Strategic Enrollment Plan

Johnson County Community College’s Strategic Enrollment Management Plan reflects the College’s mission, vision, values, and enrollment goals and priorities.

The plan provides a framework for projects, initiatives, and priorities for providing service to students, establishes action items that will be used as the basis for continuous improvement, and provides guidance for resource allocation and technology and facilities planning.

Objective 1: Build Awareness

Employ targeted, specific, technology-supported recruitment strategies.

Action Item 1: Develop and use messaging to highlight our unique value proposition, academic programs, support services, and campus culture.
Action Item 2: Shift our recruitment philosophy to a Jobs to Be Done framework to focus on the goals, motivations, and context of our prospective students.
Action Item 3: Organize recruitment events, open houses, and campus tours built around Areas of Interest to provide prospective students with opportunities to meet faculty and staff and learn about academic programs and support services.
Action Item 4: Develop a targeted recruitment plan for students pursuing a GED and expose them to Areas of Interest and opportunities to explore.
Action Item 5: Maximize existing partnership between JCAE and JCCC to accelerate student placement and enrollment into the College, including targeted CTE programs.
Action Item 6: Partner with Marketing to develop landing pages and other appropriate online and physical marketing content for Spanish-speaking populations.
Action Item 7: In collaboration with the Early College team, develop a targeted recruitment plan for early college high school students that positions continued enrollment at JCCC as the natural next step.

Objective 2: Targeted Marketing and Outreach

Implement technology that allows for personalized student recruitment experiences.

Action Item 1: Use Element451 to develop personalized marketing materials and messages that resonate with prospective students' interests, needs, and aspirations.
Action Item 2: Using Element451, create segmented prospect lists based on criteria such as academic program interests, individual backgrounds and goals, demographic characteristics, and application status.

Objective 1: Financing Education

Increase awareness of the myriad ways to finance postsecondary education and create additional financial options.

Action Item 1: Decrease the stigma and increase the interest that people have in seeking financial support to finance their education.
Action Item 2: Identify stopout students with balances of $500 or less and provide outreach to encourage those students to satisfy their balances and continue their education.
Action Item 3: Create a scholarship designed for students who are nearing completion but have stopped out, with a specific focus on those who failed to complete College Algebra.
Action Item 4: Create a scholarship focused on Kansas students outside of Johnson County and those who qualify for the Metro Rate.
Action Item 5: Couple the admissions process and the financial aid process to ensure awareness of financial aid availability to every incoming student and integrate financial literacy tools into New Student Orientation.
Action Item 6: Collaborate with the bursars’ office to station a financial aid professional in the payment office during peak periods to serve as an immediate resource for students who share concerns about ability to pay.

Objective 2: Athletics as a Recruitment Pathway

Use athletics as a strategic enrollment lever by strengthening recruitment pipelines.

Action Item 1: Build a coordinated communication plan between Athletics and Admissions to highlight student-athlete support services and competitive success.
Action Item 2: Explore the ability to recruit international student-athletes in coordination with IISS and Admissions.
Action Item 3: Partner with youth sports organizations and community resources to expand outreach to underserved communities.
Action Item 4: Ensure admissions and enrollment processes for student-athletes are clearly documented, accessible online, and aligned with NJCAA compliance standards and timelines.

Objective 3: Increase Access

Develop recruitment strategies that emphasize our commitment to affording access to all.

Action Item 1: Increase bilingual marketing, recruitment materials, and family engagement events that increase the familial collective understanding of the value of community college, higher education and JCCC.
Action Item 2: Participate in community events, career fairs, and college fairs to raise awareness and foster relationships with prospective students and their families.
Action Item 3: Explore establishing a Summer Bridge program to support students who want additional preparation in navigating the college-going process.
Action Item 4: Implement robust class schedule technology to simplify the process of searching for course options for prospective students.
Action Item 5: Adopt flexible scheduling options, to include standard parts-of-term as block schedules, creating short-term cohort-based programs, and publishing a year-long course schedule.

Objective 4: Prepare for a Global Future

Dismantle communication barriers and provide paths to entry for those whose first language is not English.

Action Item 1: In collaboration with Academic Affairs, create and implement a campus-wide Internationalization Plan to strategically and systematically approach integrating global concepts across the campus.
Action Item 2: Further develop opportunities for the futures of English Language Learners by forging connections among continuing education, regional institutions, and credit programs.
Action Item 3: In collaboration with Academic Affairs and WDCE, consider ways that JCCC can address the language needs of workforce development partners.
Action Item 4: In collaboration with Academic Affairs, develop and formalize global transfer credit policies that recognize international academic credentials, enabling students to meet prerequisites and placement requirements for Career & Technical programs.
Action Item 5: Enhance communication between English Language Learners and JCCC by translating materials, increasing awareness of interpreting services, and offering cultural trainings for staff.

Objective 1: Strengthen Program Navigation:

Improve advising consistency, transfer knowledge, academic planning, and course access to ensure students understand program requirements, can register for needed classes with fewer conflicts, and feel supported in reaching their educational goals.

