Executive Symposium
SEM Core Concepts and
Environmental Scanning
Jay W. Goff
Vice President of Enrollment & Retention Management
Saint Louis University
AACRAO SEM Coordinator for Four-year Colleges & Universities
SEM Core Concepts and
Environmental Scanning
By promoting clarity of institutional mission from the perspective of
student access and success, Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM)
provides a thoughtful paradigm to focus institutional efforts on how
to best meet student needs and support their educational
attainment.
Presentation will provide participants with an overview of key SEM
concepts, including a focus on the student lifecycle continuum,
setting institutional enrollment goals, data analysis, infrastructure
analysis and the effective use of environmental scans. The resulting
alignment of institutional mission, enrollment goals and targeted
investments enables planning that is more strategic, in turn leading to
improved outcomes for students, campus departments and the
institution as a whole.
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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Overview
1. SEM Key Concepts
2. Environmental Scan
3. Student Life-Cycle Continuum
4. Data Analysis and Goal Setting
5. Developing the Infrastructure for SEM
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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Today’s Enrollment Manager
“Successful senior enrollment managers have to
operate simultaneously on multiple levels.
They need to be up to date, even on the cutting
edge of technology, marketing, recruitment, the
latest campus practices to enhance student
persistence, and financial aid practices.”
SOURCE: THE ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT REVIEW Volume 23, Issue 1 Fall, 2007, Editor: Don Hossler Associate Editors:
Larry Hoezee and Dan Rogalski
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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SEM: Helping Students Succeed at All Stages
The Need to Provide Global Best Practices
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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Why Does Your Position Exist?
The only person who likes change is
a wet baby. Attributed to Mark Twain
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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Change is inevitable – except
from a vending machine.
Author unknown
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Executive Symposium
SEM Key Concepts
What is Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM)?
Strategic enrolment management is a
concept and process that enables the
fulfillment of institutional mission and
students’ educational goals.
Bontrager
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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Core Enrollment Management Principles
1. No Enrollment Effort is Successful without QUALITY Academic
Programs
2. Recruitment and Retention is an On-going, Multi-year PROCESS
with Strong Access to Research and DATA
3. Majority of Enrollments come from REGIONAL Student Markets
4. The Most Successful Recruitment Programs Clearly DIFFERENTIATE
the Student Experience from Competitor’s Programs
5. The Most Successful Retention Programs Clearly Address Students’
Needs and Regularly ENGAGE Students in Academic and NonAcademic Programs
SOURCE: Goff, 2005
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The Concept of Optimum Enrollment
Race/
Ethnicity
Course
Delivery
Mode
Programs/
Courses
Academic
Profile
Institutional
Mission
Undergrad/
Grad
Geographic
Origin
Special
Skills
Program
Capacity
Bontrager
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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The Purposes of SEM are Achieved by…
1. Establishing clear goals for the number and types of
students needed to fulfill the institutional mission
2. Promoting students’ academic success by improving
access, transition, persistence, and graduation
3. Promoting institutional success by enabling effective
strategic and financial planning
4. Creating a data-rich environment to inform decisions
and evaluate strategies
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The Purposes of SEM are Achieved by…
5. Improving process, organizational and financial
efficiency and outcomes
6. Strengthening communications and marketing with
internal and external stakeholders
7. Increasing collaboration among departments across
the campus to support the enrolment program
Bontrager
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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Executive Symposium
Environmental Scan
Challenges Facing Colleges and Universities
“Economic, demographic, marketplace and
technological trends are converging to cause an
unprecedented time of change for higher
education.”
Tony Pals,
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
January 2013. http://diverseeducation.com/article/50905/
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2013 Enrollment Trends and Policies
1.
60% of admissions directors report not meeting May 1
undergraduate deposit goals (Gallup-Inside Higher Ed Survey 2013)
2. 2% decline in total graduate enrollments (CGS/GRE Survey 2013)
3. 38% decline in law school enrollments (LSAC 2013)
4. 16% choosing not-for-profit, private C&Us (NCES 2012)
5. Slight, but continued growth in international enrollments
6. New Federal Report Cards and Rating Systems
7. Increase in “phantom” applications / reliance on homepages for
primary search information
8. Initial admission without HS transcripts policies
9. Online searches and applications are the standard
10. Stricter debt reporting and borrowing standards
11. Student employment as a retention strategy
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Projected change in the number of high school
graduates 2010 to 2019
© Copyright 2009, The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Reprinted with permission. This material may not be posted, published,
or distributed without permission from The Chronicle.
