View the AACRAO press release here.
In the newest AACRAO publication, SEM as a Connector: Principles of Practice, fifteen strategically selected SEM professionals share their experience, research, thinking, and, above all, practice, in making connections and building relationships which illustrates how SEM (Student Enrollment Management) can be used to support relationship-building in fostering student success. AACRAO hopes this book will ensure that making connections becomes a clearly defined core function of SEM and a hallmark of persistence and student success.
Dr. Dennis Livesay, the Dave House Dean of Computing, and Will Cantrell, Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School, are co-authors of Chapter 5, titled, “Graduate Enrollment Management: A Framework for Making Connections.”
Summary: SEM as a Connector: Principles of Practice
Postsecondary educational institutions face more uncertainty about student enrollments than at any time in the modern era. Schools can no longer rely on past enrollment patterns to predict their yield of admitted students. SEM planning is a blueprint that has to be continually adjusted to the ever-evolving campuses and world around us. With this in mind, this book makes the case that “community” is a tool that can be used to create connections and build a web of interlocking conditions and supports that encourage both recruitment and retention.
Fifteen SEM professionals were selected to share their experience, research, strategic thinking, and, above all, practice, in making connections and building relationships. This book will ensure that making connections becomes a clearly defined core function of SEM and a hallmark of persistence and student success. It defines possibilities and shares stories that highlight SEM’s unique ability to influence student engagement. It explores how creative and experienced colleagues applied their individual styles of SEM connective practice at their disparate institutions and discusses the patterns that emerged. The shared experiences of the authors reinforces the fact that SEM plays a critical—and direct—role in making connections.
Using the lenses of various institutional types from both the US and Canada, the book focuses on student groups with particular needs for community and inclusion. Culminating with five new SEM Principles of Practice, the book provides practitioners with new agency to make a difference in connections for accessibility and belonging. The group of authors whose work helped to establish the Principles of Practice includes:
Will Cantrell – Michigan Technological University
Susan Gottheil – (Retired), University of Manitoba & AACRAO Consulting
Tyler Hayes – Central Oregon Community College
Casey Hayes – Elon University
Stanley Henderson – (Retired), University of Michigan-Dearborn & AACRAO Consulting
Amy Hutton – The University of Alabama
Dennis Livesay – Michigan Technological University
Alicia Moore – Central Oregon Community College
Kizzy Morris – Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
Rodney Parks – Elon University
Kevin Pollock – Central Carolina Technical College & AACRAO Consulting
Clayton Smith – University of Windsor & AACRAO Consulting
Alexander Taylor – Elon University
Anne Thurmer – Minnesota State Technical CollegeSEM as a Connector: Principles of Practice can be purchased at the AACRAO Bookstore. Read the Introduction to learn more.
Will Cantrell stepped into the position of Associate Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School at Michigan Technological University on July 1, 2020, in the middle of one of the
most challenging times for enrollment management in recent history. He is a Professor in Physics and the interdisciplinary Atmospheric Sciences Program. Prior to stepping into the position as dean he was an associate dean for two years and served as the director for the Earth Planetary and Space Sciences Institute for 10 years.
Dennis Livesay is an expert in graduate enrollment management and the evolving credentialing landscape. His career prominently features a number of successful new program development activities, including broad adoption of stackable certificates and other types of alternate credentials. He is currently the Dave House Dean of Computing at Michigan Technological University. Prior to this, he served in a number of academic and administrative roles, including dean of the College of Engineering and dean of the Graduate School (both at Wichita State University) and interim associate dean of the College of Computing and Informatics and founding director of the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Ph.D. program (both at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte). Dr. Livesay is the architect of the GEM framework upon which much of his chapter is based; he has presented on the topic at both regional and national meetings, including as a featured speaker at the 2019 AACRAO Annual Meeting
AACRAO, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association of more than 11,000 higher education professionals who represent approximately 2,600 institutions in more than 40 countries. Its mission is to provide professional development, guidelines, and voluntary standards to be used by higher education officials regarding the best practices in records management, admissions, enrollment management, administrative information technology, and student services. AACRAO represents institutions in every part of the higher education community, from large public institutions to small, private liberal arts colleges.