Strategic Enrollment Management Approach

Strategic enrollment management is a comprehensive, data-informed approach aligning all college and university programs, practices, policies, and planning to ensure the equitable recruitment, persistence, goal completion, and graduation of students.

This working definition serves as a foundation for college and university SEM planning and the work of the system office to support SEM planning.

The Minnesota State Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Approach is an overview of how system initiatives, strategies, and goals align and connect to strategic enrollment management planning and implementation at colleges and universities.

The SEM Approach recognizes the ongoing efforts at colleges and universities to implement strategies that support Equity 2030.

The Minnesota State Equity 2030 goal is to eliminate the equity gaps in outcomes by race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and first-generation student status at all Minnesota State colleges and universities by the year 2030. Eliminating gaps in educational outcomes such as student persistence and academic program completion are inextricably connected to strategic enrollment management. Achievement of this goal requires evolution of the entire student experience to identify opportunities to implement evidence-based strategies that hold the promise of eliminating equity gaps in outcomes. Equity 2030 and strategic enrollment management planning requires effort on the part of all divisions at a college or university and the system office to establish an intentional culture of equity-minded collaboration resulting in equitable practices embedded throughout our institutions.

Equity 2030 is a powerful direction for the future of higher education and is a strategic enrollment management strategy. Achieving Equity 2030 will result in a more equitable and just Minnesota State that will deliver on the promise of higher education as a vehicle for personal and societal economic growth. Achievement of Equity 2030 will result in higher enrollment at colleges and universities as more students ─ especially underrepresented students who have been historically excluded in higher education ─ enroll in a college or university, and receive the support they deserve, increasing the likelihood of persistence to completion. Elimination of equity gaps for full-time undergraduate students at Minnesota State colleges using current data would result in an additional 3,425 students taking an additional 51,372 credits, generating an additional $10.2 million in tuition revenue.

Minnesota State recognizes adaptation and change to structures and cultures is necessary to meet the needs of today’s students. Rather than expect today’s students to learn or adapt to the systems and culture of traditional higher education structures, college and university environments must be student-centered and designed to support all students. Students face many challenges that may interfere with the ability to enroll and persist in higher education. The prevalence of basic needs barriers, lack of access to mental health support, and other challenges that disproportionately impact students who are historically underrepresented and underserved, are part of a deeply interconnected system that is not easily changed. Creating student-centered and student-ready campus environments that provide relevant support contributes to a campus climate conducive to student success and positive enrollment.

Realizing the promise of higher education through the achievement of Equity 2030 will require intentionally prioritizing strategic enrollment management strategies across all levels of Minnesota State and empowering individuals regardless of title or responsibility to examine, explore, and experiment with innovative and evidence-based strategies to increase access to higher education and rates of success for all students. Working together, through a system approach to strategic enrollment management, is a tangible and actionable strategy to achieve Equity 2030 by establishing a community of support that collaboratively develops, implements, and measures the impact of strategies to support higher rates of student access and success.

The SEM Approach recognizes the ongoing efforts at colleges and universities to implement strategies that support Minnesota State Guided Learning Pathways (GLP).

Minnesota State Guided Learning Pathways is a student-centered framework designed to serve as a roadmap to achieve the Equity 2030 goal and foster greater levels of student access to higher education and persistence through the education journey.

The framework includes three pillars focused on curricular and program design and delivery, comprehensive orientation and first year experience, and holistic advising and comprehensive student support.

Minnesota State colleges and universities have implemented a series of initiatives that align with the framework and continue to identify opportunities to enhance current practices to advance toward achievement of Equity 2030 and strategic enrollment management goals.

Examples of SEM strategies that are aligned with Minnesota State GLP:

Curricular and Program Design and Delivery

Well-articulated, coherent pathways aligned with careers.
Inclusive perspectives and approaches in content, pedagogy, and service delivery.
Maintaining academic momentum and credit intensity.

Comprehensive Orientation and First Year Experience

Robust orientation experiences addressing key student success content areas.
Extended orientation models to a First Year Experience.
Integration of career assessment and exploration connected to academic program selection.

Holistic Advising and Comprehensive Student Support

Proactive advising models focused on sustained student support.
Student centered communications providing timely messaging to maintain momentum and support.
Ongoing outreach connecting students with basic needs and mental health resources.

