Graduation: Stage Six of the Seven Stages of SEM
The Best Time of the Year!
—From the desk of Brier Albano, Vice-President, Students and External Relations
It is not a coincidence that the blogs this week and next week focus on graduation and outcomes. First, it is important to catch people before most of those on a traditional academic schedule leave for much-needed breaks. Second, how exciting is it to celebrate graduation with an understanding of how it is an incredibly important indicator of a vibrant and sustainable Selkirk College?
One of the tricky parts about graduation is that, truthfully, we do not always mean “convocation.” What we mean in stage six of the SEM Framework is the completion of an academic milestone that prompts a student to ask, “What’s next?” That milestone might be a credential, a laddered transition into another program, a successful transfer to another institution, or the completion of a small cluster of courses designed to support career change, professional growth, or personal goals.
From a strategic enrolment management (SEM) perspective, graduation is not the end of the student lifecycle but a handoff to where a student wants to go next.
This stage asks us to pay close attention to the student experience at completion. Are we celebrating achievement clearly and accessibly? Are students supported in understanding the value of what they have completed? Are the next steps—which may include employment, further education or continued learning at Selkirk College—visible and tangible?
Graduation also tells us important things about how well earlier SEM stages are functioning. Strong completion outcomes are closely connected to effective recruitment, smooth admissions processes, thoughtful onboarding, proactive academic advising, financial and wellness supports, and meaningful engagement throughout a student’s journey. When students reach graduation, they reflect the cumulative impact of systems, relationships and decisions made long before the final term.
At Selkirk College, stage six challenges us to think beyond ceremonies and paperwork. It invites us to design completion pathways that are flexible, student-centred and responsive to real lives. Many of our learners balance work, family and community commitments. For them, progress may not always be linear, but it is no less significant when they hit their goals.
As we celebrate graduates this season, we also celebrate the many forms of success that lead to that moment. Graduation is a time to honour persistence, growth and transformation and to recognize that, in SEM terms, every ending is also the beginning of the next stage.
Next week, we turn our attention to the final stage of SEM: outcomes, alumni and the long view of student success.
Read about the stages of SEM: