Introduction
Johnika Nixon
How often do we pause to consider our true impact at our institutions, on our learners, our colleagues, and ourselves? As a proud graduate and now coordinator of the ASCEND Leadership Development Program, I have witnessed firsthand how intentional leadership development transforms not only individual careers but entire communities within higher education. Through AACRAO’s premier programs, the ASCEND Leadership Development Program and the Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement Program (SEM-EP), we invited a few graduates to reflect on their professional journeys. The responses were profound and inspiring.
Each graduate’s reflection weaves a rich tapestry of growth, agility, and contribution, demonstrating how these programs cultivate not just SEM expertise but also authentic, values-driven leadership. These are not takers; these are givers—leaders who pour themselves into their institutions and the broader field of higher education. Their stories reveal the power and necessity of both personal and professional development, and the importance of community in supporting lifelong learning.
As you read these reflections, I encourage you to explore with an open mind the opportunities that arise when we invest in ourselves and each other. In a landscape where strategic enrollment management continues to evolve, I invite you to reflect: How are you measuring your impact, and what support do you need to continue making a difference with authenticity and credibility?
From Insights to Impact: Leadership Takeaways from ASCEND
Luis Alarcon
It was the summer of 2024. I had just stepped into my role as director of recruitment and admissions (wide-eyed, excited, and a little overwhelmed). Even with years of experience, ongoing SEM learning, and steady professional growth, the road ahead felt long and winding. I knew I would face a new landscape full of challenges, uncertainty, and moments that might feel lonely, but I also sensed possibility. Then, ASCEND entered the picture.
Joining the fifth cohort of AACRAO’s ASCEND Leadership program was a leap of faith for me. It was my first time participating in a leadership program centered specifically on SEM. I would be lying if I said I did not have doubts. It was nine months of deep, intensive learning. We covered recruitment, admissions, retention, student services, and the entire SEM ecosystem, all of which felt exhilarating and intimidating at the same time. It was a necessary experience, I must confess.
One of the most meaningful components was the leadership development work. Digging into my strengths, blind spots, and patterns of behavior was not always comfortable, but it was invaluable. Sessions with our leadership consultant created a space for authenticity, vulnerability, and understanding what it means to lead with purpose. I watched myself grow, gaining confidence, focusing my energy more intentionally, communicating more clearly, and advocating for myself in ways I had not before.
And then there were the coaches. Having the privilege of learning from Jody Gordon, AACRAO Senior Consultant, and Connie Newson, AACRAO President, was nothing short of transformative. Their mentorship, candor, encouragement, and friendship made a profound difference. They poured into me, not just professionally, but humanly. That is something I will carry forward throughout my entire career.
The SEM curriculum in ASCEND is equally powerful. Engaging with SEM leaders from across the country expanded my thinking in ways I did not expect. Hearing how seasoned professionals approached real-world enrollment challenges gave me new strategies, and access to presenters and additional coaches helped me understand SEM from multiple angles, including recruitment, admissions, the registrar’s office, and beyond. I especially appreciated the online learning modules and credential content, which I revisited multiple times to deepen my understanding.
If I were to sum it all up, ASCEND offers something rare: the chance to develop as a leader while sharpening your SEM expertise at the same time. At a moment when higher education is being challenged on every front, we need leaders who can anticipate needs, optimize processes, strengthen relationships, and bring authenticity and humility to their work. ASCEND helped me move from insight to action, which is something our field needs now more than ever. Ascending, for those who seek to lead in SEM, isn’t a matter of “why” but “when.”
Values as Strategic Anchors: Leading Through Alignment in Strategic Enrollment Management
Jessica Muehlberg
Through the ASCEND program, I learned that leadership in strategic enrollment management is most effective when values are treated as strategic anchors. SEM operates at the intersection of academic planning, student demand, resource allocation, and institutional mission. In that environment, values such as transparency, equity, and consistency are not aspirational—they provide the structural coherence that aligns decisions across an institution.