The strategies outlined within the three pillars of the Minnesota State GLP framework are aligned with effective practices in strategic enrollment management and provide essential support for students in accessing and persisting through their postsecondary education experience.

The Minnesota State system approach to strategic enrollment management is predicated on continued collaboration between colleagues at colleges, universities, and the system office to develop, implement, and evaluate the impact of strategies aligned with Minnesota State GLP that will foster higher levels of access and persistence for our students.

2023-2026 SEM Approach Goals, Strategies, and Tactics

Minnesota State Strategic Enrollment Management Approach goals and strategies includes campus and system tactics. The system plays a supportive and complementary role supporting the strategic enrollment management planning and implementation that occurs at each college and university.

System Roles

Develop and communicate the Minnesota State value proposition describing the distinctive qualities that make Minnesota State colleges and universities a destination of choice for higher education.
Support college and university leaders in strategic enrollment management planning and implementation processes through professional development, thought leadership, and distribution of effective practices.
Review policy, procedure, and system practices on an ongoing basis to ensure potential barriers to strong enrollment are identified and addressed.
Identify and pursue opportunities to work collectively and collaboratively across the system to pursue strategies conducive to strong enrollment at all Minnesota State colleges and universities.

College and University Roles

Implement a strategic enrollment management planning process that results in a strategic enrollment management plan that includes specific goals and assessment methods to measure goal progress.
Develop and implement marketing and recruitment strategies designed to attract new students and communicate the unique value proposition of the college or university.
Develop and implement strategies and tactics that align with Minnesota State Guided Learning Pathways and others designed to comprehensively support students as they persist through the college or university experience.
Utilize data to identify opportunities to enhance the student experience and remove barriers that may interfere with access and ongoing enrollment at the college or university.

SEM Approach Goals

Goal: Create or enhance campus SEM plans

Strategy: Identify best SEM approach for campus

System Tactics

Provide SEM planning resources to campus leaders through the SEM community of practice.
Pursue data resources available at the system level that can monitor enrollment and inform campus SEM planning.
Implement ongoing professional development opportunities to enhance SEM planning.
Champion state policies that support strong enrollment at Minnesota State colleges and universities.
Identify areas to establish “system-level” membership or pricing, thus, allowing all campuses to access at a reduced rate, (e.g., include membership in professional associations or membership in services organizations that support campus SEM work).

College and University Tactics

Define a cross-departmental collaborative committee/workgroup to create a strategic enrollment management plan that aligns with the system workgroup recommendations.
If a SEM plan exists, define a cross-departmental collaborative committee or workgroup to evaluate the SEM plan to identify opportunities for alignment with system workgroup recommendations.
Identify benchmarks and targets for recruitment, retention, and completion in alignment with Equity 2030.
Establish a process for monitoring enrollment and aligning enrollment management strategies with the SEM plan.
Establish data resources to inform SEM planning and implementation.
Align SEM plan with campus strategic plan and other relevant plans.

Strategy: Strengthen System Office and Campus Marketing Alignment

System Tactics

Provide system-wide contextual campaigns that enhance campus and Minnesota State brand awareness.
Expand thought leadership promoting equity, access, and the public value of higher education.
Coordinate enrollment initiatives such as Minnesota State Week, College Knowledge Month, and outreach events.
Update Minnesota State website admissions content to meet current market needs in support of campus enrollment.

College and University Tactics

Develop messaging to prospective students in alignment with campus SEM plan.
Develop ongoing student communication campaigns to increase student retention.

Goal: Ensure that students have a clearly defined path to graduation or degree completion

Strategy: Academic Planning, Program Review and Quality Assurance

System Tactics

Provide resources helpful to colleges and universities in navigating the accreditation process.
Continuation of the work of program review and quality assurance by implementing program review processes across the colleges and universities.
Provide teaching and learning resources and professional development opportunities.
Provide workforce development data to inform campus efforts.

College and University Tactics

Provide high quality programming to support students in their education and career goals.
Review curriculum on an ongoing basis.
Engage local business and industry leaders, through strategic partnerships and advisory committees to ensure that workforce needs are met through relevant curriculum.
Maintain and expand accreditation – institutional, academic, and concurrent enrollment.
Consider strategies to increase access to academic programs such as flexible course scheduling and course modality.
Review academic program pathways to ensure clarity, alignment with learning outcomes, and requirements that do not create unintended or unnecessary barriers to completion.
Ensure programs are linked explicitly to careers, workforce needs, or further education pathways.

