- Type Certification
- Level Advanced
- Time Months
- Cost Paid
AACRAO ASCEND Enrollment Management Leader
AACRAO’s ASCEND program, an intensive professional development program for mid-career enrollment leaders, accelerates the ability of participants to consider complex enrollment problems, lead change management, use data to inform strategies, and lead long-range Strategic Enrollment Planning (SEM) work. The one-year program requires that participants complete multiple online modules and assignments. Participants are also required to receive programs and career coaching from a veteran SEM leader.
- Type Certification
- Level Advanced
- Time Months
- Cost Paid
Skills
Earning Criteria
-
Collaboration and Consensus Building: understand and assess the looming enrollment crisis and be able to articulate a path forward; understand consensus and collaboration building; assess institutional culture and its ability to improve; match planning and decision making models to that build collaboration and consensus in the institution's unique context; utilize framing to better understand problems; understand Shared Governance and its importance in the Enrollment Management Process.
-
Change Management: Understand the role managers have in change process; learn tools/strategies to assess current environments (what is the problem? what change is needed and why?); acquire a set of tools/frameworks to become an effective change leader/problem solver; gain tools on how to sustain change
-
Data Analysis and Leveraging Technology in Higher Education: explain and articulate future demographic shifts and potential threats to enrollment numbers; analyze basic data sets that are relevant to enrollment management; develop and clearly understand enrollment projection models; enhance the understanding of administrative assessment planning practices; develop a plan for their areas of leadership; discuss and highlight how to integrate and maximize usage of CRM’s and other data systems.
-
Enrollment Management - The Return: understand the need to inspire transformational change; develop skills needed as the campus key enrollment strategist; develop leadership skills to oversee large, dynamic units; create coalitions and partnerships with key campus stakeholders; develop senior campus leadership team skills; articulate the benefits of the EM role; discuss effective EM leadership impact; develop a personal plan for EM leadership that tracks skill development and acquisition.
-
Capstone Project: Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan. Use their institutional data or provided data from a hypothetical case to: Determine SEM plan scope, length; align to institutional mission/vision; build a case for change and action with external trend and internal enrollment pattern evidence; develop data-informed, focused enrollment goals; create bold strategies that set the direction to meet enrollment goals; develop tactics that operationalize strategies.
Standards
Ability to identify the functions and business processes necessary to operate an office, develop an operating budget, and build a professional staff to conduct the activities of the office. Ability to identify utilization and operationalize customer and student services best practices.
Admissions, registrar, and enrollment management professionals value and foster an environment that ensures respect, support and safety for all members of their campus and professional communities, and actively promote the expansion of ideas, perspectives, and understanding that comes from a diverse and inclusive community.
Understanding of Institutional and External data in the context of what impact the data has on the Strategic Enrollment goals of the institution. To be able to interpret and apply the data for the purposes of short-term and long-term Strategic Enrollment goals of the institution and to monitor short-term operations.