This perspective became essential as we prepared for enrollment growth and its implications for teaching capacity, curriculum planning, and classroom scheduling. The registrar’s office sits at a junction where faculty needs, departmental priorities, and institutional constraints converge. ASCEND helped me shift from defending operational decisions to articulating the values and institutional commitments that guide them. That change reframed how we engage with faculty: instead of focusing on individual scheduling transactions, conversations now center on shared goals—equitable access to courses, predictable room assignments, and coherent policies that support teaching and learning.
As part of this work, we are assuming a more proactive role in anticipating and responding to demand. With better data and improved analytics, our office can identify pressure points earlier, adjust more nimbly, and relieve departments of the burden of managing these complexities on their own. At the same time, we are becoming more intentional in understanding instructor and departmental priorities so that institutional growth does not dilute faculty needs but instead strengthens our ability to support them.
This alignment between values and SEM principles—using data to anticipate needs, ensuring equity across units, and centering student access—is strengthening trust and improving institutional responsiveness. When values guide how we use data and how we partner with faculty, SEM leadership becomes a practice of purposeful alignment—one that allows institutions to adapt with clarity, integrity, and shared commitment.
Leadership Lessons: Finding Confidence, Collaboration, and Purpose through ASCEND
Kristina Rosales
Participating in the fifth cohort of AACRAO’s ASCEND program was a pivotal experience that changed how I see myself as a leader. When I entered the program, I was serving as deputy registrar at Brooklyn College, focused primarily on operations and process improvement. I often found myself contributing behind the scenes, hesitant to fully step into spaces where larger enrollment management conversations were happening. ASCEND helped me shift that mindset. It gave me the confidence to take my seat at the table, ask questions, and recognize that my perspective as a registrar adds critical value to institutional strategy.
One of the most impactful lessons from ASCEND was learning to lead through collaboration. The program’s structure required each scholar to create a strategic enrollment management (SEM) plan with cohort peers from across the country. Working with colleagues I had never met before, each from different institutions and leadership contexts, was both challenging and transformative. It reinforced that collaboration is not about agreement but about shared purpose. That experience directly influenced how I now approach partnerships on campus.
Since completing ASCEND in April 2025, I’ve advanced in my professional career and have become the registrar at CUNY’s Guttman Community College. Here, I apply these principles as I work to improve our transfer credit evaluation and curriculum implementation processes — both of which are highly collaborative and cross-functional. I have become deeply involved in the planning and communication behind the work, meeting regularly with my colleagues in academic affairs and enrollment management to identify bottlenecks, align timelines, and strengthen cross-departmental coordination. Rather than observing issues from a distance, I am elbows-deep in the process to better understand where systemic barriers exist and how they affect the people who matter most – our students. Together, we are developing clearer workflows, improving data tracking, and streamlining communication with students and advisors. These efforts, although not all fully implemented, are actively reducing processing times and improving the student experience by ensuring that credits are evaluated and applied more efficiently, and that our curriculum and policy proposals are being tracked, communicated, and implemented in a more timely manner.
ASCEND also reminded me that leadership is not about holding space alone but about creating it for others. Since becoming registrar, I have supported my team’s participation in professional development opportunities such as webinars, conferences, and cross-training projects that align with their individual goals. This December, two members of my team are attending their first professional conference, an opportunity to learn from colleagues across the field, build networks, and gain confidence in their expertise. Making room for these experiences has strengthened our team’s capacity and reinforced a culture where growth is expected, encouraged, and celebrated. It has also shown my staff that leadership can be shared and that their voices matter in shaping how we serve students and support institutional goals.
ASCEND did not just prepare me for my next role. It helped me turn collaboration, communication, and confidence into action. The program reminded me that leadership is an ongoing practice of listening, learning, and lifting others along the way. Every improvement, partnership, and conversation reflects that growth. Through ASCEND, I discovered that authentic leadership begins when we step forward, speak up, and invite others to do the same.
Transforming Practice: Advancing Equity and Student-Centered SEM Leadership
Steven McDowell
As a 2017 graduate of AACRAO’s Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Endorsement Program (SEM-EP), I view higher education leadership not merely as administration, but as the active dismantling of barriers. My career has been defined by translating these educational frameworks into structural changes that improve student outcomes, particularly in the years following my program completion.