Strategy: Improve the transfer student experience by ensuring students have seamless transfer within Minnesota State

System Tactics

Evaluate and expand transfer pathway by bringing together faculty communities of practice and campus stakeholders to support review, evaluate, develop, and implement.
Provide transfer success and planning technology support.
Facilitate system transfer and advising meetings and professional development opportunities.
Work with faculty communities of practices to review transfer pathway courses that lend themselves to common course numbering and provide recommendations to the senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs.
Work with faculty communities of practice to develop zero-cost, interactive, culturally responsive, and accessible course materials for high-impact transfer pathway courses.
Develop an accountability framework to ensure that Minnesota State continues to progress on improving transfer and to ensure our colleges and universities are in full compliance with board policy.
Identify transfer data to publish on the Minnesota State website categorized by college and university.

College and University Tactics

Implementation and compliance with transfer pathways.
Implementation of reverse transfer processes.
Continuation of transfer review and appeal processes.
Utilization of transfer success technology (e.g., degree audit, e-Transcript, Transferology, uAchieve Graduation Planner and Schedule Builder, Transfer Evaluation System [TES]).

Strategy: Redesign of lower-level general education and developmental education

System Tactics

Ensure more students have the opportunity to complete degrees by strengthening transfer and better aligning lower-level general education courses engaging in the General Education Redesign process and transfer pathways program review.
Ensure more students have the opportunity to complete a college gateway course in their first year of study through work on Math Pathways and Phase II: Multiple Measures Course Placement.
Charge the Transfer Governance Team to consider a pilot for common course numbering in transfer pathway programs identified by faculty communities of practice.

College and University Tactics

Required core curriculum and general education courses are clearly articulated.
Develop co-requisite course offerings in Reading, English and Math.
Implementation of multiple measures and the campus Course Placement Tool (ARSA).
Implement and assess Course Placement pilot projects.

Strategy: Ensure students have broad access to high-quality, affordable online education, programs, and services across the state

System Tactics

Establish and maintain a statewide approach to professional development for online education that includes expanding access to professional development resources and services for faculty members.
Provide colleges and universities with evidence-based and nationally benchmarked tools (e.g., Quality Matters, Online Learning Consortium) to support quality improvement processes.
Establish system guidelines for setting, justifying, and evaluating differential tuition.

College and University Tactics

Provide all students with online access to high quality support services.
Expand the use of quality open educational resources.

Strategy: Equitably expand access to dual enrollment for Minnesota high school students

System Tactics

Create a shared understanding to support partnership, funding, and credentialing structures that lead to accessible, high-quality, sustainable dual enrollment through developing a three-year learning and engagement plan for stakeholders about the value of dual enrollment.
Provide information and strategies for connecting dual enrollment to broader strategic efforts in our system and state.
Conduct system-level research on disaggregated student outcomes, including students’ post-dual enrollment coursework.
Create conditions that expand equitable access to dual enrollment opportunities by revising program eligibility criteria, conducting culturally responsive outreach to BIPOC students, low-income students, rural students, and first-generation students, and identify innovative offerings and delivery models that can be replicated and scaled up.
Create mutually beneficial partnerships with K-12 to support classroom/program quality by supporting equitable funding models and credentialing structures.

College and University Tactics

Establish an equity focused dual enrollment goal.
Create more accessible, high-quality, and sustainable dual enrollment pathways into high demand, high skill careers that support student aspirations and local workforce needs.

Goal: Provide students with robust student support throughout their academic career

Strategy: Holistic Academic Advising

System Tactics

Provide SAP communication and other student communication resources.
Provide support for academic advising and planning technology tools.
Facilitate ongoing Academic Advising Community of Practice meetings.
Implement the Student Success and Academic Planning Conference and other professional
development opportunities.

College and University Tactics

Implement holistic and proactive academic advising models.
Connect students with career exploration and development resources.
Review student communication strategies to ensure clarity and that language is motivating
students to utilize resources helpful to achieve goals.
Implement early alert process to facilitate interventions for students who experience
challenges.
Connect students with support resources including resources addressing basic needs
insecurity and mental health.
Support students in utilizing technology helpful in achieving their education goals such as
the uAchieve Degree Audit and Planner.