High School Graduate Trends by Region
SOURCE: WICHE, Knocking at Colleges Door 2013
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Challenge: changes in the
college-bound student markets
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The Midwest and Northeast will experience a 4% to 10% decline in high
school graduates between 2010 – 2017 (WICHE)
Profile of college-bound students is rapidly becoming more ethnically
diverse and female dominant (NCES, WICHE, ACT, College Board)
The number of students interested in engineering, computer science,
and natural science degrees growing, but remains low (ACT, CIRP)
More full-time college freshmen are choosing to start at two-year
colleges (IPED, NCES)
More students are enrolling in more than one college at a time (National
Student Clearinghouse)
Future student market growth will include more students requiring
financial aid and loans to complete a degree (WICHE)
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2014 Targets for Increased Recruiting Efforts
Target
Students recruited with merit
scholarships
International students
Transfer students
Out-of-state students
Full-pay students
Public
Private
53%
63%
50%
63%
53%
42%
61%
71%
65%
56%
SOURCE: Inside Higher Ed
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/feeling-heat-2013-survey-college-and-university-admissions-directors#ixzz2je2dJvyD
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Executive Symposium
Student Life-Cycle Continuum
Promoting Student Success:
The Student Success Continuum
Pre-College /
Marketing /
Recruitment
Classroom
experience
Orientation
Co-curricular
support
Degree &
Goal
attainment
Student’s college career
Admission
Financial
support
Academic
support
Retention
Bontrager
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The Student Success Continuum
Traditional Enrollment Perspective
Pre-College /
Marketing /
Recruitment
Classroom
experience
Orientation
Co-curricular
support
Student’s college career
Admission
Financial
support
Academic
support
Degree &
Goal
attainment
Retention
Bontrager
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The Student Success Continuum
The SEM Perspective
Pre-College /
Marketing /
Recruitment
Classroom
experience
Orientation
Co-curricular
support
Degree &
Goal
attainment
Student’s college career
Admission
Financial
Aid
Academic
support
Retention
Bontrager
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Do You Know Corporate Partners and Hiring
Organizations?
Executive Symposium
Data Analysis and Goal Setting
SEM Planning Data
 Enrollment trends by program and student populations
 Assessing a changing environment and markets
 Net operating revenues and operating expenses
 Cost by student population
 Program demand and capacities
 Student retention and persistence rates
 Pricing strategies
 Financial aid policies
 Auxiliary income
 Enrollment management effectiveness
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SEM is Moving Beyond the Fundamentals
The Classic
Admissions Funnel
Prospects
Inquiries
Applicants
Admits
Enrollees
Factors Most Noted in
College Selection Process
1. Majors & Career Programs Offered
2. Location/Campus Characteristics
3. Cost/Affordability
4. Campus Size/Safety
5. Characteristics of Enrolled Students
6. Selectivity
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Basic Enrollment Funnel
Do not discount
the value of funnel
management and
analysis
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RECRUITMENT FUNNEL ACTIVITIES
PRE-FUNNEL
EARLY INTERVENTION, COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS
SUMMER CAMPS, WEB REPLIES
FEB - AUG
AUG - JAN
EARLY FUNNEL
PSAT/ACT PLAN/TARGET MARKET SEARCHES
ACT/SAT SCORES
DIRECT MAIL
TRAVEL
PUBLICATIONS
ON-CAMPUS PROGRAMS
ADVERTISING
MID FUNNEL
ON- AND OFF-CAMPUS PROGRAMS
DIRECT MAIL
SCHOLARSHIP/FINANCIAL AID
TRAVEL
TELECOUNSELING
PUBLICATIONS
Inquire
Apply
JAN - MAY
LATE FUNNEL
ON- AND OFFCAMPUS PROGRAMS
DIRECT MAIL
TELECOUNSELING
PUBLICATIONS
SCHOLARSHIPS
FINANCIAL AID
Enroll
Affordability and Access
• Current Students
- Average parent income
- Family incomes below $50,000
- First generation college students
- Low Income/Pell Grant eligible students
• Graduation Statistics
- Approximate total indebtedness
- Average starting salary
- Average salary after 10 years
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Defining Core Competencies
• Core competencies are particular strengths relative to other
organizations in the industry which provide the fundamental basis
for the provision of added value.
• It is communication, an involvement and a deep commitment to
working across organizational boundaries. Few organizations are
likely to build clear leadership strengths in more than five or six
fundamental competencies.
• They culminate in the total value delivered by an organization.
