Putting the Planning into SEM: Developing a SEM Plan

1. Putting the Planning into SEM: Developing a SEM Plan Clayton Smith, University of Windsor Susan Gottheil, Mount Royal University

2. SEM Audit

3. Introductions Why did you sign up for the workshop? Does your institution have a SEM plan? • Is it working well- why or why not ? Have you personally been involved in any strategic planning process before ? If so, in what capacity?

4. SEM Planning • Many institutions have nominally adopted enrolment management • renaming of admissions & recruitment functions • tactics fundamentally marketing activities • Few institutions have a comprehensive, holistic SEM Plan • covering all academic & administrative units of the institution • setting clear goals • providing optimal alignment of: • mission & vision • enrolment • fiscal health • changing environment

5. CANADIAN SEM Why Develop a SEM Plan? • Veteran admissions and financial aid professionals have accumulated years of experience and often act instinctively with tactical approaches to recruitment and retention • Student affairs professionals understand the need to connect with students and frequently initiate new developmental programs to help them succeed • Faculty work with teaching & development centres, refining curriculum & pedagogy to enhance student engagement • …But putting all of this together, while considering changing environments, internal realities, and external pressures, requires thoughtful planning, systems thinking, and careful analysis

6. Planning Doesn’t ensure results but provides • Disciplined appraisal • Goal setting • Stategizing Minimizes failure Organizes thought processes A great communication tool Describes what institution will achieve & how it will accomplish it

7. CANADIAN SEM SEM Planning • A systematic, ongoing and cyclical process with a built-in annual reporting cycle • A collaborative process whereby all institutional constituents are involved in deciding how the institution should respond to external conditions • Future oriented: 5, 10, 15 year horizon • Tied into strategic, academic & budget plans • Not all strategic plans address enrolment management, BUT enrolment management cannot work without strategic planning

8. CANADIAN SEM Our Goals Today Establish a common understanding of SEM Review emerging SEM issues Walk through the major components of the SEM planning model Provide resources you can use to help guide your institution in the development of a SEM plan Provide web links to institutional SEM plans and planning article references that you can use as resources

9. CANADIAN What is SEM?

10. CANADIAN Prospects Inquiries Applicants Admits Matrics The Classic Admissions Funnel

11. CANADIAN Enrolment Management: The Classical Definition Enrollment management is an organizational concept and a systematic set of activities designed to enable educational institutions to exert more influence over their student enrollments. Organized by strategic planning and supported by institutional research, enrollment management activities concern student college choice, transition to college, student attrition and retention, and student outcomes. These processes are studied to guide institutional practices in the areas of new student recruitment and financial aid, student support services, curriculum development and other academic areas that affect enrollments, student persistence and student outcomes from college. - Don Hossler, 1990

12. SEM is… …a comprehensive process designed to help an institution achieve and maintain optimum enrolment, where optimum is defined within the academic context of the institution. -Michael Dolence (1993)

13. Promoting Student Success:The Student Success Continuum CANADIAN SE Classroom experience Co-curricular support Recruitment / Marketing Degree/goal attainment Orientation Student’s college /university career Financial support Academic support Admission Retention

14. The Student Success Continuum CANADIAN SE Traditional Enrolment Perspective Classroom experience Co-curricular support Recruitment / Marketing Degree/goal attainment Orientation Student’s college /university career Financial support Academic support Admission Retention

15. The Student Success Continuum CANADIAN The SEM Perspective Degree/goal attainment Classroom experience Co-curricular support Recruitment / Marketing Orientation Student’s college /university career Financial Aid Academic support Admission Retention

16. What is SEM? • The range of activities that influence a student’s initial & continued enrolment • The programs, policies & processes that impact institutional enrolment • The organizational framework & structure that supports institutional & student goals • It is tied into the institutional academic & strategic plan

17. Optimal Enrolment Enrolment Quantity Enrolment Quality Capacity Management Enrolment Diversity

18. CANADIAN Physical Capacity Ethnicity Undergrad/ Grad Majors Academic Profiles Residency Special Skills Program Capacity The Concept of Optimum Enrolment Institutional Mission

19. CANADIAN All PSEs are NOT the Same • Size • Location • Student body • Mission • Accessibility We can’t be all things to all people.

