Focusing SEM Practices 2021

The Focusing SEM Practices is a community of practice intended to cultivate a cohesive and sustainable network of practitioners who can share their mutual interests, approach and practices in SEM and thereby implement better ways in which to increase equitable access, student success, and fiscal viability. 

As a member of the SEM community of practice you will

1.    Engage in structured and collaborative dialogue to learn and share practices and expertise for achieving common or similar goals,

2.    Build a broad and diverse network of practitioners that connect people in the spirit of supporting one another,

3.    Stimulate learning and improvement through mentoring, coaching and self-assessment, and 

4.    Distribute knowledge and promising practices that help transform and grow current and future practices.

This web event includes four contiguous 2.5 hour webinars that build on the student journey. Each webinar will present various SEM strategies and practices related to segments along the student journey including; marketing, outreach, onboarding, scheduling, guided pathways, support services, retention, success and research. Discussions and techniques will be presented on how to integrate SEM practices with the Chancellor’s Office Vision for Success goals, the Guided Pathways framework, the Student Centered Funding Formula and college-wide plans and initiatives. The webinars will provide strategies and practices for targeting specific student enrollment groups in order to maximize resources and improve outcomes by groups as well as overall. Each webinar will be followed by a scheduled online study session to delve deeper into SEM topics and to troubleshoot SEM challenges. 

The web event is cohort-based, requiring participants to attend all four webinars. Participants will be encouraged work on a SEM project or initiative at their college during the SEM event. We invite all instructional and non-instructional deans, department chairs/faculty discipline leads, counselors, and deans/directors of institutional research. Participants may join the cohort as individuals or as a team from their college.

Webinar #1: Introduction to SEM

February 19, 2021

This webinar will provide the foundational elements of SEM including; Framing the student journey, principles of SEM, the components of the SEM Organizing Framework, and essential elements of SEM planning including criteria for establishing target student enrollment groups and the data needed. Participants will also hear about a promising practice in SEM planning developed around target student enrollment groups. The facilitators will discuss how to integrate SEM practices with the Chancellor’s Office Vision for Success goals, as well as Guided Pathways and the Student Centered Funding Formula. Participants will have the opportunity to work in small groups to develop their target student enrollment group(s) for a project or initiative at their college. 

Please note: A one-hour follow-up study session will be available two weeks after the webinar for anyone who wishes to engage more deeply in the topics presented during this webinar.  

Primary Facilitators: Cathy Hasson, Dan Walden and Michelle Barton

Click here to download the handouts prior to the webinar:

Webinar #2: Begin the Journey: 

From Interest to Enrollment 

March 19, 2021

This webinar will focus on the marketing, recruitment and onboarding practices that focus on specific enrollment groups, as well as the data needed to implement these practices. Participants will consider how marketing campaigns, outreach and recruitment practices, and structured onboarding are crucial parts of SEM. Participants will examine the interrelationships of these areas, and will explore how to build systemic, sustained, equity-centered, and data-informed practices that successfully engage students from interest to enrollment. The complex processes of becoming a college student will be highlighted, with a focus on momentum points and strategic communications that can make a difference in the success of SEM. 

Please note: A one-hour follow-up study session will be available two weeks after the webinar for anyone who wishes to engage more deeply in the topics presented during this webinar.  

Primary Facilitators: James Todd, Tamika Brown, Jennifer Aries, Michelle Barton

Click here to download the handouts prior to the webinar: 

Webinar #3: Engage in the Journey: 

Year One 

April 16, 2021

This webinar will focus on the first year of the student journey, concentrating on scheduling, program pathways and integrated support services that focus on specific enrollment groups, as well as the data needed to implement these practices.  Participants will consider how and why structured pathways, intentional student engagement and support, and scheduling for success matter in the first year. Rather than understanding these as distinct operational practices located in different parts of our institutions, participants will explore ways in which this work must be shared responsibilities across Student Services, Instruction, and Institutional Effectiveness areas. A holistic, equity-centered approach to the student experience in SEM will be examined, including strategic scheduling efforts and integrated support systems that lead to career and transfer success. 

Please note: A one-hour follow-up study session will be available two weeks after the webinar for anyone who wishes to engage more deeply in the topics presented during this webinar.   

Primary Facilitators: Jane Saldana-Talley, James Todd and Anna Badalyan

Click here to download the handouts prior to the webinar: 

Webinar #4: Deeper Expression of the Journey: Year Two to Completion 

May 21, 2021

This webinar will focus on year two to completion of the student journey, concentrating on retention, persistence and success practices that target specific student enrollment groups, as well as the data needed to implement these practices. Participants will consider equity-centered strategies of retention, persistence, and completion as integral to strategic enrollment management. The facilitators will present a myriad of approaches that vary by target student enrollment group to demonstrate the relationship between institutional cultural change and improvement in SEM. Participants will have the opportunity to explore how the local college culture can have an impact on student success. 

Please note: A one-hour follow-up study session will be available two weeks after the webinar for anyone who wishes to engage more deeply in the topics presented during this webinar.  

Primary Facilitators: Dan Walden, Jane Saladana-Talley, James Todd and Anna Badalyan

Click here to download the handouts prior to the webinar: COMING SOON!