Strategy: Comprehensive Orientation and First Year Experience

System Tactics

Provide resources that can be implemented within orientation programs that address social
belonging, career exploration, mental health, and other topics connected to student
success.
Engage with campus leaders to explore extended orientation models.
Facilitate ongoing Orientation and FYE Community of practice meetings.

College and University Tactics

Implement comprehensive on-campus and/or online orientation for all incoming students.
Engage students during orientation in career assessment and exploration resources aligned
with their interests and goals.
Implement orientation sessions and experiences that address mental health, social
belonging, sexual violence prevention, civic engagement, and other topics connected to
student success.

Strategy: Basic Needs Support

System Tactics

Maintain and manage the United Way 211 basic needs resource hub.
Facilitate ongoing Basic Needs Community of Practice and system wide committee
meetings.
Procure enterprise platforms to facilitate the emergency grant process.
Explore partnerships with other state agencies and statewide organizations to enhance
basic needs resources.
Develop a comprehensive basic needs survey designed to gather prevalence data providing
campuses with actionable data to inform basic needs strategies.

College and University Tactics

Implement strategies to increase awareness of the United Way 211 basic needs resource
hub.
Implement a SNAP communication strategy to communicate with students who are likely
eligible for SNAP benefits about how to access benefits.
Maintain campus basic needs and mental health resource websites.
Facilitate the emergency grant process utilizing the system platform.
Increase awareness of campus-based resources designed to address basic needs insecurity.
Assess the impact of basic needs focused initiatives and services and use the results to
improve available support.

Strategy: Mental Health Support

System Tactics

Pursue an enterprise platform providing supplemental clinical mental health support and
training.
Facilitate ongoing Mental Health Community of Practice meetings.
Explore partnerships with state agencies and relevant organizations to enhance mental
health resources.
Provide ongoing support for mental health first aid instructors.
Identify and expand resources for mental health student support strategies.

College and University Tactics

Implement the mental health promotion and resource messaging calendar designed to
provide students with culturally relevant and trauma informed messages supportive of
student mental health.
Offer Mental Health First Aid Training sessions utilizing campus mental health first aid
instructors.
Provide students with mental health resources information during orientation sessions.
Identify opportunities to utilize mental health training resources for relevant student and
employee group trainings and during orientation and other campus events.

Goal: Data-Driven Decision Making at the Institutional and System Level

Strategy: Equity Scorecard

System Tactics

Collaborate with stakeholders to review Equity Scorecard tool.
Identify opportunities to provide support for colleges and universities in implementation
and utilization of the Equity Scorecard.

College and University Tactics

Utilize Equity Scorecard data to inform campus practices to reduce equity gaps in student
success metrics.
Review policies/procedures from an equity lens.

Strategy: Enrollment Management Data

System Tactics

Explore system data and analytic tools to support campus strategic enrollment
management planning.
Identify the system-wide data points campuses need in order to implement strong
Enrollment Management strategies.
Develop a consistent planning data and information set that is compiled centrally and made
available to each campus annually.
Leverage relationships with OHE, DEED, and Real Time Talent to develop additional
forecasting data and competitive market analyses, regional workforce needs analyses,
demographic, and employment forecasts, and degree production across sectors
(disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, income level and first-generation status).
Provide data examining disparities in BIPOC student outcomes.
Identify strategies to collect prospective student data.

College and University Tactics

Identify relevant data needed to support strategic enrollment management planning and
implementation.
Identify key performance indicators that will be used to evaluate strategic enrollment
management successes.

System Academic Master Plan

One of the key strategies of the SEM Approach is the creation of a system-level academic master plan. The Minnesota State Academic Master Plan (SAMP) is a guide for campuses on future planning of academic programming in high needs areas to ensure that the academic offerings of Minnesota State meet the needs of future students, employers, and the state of Minnesota.

