Ten-year enrolment strategy approved

Framework outlines current situations and goals for future, including the changes to academic programs

Queen’s Senate approved a paper last week outlining its guiding principles for enrolment plans for the next 10 years. The Strategic Enrolment Management Framework lays out five principles that will guide all enrolment planning goals and actions, according to the report.

The first principle stipulates that the University should align enrolment with its values and traditions, while the second states that the University must consider the resources available to Queen’s when making plans.

The third states that Queen’s should consider “emerging PSE [post-secondary education] markets”, the fourth states that plans support student success and the fifth says that Queen’s consider the impact of enrolment plans on the broader community.

The framework includes actions that should be taken to support each principle.

It also outlines enrolment demographics over the past two years, but doesn’t include projections into the future.

The suggested actions include expanding partnerships with other universities, opening the two new residences and increasing distance and online course offerings.

“[The principles] are not expected to change over time, although the specific goals and actions that support them are expected to evolve,” Alan Harrison, the provost and vice-principal (academic), told the Journal via email.

Harrison sits on the Strategic Enrolment Management Group (SEMG), which designed the framework.

He said the group developed the framework based on consultations held throughout the past year.

The Senate Enrolment Management Group (SEMG) includes AMS President Eril Berkok, Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Brenda Brouwer, Deputy Provost Laeeque Daneshmend, and other Queen’s administrators and faculty heads.

The administration released a White Paper on long-term enrolment last September, which laid out the University’s plans for public discussion.

It was used for consultations held on campus, such as two town hall meetings, a Board of Trustees-Senate session and a 2013 University Council meeting.

The enrolment policy paper released by the AMS, “The Rising Tide”, was also considered, according to the framework. “All of this feedback was used in the drafting of the Strategic Enrolment Framework, which also, of course, reflects considerable discussion at the Strategic Enrolment Management Group,” Harrison added.

The report also details the current situation at Queen’s.

It contains an “environmental scan” section, which lists the university’s strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities, and a section on changes in student demographics over the last two years.

This year, the university experienced a two per cent increase in applications overall, while Queen’s Arts program applications dropped by five per cent.

International student enrolment has increased 6.7 per cent since 2012.

Currently, the class entry average is 88.9 per cent, and around 50 per cent of the entering class receives an admission scholarship or a needs-based award, according to the report.

The strengths cited by the report include a high retention rate, an attractive campus and high student satisfaction at Queen’s.

The list of weaknesses includes “marketing regarding the value of a Queen’s Arts degree”, capacity of student services, the conversion of common rooms to bedrooms in residences and “historically decentralized operations”. Harrison said the last weakness refers to planning done by faculties and schools independently from each other, which was common in the past.

“Queen’s has moved to more integrated planning processes, including enrolment planning, to meet demand and needs for services and programs that best serve students,” he said.

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