Introduction

The new academic year is well underway. Now that students have settled into classes, institutions are taking stock of their enrolment and financial situations within the context of strategic goals and accountabilities.

Were enrolment targets achieved?
What are the financial implications?
What is the projected outlook to year-end?
What changes in strategy are required?

Information presented in this month's e-newsletter is pertinent to institutional planning at all levels, and will be of particular interest to strategic planners and enrolment management professionals. This month's topics include:

The Changing Landscape of Post-Secondary Education in Canada
  • Student Financing
  • Literacy
  • Changing Immigration Rules for International Students
  • Investments in Graduate Education
  • Private Post-Secondary News
  • National Rankings

New Realities for Student Recruitment and Marketing
  • Social Networking Tips and Tools
  • On-line Campus Fairs and Tours
  • Best Practices in Viewbooks

A Focus on Student Retention and Success
  • Planning for Student Retention and Success
  • Technology Innovations in Student Retention

Recent Research: Post-Secondary Indicators, Trends and Issues
  • Changing Demographics and PS Participation
  • Access and Student Financing
  • Education and Learning
  • Education Facts and Figures

New Publications and Upcoming Conferences

We welcome your feedback on the content of this e-newsletter, contributions on Canadian best practices, and suggestions for articles and books of relevance to SEM practitioners.

Visit the SEM WORKS Resource Library

Student Recruitment Workshop (Mt. Olive College), February 13



Faculty-Delivered Student Recruitment Strategies (Innovative Educators webinar), February 26

View all upcoming events

To learn more about the events, please contact (800) 494-3710 or info@semworks.net

  THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION IN CANADA

Student Financing

• The Government of Canada helps open doors to higher education - The Canadian government reiterated its 2008 federal budget announcement of a $1.7-billion investment in new measures regarding student financial aid…including a new Repayment Assistance Plan, more support for students with disabilities, and a streamlined student loan process. The new measures take effect in the 2009-10 academic year.
• PSE access much more than student financing: The supposition that high tuition fees create a barrier to PSE access is misguided, says Educational Policy Institute's Alex Usher. Read more

Literacy

• Canada's Education Ministers make literacy a priority - The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) - through the framework of Learn Canada 2020 - identified literacy as a top priority and created a literacy action plan to raise awareness about the importance of improving literacy levels from coast to coast to coast. Visit www.literacy.cmec.ca
• Literacy among Aboriginals needs improvement: Literacy levels among Canada's Aboriginal population require improvement, according to a new report from the Canadian Council on Learning. Read more

Changing Immigration Rules for International Students

• Canada Increases Competition for International Students - Canada is changing immigration rules for international students to make it easier for many of them to remain in the country after completing their degrees. About 83,000 mostly full-time international students study in Canada now. Read more about the changes

Investments in Graduate Education

• $200 million for social sciences and humanities research: The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council announced a $202.2-million investment in scholarships, fellowships and grants for graduate students and university-based researchers. Read more
• "Graduate Junction" connects early-career researchers: Two graduate researchers at the University of Durham in Britain launched "Graduate Junction," an online global research community… [U]sers can connect with those with similar research interests, regardless of members' discipline, institution, or geographical location. Read more (subscription required).

Private Post-Secondary News

• Quest, Sprott-Shaw form partnership: In an effort to enhance its visibility, Quest University has partnered up with Sprott-Shaw Community College, a BC-based private career college. Read more
• Apollo Group, Inc. Launches New University - The Apollo Group Inc, owner of the University of Phoenix, announced plans to establish a new Canadian institution, named Meritus University based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, offering complete degree programs online to working professionals throughout Canada and abroad. Read more

National Rankings

• Canada's PSE completion tops OECD: In the 2008 edition of the OECD's Education at a Glance, Canada remains on top with the highest percentage of its population to have completed PSE in comparison to other OECD countries. Read the full report
• Maclean's releases rankings of Canadian law schools: Maclean's released its second annual rankings of Canada's law schools. The University of Toronto ranked first for elite firm and faculty hirings. The University of Victoria was the top school for the national reach indicator, which measured the extent to which leading firms outside a school's region hires its graduates. Read more
• Canada's smartest cities: How does your town stack up? According to data compiled by the Ottawa-based Canadian Council on Learning (CCL), and published in Maclean's, Ottawa and Victoria tied as the smartest major cities in Canada. Toronto is in the middle of the pack, and Montreal is near the bottom. Saguenay, Que., came in dead last. Read more
• The PICK 20, Canada's best minds and sharpest practitioners - Backbone and KPMG unveil the PICK 20, the first and only national roundup of Canada's Web 2.0 pioneers and practitioners. In the pages that follow you will discover 20 companies that are leading the way into the second iteration of the Web. Read more

