’s County, more international students.”
Currently, Bowie State is in negotiations with Prince George’s County for the rights to more than 200 acres of land near the campus, an acquisition that Burnim thinks would help bolster enrollment. Burnim said he envisions having student housing, retail and restaurants on the property.
“I think the lack of availability of housing is a major impediment to our ability to grow our enrollment,” he said.
The university, Burnim said, houses only about 20 percent of its students. “I’d really like that to be closer to 40 percent,” he said.
Before coming to Bowie State, Burnim was chancellor at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. He has also held administrative positions at North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina.
