AACRAO featured the SEM-Endorsement Program Panel session at the 2015 Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD. Panelists included Joe Head, Special Advisor for SEM-EP and former VP of Enrollment for Kennesaw State University; Rob Garrett, Managing Director of Enrollment Services, Brigham Young University; and Christopher W. Tremblay, Ed.D., Associate Provost for Enrollment Management, Western Michigan University. The session provided an overview of qualifications to enroll in the SEM-EP program and the requirements for certification.
AACRAO's Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement Program (SEM-EP) is the association’s first certification program. It provides a well-defined, self-paced curriculum and career advancement track for enrollment professionals. SEM-EP is designed to promote industry competency and expertise in the field of strategic enrollment management and to provide a respected vehicle to deliver an official credential through AACRAO. The program is designed to prepare and recognize enrollment management professionals at the national level using a registry offered through AACRAO.
“The discussions in the class and discussions we had outside of the SEM-EP process were extremely helpful,” shared Garrett, a SEM-EP graduate. “For my final project, one of my goals was to champion SEM ideas on my campus and I have been able to do so through opportunities that involved policy decisions, structural decisions, and presentations to the university at various all-employee meetings. I did not use the words ‘strategic enrollment management,’ but relayed the various principles I learned from SEM-EP. Frameworks and models really related to the issues I was dealing with on my campus”.
The online program is designed to help introduce state and regional associations’ memberships to a broader scope of networking, leadership, and readiness that may not be available locally. The program is flexible in that it offers rolling admission year-round.
Also at the session, Tremblay presented a landscape survey regarding the rising credentialing trend within the field. More than 30 such offerings have arisen in this academic arena. Check out the latest edition of SEMQuarterly for an article that highlights all of these credentials.
For more information about the program, please visit the SEM-EP website.