North Central State College Consulting Report

1. North Central State College Consulting Report Clayton Smith, Ed.D. AACRAO Senior Consultant February 15, 2008

2. Consultation Summary AACRAO Senior Consultant Clayton Smith conducted a consulting visit to North Central State College (NCSC) on February 15, 2008 to facilitate an enrollment planning summit.

3. Summit Goals • Validation of things we do well • Focus and develop action plan for two or three emerging enrollment development strategies • Re-energize action plans for collaboration as a high performance team -February 7, 2008 email from Betty Wells, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, NCSC

4. Summit Participants • Dr. Therese Bushner, Interim Vice President for Learning • Ms. Sheila Campbell, Data Support, Institutional Research • Mr. Terry Coleman, Dean, Business & Education • Ms. Nikia Fletcher, Director, Admissions & Enrollment Services • Mr. Jim Hull, Dean, Health & Public Services • Ms. Annette Griffon, Recruiter/Admissions Counselor • Ms. Stephanie Hall, Recruiter/Admissions Counselor • Mr. Mark Hupp, Webmaster • Ms. Gina Kamwithi, Director, Community Education • Mr. Tom Kluding, Director, Tech Prep • Ms. Teri Kofod, Early Childhood faculty member • Ms. Peg Moir, Vice President, Learning Support & Retention

5. Summit Participants(Continued) • Mr. Mark Monnes, Registrar & Student Records • Ms. Teri Myers, Graphic Designer • Mr. Tom Prendergast, Director, Institutional Research & Grants • Mr. Bruce Sliney, Assistant Vice President, Learning • Mr. Keith Stoner, Director, Marketing & Creative Services • Mr. Randy Storms, Acting Dean, Engineering Technologies & Workforce Development • Ms. Deanna Strauss, Coordinator, Tech Prep Transition • Ms. Bev Walker, Director, Retention Services/Student Success Center • Ms. Betty Wells, Vice President, Institutional Advancement

6. Agenda • Introductions • Overview of Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) and enrollment planning • Discussion of things NCSC is doing well • Moving toward a definition of enrollment development • Institutional niche discussion and exercise • Next steps • Adjournment

7. Strategic Enrollment Management • SEM is a comprehensive process designed to help an institution achieve and maintain optimum enrollment, where optimum is defined within the academic context of the institution. Adapted from Dolence, SEM Primer • Strategic enrollment management is a concept and process that enables the fulfillment of institutional mission and students’ educational goals. Bob Bontrager

8. Purposes of SEM • Creating a data-rich environment to inform decisions and evaluate strategies • Improving process, organizational and financial efficiency and outcomes • Strengthening communications and collaboration among departments across the campus to support the enrollment program

9. Particularly for Community Colleges . . . • Enabling the institution to clarify its focus on competing missions • Envisioning enrollment planning in spite of - and because of - the “open door” • Optimizing vaunted flexibility in program development and delivery through better linkages with other campus efforts and services.

10. What SEM is Not • A quick fix • Solely an organizational structure • An enhanced admission and marketing operation • A financial drain on the institutional budget • Net Revenue! • An administrative function separate from the academic mission of the institution

11. Institutional Mission andEnrollment Goals Are Determined By: Programs offered Current competitive status Range of influence Niche Aspirational status Weaknesses Strengths Historical status

12. Determine your niche, focus on it, and deliver on it as well as you possibly can . . .

13. Community Colleges:Think creatively about those niches • The obvious . . . • Low tuition • Convenient location • Small classes • No teaching assistants • Open admission • Wide age range • Special relations with local communities, businesses and industries, other universities

14. Sometimes the not-so-obvious niches make the difference: • Distinctive programs: e-commerce; Ford Training Center; biotechnology; study abroad ; North Seattle CC Integrated Studies, bachelor’s degree; university center (their excellence casts a glow over all programs) • Shared experiences: all students have an advisor or a portfolio; website chat rooms; unique orientation; unique degree requirement; Green River CC international student housing • Geographic reach: do you have a nationally-marketable program? EvCC Medical Transcription online program • Special populations: Honors, Bridge, Women in Science, Bellevue CC Associate in Essential Studies…

