By Jody Gordon, Senior Managing Consultant, AACRAO Consulting
Dear AACRAO Consultants,
Our campus does not have a Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) plan, and when it has been suggested that we should embark on this planning journey, the response has been, “No, not another plan. We are tired of planning. We just finished our strategic planning process and several other planning initiatives that have involved the entire institution. We are planning fatigued.” How do we respond when some of us think we should engage in SEM planning but others do not?
Signed,
AACRAO Member
Dear AACRAO Member
Planning fatigue is very common across post-secondary institutions, as is the belief that we have a strategic plan, so why do we need an SEM plan? To the latter, we say that a SEM plan is a way to operationalize the strategic plan through the lens of enrollment and learner success. A strategic plan is aspirational and provides the answer to our “Why.” Who do we aspire to be as an institution? What is our desired enrollment mix? What experience do we desire for our learners both in and out of the classroom? And how do our values of equity, inclusion, and belonging impact our enrollment and the learner experience?
That said, initiative fatigue across our campuses is a very real hurdle to overcome. We encourage colleges and universities to see SEM planning as an “add-in,” not an “add-on." At all stages of SEM planning – be that the data collection or the development of goals, strategies, and tactics – colleges and universities should be looking to these other planning initiatives for ways to link, integrate, and extend this work into SEM planning. Known as LinkEx, this powerful tool leverages the other planning initiatives and builds upon the strengths already in place across the campus.
AACRAO members, do you have a question for our team of higher education consultants? Send your "Ask a Consultant" question to consulting@aacrao.org.
For more information on how AACRAO Consulting can assist your campus with SEM planning, visit our website or contact us via email consulting@aacrao.org
For more information on SEM planning and the power of LinkEx as a tool for managing planning fatigue, visit the AACRAO Bookstore to order the SEM trilogy of books: