Accomplishments

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

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.

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.

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.

Eliminated Scholarship Barriers: Launched an extensive review across the eight-campus system to remove obstacles and improve access to scholarships.
Simplified Scholarship Search: Introduced Scholarship Universe, an easy-to-use, one-stop shop that matches students with internal and external scholarship opportunities.
Standardized Financial Aid Processes: Seamlessly integrated financial aid awarding processes and software across the university.

Redefined Academic Advising: Evaluated advising systems, gathered insights from students and advisors through persona and journey activities and developed action plans to redefine the role of advisors and enhance student outcomes through transformational advising.
Evaluated Student Service Experience: Conducted a benchmark analysis of the One Stop for Student Services compared to other universities and enlisted a consultant for an external assessment.
Revamped Student Service Model: Transformed the One Stop for Student Services into the Financial, Billing, and Enrollment Center, featuring a new, simplified website, chatbot and updated on-campus location to streamline critical student services.