Overview
A third-party consultant, SWIM Digital, was commissioned to support ACC by providing an exploration, assessment, and analysis that leads to the development and implementation of a new-student strategic enrollment plan. The consultation included an in-depth environmental analysis, the development of a new-student enrollment strategic plan, process re-engineering, communication plans to align with the process re-engineering, and a strategy for change management.
Accomplishments
Starting in September 2022, 34 faculty, staff, and administrators from across the college began the work to transform the enrollment experience for new and continuing students. Along with Swim Digital consultants, teams worked to build strategies to increase recruitment, student enrollment, and engagement with new and current students. Four strike teams were created:
Strategic Planning
- Developed a new enrollment funnel for the college
- Established four strategic objectives
- Enrollment: Increase targeted ACC enrollment
- Community Alignment: Expand the share of ACC students
- Process Excellence: Increase process effectiveness and efficiency
- People/Training: To develop the abilities and potential of ACC faculty and staff to support enrollment growth
Process Re-engineering
Streamline the efficiency of internal processing workflows
- Student communication touchpoints
- Business processes
- Technology integration
Communications Plan
- Developed communications for the over 60 mapped processes
Change Management
Change management strategy and execution related to:
- Internal communications strategies
- Staff and faculty training
- Training and process assessments
Impact
Although still early, the college is beginning to see the impact of the strike teams’ work to increase new enrollment. Spring 2023 saw marked improvements in new student registration (up 8.2%). By making adjustments to our processes, we were also able to increase yield (by 5%) in various stages of the enrollment funnel. The team is tracking the impact of various funnel stages (inquiries, submitted applications, completed applications) as these new processes become operational in the system.
Next Steps
In the summer of 2023, the college will continue the new enrollment phase of the consultation. This will include Enrollment Management communication and process training for all ACC faculty and staff starting in May 2023. SWIM strike teams will also conclude the work of new student enrollment prior to launching the next phase of the consultation that will focus on continuing student enrollment and retention.
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