By Pearson, Ph.D., Associate Dean of Students, Director of CORE + Military Connection Center, Student and Campus Life, Old Dominion University, Cohort 6 AACRAO ASCEND Scholar
There was a fascinating dialogue on LinkedIn recently about merging Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, and it was refreshing to learn that I am not the only one perplexed by the silos of our higher education structure. The comments were intriguing and I, too, may be advocating for a live panel discussion …
While I, too, have more questions than hot takes on the topic, my deepest concern/question is:
Can I be both? Both an enrollment manager with a student affairs lens? An advocate for student affairs development and support, and an enrollment manager who understands the necessity of measurable goals, metrics, and outcomes?
I think the desire to be that type of strategic partner will serve our students despite our structurally separated silos.
In my first semester as a graduate student, our new Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs reorganized the division, and my assistantship in the Office of Admissions as the Graduate Assistant for Orientation transitioned to report to a newly established Enrollment Management pillar. This introduction to enrollment management, through a Student Affairs lens, shaped my perspective that I have carried through every role—but now, I am considering that perhaps it was my purpose in the position that shaped my perspective instead of the structure.
I have coordinated orientation for 15+ years. My journey was direct and traditional—orientation leader, graduate assistant, coordinator, assistant director, director. More than fifteen years of selecting sessions to build a schedule, date selections, handbooks, modality changes, peer student leaders, academic advising and registration, course seat releases, state legislative compliance, campus resource fairs, monitoring melt, and more. And before that, we were at every admissions event, highlighting and reviewing how orientation was marketed, and tracking yield to national decision day—ensuring the number of dates selected for orientation aligned with the deposit predictions. We have always sat at the center.
Perhaps naïve, but I did not realize there was such dissonance in structure until joining an institution as the Director of Orientation and hearing an expression from leadership that it was time to “throw them over the fence.”
Them? As in the students we just recruited to come here? Did you tell them there was a fence? Why is there a fence? Who created the fence? And why are you throwing them? Why not a bridge? Could you at least hold the door open for them?
Needless to say, I was perplexed.
But when I transitioned to another institution, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Ashley Miller, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management. I was joining a division that, at the time, included Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. With orientation as part of my Associate Dean portfolio, this time I had the wherewithal to ask Dr. Miller’s perspective directly, and I am so glad I did. Not only did I gain a valuable strategic partner, I gained a powerful mentor, advocate, and champion—but most importantly, I gained an educator, and she introduced me to Strategic Enrollment Management, AACRAO, and ASCEND.
Prior to Dr. Miller’s arrival, I was already in the process of transforming our orientation to a new student experience—a three-part transition experience that would begin at confirmation and continue through the first day of classes. The new student experience was intended to bridge the gap between our enrollment management and engagement communities of practice and increase retention. The outcomes suggested it was doing just that—the new student experience contributed to reducing melt by 2.4% points and increasing retention to 77% (a percentage point higher than our 2024 goal).
In addition to connecting on our shared goals, I also sought Dr. Miller’s guidance on a job opportunity I was exploring. Throughout the process of her sharing guidance on my resume and cover letter, I also took the opportunity to ask her about professional development opportunities that would strengthen my knowledge of enrollment management, and as a recent alumnus of the program, she recommended ASCEND.
Upon exploration, I was amazed at the multi-faceted complexity of the program—micro-credentialing for course completion, one-on-one coaching, meetings 3x a month, creating a SEM plan, and attendance at two conferences. As a former participant of the NODA Orientation Professionals Institute and the ACPA Mid-Level Management Institute, ASCEND seemed much more intensive (and perhaps a little more intrusive), and that was daunting. After earning my Doctor of Philosophy, I declared I was never going back to school (it’s called a terminal degree for a reason), but I knew that didn’t mean I was giving up on learning—I am a lifelong learner and with 30+ more years to navigate higher education, I knew that participating in ASCEND, I might discover something that, at the time, I lacked the assurance to say out loud.
But ASCEND would begin to teach me before even joining the program—first lesson? Rejection…
I was ultimately not successful in the role I applied for, and I was originally not accepted into ASCEND. In my ASCEND application, I recounted how, when I began my career, my goals centered on being a Director of Orientation and obtaining my doctoral degree. Since achieving both, I had not yet set new goals. I described my current personal and or professional goals as on pause.
But what I now know, both from rejection from that position and eventual acceptance into and completion of ASCEND, is that while institutions establish various strategic goals, my purpose perseveres. I have and bring intentionally cultivated skills and transferable strengths designed to support people, process, and productivity. My performance aligned with my purpose can advance any institution’s success and contribute meaningfully to support their goals. While I am unsure if my lack of goals was the reason for my rejection, I am more confident in being less driven by goals and more shaped by purpose. Goals can be accomplished, but purpose defines and sustains impact.
