THE STRATEGIC CAMPUS BY ROXANA TUNC

The Enrollment Kitchen Remodel: A Blueprint for the CSU Forward Plan

Welcome back to the Enrollment Chef’s Kitchen! Let’s talk about the ultimate kitchen remodel: the CSU Forward strategic plan.

This isn’t just about new appliances; it’s a complete redesign of how we operate, and as enrollment professionals, we’re right in the middle of it. This remodeling will change our cooking techniques and how we think about our future students.

For those of us working in enrollment management at a campus like CSUCI, this plan is more than a high-level document. It’s a foundational blueprint that defines our strategic direction for the next decade. Think of it this way: for years, our kitchen was perfectly designed to cook for one type of customer—the traditional high school student. The remodel, however, is asking us to expand our menu, serve a wider range of diners, and collaborate with a much larger team. This plan is an explicit mandate for innovation and a call to action to not only reach our goals but to help a new generation of diverse students achieve their dreams.

New Appliances & Countertops: Redefining Our Space

The biggest change with this remodel is that our “kitchen” is no longer just one campus. We’re now part of a system-wide culinary network, with a shared vision and collective goals. This means moving beyond competing for students to collaborating with sister campuses to meet collective goals. We’ll be sharing recipes, ingredients, and maybe even some special techniques.

This includes a major shift in how we view our potential student body. The CSU Forward plan is a clear mandate to serve a broader range of learners, specifically working adults and a significant increase in transfer students. This isn’t just a new market; it requires a new approach. The old “kitchen” was built for a different era, focused primarily on high school seniors. The new design is open and flexible, welcoming those with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We can’t use the same recruitment funnels, messaging, or outreach events for a 25-year-old working adult with a family as we do for an 18-year-old high school senior. This remodel challenges us to rethink our entire approach to the student life cycle.

A New Pantry of Ingredients: The Strategic Pillars

The remodel introduces some powerful new ingredients that we must learn to use in our recruitment and outreach.

  • Affordability as a Core Ingredient: The plan’s promise of a debt-free education for low-income students is a game-changer. This isn’t just a financial aid detail anymore; it’s a core value proposition we must highlight from the very first touchpoint. Our messaging will be less about the cost and more about the value and opportunity for economic mobility. We need to be transparent and direct about how the CSU empowers students to avoid debt. This is a powerful, system-level message that we need to effectively convey at the campus level to impact recruitment and yield. It’s no longer a conversation about “can you afford it?” but rather “how will this opportunity transform your life?”
  • Alumni as a Secret Sauce: The plan mandates leveraging the CSU’s vast alumni network. Our alumni are no longer just donors; they’re our most powerful advocates and recruiters. We’ll be working to connect prospective students with alumni who can showcase real-world career success. This makes the value of a CSU degree tangible and exciting. The plan even sets a goal to engage over 100,000 alumni to support current students, creating a robust professional development ecosystem. We in enrollment management must now think of our alumni network as a direct recruitment lever, showcasing tangible career advancement opportunities that prospective students are actively seeking.
  • Technology as a New Appliance: To serve these new demographics, we have to upgrade our tools. The remodel emphasizes the use of advanced digital platforms, including AI and text-based communication. These tools are essential for engaging mobile-first students and those with busy schedules. Our recruitment strategies must become more personalized, immediate, and convenient. For example, to engage that working adult who can’t attend a campus tour, an AI-powered chatbot could answer their questions at 10 p.m. or a personalized text message could guide them through the admissions process. The plan’s commitment to new “Technology and Infrastructure Capacity” signals that we can, and must, move beyond traditional communication methods.

New Cooking Techniques for the Team

This remodeling requires us to learn new skills. For our enrollment teams, this means a shift from being reactive to being proactively strategic.

  • Data-Informed Cooking: Our techniques will be more data-driven than ever. The plan sets clear, measurable goals, so we’ll be using analytics to track our progress and adjust our strategies in real time. We’ll know what’s working and what’s not, ensuring we’re always cooking with the most effective methods. This moves us from a “gut-feeling” approach to a scientific one. By analyzing data on which messages resonate most with different populations, we can refine our outreach and achieve better results.
  • Cross-Departmental Collaboration: To make this remodel a success, we have to break down the walls between our departments. Enrollment, Financial Aid, Communications, and Alumni Relations must work together seamlessly, like a well-coordinated team in a professional kitchen. Our success hinges on this shared effort. For a study on affordability messaging, for example, we’ll need to partner closely with the Financial Aid and Communications offices to ensure our message is both accurate and effective. The plan’s emphasis on “Building System Strength” and “Statewide Impact” means we are all in this together.

This new strategic plan isn’t just a document; it’s a blueprint for a more modern, efficient, and student-centered CSU. It’s an exciting time to be in enrollment management, as we get to design and implement the future of higher education in California, one student at a time.