1. Strategic Enrollment Management
WCC Board of Trustees Retreat Thursday, May 21, 2015

2. SEM is a strategic component of institutional planning focused on…
Developing an optimal mix of programs/services for students
Facilitating conversations/collaborations between administration, staff, faculty, and students
Developing leadership at multiple levels of the institution for managing enrollment growth/decline
Using data to determine strengths, gaps and trends

3. WCC annual enrollment 2007-08 to 2014-15

4. Whatcom county age trends
WCC enrollment by age group
Whatcom county age trends
Gains from 2015 to…
Age
2020
2025
15-19 1% 8%
20-24
-4%
25-29 2%
-1%
30-34
10%
35-39
16%
28%
40-44
25%
Age group
College-level courses headcount
Overall headcount
19 and under
35%
26%
20-29
46%
34%
30-39
11%
12%
40+ 9%
29% Ed

5. Campus involvement in SEM
Planning sessions (summer/fall 2014)
State SEM training (October 2014)
SEM kick-off meeting (November 2014)
Student leadership workshop (December 2014)
Professional development day (February 2014)
SEM team decides on four themes (March 2014)

6. Areas of focus for SEM plan
Student demographics and regional industry needs
Outreach and marketing
Retention and completion
Program and services development
Course and program scheduling

7. Support materials
Table of contents
Work group charters

8. Table of contents Background
Institutional context, committee membership/charge, goals, cycle
Research
Regional and state demographic history/projections, internal/external factors, enrollment trends, WCC demographic trends
Goals/measurements
Enrollment, retention, completion targets, student needs, priority area focus, program improvement process description, budget implications/ROI

9. Priority area: Outreach and marketing
Goal: Evaluate WCC’s marketing and recruitment tactics that serve as the gateway to the College and student enrollment and recommend new approaches to achieve enrollment goals
Examples of current actions
Target audience
Placement testing in high school outreach visits
High school students
Addition of two outreach coordinators
High school students, Latino students, adult students, elementary and middle school students and families
Evolution of communication vehicles (e.g., website, quarterly publication)
All students

10. Priority area: Outreach and marketing
High impact practice: placement testing in local high schools Description: Provide placement testing and targeted entry support to Whatcom County high school students
Cohort
(Testing only)
Cohort
(With Entry Supports)
Growth in Headcount
Applications
122 students
136 students
11%
Enrolled in Classes (Annual)
76 students
62% yield
90 students
66% yield
18% overall increase
Sum: 100% Fall: 18%
Wtr: 22% Spr: 44%
EDPL 100 (Student Success)
27 students
33 students
22%
Attended Wave Orientation
58 students
65 students
12%
Fall-Winter Retention
82%
87%
26% (5% overall rate)
Fall-Spring Retention
71%
86%
43% (15% overall rate)

11. Priority area: Retention and completion
Goal: Offer a consistent and deliberate set of retention and completion approaches, both in and out of the classroom, to encourage student persistence and completion of degrees.
Examples of current actions
Target audience
First year experience (FYE)
New, first-time in college students and underprepared students
Early alert
Struggling students
Math literacy pathway
Pre-college level math students
English 101+ and English curriculum and placement changes
All students, but particularly students placing at pre-college level English
Faculty professional development
All faculty
Grad retrieval
Students who have left WCC, but are close to completion
Student completion coach
Students nearing completion, struggling students

12. Priority area: retention and completion
High impact practice: English 101+
Description: Students who place into English 95 enroll in both English 95 and English 101 in a team-taught, linked section. Successful students earn English 101 credit in only one quarter, instead of one year or longer.
Traditional 2-year progression rate from English 95 placement to successful completion of English 101 (42%)
English 101+ successful completion rate in fall 2014 and winter (76%)

13. Priority area: program and services development
Goal: Use regional, community, college, and student data to identify needed programs and services to encourage enrollment and support student success
Examples of current actions
Target audience
Environmental Scan
Programs
Cybersecurity AAS-T degree
CIS students
BAS proposal IT-Networking
CIS and IT students, both at WCC and elsewhere
Craft brewing courses
Community members
High School 21+
Adult learners
Services
Intercultural center
Students of color, LGBTQ students
Undocumented students team
Undocumented students
Completion coach
Students nearing completion, struggling students

14. Priority area: program and services development
High impact practice: Development of Cybersecurity degree
34% increase in CIS FTE in from
Additional increases in
At least six students admitted to WWU program for fall 2015
BAS in IT-Networking degree approved by SBCTC in May 2015

15. Priority area: course and program scheduling
Goal: Identify effective scheduling processes, delivery modalities, and measures of effectiveness to support a diversity community in realizing access to education
Examples of current actions
Target audience
Summer schedule developed earlier
All students, students returning home for summer
5:30 start for evening courses
Working adults
Fully online transfer degree
Working students, non-Whatcom County students
Pending: Evening hybrid transfer degree
Instruction/student services collaboration in schedule development
All students
Hobsons
Online resources/quarterly publication
All students, Whatcom County residents

16. Priority area: course and program scheduling
High impact practice #1: Hobsons Agile Grad degree planning
2,400 degree plans built
Mandatory for all first-year students enrolled in EDPL 100 (student success course)
51% of all full-time First Time in College (FTIC) students

17. Priority area: course and program scheduling
High impact practice #2: Online courses and degrees
36% of students take at least one online course
683 students in have taken only online courses
Students have enrolled from 13 states
Online FTE is 14% of total FTE
79% online course completion rate

18. Gaps and concerns Staffing capacity Research (Environmental Scan)
Customer relationship management (CRM)
Hobsons (underutilized for advising and schedule development)
First to second year retention strategies

19. Overall goals for SEM plan
Inventory of current practices
Highlight gaps and duplication of efforts
Baseline data and establishment of goals
Planning document, particularly for reallocation of resources

20. Next steps
May – June: Alignment on SEM plan contents and approach July – September: SEM plan development September – October: Campus review of SEM plan October or November: Present SEM plan to Board of Trustees November – December: Full scale implementation of SEM plan