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Keys Identifying Competencies
1. Truly know your competitors - by degree program
if possible
2. Strengths must be regularly agreed upon by faculty
and institutional assessment data
3. The best competencies are externally verifiable
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Executive Symposium
Developing the Infrastructure for SEM
Strategic Enrollment Management
is about Student Success
Making the entire college/university active in, and
responsible for, recruiting, retaining and graduating
students.
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SEM Transition Model
Structural
Nominal
Tactical
Denial
Strategic
Denial
Strategic
Enrollment Trend: Achieving
Down toOptimum
Variable
Building
OptimumEnrollment
Tactical
Enrollment
Messages:
•Messages:
“Thiscontrol
“We
are
have
isn’t
subject
to
asour
do
easy
something.”
to
enrollment
as
forces
we thought.”
beyond
outcomes.”
our
• “Achieving
control”
“We
need aoptimum
silver
bullet
enrollment
recruiting/marketing
will require
Structural
• fundamental
Action:
“It’s just demographics/competition/
strategy”
change and campus
• Stable
economy
Limited
participation.”
organizational
restructuring
(pick one)” structure and funding
•Action:
Continue
Top-level
Ad hoc,
EM
withleadership
short-term
short-term strategies
strategies with
Nominal
•Action:
minimal
Consistent
Form
enrollment
planning
a committee,
and
management
assessment
discuss options
expertise
cycle
• Substantive
(or expertiserestructuring
isn’t listened to)
• Strategic planning based on reliable data
• Targeted funding
Adapted from M. Dolence
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SEM Process Framework
Performed by
Process steps
Align institutional strategic plan with
broad enrollment targets and desired mix of students
Develop action steps, accountability, and metrics
Implement action steps
Monitor progress,
Report results to campus and executive leadership
Smaller group of staff and faculty
adept at economics and data use
Goals recommended by SEM Recruitment
and Retention Councils; models developed
by Data Team
Mid-course adjustments
New or revised goals
Approve strategic goals and enrollment projection
models
Changes
to goals
Use data results to establish
focused goals each for recruitment, retention,
service, etc., and enrollment projection models
Additional requests,
clarifying questions
Data gathering and assessment:
Internal culture/ environment, student enrollment
behaviors and scan of external environment
Executive Leadership,
SEM Steering Committee
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
Executive Leadership,
SEM Steering Committee
SEM councils and sub-committees
Appropriate staff and
faculty departments
SEM Steering Committee,
Chief Enrollment Officer
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SEM Organizational Framework
Executive Leadership
Institutional strategic plan, approval and champions of strategic enrollment goals and initiatives
SEM Steering Committee
Long-term enrollment goals, securing the approval of strategies through appropriate
institutional channels, communication with Executive Leadership
Recruitment Council
Retention Council
Develop 3-4 strategic goals for new student
recruitment; review and approve sub-committee action
plans; recommend to SEM Steering Committee
Develop 3-4 strategic goals for retention and
graduation; review and approve sub-committee action
plans; recommend to SEM Steering Committee
3-4 Sub-Committees
3-4 Sub-Committees
Action plans, time lines and metrics for
each strategic goal
Action plans, time lines and metrics for
each strategic goal
Data Team
Environment scanning, student enrollment behavior research,
enrollment models, provide data to councils as needed
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SEM Planning Framework
Sustainable
Enrollment
Outcomes
Tactics
Strategies
Enrollment Infrastructure
Strategic Enrollment Goals
Data Collection and Analysis
Key Enrollment Indicators
Institutional Strategic Plan
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SEM Planning Framework
Sustainable
Enrollment
Outcomes
Tactics
Strategies
Enrollment Infrastructure
Strategic Enrollment Goals
Data Collection and Analysis
Key Enrollment Indicators
 Clarity of institutional
mission, vision, goals
 Core competencies
 Strategic direction
 Aggregate enrollment goals
Institutional Strategic Plan
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SEM Planning Framework
 Student categories: first
year, transfer, dual
enrollment, voc/tech,
continuing ed, face-toface/online, certificate, etc.
