Executive SEM workshop
In order for strategic enrollment management to work, the leadership of an institution must be fully committed to it. During the SEM conference in November, twenty college and university presidents and vice presidents gathered for a symposium, “Achieving Excellence in a Time of Lean Resources: New Strategies for Student and Fiscal Success.” Moderated by Robert Smith, president of Slippery Rock University, speakers included Bob Bontrager, Coordinator of the SEM Conference and Director of AACRAO Consulting; William Sedlacek, Professor of Education at the University of Maryland; and Gil Brown, Director of Budget and Financial Planning at George Mason University and Senior Consultant with AACRAO Consulting. Leading the discussions, too, were Loren Swatzendruber, president of Eastern Mennonite University (VA) and Debbie Sydow, president of Onondaga Community College (NY).
A FEW MAJOR POINTS ABOUT SEM FROM THE PRACTITIONERS
Bob Bontrager, Bill Sedlacek, and Gil Brown presented their views on strategic management, predicting and promoting student success, and financial planning.
“Strategic enrollment management is a concept and process that enables the fulfillment of institutional mission and students’ educational goals.” Adopting this definition, the presenters followed with components and corollaries such as those below.
- Universities need to plan for where they want to be in 10 years, and work on the incremental goals that will get them there.
- The goals must be true to the institutional mission, preferably a mission that fills a niche, a mission that is promoted and maintained.
- The institution must establish clear goals for the number and types of students needed to fulfill its mission.
- To bring in these students as well as to expand educational access and better understand how to support individual students, institutions must understand that many variables can be used to assess the qualifications of prospective students.
- “Noncognitive variables” such as a student’s self-concept, long-range goals, leadership qualities, and community involvement have yielded far more predictive information than standardized tests alone.
- The entire institution must work to promote these students’ academic success by improving access, transition, persistence, retention, and graduation–not only recruitment.
- A data-rich environment is critical to inform decisions and evaluate strategies.
- SEM requires strong communication and collaboration among departments across the campus–including faculty and deans–in order that they understand the enrollment goals and their roles and importance in achieving them.
- Institutional success requires effective financial as well as strategic planning.
- Successful financial planning improves revenue and expense forecasts; improves understanding of institutional finances, risks, and opportunities; builds synergies across functional units; enhances credibility with stakeholders; and builds a shared commitment to defined financial and programmatic outcomes.
- Operating budgets, enrollments, and academic programs run on their own cycles; the challenge is to bring all these cycles into the financial planning process.
Views from the Presidency
Presidents Robert Smith (Slippery Rock University), Loren Swatzendruber (Eastern Mennonite University), and Debbie Sydow (Onondaga Community College) served as moderator and presenters of the symposium. Having led their institutions in major strategic enrollment management efforts, they agreed that the success of a SEM plan depends on embracing multiple constituencies to support it and understand how they benefit. SEM has made it possible for them to prioritize programs, and to seek academic excellence instead of chasing FTE’s. The presidents discussed some of their institutional issues and offered advice as a launching point for more general discussion.
- No correlation exists between size, growth and financial stability. When the President began, three years ago, the undergraduate population was decreasing but the student body was increasing overall. That may have looked good when seeing the overall numbers–but it was the undergraduate population that drove the budget. The recruiting process was illogical.
- Know and plan for the financial costs of valued programs. The institution is committed to a one-semester cross-cultural requirement. While that requirement can be fulfilled even in different areas of the United States, the student usually does this overseas. This has a negative consequence for enrollment. The commitment to this cross-cultural program is firm–but the financial consequences must be recognized and plans made to accommodate it.
- Be certain that every decision is data driven and information is transparent. These are essential to the critical ability of an institution to see which of its programs need help. To foster transparency, the institution posts meeting minutes to the web. The President posts a monthly update and holds a Town Hall twice each semester.
- Prioritize academic programs. Do not dilute resources, or confuse people by expanding beyond the institution’s niche. This does not mean that financial return is all that matters; some expensive programs are essential to institutional mission.
- Use consultants wisely. A consultant can get the institution to a place it never could have gone on its own–bringing new expertise, an outside perspective, and unbiased recommendations. But if the institution does not carefully consider its goals beforehand, hiring a consultant can be the wrong thing to do.
- Take advantage of being new. When you’re a new leader, you do not have to accept responsibility for the past. That makes it easier to make a new imprint. It is important to take advantage of this opportunity, which makes up for having so many new things to learn.
- Prepare carefully for strategic enrollment management efforts. The institution had miles to go before we could use SEM to pull it all together–for example, the IT infrastructure had to be rethought and put into place.
- SEM presents a different challenge for graduate programs. The challenge here is that students come to the institution in ways that are different from undergraduates, so it’s easy to be decentralized and takes more effort to communicate.
- Communication is essential. Most people are rational. If they understand the situation, they can transform it before it becomes an emergency. When people are encouraged to open up, too, they usually feel they have nothing hide–even on the financial end (though sensitivity to aspects such as certain salaries must always be maintained).
- Involve the Board. When the Board is brought into the process, they can support it. We brought representatives from many ad agencies in to meet with our Board and engage them in a discussion on marketing.
- The strategic enrollment management process creates a common understanding. The discipline of adhering to strategic enrollment management program was good for the institution. It is designed to have everyone looking at the same page.
Posted on May 25, 2007
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AACRAO Consulting is dedicated to providing results-oriented, best practice solutions that help colleges and universities achieve their strategic goals.
We apply unique approaches to the assessment, design, and implementation of state-of-the-art practices in strategic enrollment management, student services, staff development, and organizational effectiveness. [Continue reading...]
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