The ever-changing landscape of higher education presents enrollment management
(EM) professionals with challenges related to workload, staff morale,
conflicting values, staff turnover, and student satisfaction. As higher
education confronts the reality of today’s enrollment climate, it is time to
consider how organizational cultures impact staff well-being and, by
extension, the quality of service provided to students. This article provides
a comprehensive exploration of the transformative journey undertaken by the
University of California, Merced’s enrollment management (EM) team to reshape
its organizational culture, emphasizing the importance of aligning norms and
values with a student-ready mindset. Building upon a previous article titled
“The Relationship Between One-Stop Support and New Student Enrollment” (Perry
2023), the authors discuss practical concepts, leveraged by one institution,
for developing an enrollment management centralized service model that focuses
on meeting the needs of current students while fostering a sense of belonging
for staff.
