AACRAO Spotlight interviews are published twice weekly before major professional development meetings. They feature our conversations with industry experts, highlighting key issues and promoting sessions and workshops at the upcoming conference.
One of the key topics featured in AACRAO's upcoming SEM Conference in Los Angeles, CA is "emerging issues." The sessions in the "emerging issues" track focus on broad trends, such as data analytics and retention, and also newer issues, sucha s closing the Latino achievement gap and millennial student success.
This issue of Connect, we talked with SEM presenters on nuanced approaches to student success, millennial student success and creating data-driven SEM decisions.
Fitting Success to Students: Retention, One Student at a Time
On campuses across North America, more attention than ever is being paid to student success. But not all students define success the same. Rather than trying to shoehorn students into preconceived success models, enrollment managers may benefit from taking a more nuanced approach, according to Jody Gordon, Vice President, Students, University of the Fraser Valley and Stan Henderson, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Life, University of Michigan, Dearborn.
In their workshop “Fitting Success to Students: Retention, One Student at a Time,” Gordon and Henderson will discuss how students have different learning styles and respond to different means of support and examine the different barriers to success faced by various students, including first-generation, transfer, mature, LGBTTQ, Hispanic, Aboriginal/Native American, and Veterans, to name a few.
Read our interview with Gordon and Henderson here.
What Motivates and Retains Millennials? Key Research Findings to Help Attract and Retain Millennial Employees
For the first time in history, colleges and universities have three or even four generations in the workforce. And millennials are projected to replace baby boomers as the dominant workforce, says Monique Perry, Ed.D., Dean of Enrollment Services at York Technical College in South Carolina.
Dr. Perry’s doctoral research focused on this growing force—both as employees and as students—and she will share what she learned in her SEM session "What Motivates and Retains Millennials? Key Research Findings to Help Attract and Retain Millennial Employees." (Dr. Perry will also present another session—“Who Are These People!?!?!?? Recruitment Strategies and Expectations of Millennial Students (and their Parents!)”—to explore how colleges can improve millennial student success.)
Read our interview with Dr. Perry here.
Building a SEM-based Data and Research Portfolio: Embracing Big Data and Business Intelligence Principles to Improve Reporting
This introductory workshop is designed for enrollment leaders desiring to develop a formal enrollment reporting portfolio and a more data driven SEM environment. The session will focus on how and when to create reports to help campus leaders solve problems and make more data-informed decisions.
Read our interview with these presenters here.