academic planning

Is Enrolment Forecasting Cooperative or Collaborative?

Institutional Researchers can unintentionally end up as gatekeepers to the collaborative enrolment forecasting model. They've built it by hand, using tools and skills available to them at the time, but the models aren't built for scale. Plaid Forecast is.

Forecasting Enrolment in New Programs

New programs introduce complexity to your enrolment forecast. By definition, they do not have past history to rely on for a prediction – what is an enrolment professional to do? Here’s how to handle them in stride:

Effective Partnerships Between Academic Units and Central are Key

Answering, “How many students are we going to have?” involves not only predicting the future but defining the parameters in which it is possible. Neither central administration nor academic units can successfully forecast future enrolments without the other.

What Programs Do We Even Offer?

Working in Institutional Research, I often was asked questions around “What programs do you offer?”, or “How many programs are there?”. You’d be surprised that answering these questions is not as easy as it sounds.

Getting Your Intakes Approved

If you work in Institutional Analysis, Institutional Research or similar, you know getting your five-year plan approved can often be more of a marathon than a sprint. There are consultations (and consultations, and consultations…), new directions, and almost always a surprise or two.