Strategic Enrollment Management Planning

Chancellor

Goals, Strategies, and Priority Tactics

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    Goal 1: By fall 2025, achieve 1,700 degree-seeking student headcount

    Create a culture that fosters and celebrates student persistence and success

    • No priority tactics for 2020-21

    Develop and implement a strategic recruitment plan to identify, recruit, and enroll a diverse and sustainable student population

    • Enhance the campus’ yield campaign for admitted students, including personalized communications and events involving admission counselors, faculty/advisors, current students and alumni
    • Implement a comprehensive two-way text chatbot that is available to answer admitted student questions 24/7
    • Develop dashboard to monitor progress toward recruitment goals

    Design and execute a financial aid strategy that helps address student financial barriers to success.

    • Conduct an analysis of current financial aid deployment strategy to understand the efficacy of its current approach on new student enrollment
    • Using the financial aid deployment analysis, design and implement a financial aid strategy that optimizes new student enrollment and current student persistence
    • Provide financial wellness opportunities to all students and their support structures

    Goal 2: Increase first to second year retention rate by at least 1 percentage point each year through fall 2025

    Implement a coordinated, consistent, student-centered academic support structure

    • Improve communication between student support professionals and faculty

    Create a culture that fosters and celebrates student persistence and success

    • No priority tactics for 2020-21

    Create a coordinated, comprehensive FYE (first year experience) for all new students

    • Create and communicate clear definition of FYE and its component parts

    Implement coordinated, institution-wide support for students facing academic and non-academic challenges

    • Clarify and clearly communicate staff and faculty expectations for academic and non-academic alerts
    • Fully implement mid-term grade alerts for all 1000 level classes

    Goal 3: Increase four year graduation rate by at least two percentage points each year through fall 2025; increase six year graduation rate by at least two percentage points each year through fall 2025

    Create a culture that fosters and celebrates student persistence and success

    • No priority tactics for 2020-21

    Identify and close graduation gaps

    • Create and communicate key enrollment indicator dashboard for key personnel

    Identify and address barriers to matriculation and persistence for all students

    • Map and adjust, as necessary, current academic and experiential pathways
    • Expand and improve work opportunities for students
    • Improve student registration and orientation experiences

    Implement coordinated, institution-wide support for students facing academic and non-academic challenges

    • Create mandatory experience for students on probation and/or returning from suspension
    • Clarify and clearly communicate staff and faculty expectations for academic and non-academic alerts

    Goal 4: Strategically raise level of awareness of Morris within the UMN system, state, and region

    Develop and implement a strategic and integrated external marketing and communication plan

    • Create and communicate comprehensive and consistent brand message
    • Improve UMN Morris’ web and social media presence
    • Review and expand strategic communication to focused local and regional audiences

    Expand collaborative efforts within the UMN system

    • Strengthen admissions and recruitment relationship with other UMN campuses

    Strengthen relationships between the campus and local communities

    • No priority tactics for 2020-21

    Expand alumni engagement in admissions activities

    • Increase opportunities for alumni engagement with current and prospective students

    Goal 5: Establish clear pathways for students to and through UMN Morris and beyond graduation

    Establish and communicate clear return on investment of University of Minnesota degree

    • Develop clear messaging related to the benefits and outcomes of a Morris degree
    • Create and communicate clear pathways between a Morris degree and future outcomes
    • Improve UMN Morris’ web presence

    Establish and communicate clear pathways to timely degree completion

    • Map all programs/degrees to identify and resolve possible bottlenecks and obstacles to timely degree completion

    Implement a coordinated, consistent, student-centered academic support structure

    • Create a comprehensive student success center

    Develop coordinated efforts to connect students to campus, people, and place through engagement in campus and community opportunities

    • Create intentional cohort building for incoming and current students
    • Create a system for regular communication for students’ families / support structures

    Goal 6: Provide equitable access and opportunity for students from broadly diverse backgrounds

    Develop and implement a strategic recruitment plan to identify, recruit, and enroll a diverse and sustainable student population

    • Assess and strengthen enrollment strategies for domestic and international students
    • Strategically draw on alumni for recruiting diverse student body
    • Establish transfer student relationships with local communities, two-year, and tribal colleges