20. Institutional Mission andEnrolment Goals Are Determined By: CANADIAN SEM Programs offered Current competitive status Range of influence Niche Aspirational status Weaknesses Strengths Historical status Determine your niche, focus on it & deliver on it as well as you possibly can …

21. CANADIAN Think creatively about those niches! • The obvious . . . • Tuition rates (colleges vs universities; different provinces) • Location • Class-size • Faculty-full-time vs sessional, TAs • Admission requirements (open admission, GPA) • Admission processes • Special relations with local communities, businesses and industries • Immediate work-related skills, co-op opportunities • And not-so-obvious …

22. Discussion What are the niches or potential niches you have at your institution?

23. CANADIAN SEM is Achieved by… • Establishing clear goals for the number & types of students needed to fulfil the institutional mission • i.e., determining, achieving & maintaining optimum enrolments • How many students would be “enough”? • Promoting student academic success by improving access, transition, retention, & graduation • Enabling effective strategic & financial planning • Supporting the delivery of effective academic programs

24. SEM is Achieved by… • Creating a data-rich environment to inform decisions & evaluate strategies • Improving process & organizational efficiency • Establishing top quality student-centred service • Strengthening communications & collaboration among departments across the campus - Bob Bontrager (2004)

25. Myth Busters Myth Busters • SEM plan is not just an enhanced recruitment & marketing plan. • SEM structure is not just an organizational plan. • SEM is not separate from the academic mission of the institution. • SEM is not always about growth. • SEM is the effective integration of administrative processes, student services, curriculum planning, and market analysis.

26. No One Way “Myths about enrolment management are abundant, yet one truism has emerged…there is no single way to implement enrollment management.” -Jim Black (2004)

27. When you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. - Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland

28. The SEM Plan: A Great Place to Start

29. The enrollment plan serves as the road map for achieving specific institutional goals, typically connected to student body size, enrollment mix, and revenue, while also providing specific indicators on the effectiveness of the learning environment. -Janet Ward, 2005

30. Before You Begin • Identify a champion…probably not the enrolment manager (too much self-interest!) • Often the chief academic officer/provost • Sometimes the president • Someone who can bring the plan to life once it is developed Gain commitment to move beyond the “ready, aim, aim” state.

31. A word to the wise It is so easy to go straight to “strategies”. But you should do your homework first and start with step one.

32. The First Steps

33. The Plan to Plan Starting a planning process is to develop a plan to plan: • Develop institutional support for strategic planning/SEM • Establish a planning committee • Work with the planning committee to design the process • Establish a timeline to keep everyone on task • Provide adequate resources for all planning activities

34. “The more people involved in decision making, the greater the commitment to implementing the decision.” -Hossler, Bean & Associates, 1990

35. Discussion Have you developed a plan to plan at your institution? If so, who is involved?

36. Creating a Structure • Create a structure for planning with regard to five concerns: • Institutional culture • Governance structure • Enabling the institution to review issues, goals and strategies through these lenses: • administrative processes • student services • curriculum planning • market analysis • Budget decision cycle and involvement of budget decision-makers • The dynamics of Change Management.

37. Selecting the Right Organizational Structure for Your Institution • Committee • Coordinator • Matrix • Division

38. Discussion What are the strengths and weaknesses of the various structures ?

39. DATA AND DECISION MAKING

40. “Without data you’re just another person with an opinion.” -unknown “Data is not the plural of anecdote.” -numerous authors

41. Data What puts the “S” in “SEM” • Transactional data • Recruitment & retention analysis • Assessment of strategies, services & outcomes (KPIs) Meaningful metrics • How clean is your data ? • Does everyone understand the definitions?

42. The Enrolment Data Agenda Enrolment Strategies Alumni engagement Active Alumni Graduated Engaged, Satisfied Retained Enrolled Deposited Applied/Admitted Prospective Students Alumni Research Graduation/ Career Development Placement Data Graduate Rates Retention Data Student Surveys First Year Exp. & Retention Programs Financial Aid Analysis Yield Yield Data Admission Statistics Recruitment Competitive Analysis Market Research Marketing Creating a Data-Driven Enrolment Plan

43. Mission The mission statement is the key to institutional identity. It is often heralded as the key to strategic planning. This is fundamentally wrong. The mission statement defines what your institution is. It is a measure of the status quo. It establishes the organizational framework under which you operate, it does not provide direction, it defines the present. The mission statement simply states what business you are in, why you exist and who you serve. The mission clarifies the institution’s purpose

44. A Clear Vision… • Sets the tone • Articulates what institution will look like when it fulfills its mission • Guides institutional decision making and the setting of priorities • Inspires all constituents • It is ambitious • Is consistent with institutional history, values & culture • Inspires enthusiasm & commitment, motivates

46. When the waterhole dries up, the animals start looking at each other differently.-African Proverb

47. CANADIAN

48. Is Your Mission Changing ? Programs Student demographics Convenience & flexibility Community profile Market conditions

49. Discussion Your turn!

50. Changing Environment • Constrained resources, tuition dependency, rising fees & increased student debt loads • Increasing competition for students • Changing demographics • Increased accountability • Focus on student success & retention as well as recruitment • Increased use of merit aid/decrease in needs-based aid • Uneven population growth across geographic regions