Participating in ASCEND was an extensive, but valuable investment. Over nine months, with the nearly 30 full-cohort meetings, additional meetings with my ASCEND College group, and monthly coaching sessions, I accumulated over 100 calendar invites. The eight on-demand courses provided in-depth training and insights on the core concepts of SEM, environmental scanning, case management, enrollment managers’ role in retention and student success (my personal favorite), effective admissions recruitment, financial aid, managing and leading an admissions office; and federal process and advocacy. Completing each course equipped me with the confidence, competence, and strategic insight necessary to lead and influence effectively within enrollment management.
The Outcomes from Each Learning Objective
The ASCEND learning objectives are as dynamic and layered as the experiences intentionally designed to facilitate participant growth and development.
Advance Strategic Enrollment Management Expertise: By working with my college group to build a Strategic Enrollment Plan for a community college, I was able to understand how to build an environmental scan and allow it to influence the goals, strategies, and tactics. Capitalizing on our diverse backgrounds, each member of our group was able to use their lens to contribute meaningfully and develop strategies that various campus partners could see themselves in. With my background in orientation, retention, and advising, I was able to offer insights that I am currently using to construct my current institution’s retention roadmap that incorporates the core components of SEM.
Leverage Personal Strengths for Leadership Excellence: The SEM Pre-Conference focused on CliftonStrengths and provided greater awareness of how my strengths can constructively influence my team while, if interpreted negatively, unintentionally impact relationships with colleagues. Applying that awareness improved my approach to collaborating with new campus partners and helped strengthen efforts to restore existing partnerships.
Cultivate Collaborative Leadership Through Cohort Engagement: Creating community amongst my cohort was significant. From simply making the group chat to meeting one-on-one with each member of my ASCEND college group, I built relationships that extend beyond our cohort capstone project. The value and high regard that I held for my cohort inspired me to ensure that we had shared digital space that was easy to collaborate in—creating a google document and folders with all the documents for us to easily navigate. I also constructed templates for synthesizing information.
Apply Change Leadership with Strengths-Based Agility: Navigating change at my institution is essential, and learning to apply my strengths has influenced how I demonstrate a strategic enrollment management lens in leading my team. While our university reorganization has resulted in separated silos, we lead as strategic partners who anticipate change and value change as part of strategic enrollment management.
Demonstrate Executive Communication and Professional Presence: Working with my ASCEND college group positively influenced my boundary-setting and prioritization. Completing a program with high expectations, balancing the responsibilities of my evolving professional role, and personally, for me—planning a wedding, meant establishing boundaries around my priorities as an essential practice. Our group only met during collaborative work hours (M-F, 8 AM-5 PM) and did not expect our peers to reschedule their personal lives and vacations. We set and kept deadlines and moved forward when necessary to meet the ASCEND deadlines. In working with my coach, I was able to better articulate my vision, strengths, and strategic priorities by reimagining my resume. Instead of reading like a professional to-do list, we were able to co-construct a well-composed overview of me professionally.
Drive Real-World Impact via Participant-Led Capstone Project: Learning to trust the process was a balance of using the content we read and studied in Gordon and Henderson’s (2024) SEM Core Concepts, knowledge gained from our cohort meetings and on-demand courses, and applying ourselves. I leveraged my ability to see the long game and understood how each aspect would tie together. I gained more comfort in incorporating AI and digital technology to visually articulate our SEM plan. Completing SEM with ASCEND also prepared me to engage with my current institution’s SEM plan.
The Abundance of Conferences
Throughout my career, I have more frequently attended the NODA Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention conference, but since stepping away in 2023, I have been trying to find a new professional “home.” In the past, I have attended NASPA and ACPA, and more recently, I attended the NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education and the Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience. And through ASCEND, I had the opportunity to attend the SEM Conference and the AACRAO Annual Meeting Conference. Of all these educational opportunities, the AACRAO structure, content, and professionals exceed those of every conference I have ever attended. From the educational content to the federal legislative updates, I left both AACRAO SEM and the Annual Meeting feeling more empowered and knowledgeable about constructively influencing higher education, but not in the way that I thought.
While I plan to remain involved with AACRAO, participation in ASCEND has inspired an inquiry about the notion of a “professional home.” If I am striving to live with purpose at my center and continue to sharpen my skills and strengths, then I must be willing to abandon the notion that any one association can or should be my home. Home is where my family is, but where I gain my professional development from might shift based on how I can advance my institution’s success and where I learn strategies to meaningfully contribute to supporting the institution’s goals. Because Strategic Enrollment Management is about achieving and maintaining optimum enrollment, what my institution might need may be at NACADA or another association. I look forward to the day when admissions professionals attend NACADA, advisors and orientation professionals attend SEM, registrars attend SSHE, and enrollment managers spread their SEM insights throughout all educational associations.
ASCEND has transformed my personal and professional trajectory in more ways than I can describe. While my reflections are descriptive, they’re still deficient compared to the insurmountable professional development experience that AACRAO has developed. I am grateful for the AACRAO Executive Leadership team, ASCEND Program Coordinator, Johnika Nixon, the AACRAO Consulting Team, Tammy Aagard, and Jody Gordon, and each member of ASCEND Cohort 6.
The ASCEND program is sponsored by Spelman Johnson.
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