The SAMP integrates with priorities from the Chancellor/System Office Strategic Work Plan. To achieve strategic enrollment management priorities and goals, with an intentional equity-minded lens, we will re-envision and re-structure our work around four key priorities:

Online Strategy - Re-envisioning and enhancing support online education in ways that ensure we can continue to meet the educational needs of the students we serve.
Tackling Transfer - Continuous improvement of the transfer student experience and student outcomes for completion of undergraduate and graduate level programs.
Early Access: PSEO Dual Enrollment - Re-envisioning PSEO dual enrollment to expand offerings to high school students helping students shorten their time to earning necessary college credits.
Career Pathways: Noncredit to Credit Credentials - Re-envisioning learning pathways to create multiple and equitable paths to development and credentials for lifelong success

Key Priority #1: Online Strategy

Online Strategy provides structural guidance through 15-developed strategies and a set of action steps to advance online education. Each action step was categorized for its potential to positively impact student outcomes, compete against other higher education providers, and/or its potential to make online education more efficient or effective.

Goal: Ensure students have broad access to higher education across the state

Strategies

Provide all students with online access to high quality support services.
Expand access to professional development resources and services for faculty members.

Actions

Minnesota State will provide institutions and their students with access to centralized support services during extended hours to assist all students
synchronously via phone, chat, text/SMS, or web conference.
In progress: Establish a unit that will provide course design and instructional technology services for prioritized projects with selected programs and courses from Minnesota State institutions.

Goal: Online courses, programs, and services must be of consistent high quality across colleges and universities

Strategies

Establish and maintain a statewide approach to professional development
for online education.
Provide campuses with evidence-based and/or nationally benchmarked
(e.g., Quality Matters, Online Learning Consortium, etc.) tools to support quality improvement processes.

Actions

Completed: Minnesota State will develop and sustain comprehensive statewide professional development programming options for faculty members who wish to demonstrate their competency in designing and delivering online courses and programs.
Completed: Minnesota State will provide a set of evidenced-based, peer reviewed tools and/or models that an institution can use to guide their quality improvement processes for the design and development of courses, including those delivered online.

Goal: Online education must be affordable for students with its value proposition clearly expressed

Strategies

Establish system guidelines (operating instructions) for setting, justifying, and evaluating differential tuition.
Expand the use of quality, open educational resources.

Actions

Develop models, formulas, and/or decision trees to guide a systematic approach for how institutions determine and use online differential in ways that align with their institutional operations.
In progress: Minnesota State will continue to support the creation, modification, and adoption of more affordable and/or open educational resources including ancillary materials in all courses, including those delivered online. Coordinate efforts with institutional bookstore providers to make course materials affordable to students.

Goal: The Minnesota State online education strategy must draw on our collective strengths and resources

Strategies

Support faculty collaboration on curriculum and course offerings.
Identify collaborations that result in strategic advantage, based on effective campus and system academic planning.

Actions

Minnesota State should offer time, tools, and financial/human support
to facilitate cross-institutional faculty to faculty collaboration on the development of curricular materials that support campus, regional, and enterprise academic planning efforts.
Develop a revenue sharing model used when collaborating on curriculum development and course offerings.

Key Priority #2: Tackling Transfer

Minnesota State is engaged in transfer work designed to:

Increase student retention, persistence, and degree completion;
Increase the percent of Minnesotans aged 25 to 44 who have attained a postsecondary certificate or degree to 70 percent across all student populations (Minnesota’s Educational Attainment Goal 2025);
Increase market share of high school graduates and transfer rates from system two-year colleges to system universities; and
Increase the number of post-traditional (adult) learners.

Goal: Establish a Transfer Leadership Action Team (LAT) to provide deeper
engagement with transfer

Strategies

Shared responsibility for all Leadership Council members to engage and to lead creative opportunities for deeper engagement in discussion around the most pressing topics. LATs will take a deeper dive into these areas and develop recommendations.

Actions

Completed: Create a Transfer LAT to engage in discussion around Transfer to provide feedback, guidance, and recommendations in this area.

Goal: Review, evaluate and expand Transfer Pathways

Strategies

Review and evaluate current Transfer Pathways.
Expand Transfer Pathways.

Actions

In-Progress: Bringing together faculty communities of practice for current Transfer Pathways to support review and evaluation.
Include in the review and evaluation process of current Transfer Pathways student support resources and structures.
Bring together Education faculty to review and remediate issues with education program pathways
Expand transfer pathways in high need and high student interest area programs

Goal: Establish Common Course Numbering to reduce barriers for students who are transferring academic credits

Strategies

Work with faculty communities of practice to review Transfer Pathways Courses that lend themselves to common course numbering.

