Setting Student Services up for Success

Student services at Mohawk College is well positioned for success. The recently posted Vice-President Student Services (VPSS) position at Mohawk College has one of the broadest sets of responsibility I've seen for an executive level position that includes student affairs, but I believe this will benefit the successful candidate, the college and ultimately the students. 

The areas the VPSS oversees include:

• Recruitment, 
• Admissions, 
• Registration, 
• Financial Aid and Awards, 
• Enrolment Plan Management and Reporting, 
• Student Life, 
• Counselling and Disability Services, 
• Student Success Services, 
• Health Services, 
• Athletics, 
• Campus Recreation, 
• Career Advising, 
• Student and Graduate Employment, 
• Marketing, 
• Immigrant and International Services, 
• Aboriginal Education and Student Services, 
• Convocation, and 
• the Foundation, Fundraising and Alumni services

Most, if not all, schools would have the areas listed above reporting to two or more executive level positions. Mohawk's approach of grouping together the departments that take a student from application to alumni and everything in between is not done as frequently as it should be in higher education, and it demonstrates Mohawk's visionary leadership.

Numerous opportunities exist in this structure to enhance a student's experience by connecting students with alumni to improve learning and by strengthening the bonds between people in the Mohawk community. Furthermore, the structure streamlines responsibilities and by grouping services under one leader Mohawk can focus on being a life-long "learning advisor" to students, which is what a college or university should be in a knowledge based society.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down?

University Affairs stated the following about university enrollment in an article this week, "The trend continues to be up, up and up for university enrolment in Canada. According to numbers compiled by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, there are 32,000 more full-time students enrolled at Canadian universities this fall compared with the fall of 2009, an increase of 3.7 percent. Enrolment is up in every province."

One of Ryerson University's student newspaper's, The Eyeopener, published an article that paints a different picture about the future of post-secondary education (PSE) enrollment in Canada. The article quotes David Foot, author of Boom, Bust & Echo, who predicts that in three to four years enrollment across the PSE system will decline.

Foot would argue that demographics will play the biggest role in how the enrollment projections actually play out, but other factors will influence the numbers. Immigration rates, adults upgrading or taking additional courses and international student recruitment are some of the other factors that will impact enrollment in the years to come. For a more comprehensive look at enrollment projections you should check out this research paper from Statistics Canada: Postsecondary Enrolment Trends to 2031: Three Scenarios.