The Art of Showing Up

—From the desk of Brier Albano, Vice-President, Students and External Relations 

Enrolment is a word we say a lot in post-secondary education. Full-time enrolment, or FTE, is often treated as the primary measure of value in the post-secondary system, telling us how many students’ course loads equal full-time study. At Selkirk College, this is us saying 1,789.9 students are engaged in learning. Sounds a lot like the average Canadian household having 1.33 children (Shea, 2024)!

Numbers matter, but when we talk about enrolment through the lens of strategic enrolment management (SEM), we focus on something more human: people. Our 0.9 of a student has value because they are a full person and a real student. The 0.9 is someone who has chosen Selkirk College, registered in courses, and shown up ready to learn. 

In the SEM Framework, enrolment is the stage where a student accepts their offer, registers in courses, and attends their first classes. It follows closely on the heels of yield, and the two stages naturally overlap. But enrolment introduces a different set of risks and opportunities that surface only after a student has said “yes.” Enrolment is healthy when students are eager to register as soon as registration opens. You see it when classes fill smoothly, questions are manageable, and students arrive on the first day prepared and confident. And you truly feel it when new student surveys show that expectations weren’t just met, they were exceeded. 

Students may have accepted an offer weeks or months earlier, but registration and arrival are the moments where competing priorities, confusion, and uncertainty can still cause plans to unravel. Yield is the gentle melt away that can happen when a student can’t find a place to live, has competing offers, or just isn’t sure about what to do.  Enrolment is the stage when a student is deciding if they will show up on the first day, first week, and beyond. It’s less about confusion or decision-making and more about certainty, logistics, and fit.  

At its best, vibrant enrolment looks like early registration, full attendance in the first week of classes, and students arriving with confidence in their choice. Sustainable enrolment, just as importantly, means that accepted offers reliably translate into registered students by late summer, attendance remains strong, and most students feel that Selkirk College delivered on what it promised. 

Strong enrolment doesn’t happen in isolation. This is the most holistic of all the SEM stages—and part of the reason that “SEM” has enrolment in its name. It sets the tone for retention and creates people who will graduate and recruit for us by sharing the stories of their amazing experiences.  

As part of our broader goal to grow domestic enrolment and strengthen program sustainability, the enrolment stage reminds us that success is not just about attracting students. It’s about ensuring they arrive ready to learn and confident they belong here. Enrolment is the moment Selkirk College becomes real, tangible, and lived. It’s when a person becomes a part of the Selkirk College community. 

At minimum, enrolment is the art of showing up (us and the students) and everything we do to support students in this stage helps ensure that when classes begin, our classrooms, labs, and learning spaces are filled with students who are prepared, present, and ready to succeed.

Reference

Shea, C. (2024, February 15). The Rise of the One-and-Done Family. Macleans.ca. URL: https://macleans.ca/longforms/one-and-done-family/