Westchester Community College, State University of New York

SUNY Westchester Community College’s Strategic Enrollment Management Plan uses a comprehensive approach to achieve optimal institutional outcomes for student recruitment, retention, and graduation that align with the college’s mission and strategic goals to ensure the sustainability and vitality of the college.

The emerging models used in the plan are geared to deliver a truly seamless experience for our students and the community beginning with their journey from prospective student continuing through graduation or transfer. A primary desired outcome is to close historic student access and attainment gaps for first-generation, low-income and minoritized students to expand accessibility to an affordable, quality education to everyone in the communities that the college serves.

The college’s enrollment management operation also strives to create a signature student experience by enabling the college to foster congruent channels for effectively and strategically integrating interdepartmental operations that have traditionally been delivered in departmental silos.

The four strategic initiatives the SEM Committees have been focused on are as follows:

1. Academic Planning – Building Class Schedules

• Utilizing data and predictive enrollment goals
• Inclusive of all college locations
• Coordinated across all schools

2. Extension Centers 

• Program planning
• Market centers as places of distinction

3. Build Access and Pathways 

• ELI
• Workforce development
• Adult learners

4. Create a Collaborative Culture around Strategic Enrollment Management 

• Making SEM decisions part of everyday operations
• Create a “one-college” comprehensive approach
• Building a seamless student journey
• Effective utilization of existing and new technology – create an inventory of systems and address technology gaps along the student journey

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Student Life plays a primary role in the development of the whole student, with a focus on the following:

1. A Healthy & Responsible Community: Health and safety are individual and shared responsibilities.  Student Life assures compliance with state and federal health mandates, adherence of student rights and responsibilities, and provides counseling to students experiencing mental health, physical health, and other personal challenges.  Through these initiatives, students are given the opportunity to flourish in an environment that encourages personal growth through holistic wellness and accountability.
2. A Commitment to Student Success: Student Life provides support to students as they transition into, through, and out of SUNY WCC. By connecting students to critical college resources, providing co-curricular programming and opportunities to make meaningful contributions to the campus, as well as meeting the evolving needs of various student cohorts, each individual is afforded the opportunity to create their path to a successful outcome.
3. Fostering Student Learning: Student Life affirms that learning happens everywhere within our campus environment. The unit creates programs, experiences, and services that provide intentional out of class learning opportunities. Through these endeavors, Student Life creates comprehensive educational experiences within a number of areas of learning that deepens a student’s understanding of themselves and the communities in which they exist.
4. Nurturing a Sense of Belonging: Student Life connects students’ multiple experiences and identities to their college experience, allowing them to feel seen and celebrated.  The unit creates an environment where all students feel welcome, are encouraged to present themselves authentically, and are excited to engage in experiences based on their interests, identities and lived experiences.  As a result, students positively identify as a SUNY WCC Viking.

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Students come to SUNY WCC to pursue a wide range of academic ambitions. Whether these plans are long- or short-term, and regardless of the obstacles our students face, we are here to provide the educational experiences that will support their goals. We will focus on the following areas:

1. Curriculum and academic programs: We will discuss whether we are offering the right programs and curriculum for our students. What are some strategic directions the College should consider in serving our students and Westchester County?
2. Serving adult students: The overwhelming majority of students at WCC are young, many of them coming directly from high school. How can we strengthen the academic experience for adult students and those who have been working, in the military, or out of school for more than five years?
3. Preparing students for careers: Whether a college education ends with a degree or certificate from WCC or beyond, our mission is to prepare students for their next steps. We will discuss strategic directions the College can take to ensure that all students have access to career pathways and experiences beyond the classroom.
4. Academic organization and operations: What are some areas for development to better support the academic enterprise at WCC? Are we organized to produce the best academic experience for students? We will focus on the many academic structures that help us to deliver the academic experience, for example scheduling, assessment, and other areas for development.

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Facilitating our students’ success is central to SUNY WCC’s mission. This work involves creating experiences and opportunities to propel our students’ momentum toward degree attainment. Given that this work is multilevel and multifaceted, there is no “silver bullet” to increasing student success rates.The Community College Research Center identified Early Momentum Metrics that are leading indicators that colleges can track within students’ first year that strongly predict their eventual success:

Credit Momentum:

• Completed 6 or more college-level credits in the first semester

• Completed 12 or more college-level credits in the first semester

• Completed 15 or more college-level credits in the first year

• Completed 24 or more college-level credits in the first year
• Completed 30 or more college-level credits in the first year

Gateway Course Momentum

• Completed college-level English in the first year

• Completed college-level math in the first year
• Completed both college-level English and math in the first year

Persistence Momentum

• Fall-to-spring retention in the first year

Metrics demonstrating our student success outcomes (lagging indicators) include rates for fall-to-fall retention, graduation, transfer, and job placement.

All data collected on these metrics must be disaggregated to identify institutional performance gaps for historically minoritized and marginalized populations when disaggregated.

How can SUNY WCC move the needle on these metrics to improve our student success outcomes? 

