Author: salaadmin

The main challenges in this role were:

• Establishing a predictive enrollment model on which the institution could rely to guide planning and budgeting. Historically, three percent enrollment increases had been used to forecast enrollment, but these assumptions were no longer valid with shifting demographics. I developed a predictive model using more than 10 data points related to our enrollment trends that proved to be highly accurate, significantly reducing stress on budgets and people.  
• Rethinking and reframing admissions, recruitment and other student services from siloed transactional processes to those that integrated outreach, counseling and individual attention when students needed and wanted it. With my colleagues in a range of student support services, we successfully harnessed technology to complete data entry, process information, and communicate with students, streamlining the enrollment, payment, registration and onboarding processes.  This allowed us to devote our precious human resources to directly addressing students’ concerns and issues, which was more rewarding for all involved. 
• Innovating and collaborating with faculty and staff to offer program delivery options that could attract students beyond the geographic confines of the county, such as short term and/or accelerated, weekend, and online options.
• Communicating current and projected enrollment trends to the entire campus community to ensure everyone was working with the same information and could understand the role they played in influencing the success of enrollment.

Comments: Strategy and negotiation. I spend most of my time devising and implementing strategies to fulfill the mission, vision and values of the university and college. Much of that revolves around securing and deploying resources—human, temporal, and fiscal. In order to implement that strategy, I am constantly negotiating with my supervisors (Provost, President, various VPs), my team (direct reports—school directors, finance director, communications and marketing director, director of Advancement, and my staff), with faculty, and of course students. I work every day to help match people’s goals and ambitions with the university and college mission, vision and values. Sometimes, that means helping people see that they are already doing that, and sometimes it means guiding people towards that alignment. The first step is often agreeing on the values—centering learners, and creating access and opportunity for that learning.

Navigating Complex Challenges – Higher education leaders face a myriad of complex challenges. SALA Advisors guides your leadership team through these challenges and helping them develop effective strategies and solutions. We assist leaders in managing financial resources, optimizing budgets, identifying new revenue streams, developing and implementing strategic plans that align with the institution’s mission and vision, and equipping them with the skills to manage change effectively and guide their institution through transitions.

Fostering Visionary Leaders – SALA Advisors fosters visionary leadership by encouraging forward-thinking and strategic decision-making, assisting leaders in developing a clear and compelling vision for the institution’s future, enabling leaders to embrace innovation and explore new opportunities for growth and improvement, and supporting leaders in creating long-term plans anticipating future trends and challenges.

Developing Effective Strategies – Effective strategies are crucial for achieving institutional goals. SALA Advisors helps your leadership team develop and implement strategies that drive success, guide leaders in setting realistic and achievable goals that align with the institution’s mission, help leaders establish performance metrics to track progress and measure success, and assist them in allocating resources effectively to support strategic initiatives.

Genuine Relationships: We prioritize building genuine relationships with our clients, connecting with them to understand their unique needs and goals. Our focus on authentic connections helps establish trust and rapport, enhancing the effectiveness of our coaching and consulting services.

Client-Centric Approach:  We take the time to understand each client’s context, fostering a personalized approach that addresses their specific challenges and aspirations. Our commitment to authentic relationships ensures that our support is tailored to each client’s unique needs, maximizing the impact of our services.

Understanding Challenges: We approach each client’s situation empathetically, actively listening to their concerns and challenges to provide thoughtful and supportive guidance. We recognize and appreciate the unique challenges higher education leaders face and offer support that is both understanding and practical.

Comments:   A common misperception of enrollment management is that it is primarily about admissions recruiting and marketing. It is much more comprehensive. While recruiting a full class of incoming students is an important function, retaining them and supporting them through to degree completion is equally important. It is therefore essential that an enrollment management division contains departments that directly influence retention and degree completion. It is also important that the chief enrollment officer is a member of the president’s cabinet and reports directly to the president. The Enrollment Management Division at SUNY New Paltz was comprised of the following departments:

• Undergraduate Admission – Provides a myriad of programs and activities focused on recruiting new transfer and first-year students. Activities include attending college fairs, high school and community college visits, campus visits, managing student ambassadors, making application decisions, and customer relations management (CRM).
• Records and Registration/Registrar – This area represents a critical interface between the institution and the student throughout their academic career. This includes making sure that the courses students need are available when they need them in order to progress toward degree completion in a timely and efficient manner.
• Student Financial Services (financial aid) – Provides financial services to students through Federal grants and loans, scholarships, State aid, and financial advice and support which is essential to retention and degree completion.
• The Office of Academic Advising – Serves primarily undeclared undergraduate students and provides guidance of course selection, meeting General Education requirements and selecting a major.
• Student Accounts – Provides services to students and parents who are navigating the challenges of paying for a college education and serves as a crucial link between billing and financial aid.
• Office of Veteran and Military Services – This area is an essential part of recruiting and retaining veterans and military affiliated family members. This is a population that has complex financial support systems and, for veterans, guidance as they face the challenges of re-entering civilian life on a college campus.