Numerous initiatives reflect how principles from the SEM Endorsement Program have been applied in practice with an equity mindset. These include eliminating our application fee to remove barriers to entry for students and widen the top of our enrollment funnel; redesigning our satisfactory academic progress policy to shift from a punitive compliance requirement to a retention-oriented model integrating intervention strategies and advising partnerships; and developing a pilot (my capstone project) that formally introduced SEM to our community college organizational structure.
These initiatives laid the foundation for a more comprehensive transformation that emerged during the 2023 merger of Connecticut’s community colleges, further amplifying the need for SEM-aligned thinking. Structured change management practices were used to build a centralized financial aid operation, unifying more than 50 staff across twelve campuses and a central office. This undertaking required aligning processes to ensure a consistent, student-centered experience systemwide. The results were measurable: 74 percent of Fall 2024 enrollment had applied for financial aid, an all-time high compared to any prior standalone college in the former system, followed by an additional two-percentage-point increase in Fall 2025 to 76 percent.
Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of this program for me as a professional has been gaining a deep understanding of how the organizational components of an institution fit together to inform data-driven decision-making. This holistic perspective, viewing financial aid not as a siloed regulatory function but as an integral component of the broader enrollment ecosystem, has shaped the direction of my career and the work at my institution. Adopting this mindset has significantly expanded our financial aid partnerships with both the advising department and enrollment and retention services. These collaborations have become critical as we apply key principles of SEM and student success across recruitment, retention, and reengagement efforts.
For professionals navigating the complex higher education sector, the value of structured professional development, whether through the SEM Endorsement Program, doctoral research, or otherwise, lies in its application. The SEM Endorsement Program specifically has provided me with the blueprint to move beyond maintaining the status quo, allowing me to build systems that actively promote equity and access. Beyond that, this program has taught the value of forging cross-departmental partnerships to reinforce a fully student-centric approach, ensuring that institutional decisions remain aligned with the needs and outcomes of the students we serve.
SEM-EP’s Ripple Effect: Professional Growth and Academic Pursuit
Patricia Pothour
My participation in SEM-EP was a wonderful experience that not only deepened my understanding of SEM, but also strengthened my leadership skills, expanded my professional network, and encouraged me to pursue new roles and ongoing education. I appreciated how the program’s structure combined webinars, guided learning, field visits, and a capstone project. This format allowed me to engage with SEM concepts in multiple ways and provided natural milestones to keep me motivated.
The coursework and webinars built on my existing understanding of SEM concepts and enabled me to apply what I learned directly to my professional role, especially through Essentials of SEM. I also valued the flexibility and variety of webinar options, which allowed for customization based on my interests.
The most impactful component of the program (and my favorite part) was the field visits. I intentionally selected three very different campuses: a small regional institution, a large public university, and a private university. These visits gave me firsthand exposure to the operations of marketing, recruitment, admissions, registrar, and financial aid offices. Engaging with professionals across these campuses provided invaluable insights, new perspectives, and ideas for the future.
The final step in the program, the capstone project, allowed me to demonstrate my research, writing, and organization skills. My capstone focused on test-optional admissions, and I was able to leverage my research and learnings in conversations advocating for test-optional admissions.
The partnership with Bethel University and the opportunity to continue my academic journey through their doctoral program provided both encouragement and a clear pathway forward. The certificate program not only prepared me for advanced study—it inspired me to pursue it.
In summary, SEM-EP delivered on its learning outcomes by equipping me with SEM knowledge, practical tools, and a broader understanding of enrollment operations across institutions. The measurable improvements in team engagement and enrollment metrics, along with my decision to pursue a doctoral degree, are a testament to the program’s lasting impact on my leadership journey.
