This document presents KBOCC's first Strategic Enrollment Management Plan, titled Strengthening the Lodge Around Every Learner. It outlines a coordinated framework for recruitment, admissions, onboarding, advising, learning support, student engagement, retention, completion, and transition, grounded in Anishinaabe values and the Teaching Lodge model.
This document is the inaugural Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan for Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC), covering 2026-2029. It is intended for faculty, staff, administrators, and institutional partners involved in student success and enrollment management. The plan is titled Strengthening the Lodge Around Every Learner and uses the Anishinaabe Teaching Lodge as its organizing framework.
The plan begins by defining its purpose and acknowledging contributions from students, faculty, staff, and partners. It includes a vision statement and a student success definition centered on Anishinaabe values, belonging, and holistic development. The Teaching Lodge framework is explained, with the student journey moving from east (entry) to west (completion), and the fire at the center representing shared purpose and learning.
Six institutional shifts are outlined: from relationship-centered culture to systems, from one expected pathway to flexible pathways, from reactive to proactive support, from office-based activity to shared responsibility, from student navigation to student readiness, and from enrollment growth to sustainable mission-aligned growth. Guiding commitments emphasize Anishinaabe values, shared responsibility, faculty partnership, and evidence-informed decisions.
The plan is grounded in KBOCC's identity as a Tribally chartered land grant college of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. It aligns with the college's strategic priorities, particularly Holistic Learner Success, and also supports Relationship-Centered Engagement, Sustainable Systems and Stewardship, and Mission-Aligned Innovation. The mission, vision, and values, including the Seven Grandfather Teachings, are stated.
The planning process built on KBOCC's participation in the American Indian College Fund's Cultivating Native Student Success initiative and the establishment of the Student Success Council in 2024. Evidence reviewed included institutional data, stakeholder discussions, and facilitated sessions. The plan is organized into sections: Envisioning the Lodge, Choosing a Location, Gathering Materials, Raising the Lodge, Getting the Lodge Ready, Tending the Lodge, and Appendices.