I'm starting my 30th year as a professor in higher education. Yay me! It's a blessing and a privilege. Sure, there are injustices, and sometimes these are truly awful. Overall though, I'm glad to have lasted this long in a dream job.
This longevity gives some perspective. Every academic year begins with faculty meetings that address the importance of student enrollment and retention. These always have a grim tone. An institutional crisis is happening! The general, sometimes indirect message is that faculty must try harder to boost enrollment and retention, thereby saving the institution.
It's undeniable that enrollment and retention are important in today's business-driven higher education environment. No students = no money.
The better question: Can faculty really fix the perennial problem of weak enrollment and retention? No, not really.
I'm doing my part by teaching classes to the very best of my ability. There's been a lot of pedagogy training, books read, teaching conferences, and discussions of best practices. My courses are reworked almost every year with an aim towards continuous improvement. Every semester ends with some soul searching about what could be done better. After all this time, my teaching has reached the best I can do.
When students are unsuccessful it is often due to factors beyond my control. There's no magic wand to wave that will fix under-prepared students, poverty, medical problems, and dysfunctional life circumstances. Many students are overwhelmed by working full-time. I truly feel for students in difficult situations. There's just not much that I can do outside of the classroom.
Some of our students don't want to be enrolled here. Local State U is cheap and convenient place to get core classes "out of the way." It's hard to change attitudes.
My mother, a lifelong educator, gave me wise advice years ago. Let the administrators worry about these institutional crises. It's their responsibility. Do what you can to help out, of course, but don't worry about it too much. It's enough to strive for being the best teacher you can be.
Addition on August 11, 2026
After publishing the above, more thoughts occurred. (It seems that how the writing process often goes.)
Part of my role is academic advising. College faculty give expert recommendations to their students. It can be short-term (example: registration) or long-term (example: career planning). Sometimes, this is guidance for students who are in academic trouble. This advising is an important part of my contribution towards enrollment and retention. Students sometimes disregard the advice or become impossible to contact. There's not much more that can be done beyond the advising efforts that I'm already doing.
The role academic support was left out of my initial post. Many courses in math and science have support like co-requisites, tutoring, and open labs for assistance. Faculty are asked to flag students who are struggling early in the term. The hope is to redirect them towards additional resources that might help.
The overall point is that the faculty are already actively working to assist students in numerous ways. There's not much additional work that can be done if student enrollment and retention is still lower than desired.