    Identify and close graduation gaps

    • Create and communicate key enrollment indicators
    • Provide consistent and on-going training, access, and resources to improve faculty and staff support for students

    Identify and address barriers to matriculation and persistence for all students

    • No priority tactics for 2020-21

    Goal 7: Create a university infrastructure that supports the recruitment and graduation of transfer students and students with prior credit

    Identify, recruit, and enroll a diverse transfer student population

    • Conduct an enrollment funnel analysis on prior recruitment cycles and analyze demographic trends for upcoming recruitment cycles for each identified student cohort
    • Design specifically targeted recruitment materials (especially for transfer students)
    • Establish transfer student recruitment relationships with community and tribal colleges
    • Evaluate and clarify transfer credit review process and make changes as appropriate

    Create a coordinated, comprehensive First Year at Morris experience for all new students

    • No priority tactics for 2020-21

    Identify and address barriers to matriculation and persistence for all students

    • Evaluate and streamline the transfer credit review process
    • Improve transfer student registration and orientation experiences

    Develop and implement clear pathways through all majors and programs with multiple entry points for those with prior credit

    • No priority tactics for 2020-21

    Develop a culture that values and supports transfer students

    • No priority tactics for 2020-21

    Background and Teams

    Background

    Beginning in fall 2019, in consultation with AACRAO consultants Stan Henderson and Cedric Howard, UMN Morris engaged in an enrollment management planning process. The goal was to craft a comprehensive Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) plan designed to address the recruitment of new students while enhancing the persistence and success of matriculated students. Comprehensive feedback from the campus community was essential throughout the planning process. 

    Priority tactics for 2020-21 were identified in fall 2020, and are outlined under each goal. Each year, we will identify new priority tactics for our goals. 

    Our enrollment management planning process was guided by the work of the following students, staff and faculty: 

    SEM Planning Leads Team

    • Jill Beauregard, Director of the Office of Financial Aid & One Stop Student Services
    • Melissa Bert, Interim Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management & Senior Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Research
    • Merc Chasman, Associate Professor of Mathematics & Chair of Scholastic Committee (2019-2020)
    • Jennifer Deane, Professor of History & Director of McNair Scholars Program (2019-2020)
    • Jessica Porwoll, Assistant Director, Office of Academic Success & Lead Success Coordinator

    Data Team

    • Melissa Bert, Senior Director for Institutional Effectiveness and Research
    • Jon Anderson, Professor of Statistics
    • Steve Schuetz, Interim Director of Admissions (2019-2020)
    • Kristin Youngblom, Associate Director of Institutional Research

    Recruitment & Persistence Teams

    • Jill Beauregard, Director of the Office of Financial Aid & One Stop Student Services (Co-Chair. Recruitment)
    • Jennifer Deane, Professor of History & Director of McNair Scholars Programs (Co-Chair, Recruitment) (2019-2020)
    • Merc Chasman, Associate Professor of Mathematics & Chair of Scholars Programs (Co-Chair, Persistence) (2019-2020)
    • Jessica Porwoll, Assistant Director, Office of Academic Success & Lead Success Coordinator (Co-Chair, Persistence)
    • Tracey Anderson, Associate Professor of Biology
    • Windy Roberts, Spanish Teaching Specialist (2019-2020)
    • Joe Beaver, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
    • Jennifer Goodnough, Associate Professor of Chemistry
    • Emily Johnson, Success Coach - Office of Academic Success
    • Andrew Sletten, Senior Admissions Counselor
    • Lexi Dant, Student (2019-2020)
    • Arne Kildegaard, Professor of Economics
    • Mary Elizabeth Bezanson, Professor of Communication, Media and Rhetoric (2019-2020)
    • Matt Tollefson, Director of the Academic Center for Enrichment (2019-2020)
    • Rachel Johnson, Assistant Professor of Biology
    • Kerri Barnstuble, Director for Summit Scholars - TRiO Student Support Services
    • David Israels-Swenson, Senior Director of Student Activities, Health and Wellness
    • Sydney Loechler, Student (2019-2020)

    Resources

    Feedback

    Feedback from the campus community is always welcome. If you have feedback to share, please use this general feedback form.