Accomplishments

With a strong emphasis on the student experience, the SEM plan makes strategic enhancements in six core areas.

Academic Affairs

Goal: Understand curricular and program needs based on student and market demand.

Key Accomplishments:

  • Completed the Academic Advising LEAN project and Educause’s Data Strategy Institute for Advising, leveraging results as valuable resources to enhance student outcomes through transformational advising.
     
  • Engaged in persona and journey activities to gather insights from students and advisors, leading to the development of future student advising action plans.
Data & Technology

Key Accomplishments

  • Audited technologies and centralized support: Assessed current technologies for recruitment and retention, evaluating usage, functionality, ROI and the student experience, while establishing a centralized team to support tech implementations and consistency across the University.
     
  • Streamlined student communications: Introduced case management software and launched the Slate admissions application, CRM and applicant portal, consolidating interactions into a single stream and significantly improving communication, event registration and the overall application process.
     
  • Improved quality and access to data: Created new curriculum codes, recoded programs, updated university systems and established a data literacy program to enhance our data’s quality, while implementing a data lake and admissions dashboard to easily track student behavior.
Enrollment, Access & Completion

Key Accomplishments

  • Personalized student communications: Created unified marketing plans, segmented communication strategies, established toolkits and employed new technologies and data to create targeted communications, tackle barriers and align all departments.
     
  • Unified recruitment strategy: Worked with Regional Campuses to create a cohesive recruitment plan for NE Ohio, highlighting a student’s diverse options throughout the University system. 
     
  • Enhanced Transfer Credit Assessment: Introduced Flash Credit Estimator to help students quickly assess transfer credits and match with majors. 
External Visibility & Brand Awareness

Key Accomplishments

  • Analyzed brand perceptions: Conducted a study to analyze brand attitudes and awareness among segmented audiences to identify growth opportunities and evaluate market positioning.
     
  • Boosted website performance: Elevated Kent State websites through external assessments, regular audits, data and AI integration and page redesigns to improve website operations, SEO, user experience and accuracy.
     
  • Revamped digital presence: Developed audience personas, created a central content calendar, established metrics for annual evaluation and tested marketing strategies to optimize messaging across all digital platforms. 
Fiscal Sustainability

Goal: Enhance and diversify financial position while reducing complexity and gaining greater efficiencies.

Key Accomplishments:

  • Launched an extensive review across eight campuses to eliminate scholarship barriers.
     
  • Seamlessly integrated university-wide financial aid awarding processes and software.
Student Support Services & Co-Curricular Experiences

Goal: Become a student ready college, enhance the student experience throughout the lifecycle and improve post enrollment metrics.

Key Accomplishments:

  • Conducted a benchmark analysis of the One Stop for Student Services, compared to other universities, and enlisted a consultant to conduct an external assessment.
     
  • Rebranded the One Stop for Student Services as the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center with a new, simplified website and chatbot.
     
  • Introduced personalized videos for newly admitted students, explaining financial aid offers.​
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