Successful Enrollment Strategies by Sabrina Sencil

Research to further understand the reasons that students apply but do not enroll.

ssencil — 2025-09-03 18:26:24 UTC

Investigate, if possible, how many of these applicants enroll at another college or university.
Investigate how many students apply to us while waiting to hear back from four-year colleges/universities about their admissions decisions as first-time freshmen.
Disaggregate our White student population to identify potentially masked outcome disparities.

Proactively reach out to applicants to discuss programs and services designed to support the DI groups for this metric.

ssencil — 2025-09-03 18:26:53 UTC

Work with Outreach, Research, and IT to develop an automated technology solution that can be used to monitor the enrollment rates for student subpopulations and outreach to underserved populations.

ssencil — 2025-09-03 18:28:25 UTC

Assess and evaluate how well the Salesforce CRM technology is supporting successful enrollment
Designate employees who will reach out to specific groups of students within 48 hours of submitting an application to provide support regarding next steps.
Check students’ schedules who enrolled without attending orientation or meeting with a counselor to ensure that they are enrolled in appropriate courses.

Improve Communication about placement during the initial enrollment for new students and understanding which math course students need (translating what the placement means and what students’ options are)

ssencil — 2025-09-03 18:29:54 UTC

Improve Outreach support for students who are undecided about their major.

ssencil — 2025-09-03 18:30:09 UTC

Increase the number of students who enroll in 15 units or more through CRC’s successful Opt-Out program, wherein students are automatically recommended a full-time schedule.

ssencil — 2025-09-03 18:30:20 UTC

Designate financial aid personnel to assist students with completing financial aid.

ssencil — 2025-09-03 18:30:38 UTC

Audit the entire enrollment process to identify barriers and make the necessary changes to support student enrollment.

ssencil — 2025-09-03 18:30:59 UTC

Investigate the application, enrollment, orientation, and counseling barriers faced by students, including dual enrollment students when transitioning to full-time status.
Evaluate the current new student orientation process and revamp orientation with cross-campus stakeholders (Student Services, Counseling, and Instruction).
Set up special orientation targeted towards special populations to help them complete the enrollment steps and register for classes.

Clear Online Information

w1918846 — 2025-09-17 19:39:21 UTC

Revamp our website to provide clear and concise information that is quick and easy to navigate to. I refer students to the Get Started & Apply page frequently, having this tacked to the tabs at the top of the page as it's own tab rather than several clicks within the Admissions tab would add greater accessibility.

-Review information on each Get Started and Apply page to make sure it is concise and complete.

-add 'OR' options EX) Orientation OR meet with a counselor if Orientations are no longer available

Reducing steps

w0961694 — 2025-09-17 19:40:24 UTC

At my last institution, the students most disproportionately impacted often had to take the most steps—financial aid felt like ‘prove you are poor,’ and intake was long and bureaucratic. Students get bogged down with the paperwork and if it's too hard to even enter college then not many stay-it communicates already a challenge. I’m still learning how things work here, but I think reducing steps for students is key.

Place-Based Equity (focus on census tracts, zip codes, neighborhoods)

2025-09-17 19:56:36 UTC

When we talk about equity at CRC, it helps to think about it as place-based. That means recognizing that our students don’t just bring individual identities, but also come from neighborhoods and communities shaped by history, resources, and barriers. For example, students from South Sacramento may face different transportation, housing, or work challenges than students from Elk Grove or Folsom. Place-based equity asks: how can CRC meet students where they are, both geographically and culturally? It could look like tailoring outreach to high schools in specific zip codes, bringing services directly into neighborhoods with low enrollment, or tracking outcomes by region to see where gaps persist. By rooting equity strategies in place, we not only address disparities more precisely, but also strengthen CRC’s role as an anchor institution for the communities we serve.

Active Notification when ID Verification Necessary

w1918846 — 2025-09-17 20:04:43 UTC

Require a call be sent out to students when an application gets stuck in fraud/spam filter to ensure the student knows what they need to do next to receive ID number and what their next steps to enrollment are

-many students wait about a month before reaching out when no ID is received

-adding a human connection element rather just email explaining next steps/directing to Get Started and Apply page for next step in process helps students get back on the right path towards enrollment (active role in supporting enrollment rather than passive, waiting for student to make contact/check website)

