In 2007, St. Joseph University’s enrollment management model included four departments—and not much internal cooperation. Over the last several years, the university has established a more integrated enrollment management operating model that is more integrated, better communicated—and more successful, according to John Haller, the university’s Associate Provost for Enrollment Management.
Leadership: Start at the top
Haller’s best practice session at AACRAO’s 2013 SEM Conference–“It’s Not Just Admissions…It’s Enrollment Management: Reframing the Conversation”—described how the university shifted its student services structure to an enrollment management operating model. A program that began with four disconnected departments—retention services; undergraduate admissions; financial aid; and graduate admissions—has evolved into a an enrollment management operating model that is more integrated and includes: student success and first year experience program; undergraduate enrollment and operations; and student records and financial services. These departments are supported by a systems and analytics team.
To create this model, Haller and his colleagues began by identifying the following leadership principals:
- Surround yourself with character people.
- Work hard.
- Show people you care.
- Be unselfish.
- Celebrate successes.
- Operate with consistent, fundamental data-driven practices and execute them.
“[These principals are] something we communicate over and over again, at the hiring process, and during the evaluation process,” Haller said.
Communication is the key
Next, the university began hosting cross-divisional retreats twice yearly to check progress and establish a mission statement for enrollment management that connects with the institutional mission and is followed by specific actionable goals. Operating, or guiding, principles are then outlined for the year.
“These are different from goals; these are why you do what you do,’” Haller said.
Educating the university’s board of trustees and the campus community was another step in shifting to an enrollment management model focused on retention and the student lifecycle, Haller said. In addition, he emphasized the need to identify a person or committee to establish retention goals that are grounded in historical data, tied to the institutional mission, and focused on realistic inspirational attainment. After goals are outlined, a strategic retention plan can be put in place, he said.
“Retention is everybody’s job,” he stated, but “if it is not coordinated or led by a person or a cross-departmental committee, then it becomes nobody’s job.”
Defining data
Haller also suggested types of data that are important to capture in enrollment management planning. Pre-enrollment data includes: demographic information, admission data, financial aid, summer melt activities, and pre-enrollment survey results. Post-enrollment data includes: holds, midterm grades, checking-in survey results, filing status for 2nd year FAFSA, transcript requests for another institution, completed major requirements, financial aid requirements, class withdrawals, change of status, residence hall and roommate changes, and first term grades,
“At the end of the day, it’s our goal to see a student achieve his or her dream of attaining a degree at St. Joseph’s University.”
St. Joseph’s University, a private, Catholic, Jesuit university, enrolls a total of 9,000 students, including 4,500 undergraduates, 1,000 adult students, and 3,500 graduate and online students. Its male-to-female student ratio is 50-50; students of color make up 14 percent of its enrollment, and international enrollment makes up 2 percent.
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