Action Item 1: Create a standardized onboarding and advising model that ensures every student receives a clear academic map, term-by-term planning guidance, and current information about program requirements and transfer paths.
Action Item 2: In collaboration with Academic Affairs, use Plan My Classes to build a predictable two-year rotation schedule for all academic programs and transfer pathways
Action Item 3: Use Plan My Classes, and Transfer Guides to build individualized plans that outline required courses, identify potential scheduling bottlenecks, include projected completion dates, and provide transfer-ready recommendations.
Action Item 4: Establish a model for required student engagement milestones, including initial onboarding meetings, degree progress check-ins at 15/30/45 credit hours, and transfer intent check-ins for students planning to transfer.
Action Item 5: In collaboration with the Early College team, explore a milestone-based advising model for dual enrollment students to build early college identity, clarify post-graduation pathways, and ensure a seamless transition to the College upon high school completion.

Objective 2: Be a Safe Space:

Foster a sense of belonging and community on campus and in our classrooms.

Action Item 1: In collaboration with Academic Affairs, create and encourage training opportunities for employees to learn ways to increase students’ sense of belonging in the classroom and in campus communities.
Action Item 2: Ensure that support services, resources, digital tools, and facilities are accessible to all students, including those with disabilities, diverse learning needs, and non-traditional backgrounds.
Action Item 3: Increase promotion of the Student Basic Needs Center for both students and employees, with a particular focus on non-food resources.
Action Item 4: Adopt a software system to improve tracking and processing of student conduct and complaints.
Action Item 5: Partner with faculty, Student Life, and JCCC Police to increase participation in Sexual Assault Prevention and Drug & Alcohol Prevention programming.
Action Item 6: Integrate the JCCC Police/Johnson County Mental Health Co-Responder model into the work of our Behavioral Intervention Team.

Objective 3: Support the Whole Student:

Adopt a “just-in-time” and “just-in-place” philosophy that defines how we provide services to students.

Action Item 1: Review office hours, delivery methods, and department locations to increase availability and use of services offered to students.
Action Item 2: Define “at-risk” and formalize an intrusive advising model for at-risk cohorts identified by predictive analytics.
Action Item 3: Use Element451 to provide communication to students that nudge them to use resources available in our Academic Resource Centers.

Objective 1: Prepare Students for Transfer and the Workforce

Give students the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to successfully transfer to four-year institutions and to be workforce ready.

Action Item 1: Host transfer workshops and information sessions to familiarize students with the transfer process, including application procedures, deadlines, and transfer agreements with four-year institutions.
Action Item 2: Enter partnerships with four-year schools to allow for Dual Admissions/Dual Enrollment and ease of transfer.
Action Item 3: Facilitate relationships, externships, job mentorship, and job shadowing opportunities to help students gain practical experience in their chosen academic fields and the workforce.
Action Item 4: Add Counseling and Career Services representation to Advisory Boards for Career & Tech Ed programs to forge relationships and build networks for students.
Action Item 5: Create opportunities for purposeful community engagement to develop awareness of JCCC programs and integrate JCCC with the regional workforce.

Objective 2: Encourage Completion

Increase graduation rates by using a multi-faceted approach that provides student support from every angle.

Action Item 1: Commit to the use of Early Momentum Metrics when advising students, including the completion of entry-level Math and English in the first 30 credit hours and the 15-to-Finish model.
Action Item 2: Implement a communication plan featuring degree progress alerts from Element451 to nudge near-completers.
Action Item 3: Create a taskforce to work toward increasing completion rate of part-time students to include the building of degree completion models in Plan My Classes at the 9-credits or fewer per semester rate.
Action Item 4: Adopt a “begin with the end in mind” philosophy, and work from the assumption that the end goal should be graduation.
Action Item 5: Promote completion of certificate programs for AAS degrees that have built-in “ladders.”
Action Item 6: Ensure students receive full recognition of credentials earned by identifying and transcripting certificates embedded within completed degree programs.
Action Item 7: Design structured program maps, course sequences, and job and transfer routes to streamline degree requirements and guide both full-time and part-time students toward completion.

Objective 1: Intelligent Recruitment and Outreach

Use AI-driven tools to provide the targeted, personalized messaging we want to deliver to prospective students.

Action Item 1: Use Element451 to create messaging, recommend next steps, and build communication methods and cadences personalized to each student.
Action Item 2: Define prospective student segments and tailor outreach that aligns with the level of interest in the programs and resources specified.
Action Item 3: Optimize the features of Element451, to include the use of agents and automation.

Objective 2: Predictive Analytics

Use AI systems to identify and respond to at-risk students early.

Action Item 1: Build AI models to identify students who are likely to stop out or disengage and automate notification to members of the students’ success team.
Action Item 2: Implement AI-driven nudges and automated outreach for tasks on the students’ to-do lists, which may include financial aid reminders, enrollment reminders, and resource referrals.
Action Item 3: Analyze predictive patterns within Element451 to inform recommendations for advising, academic support, and wraparound services.

Objective 3: Completion and Career Transitions

Support students through the completion of their programs by providing clear paths and noting progress as it happens.

Action Item 1: Use Element451 to automate the tracking of degree progress and to alert students and advisors when the students are approaching milestones or have gotten off track.
Action Item 2: Integrate Element451 with career exploration software tools to match students with the right program information, transfer pathway, career options, and labor market data.
Action Item 3: Create personalized completion plans and checklists to help students understand program requirements and monitor their own progress.

Objective 4: Ethical and Responsible AI Use

Establish a process to ensure AI tolls are implemented and used in alignment with college policy and JCCC values.

Action Item 1: In partnership with Information Services, create an AI Governance & Implementation Team with cross-campus representation to guide decision-making, oversee risk mitigation, and ensure compliance with privacy and data security.
Action Item 2: Conduct annual evaluation of Element451 to assess accuracy, equity, impact, and alignment with SEM priorities.