More than 40 cabinet-level higher education administrators convened in Los Angeles for AACRAO’s 9th Annual Executive Symposium, sponsored by Hobsons. Held in conjunction with AACRAO’s 24th Annual Strategic Enrollment Management Conference, the Executive Symposium offered attendees a solid foundation for implementing and sustaining effective SEM planning. With presentations and discussion led by SEM faculty Tom Green, Susan Gottheil, and William Serrata, the Executive Symposium focused on balancing institutional and student success.
Core concepts
Tom Green, AACRAO’s newly appointed Associate Executive Director, Consulting and SEM, started the conversation by focusing on the core concepts of Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM). He emphasized that along with being a concept and process, SEM is a way of thinking about enrollment. However, since no two institutions are exactly the same, there can be many different viewpoints about how SEM enables an institution to work efficiently.
To further explain how SEM structures can meet institutional mission and students’ educational goals, Green discussed SEM organizational frameworks, SEM process frameworks, and SEM planning frameworks. Putting such structures in place can help facilitate a process whereby the end result is achieving the institution’s desired future.
Student experience
Continuing the discussion was Susan Gottheil, Vice Provost (Students), University of Manitoba. She posed the question, “What is student success?” While members of the audience provided a variety of answers, Gottheil focused on the student experience. The nature of a student’s experience within the campus environment can have a significant impact on whether the student transfers, drops out, swirls, or continues on to graduation. She emphasized the need to look at what should be improved at the school rather than focus on what is “wrong” with the student. Gottheil stressed that we are too busy implementing strategies and tactics to actually determine what is working. Instead, we should use metrics to measure student success.
Data-based decisions
The final presentation was delivered by William Serrata, SEM Conference Director and President, El Paso Community College. His focus was on creating effective SEM organizations. Serrata emphasized that SEM is a process that takes time and that data is key to SEM success. Based on research and data, he implemented a variety of programs to meet the specific demographic and socioeconomic needs of the populations at El Paso Community College and his prior institution, South Texas College. For a majority of these students, education is a pathway towards a better quality of life. With that in mind, Serrata said that institutions should consider more marketing to their current student body since they comprise the majority of their enrollment. This can help with improving retention and graduation rates. In addition, he feels that institutions should place high expectations on their students and have support systems in place so those standards can be met. “I have yet to see a student rise to low expectations,” said Serrata.
The Executive Symposium wrapped up with a panel discussion featuring the Symposium faculty. Participants were asked to complete a form to assess their institutional readiness for SEM and the faculty responded to participants’ questions and offered additional counsel for implementing SEM.
"As a new member of the SEM leadership team at my university, I found the Executive Symposium to be very helpful and enlightening," said Dr. Daphne L. Rankin, Associate Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment Management at Virginia Commonwealth University. "The sessions provided me with 'big picture' insights related to strategic planning and numerous strategies for implementation that I will share with my colleagues when I return to campus."
The 10th Annual AACRAO Executive Symposium will be held November 1, 2015, at The Diplomat hotel in Hollywood, Florida.