Office of the Vice Rector,
Academic and International Studies
QUEBEC CITY, CANADA
Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) at Université Laval
Johanne Morneau
Canadian
SEM Summit
Vancouver
May 13–15, 2009
Presentation Outline
• Université Laval at a Glance
• Findings and Issues
• Strategic Enrolment Management: Strategies and
Action
• First Steps
• SEM Meeting
• Next Steps
• Conclusion
www.ulaval.ca
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Université Laval at a Glance
• 44,000 students, including 10,000 graduate students and
4,000 international students from nearly 90 countries
• 236,600 alumni worldwide
• 2,500 professors and lecturers
• Nearly 400 programs of study covering all fields of
knowledge
• More than 570 partnerships with universities in 65 countries
• Highest number of students to study abroad in Canada
• Over $40 million awarded annually in study bursaries
• 37 distance-only learning programs
• Over 500 distance learning courses, 85% of which are
online
• A language school–fertile environment for the
expression of multiculturalism in Quebec City
www.ulaval.ca
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Université Laval at a Glance
• One of Canada’s 10 most research-intensive
universities
• International leader in several major sectors
• A number of international summer schools in
a variety of fields
• More than half of our campus is dedicated to
green spaces and sports fields
• 4 student residences, with over 2,200 fullyequipped rooms
• A safe campus in the safest city of its size in
Canada
• A Unesco World Heritage Site
• A cultural center with 400 years of history
www.ulaval.ca
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Findings and Issues
• Enrolment variation in Quebec: will rise until 2011,
then set to decline to 90% of current levels ten
years later (AUCC)
• Shift in candidates’ attitudes and behavior
• Growing competition in Quebec and abroad
• Continuation and graduation rates: good, but we’d
still like to improve them
www.ulaval.ca
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Findings and Issues
• Changes needed to halt the university’s declining numbers
• Traditional vision of recruitment: information and promotion
• Scant attention paid to competitive environment
• Develop the university-wide policy to welcome and accompany
students
• Work in isolation: communication, coordination, and
collaboration between various departments and faculties to be
improved
• Lots of existing data, but little strategic analysis on student
number variations
• Criticism of the efficiency of certain services and processes,
but no tools with which to evaluate them
www.ulaval.ca
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Findings and Issues
A NEW VISION
Toward Strategic Enrolment Management
www.ulaval.ca
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First Steps:
Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM)
December 2008:
•
SEM training day: university, faculty and department
management
•
SEM meeting: university management and faculty heads (deans)
to mobilize others
www.ulaval.ca
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SEM Meeting
ARG
Organizational
Process
Attractiveness
Information
and
Promotion
Admission
and
Registration
Support
for
Success
Graduation
and
Placement
Graduate
Relations
For the past 2 years:
-
VREAI: merger between 2 vice rectorships with incorporation of
recruitment, international, and placement studies
-
Horizon 2012: recruitment a priority + strategies to help students to
succeed
-
Hiring of resources, strategic analyses, admissions, and
internationalization
-
Put in place monitoring tools to provide data by program
-
More communication and concertation with deans and program and
department heads
www.ulaval.ca
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SEM Meeting
Attractiveness
Initiatives (past, current, under development, and to come):
•
Improve the university’s image
•
Continually improve the attractiveness of our programs, monitoring and
innovation
•
Flexible programs
-timetable adapted to students, hybrid mode, Internet, integrated programs with
partner universities, gateways with the preuniversity level
- Develop distance learning and continuing education
•
Skills recognition, preparatory year
•
Improve student financial support
www.ulaval.ca
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SEM Meeting
Information
and
Promotion
Initiatives (past, current, under development, and to come):
•
Establish more ties with potential students, follow up with students until
registration
•
Continue to step up use of ICT: put someone in charge of online recruitment
•
Put someone in charge of recruitment for western Quebec and improve
master/doctorate recruitment
•
Step up activities in countries where our international students come from and
in countries targeted according to Université Laval’s characteristics
•
Put in place a customer relations management (CRM) tool
•
Develop partnerships to promote Université Laval
www.ulaval.ca
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SEM Meeting
Admission
and
Registration
Initiatives (past, current, under development, and to come):
• Data and monitoring tool
• Simplify and shorten admission process
• Take steps to digitize admission applications
• Preparatory year
www.ulaval.ca
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SEM Meeting
Support for
Academic and
Professional
Success
Initiatives (past, current, under development, and to come):
•
Put in place a student support policy and a financial support plan to encourage graduate
student success
•
Welcome sessions for new students (university wide and within faculties)
•
Create student support groups, peer support, twinning national and international students
•
Put in place skills upgrading programs
•
Prepare students for the labor market, internships
•
Provide various support initiatives (notetaking, time management, stress management,
improve language skills, critical reading, etc.)
•
Improve information about available financial support and bursaries
www.ulaval.ca
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SEM Meeting
Graduation
and Placement
Initiatives (past, current, under development, and to come):
•
Support job searches
•
Preparatory training
•
Work experience during studies
www.ulaval.ca
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SEM Meeting
Aumni
Relations
Initiatives (past, current, under development, and to come):
•
Student mentorship, internships by alumni
•
Promotional aid to collaborate to alumni belonging sense
www.ulaval.ca
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Next Steps:
Development Strategies & Required Action
February–March 2009:




Faculty tour by university management
Faculties present priority projects to university management
Outline faculties’ niches of excellence
An opportunity for discussion appreciated by all
April–May 2009:

Summary of the tour’s main points
Faculties were able to report on their initiatives, strategies, and
particular problems for recruitment and training. Many
acknowledged the exercise had forced them to collectively
consider the importance of SEM and the challenges it represents.
www.ulaval.ca
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Next Steps:
Development Strategies & Required Action
 Based on the Université Laval action plan, bolster the SEM
capacity of the university and its faculties (recruitment and
retention)
•
Set up and put in place targeted plans according to clientele
(recruitment and retention)
•
Revise administrative processes, digitally manage files
•
Need for resources, improve inhouse and outside coordination,
connection
•
Attractiveness and flexibility, double graduation, relocation of certain
programs, greater flexibility for part time students
•
Improve financial support for top students
 Create an SEM Management Committee
•
Analyze continuation and graduation data
•
Support success assistance initiatives
•
Evaluate results to manage future actions
www.ulaval.ca
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Conclusion
•
Raise awareness of the SEM approach: more influence
on students enrollments.
•
Evaluation and diagnosis phase ongoing:
Accomplishments: university-wide policies, action
taken within faculties and departments with
regard to SEM
•
Create and implement an SEM management
committee in 2009–2010
Approaches: develop best practices, improve
support and coordination for initiatives to
promote and boost continuation and student
success
THANK YOU!
www.ulaval.ca
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www.ulaval.ca
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