Leveling Up: How AACRAO’s SEM Endorsement Program Redefined My Leadership Approach. Building Confidence, Strategy, and Clarity in an Era of Enrollment Uncertainty
Ana K. Rodriguez
Reflecting on my experience in the AACRAO SEM Endorsement Program, I still find myself amazed, and grateful for the journey. Beginning the program, my institution was navigating through the final stages of the pandemic, and I had just stepped into new leadership responsibilities. The new shift in responsibilities, paired with my uncertainty as a new leader, made it clear that I needed to level up in my understanding in enrollment management. SEM-EP helped lay the groundwork to build my confidence in this field.
Entering the program, the timing seemed serendipitous given how we were in an era of finding ourselves post-pandemic, having major shifts in leadership, on the cusp of FAFSA challenges, and tasked with being more creative in our enrollment efforts. Entering the SEM-EP, I learned the rooted history of SEM, its purpose, and how it created a method for better decision-making and planning.
Through SEM-EP, there were several lessons that shaped my decision-making skills and how I lead my teams. Entering the program during a heavy recruitment season, constant changes, and heavy pressure, the first lesson I learned was how to take the time to assess my thinking when it came to launching new programs and initiatives. The Essentials of SEM and webinars grounded my thinking to look more deeply into planning and execution of recruitment initiatives.
The second lesson I learned was how to embrace data to lead my decisions and discussions. Prior to the SEM-EP program, data was an afterthought to anecdotal behavior I saw in enrollment planning, but sitting in on site visits and learning from cohort members helped me become more comfortable in analyzing data and trends and asking better questions in conversations with our university partners. This helped drive our enrollment goals to reach a record-breaking increase in FTIC enrollment by 19 percent in 2025.
Becoming more data-informed also helped in my third lesson of refining my leadership style. Being a servant leader who leads with empathy, SEM-EP taught me how to weave the importance of expectations and accountability when empowering my team and building their confidence. This helped build mutual trust and buy- in for the goals we set, and the team’s vision, especially when shaping and mentoring new staff.
One of the biggest lessons came from conducting my independent research on direct admissions. Conducting the research while simultaneously having a hand in launching the program was one of the biggest evolutionary points in my journey. Following the cohort of students through enrollment while partnering with internal and external partners to execute the program taught me an important lesson in cross-functional work and how that is vital in advocacy and student access. I now have a deeper understanding of how to guide conversations that could have a positive impact on our students.
I completed the SEM-EP in July 2024. To say it transformed me into being more SEM focused is an understatement. The program brought me up from a shy and hesitant associate director to a confident and refined director. In September 2025, I accepted a role as Assistant VP for Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, a role I was unsure I would even achieve. SEM-EP redefined how I saw myself as a professional and will always be one of the most meaningful investments I have made for myself and to higher education.
Concluding Thoughts
Christopher W. Tremblay
These six reflections illuminate a powerful truth: leadership development in strategic enrollment management is not a solitary endeavor but a collective commitment to growth, service, and institutional transformation. From Luis discovering his authentic leadership voice, to Jessica anchoring decisions in values, to Kristina stepping confidently into collaboration, to Steven dismantling systemic barriers, to Patricia finding inspiration for doctoral study, to Ana redefining her professional identity—each story demonstrated that investing in leadership development creates ripples that extend far beyond individual careers.
What strikes me most profoundly is the common thread woven through each graduate’s experience: the courage to be vulnerable, the willingness to question assumptions, and the commitment to lead with both competence and care. These leaders did not simply acquire technical expertise—they developed the clarity, confidence, and credibility necessary to navigate complexity while keeping students at the center of every decision. They became givers who now mentor others, challenge systems, build partnerships, and elevate the entire field of enrollment management.
As we face continued uncertainty in higher education—shifting demographics, evolving student needs, technological disruption, and resource constraints—the need for values-driven, strategically minded SEM leaders has never been greater. The ASCEND Leadership Development Program and SEM Endorsement Program offer more than credentials; they provide communities of practice where professionals transform into purposeful leaders who can guide institutions through change with integrity and vision.
I invite you to consider your own leadership journey. What growth are you pursuing? What communities are supporting your development? And most importantly, how will you invest in yourself so that you can pour into others? The future of strategic enrollment management—and the students we serve—depends on leaders who choose to ascend.
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