Admissions & Recruitment
Attendees enjoy professional development and networking as they develop tools and resources for taking enrollment outcomes to a new level. Build, enhance, and revamp your foundation for a comprehensive enrollment management plan, develop insights and ideas to position you and your institution at the forefront of the profession, and improve student success through creative recruitment and retention strategies.
This course provides an introduction to and overview of the foundations of Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM). From these foundations, the applications can then be tailored to the challenges, opportunities, mission and vision of each institutional setting.
The AACRAO Enrollment Management: Environmental Scanning course provides a fundamental understanding of Environmental Scanning within a Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) framework, and how it is used by institutions as guidance for decisions about the institution’s enrollment future.
This course familiarizes new enrollment leaders with the history, tools, data, and campus partners to successfully engage in and lead student success initiatives at a university or college.
Participants receive guidance from recognized SEM experts over a period of 31 continuous days, this online professional development program provides grounding in the fundamental principles of SEM from the perspective of 2-year, 4-year, public and private institutions.
The SEM Endorsement Program features webinars, field visits, online courses, and a capstone. SEM-EP graduates receive the SEM-EP Badge and inclusion on the national registry.
The ASCEND Program is designed to prepare mid-level professionals in the competencies required to take the next step in enrollment management leadership. The year-long intensive program uses self-paced modules and live discussions to cover the technical topics of enrollment management.
AACRAO Strategic Enrollment Management publications available for online purchase
Admit It: AACRAO's college admissions and enrollment management podcast
AACRAO special topics research reports
Student Identity
SEMQ provides knowledge and insight into the ongoing evolution of strategic enrollment management (SEM). SEMQ bridges the gap between theory and practice with articles by thought leaders and practitioners who address the emerging dynamics of SEM, including: executive-level leadership, leading strategies, internationalization, research, academic orientation, and current trends.
Read SEMQ
by Tina Falkner, AACRAO President, Director, Office of Student Finance, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities This year I was able to attend our SEM conference for the first time. As we try to make sure that our limited professional development budget is shared widely throughout the office, it has simply never been financially possible for me to attend.
I am fortunate that I already work in a SEM-like organization, where student success is at the center of our work. The sessions I attended reinforced what I already knew in my heart to be true, including these three major takeaways. SEM is:
Student focused. Institutions must think holistically about the student and the student experience.
Paradigm-shifting. SEM requires a paradigm shift throughout the campus community.
Institution wide. Courageous leadership thinks beyond admissions as more than simply yield or application numbers, but as one part of an institution-wide strategy to address student success throughout the entire life-cycle.
How change can happen Movement towards these goals can happen along many different routes -- some big-picture shifts, some practical and process-oriented. For example, change may manifest in the following:
Financial aid reallocation, such as establishing mini completion scholarships to help students finish their degrees.
Shifting the focus from retention to success. Take something as seemingly innocuous as the word retention: “Retention is clinical rather than aspirational; retention restrains us, limits our vision and our capacity for creativity and excellence,” suggested the SEM and Retention session presenters. It’s important to incorporate retention efforts into a broader conversation and action plan around student success.
Building trust. It takes trust throughout the institution to build bridges between traditionally disparate segments of campus to collaborate on SEM initativies such as (1) removing curricular or procedural impediments, (2) improving student support mechanisms, (3) employing technology to put answers to common student questions at their fingertips 24/7, and (4) tackling student issues from multiple perspectives instead of reflexively saying ‘that’s not my problem.’
I am heartened that over 40 schools sent teams to the meeting to learn together and build common understanding and purposefulness. I can hardly wait to check in with them next year to see what changes they have implemented on their home campuses.
Undergraduate enrollment is increasing, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse. Community colleges focused on vocational training in particular made major gains last fall.
Federal data suggest larger shares of students at two-year colleges are enrolling online. Higher ed experts say the trend calls for more online support.