Outreach Staff Support

2025-09-17 22:45:58 UTC

Tools: effective technology like a database that helps us track and input notes on student interactions. A database where we can easily pull up information on what other contacts students have made to other services. For example, if I meet with a student and give them info on DSPS, there's no way for me to know track that intervention or if they did, in fact, meet with DSPS the next time they call me...aside from my handwritten notes...and my hundreds of excel spreadsheets.
Additionally, while I love and appreciate Blackboard, there is a LARGE number of emails that are not delivered to students for various reasons (aside from a student marking it as spam). It would be great to troubleshoot that or find a system that is more effective.
Training: For folks that are doing the work, a lot of what happens is dependent upon our own intuition. It would be helpful to know what other colleges and universities are doing..."best practices", more opportunities for professional development designed around supporting DI populations
Promo materials for ESL students in languages most common in the area. Clear instructions on the process for ESL students in various languages. More staff who speak a variety of languages on campus. Instructions in a variety of languages on how to use/ navigate the website. Clearer and upfront info on how to use the webpage translation feature our site
More cohesion around these efforts. It can feel like the campus puts out the call that this is the mission and vision (to increase numbers for DI populations) but the efforts seem very scattered. I feel like there needs to be leadership at the helm bringing people together and assisting in the coordination. Right now, various staff and faculty are working together but the connection could be stronger and our efforts could be streamlined.

2025-09-18 18:40:03 UTC

Agreed there needs to be stronger communication with students who used Dual Enrollment in high school and are now transitioning to taking classes as a college student. Especially around services and supports they had in their high school and how CRC/Los Rios may be different once they are done with Dual Enrollment and are "regular" enrollment.

Increase Transparency Around College Application Process and Reduce Logistical Complications that Dissuade Students From Enrolling in the College. Develop More Equitable and Efficient SOPs for Processing College Applications.

2025-09-20 00:40:04 UTC

Students flagged as being potentially fraudulent must come into the Admissions and Records Office to verify their ID before their application to the college is processed. They are supposed to receive an email that they have to come in person to verify ID, but sometimes students do not receive this email, and wait for months before coming, wondering what happened to their application. We no longer do ID verification through Zoom, so students must come in person, regardless of any difficulties they face coming into our office during regular business hours. The whole fraud detection and ID verification process for the CCCApply college application needs to be looked into further. There are many barriers for students when it comes to verifying ID to prove their applications are not fraudulent so they can be enrolled into the college. While I don't have a specific strategy in mind, I believe that if more people on campus are aware of the difficulties students face with enrolling into the college, then we can work together to identify creative solutions.

First of all, with the migration of college applications from in person to online, students with limited access to the internet, and students who may have access to the internet, but have difficulty navigating online spaces due to disability or otherwise, face another barrier to enrolling in college. Students frequently visit our office because they do not understand how to find information on our website, do not know how to check on the status of their online petitions, are locked out of their student portal due to troubles with dual authentication, or because their application to our college was flagged as spam or fraud. When students come into our office to verify ID, we have to use the 8 digit application number to locate their specific application, but students oftentimes do not know where to find this number on the CCCApply website. Not only does this take a lot of time on the student's end to find, but also takes significant time on the staff end, taking time away from the other services that Admissions and Records Office provides. On a day to day basis, and especially towards the beginning of a semester, ID verifications for potential fraudulent college applications might account for half of the students we serve, and make wait times at the Admissions and Records Office that much longer, due to the volume of students facing this issue. While this is an issue faced by community colleges across the state, not just CRC, I wonder what procedures we can implement here at CRC to make enrolling in the college an easier and more efficient process for both students and staff.

It appears that the crackdown on fraud within the California Community Colleges has hit our students with limited transportation and/or free time hardest, as it takes considerable effort to come to our college in person and verify their identity during business hours. These students' work hours conflict with our office's hours, they have to stay home to take care of children, they have mobility issues, or they have to coordinate a ride to get here. How can we accommodate students who are unable to make it to our office in person to verify identity to have their application to our college processed? To go a step further, many students who make it to our office to verify identity in order to process an application are unable to provide physical identification. We have to turn these students away from our college for a good reason, but again, it also reminds us of the barriers that they face. Why might a prospective or current student have trouble obtaining physical identification? Perhaps their ID was lost or stolen, and perhaps they don't have the time or funds to obtain a new ID. Is there a way to protect the identities of our constituency without turning way those who may not have solid footing, but have a genuine interest in obtaining an education? In trying to protect our student body from fraud and identity theft, we burden potential students who are already facing barriers to receiving an education.

I'm also concerned about the black box that is SalesForce fraud detection. How do we know student applications are not being flagged for characteristics associated with protected classes? Or, if applications to the college are being flagged for misspellings or discrepancies in the information provided, who does this impact most? Wouldn't this impact students who don't have access to a computer and are filling out the application on their phone, students whose first language isn't English, or really any student that has difficulty filling out forms due to disability or unfamiliarity with college applications? We need to seriously consider how our college enrollment practices might further burden already marginalized students and dissuade them from enrolling in our college. I imagine the impact is far more profound than we currently realize..

I'm really hoping this can open up an honest conversation and create room for creativity and innovation in our student services.