To achieve organization-wide strategic enrollment management (SEM) plan buy-in, two- and four-year institutions are deploying campus-wide SEM teams. A well-functioning team can greatly increase the chances of your plan’s success.
What makes a SEM team click?
According to Clayton Smith, EdD, Director of the AACRAO SEM Conference, the following three considerations are key to building a SEM team that works:
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Ensure the “right people” are at the table. The team must be comprised of strategically-selected, cross-functional representatives who can make high-level decisions for the campus. Office of admissions, financial aid, registration and records, and SEM research unit are critical functions that should be part of any SEM organization.
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Identify leaders and cheerleaders. The EM leader must be a facilitator and shepard -- not a dictator -- and must be able to employ SEM-related research. The plan needs a credible, authoritative champion who can bring the plan to life once it is developed.
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Organize strategically. SEM units are most likely to be successful when the senior enrollment officer sits on the cabinet of the president (or, in some cases, the provost) and has effective working relationships with the president, provost, and CFO.
SEM teams at two- and four year institutions
Smith, along with colleagues Karen Miller, PhD, Provost at Cuyahoga Community College and a Member of the AACRAO SEM Advisory Committee, and Randall Langston, PhD, Vice President for Enrollment Management at Texas Woman’s University and a Consultant with AACRAO Consulting, will share case studies of SEM team building processes at community colleges and four-year public universities in a free AACRAO webinar this Friday.
The interactive webinar will also highlight how institutions can enhance the effectiveness of their teams by participating in the AACRAO SEM Conference Team Experience.
Learn more and register now to join “It Takes a Village: SEM Team Dynamics," Oct. 5, 2018, 2-3 p.m. ET or watch it at your convenience.