By Autumn Walden, Editor, AACRAO Connect, Content Strategy Manager, AACRAO
The alumni-led conversation from the recent “ASCEND in Action: Building Leaders through AACRAO Competencies” webinar offered a behind-the-curriculum look at how the AACRAO ASCEND Leadership Development Program supports mid-career professionals across roles in admissions, registrar functions, and strategic enrollment management leadership. Panelists and guests shared about the benefits of structured career momentum, strengths-based practice, and cohort community—key differentiators of the ASCEND curriculum.
Bethany Parmer, now Assistant Dean of Enrollment at the College of Southern Idaho, is one of the many success stories. “I was able to get promoted after completing this program. I was the Registrar prior to this,” Parmer shared with the group. “So, that was kind of the major win that ASCEND helped me with … it also gave me the opportunity to have a seat at the table at the SEM Council meetings within our institution.”
As the conversation made clear, ASCEND isn’t standing still. Entering its seventh year, the program, sponsored by Spelman Johnson, is intentionally expanding in response to growing interest from mid-career professionals and institutional needs for skilled enrollment practitioners. “This year, we are accepting 20 scholars, so there is much [more] room where we, in the past, only had 10 scholars, so now we're creating a more robust program as we move,” remarked Johnika Nixon, ASCEND Program Coordinator and Cohort 2 alum.
Key Takeaways and Real Experiences
Clifton Strengths wasn’t theoretical—participants described using it to lead teams, assign work, and build consensus.
Coaching provided space to address imposter syndrome, transitions, and leadership blind spots.
Beyond scheduled sessions, cohort members met independently to problem-solve and support one another through teal-time professional and personal challenges.
ASCEND participants adopt a shared SEM vocabulary to advocate for change and align work across campus. Reflecting on how the program reshaped her ability to lead and advocate across campus, “it was so applicable to my work … it gave me the language to talk with faculty, especially, or higher-level administrators about why we should pivot … and I was able to propose structures that some of them didn't know, that was really SEM,” explained Sarah Reed, Cohort 4 alum and University Registrar at Berkeley. “It was SEM language, but I just translated it in a way that made sense to them.”
Environmental scans and capstone projects helped participants connect strategy to institutional realities. “Having that opportunity to develop goals and learn how to do an environmental scan, which was the hardest part for me, but also the most beneficial,” shared Tony Strode, Cohort 4 alum and Director of Undergraduate Recruitment and Outreach at the University of North Texas. “Because I was able to ask the questions that I would not normally ask.”
Cohort 7 Dates: July 2026-April 2027
Format: Nine-month hybrid, three to five hours per week, commitment to attending two AACRAO Meetings: Conference on SEM and the Annual Meeting, in person and weekly two-hour virtual classroom sessions three times per month on Thursday evenings from 6:30-8:30 p.m. (ET).
Eligibility: Open to AACRAO members and nonmembers
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For professionals ready to move from experience to influence—and to lead enrollment work with clarity, confidence, and community—ASCEND offers a proven path forward. Apply by January 9, 2026.