  NEW REALITIES FOR STUDENT RECRUITMENT AND MARKETING

Social Networking Tips and Tools

• Leverage learning with Facebook: In its recent report on trends in higher education, SCUP notes the increasing popularity of online social networks among college students. An Educause survey found that 89% of students have a Facebook profile. Survey Results
• Privacy creates "digital divide" between young and old: New research from Ryerson University shows that privacy in relation to online social networks forms a "digital divide" between youth and an older generation of managers and executives. Read more
• Twitter as a Marketing Tool - For a quick video discussion on the merits and limitations of Twitter from the Search Engines Strategies conference, visit videos.webpronews.com/2008/08/19/ses-michael-twitter/ See how Twitter is being used now by the Distance Learning program at Northern Arizona University at twitter.com/NAUDL.
• Tips for Facebook social ads and interesting blogs: Check out the latest two blog entries by Melissa Cheater, of Academica Group's social media team: The first shares some interesting results from split-run Facebook social ads, and implications for improving click-through rates. The second entry summarizes some interesting Web 2.0 blogs this week. Read more

On-Line Campus Fairs and Tours

• Making the most of your virtual tour - Universities and colleges too often make the mistake of posting a campus map online and calling it a tour… A recent article in University Business points to about 20 exemplary online campus tours. Read more

Best Practices in Viewbooks

• Standing Out on Paper: Best Practices in University Viewbooks… Recent studies have shown that university and college viewbooks and brochures continue to be one of the most critical communication channels to applicants, parents, and school counselors. See Ken Steele Presentation to the 2007 AARAO (Atlantic Association of Registrars and Admissions Officers) Interchange conference. Viewbooks

  A FOCUS ON STUDENT RETENTION AND SUCCESS

Technology Innovations in Student Retention

• Student Retention: Are Schools Taking Advantage of Technology? College and university administrators consider personal attention to be the most critical factor in retaining at risk students. But what role should technology play in the effort? Read more

  RECENT RESEARCH: POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION INDICATORS, TRENDS AND ISSUES

Changing Demographics and PS Participation

• Career planning should begin as early as Grade 6: A new study from the Canadian Policy Research Networks recommends that schools introduce career planning initiatives as early as Grade 6, by offering co-operative programs and bringing guest speakers to class. Read the full report
• Most dropouts graduate eventually - Many young people are taking the circuitous route from high school to college or university graduation, says a new study by a University of Ottawa economist… Among the most heartening conclusions of Ross Finnie's new study of "leavers" and "switchers" is that most of the dropouts are merely changing programs or institutions and end up on the podium eventually.
• Ph.D. Completion Gaps - According to a study by the Council of Graduate Schools, foreign, male, and white doctoral students are more likely than their American, female, and minority colleagues to finish their programs. Read more

Access and Student Financing

• Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario releases two new research papers on higher education accessibility and student financial aid - These papers provide important foundation research on postsecondary access and persistence, as well as on the student financial aid provided by colleges and universities in Canada.
  Read more
• Low-income parents have trouble saving for PSE: While low-income parents have high hopes for their children's post-secondary education and recognize the need to save early to pay for it, many are having a hard time doing that, according to a study conducted for Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Read more

Education and Learning

• Education Matters: Insights on Education, Learning and Training in Canada - This report presents a few facts and figures relating to education, from enrolment trends and household spending on education to educational attainment levels among the Aboriginal population and recent immigrants. Read more

Education Facts and Figures

• The Canadian Education Statistics Council releases updated indicators in education - The report examines key developments and emerging trends related to the school-age population, the financing of education systems, and the school-to-work transition. Read more
• StatsCan releases "Back-to-school" data: Statistics Canada has released some facts and figures relating to education in its latest issue of Education Matters. PSE enrolment in Canada surpassed the 1-million mark for the first time in the 2005/2006 academic year. Read more

  NEW PUBLICATIONS AND UPCOMING CONFERENCES

SCUP Publications

• Check Out SCUP Publications