Online Enrollment Strategic Planning Process
The SUNY Online Enrollment Strategic Planning Process is a no-cost consulting service, provided by SUNY System Administration. The process encourages campus leaders to take a strategic view of the path forward for online courses and/or programs, including considerations related to the academic mission of the campus, target populations, ways to serve online students, and strategic opportunities for enrollment growth and scalability. The process is structured to be an interactive dialogue intended to help campuses:
- Identify their online course and/or program aspirations and ensure alignment with overall enrollment planning aspirations and campus mission
- Target populations that may be ideal for growth or new course/program development, based on high-demand area.
- Create an Online Enrollment Strategic Plan to ensure that resources for support can scale with enrollment growth
These high-demand online courses and/or programs will support SUNY’s initiatives in student success, economic development, research & scholarship, and diversity, equity & inclusion.
Engagement with Campus Lead
- Review the strategic planning process, campus participants, and campus commitment to the process, including attendance at all meetings
- Discuss & confirm timeline for meetings #2 – #4 and deliverables (campus survey and online enrollment strategic plan)
- Review campus survey and timeline for completion (one week before meeting #2)
- Discuss data needed for campus survey completion (provide to campus before survey is completed)
Engagement with Campus Lead
- Review and confirm validity of data
- Review survey results and corresponding data
- Review agenda and presentation (one week before roundtable)
Engagement with Campus Leadership Team
- SUNY System Administration facilitates discussion on online enrollment
- Identify aspirations for online enrollment and lay the foundation for future discussions
- Identify ways in which SUNY System can help with online enrollment growth plan
- Record action items
- Provide template for Online Enrollment Strategic Plan
Engagement with Campus Leadership Team
- Provide campus with key takeaways, action items, final presentation, and list of courses and/or programs for growth
- Hold a deep dive conversation on the debrief and next steps items discussed at the on-campus meeting
- Review and discuss campus Online Enrollment Strategic Plan to ensure resources for support will scale with enrollment growth and advance enrollment efforts
Areas of Focus
Throughout the Online Enrollment Strategic Planning Process, the campus will discuss:
- Growth aspirations
- Alignment on aspirations for the role of online enrollment growth
- Determine existing online courses and/or programs to invest in for growth
- Establish courses and/or programs to move online or market online
- Recommend distinctive new courses and/or programs to start
- Determine top job growth by region and necessary degrees (NYS Department of Labor)
- Enrollment & Completion
- Review of campus enrollment & completion trends
- Review of campus enrollment & completion aspirations
- Marketing & Recruitment
- Review of campus marketing & recruitment efforts
- Ideas on highest-value marketing efforts
- Marketing and recruitment best practices & current SUNY initiatives
- Campus and System collaboration opportunities
- Finances
- Review of campus economics and operating model
- Financial best practices
- Human Resources
- Review of faculty & staff in the online enterprise
Who Should be Involved?
Each session is facilitated by representatives from SUNY System Administration and uses campus data, student survey data, and Department of Labor data to help determine the best strategy for online enrollment growth at your campus. The required roles on the campus include, but are not limited to:
- President
- Provost
- Faculty Governance Leader(s)
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
- Chief Information Officer (CIO)
- Marketing Leader
- Enrollment Management Leader
- Student Affairs Leader
- Academic Deans
- Online Program Chair(s)/Director(s)
- Distance Learning Leader (if this position exists)
- Other designees of the President
How Do You Participate?
For more information on the Online Enrollment Strategic Planning Process, or to initiate the process with your campus, please contact Maureen Kinney.
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