Welcome to SEM Prep, a special collection of articles from Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly (SEMQ) curated for participants in AACRAO's annual SEM Conference. Each year, content especially relevant to prevaliling SEM practices is selected as background reading for participants in the 2018 SEM Conference.  

In this edition, I've chosen articles from Volume 5 and Volume 6 having a focus on recruitment, retention, and research (data). These are known as the “Three R’s” of SEM.  They establish a base from which you can consider the core elements of SEM.  Beyond the core, leadership is vitally important to practice. How we lead our institutions and our teams to consider, plan, implement, and measure SEM is every bit as important as the planning itself. This year, we feature the voices of women SEM leaders in SEMQ, including that of Susan Gottheil, one of the people I admire and learn from. She has been a leader in our field for decades, and her perspective on leadership has been forged from both great challenges and tremendous success.

While Susan’s leadership vision spans all institutional types and countries, we know that SEM is practiced in special ways within our profession. You will find articles that address SEM in the community college, graduate, and international settings. As our profession has expanded beyond its undergraduate, four-year roots, the nuances of these practices have become more evident.

This special edition is dedicated to the memory of Melvin “Mel” Tyler, who passed away recently. Mel was one of the original Editorial Board members of SEMQ and one of the great leaders in our field. His legacy of accomplishment at UMKC transformed student affairs, enrollment, and student success there. Mel was a great colleague and will be sorely missed.

I look forward to seeing you at the SEM Conference in Washington, D.C., in November.




International: 
Paddling with Purpose: Perceptions of Student Success and Retention Efforts by Tricia Seifert, Kathleen Moore, Jacqueline Beaulieu, and Christine H. Arnold

Recruitment: 
The Significance of Campus Visitations to College Choice and Strategic Enrollment Management by Scott Secore

Retention: 
Student Experiences in the Second Year: Advancing Strategies for Success Beyond the First Year of College by Althea J. Sterling

Data: 
Charting the Course: Using Data Analytics to Assist with Strategic Enrollment Management by Robert Muhammad and Kristen McManus

Leadership: 
Reflections on Achievement, Hitting the Glass Ceiling and Breaking the Mold by Susan Gottheil 

Community College: 
Differentiating Commitment to Welfare: Adult Student Perceptions of Institutional Practice by Shane Crounse, Lygie Hinkle, and Christin Shatzer

Graduate: 
Applicant and Faculty Characteristics in the Doctoral Admissions Process: An Experimental Vignette Study by Ann Marie Cano, Lee H. Wurm, Jennifer Nava, Farron McIntee, and Ambika Mathur