Strategic Enrollment Planning Timeline

Engagement and Implementation Phase: In Progress

  1. Engagement
  2. Implementation
  3. Assessment
March 2020 – March 2021
The Implementation Committee and Subcommittees
  • Short-Term Enrollment Strategies: Successfully engaged former “stop-out” students to spur interest in completing their degrees online – drawing back more than 100 former students.
  • Customer Relations Management (CRM) System: The CRM Initiative team successfully procured an implementation partner and worked with various units across campus and had a soft launch of the system in early March.
  • Digital Marketing Strategy: Conducted several digital marketing campaigns to support enrollment activities for undergraduate and graduate admissions.
  • Collaborative Goal Setting & Monitoring: Developed an enrollment dashboard to track progress toward UMBC enrollment goals at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
  • Short-Term Retention and Graduation Actions: Implemented several new standards to support the retention and persistence of undergraduate students as they navigate UMBC – including enhanced transfer student support and a 90-credit audit process.
  • Resource Allocation: Developed a budget model based on potential allocation methodologies and metrics, based on enrollment.
  • Financial Aid Optimization Strategies: Identified an aid strategy partner to help UMBC develop an aid strategy aligned with its enrollment goals.
  • New Programs: UMBC prepared to launch several new programs at the certificate and graduate degree levels.

 

  • Continued supporting and monitoring the work of the established SEP Implementation Committees with particular focus on supporting the CRM Marketing and Admissions implementation.  Adopted a formal organizational structure for CRM decision making.
  • Engaged consulting partners in better understanding the growing returning adult student population and the opportunities and challenges of serving this population. Hosted focused discussions with campus leaders and campus stakeholders.
  • Welcomed new campus leadership.  To better support the work of the SEP moving forward, restructured and refocused the SEP Implementation Committee to the new SEP Strategy Group, composed primarily of the academic and enrollment leads and chaired by the Provost and Vice President of Finance and Administration to continue the work of the Strategic Enrollment Plan.
  • Held SEP Retreat to identify short-term enrollment goals and priorities and to officially launch SEP 2.0.
  • SEP Strategy Group identified new/revised initiatives to support short term enrollment goals. Initiatives included: Transfer Articulation/Partnerships, UG Academic Progressions, Flexible Class/Term Scheduling and CRM.
  • The SEP Strategy Group engaged in a comprehensive review, led by interim Provost Dauwalder, to assess what has been accomplished and what still needs to be done.
  • Analyzed and discussed international  student enrollment trends and implications for growing enrollment at the graduate level.  Established the Supporting International Student Workgroup to address comprehensive needs of international students.

 

 

Planning Phase: Complete

March – May 2020
  • Vice-presidents and deans meet with shared governance groups, faculty, staff, and students to discuss the five priorities that form the foundation of the Strategic Enrollment Plan:
    • Student Success
    • Recruitment, Admissions, and Marketing Infrastructure
    • Resource Allocation
    • Financial Aid Strategy
    • Program Innovation
  • Assess UMBC’s implementation readiness with respect to building campus buy-in, implementation leadership, project management resources, etc.
  • Finalize structure for implementation including identifying implementation and execution leads responsible for project management tasks, develop a system for tracking and monitoring, build short-term initiative charter and project plans.
  • The designated implementation and execution leads and their respective workgroups/committees move forward with the immediate initiatives identified to support fall 2020 enrollment goals including short-term retention and graduation actions, short-term enrollment initiatives, customer relations management (CRM) system, financial aid optimization strategies, digital marketing, resource allocation, new or refreshed programs and collaborative goal-setting and monitoring.
January & February 2020

Build off the findings from the first two project phases to draft the full Strategic Enrollment Plan, complete with priorities, each with aligned and sequenced initiatives to pursue, and goals to guide and measure progress over the life of the Plan.

  • Build net tuition revenue growth models to illustrate the projected net tuition revenue and headcount impact in 2024 of pursuing various portfolios of undergraduate and graduate enrollment growth. These portfolios help determine the goals and metrics of the Strategic Enrollment Plan and gain a sense for the additional net revenue that could be generated to cover investments in the Plan and other mission-critical priorities.
  • Draft the full Strategic Enrollment Plan, complete with a unified statement of purpose, priorities, and sequenced initiatives to pursue in alignment with each priority.
  • Engage small groups during the drafting process to review priority elements of the Plan.
  • Determine the approach for broader re-engagement with the draft plan prior to considering the Plan finalized.
  • Build on the momentum from the planning process to establish a structure and approach for managing the implementation of the Plan.
November & December 2019

Review and assess the past five years of enrollment and student success outcomes at the graduate level – including master’s, doctoral, non-degree, and post-bacc certificate (including Shady Grove) students–and identify potential opportunities for the future.

November
  • Conduct an assessment of the current state of graduate enrollment by analyzing historical enrollment data.
  • Conduct market research to assess growth opportunities for new and existing graduate programs.
December
  • Conclude the assessment of the current state of our enrollment and focus on the development of potential opportunities within undergraduate and graduate enrollment.
  • UMBC leadership aligned on the structure of the draft Strategic Enrollment Plan to be drafted in January.
September & October 2019

Review and assess the past five years of enrollment and student success outcomes at the undergraduate level – including first-time freshmen, transfer, international and Shady Grove student populations – and identified potential opportunities for the future.

September
  • Engage six student focus groups, including graduate, international, Shady Grove, first-time freshman / sophomores, juniors / seniors, and transfers.
  • Speak with 76 stakeholders individually or as a group.
  • Speak with the faculty senate executive committee and held conversations with three academic leadership focus groups.
October
  • Host individual conversations with all academic chairs.
  • Field a survey to engage all faculty and staff that has garnered 316 respondents.
  • Speak with the graduate program directors to begin discussions specific to graduate enrollment.