Designing the Next Era of Strategic Enrollment Management

Article Abstract

Related Issue:

SEMQ Volume 14, Issue 3 (October 2026)

Strategic enrollment management (SEM) is entering a new era. Fifty years after
the field began to take shape, enrollment leaders face demographic
contraction, affordability pressures, rising expectations for credential value
and student outcomes, constrained resources, and accelerating technological
change. This article argues that SEM must evolve from functional coordination
to systems design, integrating strategy, structure, data, technology, and
practice. The author concludes by proposing a framework to envision the next
era of SEM around four cross-institutional design pillars: clarity; momentum;
affordability and value; and capacity.

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Author

Brian Gann

Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services

Article Type

SEMQ Article

Competency

Data Reporting & Analysis, Leadership, Organizational Management, Policy Development & Implementation, Student Success & Enrollment Management, Technology Management

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Author(s)

Brian Gann serves as Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services and Chief Campus Officer of Southern Wake Campus at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Gann is the incoming Director of the AACRAO SEM Annual Conference. A first-generation college student and proud community college graduate, he has dedicated the past 24 years of his career to advancing student access, success, and support in the community college sector. Gann earned an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts from Bevill State Community College and later completed his Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration from The University of Alabama.

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