Institutions of higher learning are facing major shifts in student demographics, increasing demands for accountability and greater political scrutiny. In the face of this sea change, strategic enrollment management (SEM) has emerged as an essential tool for distilling and addressing fundamental questions about institutional focus and effectiveness—and for creating a coherent, long-term plan for institutional success.
Success requires campus-wide buy-in
The ambitious nature of SEM planning requires buy-in from every facet of campus operations—student affairs and academic affairs; registrars, admissions officers, administration, financial aid and faculty. For a SEM plan to be truly effective, it must be created collaboratively and integrated into every department’s mission and planning.
For these reasons, the 2015 AACRAO SEM Conference, which took place in November in Hollywood, Florida, featured programming specifically tailored for institutional teams. A month after the conference, we spoke with teams from two of those institutions—Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan and Central Arizona College—to find out what they learned and whether those lessons have translated into action now that they’re home. Below is a brief summary of the team track content and reflections from the team members and mentors.
Conference track for teams
Twenty-five institutions brought teams of four or more to participate in the team track, which included the following elements:
- The SEM Core Concepts and SEM Planning for Institutional Teams Workshop provided an overview of the core concepts of SEM and a review of methods to organize planning teams and an understanding of the process and commitments required for creating a SEM plan on campus.
- Each team was assigned a Faculty Mentor—an experienced SEM leader who checked in at specific points during the conference. Teams were given assignments to complete on a daily basis and mentors provided feedback on progress.
- A Wrap-up session to synthesize what teams learned and focus on next steps for the institutional team once they return to campus.
- SEM Team Reception, an invitation-only, hosted event.
Unexpected insights: From Academics to Financial Aid
When the Central Arizona College team arrived back at campus, they hit the ground running, developing a large task force to focus on the goals they’d established at the SEM Conference. Thanks to the meeting, CAC established that they need to gather more data, hone their message, and develop a timeline for SEM implementation.
“The conference really kicked off a positive change,” said Jenni Cardenas, Dean of Student Affairs at CAC. In addition to Cardenas, CAC’s team of six members included their Director of Admissions and Recruitment, Registrar, Executive Director of Public Relations and Marketing, Director of Student Retention, and Director of Student Affairs.
“We determined right away we wished we’d brought the academic side with us,” Cardenas added. “If it’s going to be a large-scale initiative, there has to be a commitment from both sides. We didn’t realize going in that we would get out of it what we did, and if we’d had both sides of the house at the table, we’d be a few steps ahead.”
In the initial stages of writing up their SEM plan, the team from Oakland University noted that they have good data and are ready to “go where the data leads us,” said Registrar Steve Shablin.
“We have solid institutional research and are off to a good start. We know that we are creating a living document that will require the input of offices across campus,” said Paul Schroeder , Oakland University Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management.
Oakland University Financial Aid Director Cindy Hermsen reiterated the importance of that fact. “When you think about SEM, you think about admissions, recruiting, registrars, and retention. But what about funding? Financial aid often gets left out of the conversation,” Hermsen said. “For me it’s very important to have Financial Aid sitting at the table when our SEM plan is developed. I was happy to know that Jay Goff [one of Oakland’s mentors] understood the FAFSA and the importance of the role of financial aid in enrollment management.”
Indispensable mentors
As Hermsen hinted, the mentors played a transformative role in both teams’ experiences. Before the conference, mentors familiarized themselves with the schools they were mentoring in order to help tailor their advice as needed.
“The mentors were well prepared and did their research,” said Shablin. “It wasn’t about just taking another institution’s SEM plan and changing the name; it was about understanding our institution’s culture.”
Christine Kerlin, Senior Consultant with AACRAO Consulting, who mentored the CAC team “really helped us see what we were learning through the perspective of our own goals and objectives,” said Luis Sanchez, CAC Director of Admissions and Recruitment. “More than any conference I’ve been to, we were able to maintain focus and feel guided through the process thanks to the mentor; we could see how what we were learning could be directly applicable when we got home.”
"I was impressed by the commitment of the CAC Team,” Kerlin said. “They are supportive of each other in building and implementing SEM strategies, candid in viewing challenges, and motivated to engage their instructional colleagues."
According to the teams, the conference content was strong on praxis as well as philosophy. “They offered sessions not only related to ‘what is SEM?’ but what were some real action or initiatives that institutions are doing to fulfill their SEM goals,” said Shablin. “There were a lot of hands-on sessions to see how institutions are using the plans in day-to-day operations and decision making. So we got both the theory and practice of SEM.
Bringing people together
One of the most important aspects of the team track was the emphasis on collective decision-making and collaboration. Benefits included:
- Developing a common language and vision. “The conversations really fostered new ideas and gave us a sense of unity,” said Sanchez.
- Gaining a sense of collective responsibility. “It helped solidify how we all have a role in the process and gave us momentum to be a catalyst for positive change,” added Angela Askey, Executive Director of Public Relations and Marketing.
- Opportunity for immediate exchange. “It was invaluable to attend as a team and be able to sit down all together at the end of the day and discuss what we’d learned,” said Schroeder.
- Ability to cover more ground. “We looked at the agenda and picked sessions for what would be beneficial for each member of the team,” said Hermsen. “We were able to cover more territory and bring back to Oakland and share what we saw or learned.”
- Relationship-building. “We got to know each other better,” Hermsen said. “The SEM team is a new unit and it helped us at a time that we’re beginning to work together to be on the same page.”
The team track at the conference offered the opportunity for both institutions to achieve real focus on an indisputably important goal. “It’s important for us all to be on the same page,” Schroeder said. “The conference helped us achieve that. To undertake something that takes this much effort across so many area of campus, it’s important to go down the right path. The future of the university may depend on what we come up with.”
Teamwork is key
Teamwork is an essential element of SEM success. As Bob Bontrager noted in “Purposes of SEM” (ca. 2004), collaboration across the campus is required to achieve SEM in the institutional setting.
“Seeing so many teams come to the SEM 2015 conference was exciting, as it bodes well for the success of enrollment and students and their campuses,” said Tom Green, AACRAO Associate Executive Director, Consulting and SEM. “We look forward to hosting even more institutional teams at the SEM 2016 conference in San Antonio and to helping them work across institutional units to plan and implement SEM on their campuses.”