Actions

Completed: An ad-hoc workgroup of the Transfer Governance Team was launched in Spring 2023 to research options for common course numbering. The workgroup recommendations are due to SVC Green-Stephen in June 2023.
The “Lower General Education” Design Workgroup will consider options for common course numbering in lower division general education courses.

Goal: Redesign “Lower Division General Education” to better serve students
educational needs

Strategies

Re-envisioning the Minnesota State lower division general education curriculum

Actions

In-Progress: A workgroup was charged with developing a recommended process and parameters for re-envisioning the Minnesota State lower division general education curriculum.

Goal: Create and implement a Transfer Monitoring and Oversight framework

Strategies

Develop an accountability framework to ensure that Minnesota State continues to progress on improving transfer and to ensure our colleges and universities are in full compliance with board policy and our overall goals.

Actions

Completed: Minnesota State Office of Internal Auditing will be auditing transfer (policies, procedures, compliance) to mediate risk.
In-Progress: A system-level accountability framework on transfer will be developed to ensure institutions compliance with transfer policies and system goals.
In-Progress: Transfer data will be added and updated to the Minnesota State website categorized by Minnesota State institutions.

Key Priority #3: Expand Early Access: PSEO Dual Enrollment

Re-envisioning student access as a collective and collaborative enterprise where early access is integral to our student pipeline. To meet our Equity 2030 goals, we must support more equity in access and outcomes for dual enrollment students. Of the six strategic dimensions within Equity 2030, the first, Enhance Access, specifically mentions PSEO and concurrent enrollment. By implementing these strategies, progress can be made towards the Equity 2030 goal of eliminating equity gaps in student outcomes across race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location.

Goal: Create a shared understanding to support partnership, funding, and
credentialing structures that lead to accessible, high-quality, sustainable dual
enrollment

Strategies

Develop shared understanding about dual enrollment and its role in advancing equitable education and economic outcomes for young people and the Stat of Minnesota. (2021-2024)

Actions

In Progress: Design and deploy three-year learning and engagement plan for internal and external stakeholders about the value of dual enrollment for all stakeholders.
In Progress: Provide information and strategies for connecting dual enrollment to broader strategic efforts in our system and state.

Goal: Develop a consistent data and information framework to support development of a shared understanding about dual enrollment

Strategies

Build systematic continuous improvement process to ensure program quality and accountability (including data and reporting on disaggregated outcomes 2021-2022)

Actions

Establish an equity goal in dual enrollment for the system.
Create a common framework for annual dual enrollment outcomes evaluation and reporting that includes a qualitative component.
Conduct system-level research on disaggregated student outcomes, including in students’ post-dual enrollment coursework.
Engage current and former dual enrollment students in program
improvement.
In Progress: Provide ongoing support for NACEP (National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships) accreditation and reaccreditation.

Goal: Increase successful dual enrollment participation to under-served populations by revising eligibility criteria, targeted outreach to under-served populations and an increase in equitable student supports

Strategies

Create conditions that expand equitable access to dual enrollment opportunities and enhance inclusive student supports to ensure equitable outcomes. (2023-2024)

Actions

Revise dual enrollment program eligibility criteria to ensure broader access to high school students capable of performing college level work through PSEO and/or concurrent enrollment
Conduct culturally- responsive outreach to under-represented communities to ensure expanded access to dual enrollment: Black, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian students, to male students, low-income students, rural students, and first-generation students.
Identify and replicate innovative offerings and delivery models to ensure equitable access to dual enrollment for students in greater Minnesota.
Share and scale best practices on equitable and inclusive student supports in dual enrollment – for example:
- Best practices in onboarding and supporting high school students on and off campus
- How to increase access to student services for non-campus-based dual
  enrollment students
- How to implement effective outreach and communications about services available to all students, including dual enrollment learners
- How to coordinate advising and academic supports across partners
- Incorporate assistive technologies or academic supports for students with disabilities

Goal: Create more mutually beneficial partnership opportunities between K-12 and
Minnesota State that support classroom and program quality by supporting equitable funding models and credentialing structures

Strategies

Identify and implement sustainable structures to ensure students and school districts have access to qualified instructors and high-quality courses in high need, high demand disciplines/fields/courses statewide. (2023-2024)

Actions

Work collaboratively with statewide partners to identify equitable, student-centered sustainable financial models for dual enrollment.
In Progress: Identify structures that support sustainable qualified instructor workforce in liberal arts and CTE statewide – e.g., faculty provided models, Pathway to 18.

