One of the more challenging aspects of working and teaching in a higher education environment where the paradigm does not follow tradition is being able to transform the way colleagues think about their actions.

This is particularly true for younger enrollment management professionals who apply actions based on a limited contextual perspective.

In essence, their actions to follow closely events that they have observed during their time as students and through their early professional experiences. It is fairly easy to get a sincere response from young professionals when asked why certain actions were taken.

A Look at the author Dr. Scott Ingold, associate dean of enrollments and registrar at the University of Miami, teaches enrollment management while employing its principles in daily practice.  He helped create the first graduate program in enrollment management in the country at Miami, and he has taught a range of courses in the School of Education, including college student development, higher education history and student affairs administration.

It is much more difficult for them to provide a theoretical context to their actions. More precisely, the ability to integrate thought with action becomes the challenge because it is difficult for most of us to think in terms that cross the traditional disciplines of knowledge. It is fun to engage colleagues in conversations about theory and action. It is not uncommon to get perplexing looks from some when the topic of theory is raised. It is apparent that the term theory can be somewhat obtuse and misunderstood. It is not unusual to hear that theory is appropriate to learn in classes but the work environment requires action. Their viewpoint suggests that skill development and theory development are different kinds of activities. While I don’t believe that this is true in any environment, it is far from appropriate in an enrollment management environment. So the next logical question is how do you change this perspective and, in effect, change the paradigm?

One way is to join a professional activity with an academic program aimed at tying theory to practice. This is precisely what the enrollment management program at the University of Miami has set out to accomplish. This program provides an opportunity for young professionals to examine why they act as they do based on a set of theoretical constructs. As students, they are exposed to a myriad of theories focusing on enrollment management, Student development, recruitment, retention, organizational behavior and marketing. With in the classroom environment, they are provided a laboratory to try out different behaviors and challenge their current paradigm. They are further challenged to test these new behaviors within their work environment.

Within this context, students are forced to examine how theory drives their actions, evaluate the effectiveness of their actions, and, ultimately, develop their own set of theories based on new experiences and research that they conduct.

To illustrate, a good enrollment manager should have a strong understanding about the types of characteristics exhibited by potential matriculates – Their likes, dislikes, goals, etc. This information, available through research, assists in the development of a recruitment theory. But that’s not enough. There is also a need to develop a retention theory, a pricing theory and a theory based on organizational behavior, to mention a few. Each of these individual theories contributes to the development of a retention theory. Without this theoretical focus, practitioners are limited in their ability to improve the enrollment process.

Skeptics might challenge this model, suggesting that theory always drives action or that young professionals will usually develop the skills necessary to get the job done. I wouldn’t disagree with this perspective. However, I would suggest that young professionals are more effective when they understand the theoretical models that influence their behaviors and that their skills are complemented with a theory-based approach. The jury is still out on which approach might work better.

Organization theory suggests that no one model works best in all situations. The enrollment management program is still in its early stages, but the students who have completed this curriculum have already shown great promise. They are the ones who are positioned to become the change agents

Enrollment Management Report provides news and practical guidance on administering all aspects of enrollment management -- including records and registration, recruitment, admissions, financial aid, retention, and more. Every month, you get profiles of other institution's  successful enrollment management programs -- so you can apply their proven  solutions to your everyday challenges.