Campus Leaders Engage in Compelling Discussions at AACRAO’s Executive Symposium

AACRAO’s second annual Executive Symposium was held on Monday, October 29, 2007. Over thirty college and university presidents, provosts, and other senior-level administrators shared information on the enrollment challenges faced by their institutions.

Bob Bontrager, the director of the AACRAO SEM Conference, opened the Symposium with a presentation on how strategic enrollment management offers a unique and useful paradigm for attaining what sometimes seem to be disparate goals: promoting student access and success, while at the same time achieving positive institutional financial outcomes.

David Conley, Professor at the University of Oregon, engaged symposium attendees in a discussion of the Center for Educational Policy Research’s findings on student preparedness, including methods for identifying secondary programs that impact student success and guidelines for admissions departments to predict which students possess the skills to succeed in college level programs.

Martha Piper, who is strengthening the University of British Columbia’s role as a leading research international university, articulated the importance of putting students at the center of institutional missions and programs.

Following the presentations, Dr. Robert Smith, President of Slippery Rock University, led a panel discussion with Symposium attendees. The discussions focused on a variety of topics, including student access, serving non-traditional student populations, and increasing campus diversity.

The Executive Symposium will again be part of next year’s SEM Conference, with the Symposium tentatively scheduled for November 16, 2008. Institutions are encouraged to begin planning now to bring cabinet-level teams to provide leadership and focus to their enrollment efforts.

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Posted on November 14, 2007