Achieving Diversity in a Changing Legal Landscape
During Tuesday morning’s plenary presentation, Lorelle Espinosa, Assistant Vice President for the Center for Policy Research and Strategy at ACE, and Matthew Gaertner, Senior Research Scientist in the Center for College and Career Success at Pearson, shared the findings of their ground-breaking report “Race, Class, and College Access: Achieving Diversity in a Changing Legal Landscape.” The report, which examines how legal challenges to race-conscious admissions are influencing contemporary admissions practices at selective colleges and universities around the country, is especially timely considering the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. In fact, ACE filed a brief at the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of itself and 37 other college groups that represent various parts of academe on Friday, October 30.
The major point of the research is that higher education is still trying to come to grips with the shifting legal landscape. There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. As Matthew Gaertner noted at the close of his presentation, “Diversity strategy is highly context-dependent. What works at one institution may not directly transfer, so modifications will need to be made.”
Using Qualitative Research to Better Understand the Enrollment Experience of Students
In a recent SEM Conference session, John B. Lehman, of Michigan Technological Institute discussed his use of qualitative research to better understand the enrollment experience of students. Specifically, Lehman explored how students learn and make meaning of college costs and financial aid and then utilize that understanding in making enrollment decisions.
“Quantitative research is really valuable because it builds reality,” Lehman said. “It is how we fill in the gaps.”
Lehman’s study included interviews of a small group of high school seniors and college freshmen and gained insight into: the support to attend college within students’ family and high school environments; overall impressions of college costs; the reasons students chose Michigan Tech; the timing of when students receive financial aid information; and students’ confidence in their financial aid knowledge.
The study led Lehman to consider implications for practice, such as building multi-layer programs that provide precollege financial aid literacy.
“This is a slow process; you’re only touching 10-15 students at a time,” Lehman said. “But it really brings a lot of richness. This helps us become students of our students.”
From Achieving the Dream to Redesigning America's Community Colleges: What's Next for 2-Year Institutions in North America?
The Tuesday lunch plenary panel brought together presidents of community colleges and non-profits to discuss the future of 2-year institutions in North America. The panel was moderated by AACRAO's Executive Director Mike Reilly and featured Walter Bumphus of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), Karen Stout of Achieiving the Dream, Inc., Christopher Whitaker of Humber College, and William Serrata of El Paso Community College.
The pressure is on for community colleges to improve student success on its campuses. According to Stout, almost half of students completing a bachelor's degree at 4-year colleges had previous community college experience. Students may also return to community colleges after receiving a baccalaureate degree for professional development and graduate school preparation. All panelists agreed that reallocation alone won't improve student success; colleges must find a way to streamline the student lifecycle and pathways to transfer.
#AACRAO "This is a Camelot moment in time for community colleges" Dr Walter Bumpus, Pres/AmerAssoc of CCs #waketech pic.twitter.com/5d1mqPttoJ
— Sheree Ward (@NCSheree) November 3, 2015
The Enrollment Impact of Qualitative Metrics: How an Institution's Defined Brand and Personality Drive Growth
Scott Ochander, Dartlet Reputation Strategy and former Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing at Manchester University, presented a session titled “Growing Enrollment Through Brand Personality” at the 25th Annual SEM Conference. Ochander explained how campuses can “separate from the herd” by building recognition and reputation that positively affects the recruitment, retention and revenue. He offered insight into how institutions can to research and establish institutional personality using archetypes to understand who they are and who they are not.
Citing case studies at Calvin College and Woodbury University, Ochander shared how to create a “brand cave” to build one pathway to consensus. He added that a focus on an institution’s online presence is key to understanding personality and reputation. “The communication must meet students where they are,” he said. “You need to ensure you are promoting the personality that represents the experience you are giving students,” Ochander said.
Ochander said Manchester experienced positive results in personality branding, including: a 3.8 percent growth in overall search yield; a 28.7 percent increase in visits in a single year; and a 32 percent increase in first-year students in two years without the benefit of new programs or initiatives.
“My belief is that brand performance and brand promise have to align,” he said. “Get out of the herd; lead the consensus process for institution-wide change; and meet students where they are.”
Develop Your Research and Writing Skills for Publication
In a panel session at AACRAO’s SEM Conference, the SEM Quarterly Editorial Board offered attendees insight into how to develop their writing and submit it for publishing. The panel addressed areas such as: the importance of thorough literature reviews; better use of data in manuscripts; how to move an idea toward a final article; identifying and understanding the audience; and the benefits of research partners and co-authors.
The panel—Jody Gordon, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada; Don Hossler, Indiana University; Luke Schultheis, Virginia Commonwealth University; Mel Tyler, University of Missouri, Kansas City; Janet Ward, Seattle Pacific University; and Darin Wohlgemuth, Iowa State University—provided suggestions for article topics, including: financial aid, predicting yield, enrollment management and higher education finance, student success and retention, progress toward degree, enrollment management and IT, career paths of enrollment managers, graduate and international enrollment, and market demand for different higher education programs.
SEMQ seeks authors interested in contributing to the SEM literature. For manuscript guidelines or more information, visit: http://www.aacrao.org/resources/publications/sem-quarterly
SEM Rapid Fire Session 2: Hot Topics in SEM Data and Analytics
A second “Rapid Fire” session, on SEM data and analytics, took place on Tuesday with presentations by Christine Kerlin, AACRAO Consulting, Chris Shaffer, Shawnee State University, Loralyn Taylor, Ohio University, and Darin Wohlgemuth, Iowa State University. Topics discussed in the five-minute presentations included the importance of building context through environmental scanning and change management using data and analytics.
SEM Team Reception
Teams attending the AACRAO SEM Conference were invited to the SEM Team Reception, co-sponsored by AACRAO and College Scheduler, LLC.
With the growing presence of institiutional teams attending the SEM Conference, AACRAO has created new programming for SEM teams to implement and SEM planning on their campuses. Institutional teams of four or more were encouraged to sign up for the SEM Core Concepts and SEM Planning for Institutional Teams Workshop on Sunday. The workshop provided an overview of the core concepts of SEM. Teams were also assigned to a SEM faculty mentor to provide guidance for the duration of the SEM Conference.
