Foreword by David H. Kalsbeek
Every chief enrollment officer in higher education knows that his or her success relies largely on the capability of the enrollment management team that he or she has assembled. The ability to meet net tuition revenue goals, enrollment targets, and the desired student mix, all while delivering mission-based outcomes, is critically dependent on the talent of the workforce. Within the Division of Enrollment Management and Marketing (EMM) at DePaul University, we believe defining and developing talent is accomplished through a deliberate talent management strategy that is grounded in a competency framework.
While the current employee development practices at many higher education institutions tend to be transactional and reactive (filling positions as they become vacant utilizing fairly static job descriptions), EMM has built the infrastructure, tools, and process to comprehensively develop its workforce capability over time through a competency-based model. This innovative approach allows DePaul EMM senior leaders and management to develop the division’s human capital in a more agile and strategically responsive way to the ever-changing landscape and demands of higher education. It has also ignited and cultivated an ongoing dialogue and use of a powerful capability-building framework for managers and employees.
This article is an overview of this talent management and competency model. It also describes the development, implementation, and benefits of EMM’s multiyear program that has fundamentally altered the way we think about and develop our enrollment management professionals and how we manage talent both individually and organizationally to meet and exceed our strategic goals.
