This article explores the perceptions of senior enrollment managers at Canadian colleges and universities regarding the effectiveness of using the Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) model within the Canadian context. The research design consists of a qualitative approach involving 23 individual interviews. Research participants reflected on…

Nursing programs across North America are typically significantly oversubscribed, resulting in inflated admitting averages thus making it an unattainable profession for many qualified students. This article proposes a lottery-based admissions process, whereby students who meet established selected criteria for entry would be selected at random…

This article highlights the challenges, triumphs, and setbacks experienced by a mid-sized, public institution in Eastern Canada that is now more than two years into the SEM process. It shares how a team built a sense of urgency in an institution with historically-low retention rates and developed a variety of strategies and structures to improve…

This article explores the role of faculty members in developing and enhancing Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) on North American postsecondary educational institutions. Researchers use a qualitative research design in which nine faculty members and ten chief enrollment managers at nineteen postsecondary institutions participated in individual…

This article assesses changing interest from India in Canadian versus U.S. universities since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as measured by search activity reports from Google Trends. The findings indicate a rise in Indian interest toward Canadian versus U.S. universities was underway before the election. After controlling for this trend…

In 2014, Canada issued its first International Education Strategy, articulating targets for international enrollment and its economic benefits, but lacking international student retention goals. Universities and colleges used to be places where students could get immigration advice, but past Bill C-35 only Regulated Canadian Immigration…

In 2013, in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) board of governors' meeting, a motion was passed that would have a significant impact on future planning at the university. The board of governors directed the president to develop a strategic enrollment management plan (SEM) for the university for the…

Medicine Hat College implemented its first strategic enrollment management (SEM) plan in 2015/16. The implementation required a variety of stakeholders, and initially Medicine Hat College found it difficult to create a diverse cross-campus team. Recognition of the unique cultures within the organization advanced SEM efforts and supported…

Around the world, these educational institutions focus their efforts on recruiting talented students, particularly from foreign countries. However, while well-established universities in developed countries can produce successful international recruitment campaigns, emerging universities still need assistance in producing a successful…

This article explores how partnership building can be used as a strategic tool in the creation of campus conditions that positively contribute to both student well-being and student retention. Synergies between strategic enrollment management literature and student well-being theories are discussed, and an example of how a partnership approach has…

This study empirically examines how for-profit career colleges in Ontario, Canada market themselves to prospective students. It uses a mixed-methods approach to review the content of 489 online promotional profiles representing 375 unique for-profit colleges. It finds that for-profit colleges adopt several distinct marketing strategies, including…

In its earliest form, Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) focused on recruiting students, but soon included a focus on student success, defined in terms of retention and graduation. Several researchers have noted that developing effective student services, as well as establishing strong lines of communications across departments, are key…

In this article, the author talks about his career that has included positions in government and higher education, with the last 25 years having been spent working at four postsecondary institutions in the United States and Canada. In all cases, he has been blessed by having a caring and supportive mentor (sometimes more than one). Looking back…

The fiscal climate of restraint in the Canadian province of Ontario has led to increased calls for a more diversified higher education system. Significant diversity in the university sector in Ontario has not been achieved that underscores the importance of understanding government policy and its related influences on institutional diversity. This…

Canada's province of Ontario introduced a new policy in 2000 allowing community colleges to offer a new type of undergraduate degree. This decision was a significant policy change for the government considering the nature of Ontario's binary system, where a rigid separation has historically prevailed between the university and college sectors.…