Chapter 5.2 Balancing Mission and Market in Chicago: An Enrolment Management Perspective

Abstract

Purpose – This chapter aims to provide an overview of the use of strategic enrolment management at DePaul University in Chicago.

Design/methodology/approach – A case study approach is used to provide an analysis of strategic enrolment management (SEM) and its particular use at DePaul University in the context of the university's long-standing commitment to student access.

Findings – As the United Kingdom moves to a more market-based system of higher education, universities may need to pay closer attention to strategic enrolment management concepts and practices. While enrolment management has been criticised for reflecting a wider movement toward ‘marketisation’ in higher education, the experience at DePaul University in Chicago indicates that SEM has played an important role in clarifying the university's commitment to student access during a period of environmental and institutional change.

Originality/value – This chapter sets DePaul's experience within the wider development of SEM in the United States and illustrates some of the ways in which enrolment managers at the university have been able to balance a mission-based commitment to student access with other institutional goals and priorities.

Citation

Spittle, B. (2011), "Chapter 5.2 Balancing Mission and Market in Chicago: An Enrolment Management Perspective", Thomas, L. and Tight, M. (Ed.) Institutional Transformation to Engage a Diverse Student Body (International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 179-186. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3628(2011)0000006018