Goal: In collaborations with K-12, create more accessible, high-quality, sustainable dual enrollment pathways

Strategies

Collaboratively strengthen innovative early college pathways into high demand, high skill careers aligned to students’ aspirations and local and regional workforce needs (2024-2025).
Increase CTE dual enrollment offerings.

Actions

In Progress: Pilot and scale dual enrollment pathways that introduce high school students to high demand, high wage career pathways with business and industry.
Use Minnesota State Guided Learning Pathways structure to create clear programs and career paths that link high school to college and university programs.

Key Priority #4: Career Pathways

Re-envisioning learning pathways to create multiple and equitable paths to development and credentials for lifelong success. In order to meet Equity 2030, we must work in partnership with industry, government, and education partners to develop the diverse, multi-talented, learning-agile workforce needed to grow Minnesota’s economy now and in the future.

Goal: Grow enrollment in Career and Technical Education (CTE) fields

Strategies

Offer highest-value, most relevant career and technical education programming at our colleges and universities.

Actions

In Progress: Establish Workforce and Economic Development advisory council and ACCP/BILT* workgroup to develop recommendations and implementation strategies.
Completed: Provide advocacy and expert testimony to help guide Minnesota’s legislative request for workforce development.
Align CTE to campus Minnesota State Guided Learning Pathways strategies and implementation, particularly to promote career guidance and work-based learning options.

Goal: Ensure smooth CTE high school to college transitions

Strategies

Utilize career pathway and youth outreach events to promote Minnesota State career and technical programs and to ensure smooth CTE high school to college transitions.

Actions

Continue to grow Minnesota State Centers of Excellence outreach to youth and adults through camps, award programs, and career events in partnership with industry.
As required, leverage Perkins consortia grants to support high-demand fields and programs of study for seamless high school to college transitions using updated labor market data and Perkins local plans. Focus on career pathways – in particular, promoting CTE 2-year to 4-year degree options (AS to BAS).
Complete research/white paper/recommendations focusing design of and growth in CTE concurrent enrollments and articulated credit agreements.

Goal: Grow and expand adult learner pathways

Strategies

Grow and expand adult learner pathways from adult basic education or skills training to college readiness and enrollment.

Actions

Using 3M grant, build CBO (Community Based Organizations) to college career pathway partnerships for under-represented adult learners.
Adopt placement strategies that align with Multiple Measures to support adult learners.
Develop incentives for “flex,” evening, weekend or shorter term/credential courses that serve adults.
In Progress: Increase the number of colleges offering Ability to Benefit for adults
without high school degree to complete CTE credits and receive financial aid.

Goal: Expand the utilization of Credit-for-Prior Learning (CPL)

Strategies

Create CPL options that are efficient and affordable to improve student retention and accelerate degree completion.

Actions

Complete full implementation of new online CPL system (My CPL) that supports faculty/student workflow, standardization of review, and user-friendly customer interface.
Expand non-credit to credit alignment and “credits-to-credentials” pathways through engagement with continuing education/customized training, C-PLAN and Centers of Excellence.
Develop a strategy towards treating all students, credit- and non-credit seeking, as students and that includes an advising protocol by which adult students are aware of the opportunity for CPL and non-credit-credit alignment (assessed by a knowledgeable navigator/counselor).

Goal: Expand Financial Support

Strategies

Develop financial aid options for students in non-credit training or those who have earned alternative credentials, including CPL (external assessment) seekers, to increase enrollment.

Actions

Participate in cross-agency leadership writing and testing quality nondegree credential framework. Promote “pathway to credit,” “industry recognized” and “stackable credentials.”
In Progress: Advocate for Minnesota State to include alternative credentials, including CPL fees, in financial aid options.
Completed: Provide advocacy and data to support Minnesota State’s legislative request for Workforce Development Scholarships (additional funding and program areas for 2- and 4-year students).

Strategic Enrollment Management Approach