Strategic Priority #1
EXTEND OUR REACH AND EXPAND OUR IMPACT
Saint Mary’s will attract an expanded undergraduate, graduate, and lifelong learning student population. We will broaden our appeal to a national audience by building a cohesive and compelling brand identity and leveraging Saint Mary’s national reputation and excellence in intercollegiate athletics and club sports to enhance student recruitment and improve retention and student development outcomes. We will implement intentional recruitment, admissions, and enrollment strategies to attract a student population reflective of the region’s diversity. We will expand access for non-traditional undergraduate students by extending bachelor completion programs and lifelong learning opportunities.
Initiatives
We will be updating this page with our accomplishments as we execute the Strategic plan.
2021-2024 Accomplishments
We have made significant progress in creating a solid platform for enhancing student recruitment and retention.
Academic Success and Support for Transfer Students
We established clear pathways with IGETC and ADT. The Advising Office efforts enhanced the shared SMC transfer academic experience that now include a major advisor, Transfer Advising Cohort, Collegiate Seminar, and Theological Understanding courses. Now in the process of updating the Transfer Equivalency System (TES) to align with our Carnegie conversion, Core Curriculum, and new academic programs, including study abroad programs.
Recruitment and Admission
The Admissions Office has also streamlined the admission processes for both undergraduate and graduate students using the Slate platform, which allows us to obtain on-demand data on incoming students. We have visited 50% more high schools in 2022 compared to the previous year, with particular emphasis on Catholic and Lasallian schools. As a result, the Fall 2023 first-time first-year undergraduate class included an increase in Pell-eligible students, 1st generation college students, and students of color, as well as more entrants who came from the Top 25 High Schools in the Bay area. In 2024, we launched the Summer Academy for high school students to expand the impact of our education and attract students from various local high schools.
Marketing and Communications tag-teamed with various compass partners to promote these initiatives by developing and adopting new brand awareness guidelines, which provide the professionalism and standardization to the ways SMC presents itself to internal and external audiences. The newly launched SMC NewsCenter keeps the campus community informed and engaged with all things SMC. In addition, an ongoing partnership between Enrollment Management and Marketing Communications proactively engages with new promotional strategies based on digital marketing impact data.
Opportunities for Lifelong Learning
Efforts toward keeping alumni connected to Saint Mary’s resulted in the Summer Travel Series. Since 2021, offered faculty-led summer travel experiences to destinations such as Mexico, Tanzania, Spain, Italy, Australia, and Scandinavia to more than 100 friends of the college, including alumni and local community members. Made plans for travel opportunities to Mexico, Spain, Austria, Peru, Australia, and northern California (a yoga and writing retreat) for Summer 2024.
Updated: July, 2024