A good SEM plan recognizes that to be effective, communities within institutions must be facilitated, created, supported, evaluated, and maintained. We will outline how our SEM planning process has influenced university structures, funding, staffing, and how we measure outcomes. We will outline the successes, shortcomings, lessons learned, and next steps.
EFYE2024 – Copenhagen, Parallel session 2Workshop | Academic integration/belonging | Financial needs | Personal mental health/well-being | Social integration/belonging
| Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) Plans have become more common at colleges and universities. A good SEM plan recognizes that to be effective, communities within institutions must be facilitated, created, supported, and maintained. Too often SEM plans overly focus on one element of enrolment (e.g., recruitment, retention) or on one group within the institution. Often, as academics are seen as “independent” from enrolment management, they are not considered when plans are developed. Similarly, Student Affairs and Services staff, who typically run student success programs, are left out. Finally, thought is rarely given to how we connect students to the college or university community. An effective SEM plan will consider these issues and understand that a comprehensive SEM plan must use a data informed approach and all aspects of institutional operations, from students, faculty, administrative staff, Student Affairs and Services (SAAS), and even facilities management and Alumni Affairs. This evolution in SEM planning results in a necessary reliance on data, the demonstration of measurable outcomes, and showing the direct linkage between SEM Plan activities and student success. A well developed and executed SEM plan gives people (faculty, staff and students) within institutions a clear opportunity to participate in and contribute to student success, leading to increased student satisfaction, and higher retention and graduation rates. This workshop will outline the SEM process that has been undertaken at Saint Mary’s University and the ways that we work closely with students and colleagues across all academic and co-curricular units to support our SEM goals. We will outline the SEM structure and clearly illustrate the role that students, faculty, staff and SAAS professionals play in the development and implementation of communities of practice for students and with students. Workshop attendees will be challenged to think about the current communities within their own institutional community, work through a process to identify those within their institutions that they may not have been identified previously, consider data requirements/limitations to effectively support those communities, and engage in a discussion to identify specific strategies to engage them. This workshop will highlight how SEM plans can influenced university structures, funding, staffing, and ways that we connect what we do to measurable outcomes. We will outline the successes, shortcomings, and lessons learned in the on-going process of SEM plan development. We will also provide attendees with the tools required to identify and support specific populations within their own institutions. |
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