Sustainable
Enrollment
Outcomes
 Desired student groups:
racial/ethnic diversity,
academic ability, 1st gen
Tactics
Strategies
Enrollment Infrastructure
Strategic Enrollment Goals
Data Collection and Analysis
Key Enrollment Indicators
 Geographic origin: local,
regional,
 Recruitment, retention,
completion
 Institutional capacity
Institutional Strategic Plan
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SEM Planning Framework
Sustainable
Enrollment
Outcomes
 Internal benchmarks: KEI
numbers over the past 3-5
years
Tactics
Strategies
Enrollment Infrastructure
Strategic Enrollment Goals
Data Collection and Analysis
Key Enrollment Indicators
 Environmental scan
− Demographics
− Economics
− Market opportunities
− Competition
 Institutional research plan:
designated reports and
production schedule
Institutional Strategic Plan
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SEM Planning Framework
Sustainable
Enrollment
Outcomes
Tactics
 5-10 year KEI targets
Strategies
 Focus: the institution’s
desired future
Enrollment Infrastructure
Strategic Enrollment Goals
 Based on: mission, data,
and environmental scanning
Data Collection and Analysis
Key Enrollment Indicators
Institutional Strategic Plan
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SEM Planning Framework
Sustainable
Enrollment
Outcomes
 Staffing: skill sets, strategic
deployment
 Systems: policies,
procedures, technology
Tactics
Strategies
Enrollment Infrastructure
Strategic Enrollment Goals
 Capacity for making
effective enrollment
decisions : positions,
reporting lines, committees
Data Collection and Analysis
Key Enrollment Indicators
Institutional Strategic Plan
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SEM Planning Framework
 Increase new students of
specified types
Sustainable
Enrollment
Outcomes
 Increase retention rates,
specifically by student
types
Tactics
Strategies
Enrollment Infrastructure
Strategic Enrollment Goals
Data Collection and Analysis
 Utilize emerging
technologies
 Financial aid/scholarships
 Academic programs: mix
and delivery systems
Key Enrollment Indicators
Institutional Strategic Plan
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SEM Planning Framework
 Marketing/branding
initiatives
Sustainable
Enrollment
Outcomes
 Academic program review
 Multilingual recruitment
materials
Tactics
Strategies
Enrollment Infrastructure
Strategic Enrollment Goals
Data Collection and Analysis
Key Enrollment Indicators
Institutional Strategic Plan
 Targeted interventions for
students in high risk
courses
 Enhanced academic
advising
 Streamlined admission
procedures
 Purchase a new CRM
system
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SEM Planning Framework
Sustainable
Enrollment
Outcomes
 Consistently meeting
goals over the long term
− Enabling more effective
campus-wide planning
Tactics
− Revisions to the
institutional strategic plan
Strategies
− Academic planning:
curriculum, faculty needs
Enrollment Infrastructure
Strategic Enrollment Goals
Data Collection and Analysis
Key Enrollment Indicators
− Facility planning
− Financial planning
 Achieving the institution’s
desired future
Institutional Strategic Plan
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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Saint Louis University’s
SEM PLAN:
What will Billikens
Look Like in 2018?
Total Domestic Degree Seeking Enrollment 2013
0
1-9
10-25
26-149
150+
Total International Student Enrollment Fall 2013
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Official Fall 2013 Census Data [updated 10/2013]
1092 Students Representing
86 Countries
China  572
Spain  155
Saudi Arabia  40
Canada  31
India  17
Egypt 15
South Korea  15
Germany 15
Brazil  11
FIJI
SEM at SLU
•
•
•
•
•
Mission
Strategic Plan
Vision for Enrollment Profile
Values
Goals
AACRAO SEM Executive Symposium 2013
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SLU’s 2018 Strategic Enrollment Vision:
Objectives and Targets for Traditional
Undergraduates
I. Increase the Academic Profile of the Freshman Class
II. Increase the Diversity of the Undergraduate Student Body
III. Maintain a Strong Catholic Student Population
IV. Optimize Existing University Capacities to Generate More
Net Revenue from the Academic Enterprise
V. Increase Student Persistence and Success Levels Equal to
the 4th Quartile of the Top 50 US Universities
56
SLU’s Desired New Undergraduate Student
Profile Scorecard
Enrollment Profile Metric
Goal
2012 Benchmark 2013
ACT
Upper 10% in nation (27.8)
27.2
27.6
GPA
+3.5/4.0
3.78
3.85
U.S. Geographic
50 States Represented
42
44
International
10-15%
3%
4%
Catholic
45-50%
54%
56%
Underrepresented Ethnicity
13-15%
13%
15%
Transfer
15-20%
19%
16%
Military/Veteran (total enrollment)
5-10%
2.5%
3%
Enrollment Success Metric
Goal
1-2 Year Retention Rate
90%
6 Year Retention/Graduation Rate 80%
2012 Benchmark 2013
88%
88%
70%
70%
VP Enrollment and Retention Management
57
Executive Symposium
QUESTIONS
Jay W. Goff
Vice President of Enrollment & Retention Management
Saint Louis University
AACRAO SEM Coordinator for Four-year Colleges & Universities
314-977-8191
goffjw@slu.edu