The top three initiatives on which Student Success is focused:

1. Enhancing Accessibility Services and strengthening its service delivery
2. Strengthening the delivery of holistic advising offered by Academic Counseling, EOP, TRIO, and Viking ROADS
3. Decreasing institutional performance gaps for historically marginalized and minoritized students through the aforementioned initiatives and through the Black & Hispanic Male Initiative and Quest for Success

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Bridging education, training, and employment is crucial for economic growth and individual empowerment. This table will focus on key strategies for workforce development and career advancement:

• Optimizing Career Readiness Skills and Workforce Opportunities for Student Success: Placing students in rewarding careers is a priority. We enhance job and workplace connections through partnerships, job boards, career fairs, virtual simulations experiences along with career counseling, interview preparation and other support services. Our current strategies prepare students for smooth workforce transitions and long-term success by integrating job readiness into our programs and fostering professional networks.
• Strengthening Employer Partnerships for Workforce Development: Collaborative partnerships between employers and educational institutions are essential. We work with employers to validate and approve curriculum, provide internships, clinical experiences, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training, bridging the gap between classroom learning and real-world experience. These efforts help students gain practical experience and support employers in building a skilled talent pipeline.
• Expanding Access to Industry-Aligned Training Programs: We currently align education and training programs with industry needs by partnering with employers to ensure participants gain in-demand skills for seamless workforce transitions. Our efforts include targeted outreach that includes community-based organizations, government, faith-based organizations, and support services to break barriers for marginalized groups. Future plans include, deepening these collaborations, integrating new technologies, and aligning with labor market trends to create more industry-driven programs and comprehensive career pathways.

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To create and maintain a modern and responsive employee experience, SUNY Westchester Community College will incorporate flexible work models, foster a culture of inclusion, leverage technology for development, and prioritize employee well-being. This holistic approach will align this institution with 21st-century workplace expectations, ensuring it remains competitive and attractive as a place where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to succeed.

1. Enhance Employee Satisfaction and Retention: Flexible work options and well-being initiatives directly improve job satisfaction, reducing turnover and attracting high-quality talent.
2. Build an Inclusive and Supportive Workplace: A strong culture of inclusion and belonging not only benefits individual employees but also strengthens the institution’s reputation as a forward-thinking and equitable employer.
3. Improve Productivity and Efficiency: Technology integration and tailored professional development help employees work more effectively, fostering a high-performing culture aligned with institutional goals.
4. Foster Long-term Well-being and Resilience: Supporting mental health and overall wellness contributes to a healthier workforce, equipped to handle the demands of a dynamic academic environment.

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As we prepare to establish SUNY Westchester Community College’s 2025-30 Strategic Plan, it is essential that a key component of the plan includes how WCC will achieve operational excellence in that time frame. Improving administrative operations is essential for the success of the institution and our students. Effective administrative operations ensure that resources, policies, and systems align with WCC’s mission to provide affordable, high-quality, and accessible education to meet the needs of its diverse community. By focusing, realigning, and refining these operations, WCC can enhance student support, reduce inefficiencies and better allocate resources to high-impact areas. Ensuring an efficient and student-focused administrative operation will have direct impact on student retention and success.A major part of an improved WCC operation will include:

1. Implementing and utilizing various technologies – As digital tools and platforms continue to evolve, they reshape the ways that students learn, faculty teach, and staff support the WCC mission.
2. Efficient systems and processes – streamlining administrative tasks will improve our overall institutional productivity. Reimagining our existing processes and procedures into a highly interconnected ecosystem of business processes that reduce manual efforts, support data-driven decision-making, and secure sensitive information, will contribute to a more efficient and resilient institution.

A commitment to enhancing administrative functions will benefit faculty, staff, and students by reducing workload pressures and fostering a supportive environment. When systems are well-organized, faculty have more time to focus on teaching, mentorship, and professional development. Staff can focus on providing exceptional service rather than troubleshooting outdated processes. Finally, our North Star/Students will benefit from these improvements that will enable us to build a sustainable, adaptable foundation that can respond to evolving educational demands, making WCC more resilient and adaptable to future challenges.

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SUNY Westchester Community College fosters an intentionally inclusive campus culture that celebrates and respects the diversity of the community while acknowledging the differences among the lived experiences of individuals. The college promotes equity, disseminates knowledge, and takes visible actions to remove barriers to access and advancement that adversely affect individuals from marginalized communities.As a SUNY WCC core value, the work of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion belongs to every member of the WCC community and includes ensuring greater representation of individuals from all backgrounds in every part of the college. The mission of the college focuses on providing accessible, high quality and affordable education to meet the needs of our diverse community, especially since SUNY WCC has the distinction as both a Minority-Serving and Hispanic Serving Institution. Through our daily interactions across the SUNY WCC community, we seek ways to actively promote and recognize principles of fairness and equity.  This is done in collaboration with various members of our community, including faculty, staff and students.

The Strategic Planning Initiatives focusing on DEI are:

1. To leverage data from the annual Affirmative Action Plan to enhance policy and procedures best practices
2. To ensure a respectful and welcoming experience for our students by increasing outreach to and engagement with the office
3. To facilitate employee development and engagement

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April – August, 2024

Convene steering committee

Gather information

• Previous strategic plan
• Results/evaluation report
• Middle States evaluation
• SALT SWOT analysis

Identify college priorities

• Academic Excellence
• Assessment
• “big picture”

Identify constituencies to engage; what we want to ask, how to engage and when in the process

Internal

• Faculty
• Adjuncts
• Administrators
• Staff
• Students
• Alumni
• WCCF Board
• Trustees

External

• Community groups
• Employers
• Transfer schools
• HS/K-12
• Gov officials
• Others

Define best practices

Examine resources

Define sub committees and roles

Organize listening tours and Opening Summit

September – December 2024

Schedule “Listening Tours”

• Constituencies

Develop strategic plan outline based on above

Opening Summit

• Present preliminary findings and outline
• Ask for input

Collect info; update outline

January – March 2025

Draft Strategic Plan

• Objectives
• Strategies

Organize Final Summit

• Present draft plan
• Ask for input

April 2025

Refine strategic plan for submission

May 2025

Present plan for approval