By Katie (Brown) Rendon, Assistant Vice President, Student Success & University Registrar
"Implementing Success: How one professional school enrollment team collaborated with advisors to improve the student experience," Presented by Jena Black, Senior Director of Academic
Affairs and Enrollment Operations at Emory University- Rollins School of Public Health
Serving in Enrollment Services, Jena Black presented on Monday morning, demonstrating how Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health is cross-collaborating with advising to improve student success. This holistic take on student services
is helping bridge gaps between enrollment services and advising.
For the Rollins School of Public Health, this collaboration is largely through a joint think tank meeting between enrollment services and advising designed to build trust and management change. Because this collaboration occurs in a meeting format,
the session starts by outlining the difference between good and bad meetings. Bad meetings can erode trust between groups; bad meetings lack purpose and focus, contain irrelevant information, involve being talked at rather than utilizing discussion,
and lack follow-up. On the other hand, well-utilized meetings can help to build trust and collaboration. Some hallmarks of a good meeting include:
Calling for topics ahead of time and sharing an agenda in advance
Setting an intention for the meeting (example: The purpose of this meeting is to provide a dedicated time and safe space to discuss...for the purpose of improving the student experience.)
The topics of the meeting are timely and relevant for the meeting audience
Utilizing group discussion
Following up with meeting minutes, notes, and/or action items within a few days of the meeting
Using these guidelines for how to run a good meeting, the Enrollment Services team at Rollins School of Public Health started a monthly, optional, virtual, one-hour think tank meeting where advisors and enrollment services come together to discuss pain
points, resources, and continuous improvement. Through these meetings, enrollment services hear the end-user experience through the advisors' expertise. Advisors are also developing a more holistic understanding of university policy and
operations. While there are some limitations to the process (not all advisors attend, critical feedback might be challenging to hear, etc.), overall, the feedback has been very positive. Advisors have expressed that these meetings have
helped orient them to where to find resources and how to get students the answers they need more efficiently; the process has benefited newer academic advisors. The teams have collaborated on shared resources and resource repositories that are
accessible to both departments. The teams have also worked to fix pain points in processes, including pain points that one group didn't realize existed before these meetings. Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health is an excellent
example of the benefits of communication and cross-training and how that holistic university knowledge can help to move student success forward.