15. Physical Capacity Ethnicity Undergrad/ Grad Majors Academic Profiles Residency Special Skills Program Capacity The Concept of Optimum Enrollment Institutional Mission

16. Attain Degree/Goal The Student Success Continuum • Traditional Enrollment Perspective Co-curricularSupport Classroom Experience Recruitment/ Marketing Orientation Student’s College Career Academic Support Retention Admission Financial Support

17. Attain Degree/Goal The Student Success Continuum • The SEM Perspective Co-curricularSupport Classroom Experience Recruitment/ Marketing Orientation Student’s College Career Academic Support Retention Admission Financial Support

18. Programs offered Current competitive status Range of influence Niche Aspirational status Weaknesses Strengths Historical status

19. Promoting Institutional SuccessStrategic Planning Programs offered Current competitive status Range of influence Niche Aspirational status Weaknesses Strengths Historical status

20. The SEM Plan- Components • Define relationship to the strategic plan • Produce an environmental scan • Collect data, data, data • Enrollment: totals, demographics, trends, etc. • Course offerings: capacity, scheduling, duplication, waitlists • Retention • Market surveys • Financial aid and scholarships • Budget: income streams, expenditures

21. The SEM Plan - Components • Identify key enrollment-related issues • Respond to those issues: • Key leverage initiatives • Very important initiatives • Relatively simple initiatives • Set goals: enrollment targets, program mix, program delivery, income targets, services

22. The SEM Plan – Components • Suggest strategies • Recruitment • Marketing • Program mix • Policies and procedures • Retention • Establish accountability • Who does what and when?

23. The SEM Plan - Components • Include measurements/ key performance indicators (KPIs) • Most goals should be measurable • Know your baseline data, and measure against it • Follow-up on assessment of the KPIs • Update often – this is not a long range plan...it is a strategic plan. Be strategic! • Ensure continuous communication with campus

24. What NCSC Is Doing Well • Achieving the Dream • Innovation orientation • Intrusive academic advising • High reputation health programs • Strong transfer articulation with 4-year institutions • Physical connection with Ohio State University’s branch campus in Mansfield • Developing general education program

25. A Definition of Enrollment Development for NCSC • Despite the overall 6% annual increase goal, NCSC does not have a clear understanding of what is meant by enrollment development • It was mentioned that the College is expected to eventually reach an enrollment of 4,500; although it is not clear by when this goal can or should be reached • The focus of the enrollment development effort lacks clarity with the following student groups identified: high school seniors, transfer students, adult learners, distance education students • There appears to be concern about the percentage of enrollment which would be university parallel or applied

26. A Niche for NCSC • Need to define competitive advantage • Determine primary, secondary and tertiary student markets • Focus on advantages with low income and female students • Identify the profile of the successful NCSC student and put in motion strategies to recruit more of these students • Currently, only focus on “reach out and down” students

27. Primary Next Steps • Complete the following SEM Planning Steps: • The Plan to Plan • Institutional Framework • S.W.O.T. Analysis • Strategic Visions • Issue Identification & Response • As part of the planning process, develop an institutional niche statement • Then consider requesting an AACRAO Consulting evaluation of progress to date

28. Additional Next Steps • Develop optimum enrollment targets for institution-wide, for each program and by student type prior to establishing enrollment goals, objectives and strategies • Get buy-in campus wide in support of enrollment development, including faculty and senior administration • Involve faculty in areas which will impact the quality of learning • Ensure that level of support is consistent with enrollment targets (e.g., students of color) • Online learning identified as an enrollment opportunity; however need to assess enrollment and financial systems currently in place that make online learning difficult to access

29. Additional Next Steps (continued) • Make the connection between financial resources and enrollment management to ensure that enrollment goals are tied to return on investment • Improve roadside signage to make the campus more visible to travelers • Transition from a shotgun-reactionary culture to a strategic-deliberate culture

30. Respectfully Submitted,Clayton Smith, Ed.D.smithc@uwindsor.ca consulting.aacrao.org