This issue of Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly presents a diverse array of research and viewpoints on SEM today. From research on propensity to enroll among high school students in Indiana to graduate SEM professional development, the issue spans the breadth of higher education enrollment levels. Structural contexts and limitations of SEM are examined, as are the potential impacts of outcomes based performance funding on the work of SEM professionals, an issue that is universal in today's global higher education landscape.

In “A View From the Top,” Dr. Monique Snowden asks fundamental questions about the impact of and focus on SEM structures. This incredibly insightful article is grounded in SEM history and the questions of SEM alignment that have been elemental to our profession for decades. It goes beyond these historical trends, pointing to the role of the modern registrar in SEM and the future directions for the profession, generally. It examines the relationship between SEM and academic affairs, one that at times is limited by structures yet symbiotic in its interdependence.

Moore and Russ‐Eft explore the implications of performance‐based funding on SEM practice. As more states, federal offices and independent boards focus on enrollment outcomes to measure institutional health and success, pressure grows to select students that may enhance these results. These limited measures of student success place demands on institutions to quickly produce higher graduation rates. At the same time, institutions work to serve populations of students who increasingly come to higher education under‐prepared and financially needy.

Understanding student enrollment behaviors is one of the “black boxes” of SEM practice. Using an existing large data set of Indiana high school students, Pike and Robbins examine the relationship between student characteristics, secondary school characteristics and resulting enrollment patterns in higher education institutions. It provides the reader with valuable insights and perhaps conformation of anecdotal observations from practice.

Dr. Ariana Balayan of Sacred Heart University reviews the professional development behaviors of graduate enrollment managers through the lens of her professional association, NAGAP. As interest in graduate SEM rises with greater pressures for enrollment in many institutions, the development needs of SEM professionals, academic deans, graduate deans and faculty to manage enrollments are also rising. The article provides an early baseline on professional development behavior and signals the need to reach these professionals and meet their needs.

The variety in this issue of SEMQ provides something for every reader. From statistical relationships to qualitative studies and from professional practice to SEM structures and roles, this is a rich resource of information for SEM professionals.