Upcoming Programs

Online
The Science & Art of Student Recruitment
Thursdays, July 31 – August 21, 2025
- Master the strategies to inspire & recruit students
- Boost enrollment, refine engagement, and shape student success

Online
Fundamentals of Strategic Enrolment Management
Fridays from October 31 - November 21, 2025
- Canada's only micro-credential in Strategic Enrolment Management
- For professionals involved in SEM or committed to student success

Online
Student Success Summit
November 25 & 26, 2025

Online
Fundamentals of Student Recruitment Marketing
Jan - Feb, 2026

Hamilton, ON
In-Person SEMM Conference
April 7-9, 2026




What is SEMM (Strategic Enrolment Management & Marketing)?
Broadly defined, everyone working in higher education works in SEMM. SEMM includes all the people involved in attracting, admitting, teaching and supporting students (both behind the scenes and face-to-face). This is why every role within post-secondary contributes directly or indirectly to SEMM and impacts enrolment and student success.
Our SEMM Community
Virtually every college and university in Canada has been involved in our Strategic Enrolment Management & Marketing conferences and training programs. We are grateful for the support of the many volunteers who share their time, expertise and insight with the SEMM community.
To learn how you can get involved, visit the Get Involved section.
Free Resources
Webinars
Our free webinars foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing among post-secondary peers across Canada.
Click here to submit a webinar proposal.
August 12, 2025 from 1 to 2 p.m. (ET)
Crafting and Marketing to Student Personas
This conversational panel will unpack the strategic value of personas—not just as marketing tools, but as foundational components for cross-campus alignment and student-centered decision making…
October 1, 2025 from 1 to 2 p.m. (ET)
Fundamentals of SEM – Graduate Impact Panel
Discover what motivated these leaders to enroll, how the program shaped their strategic thinking, and the tangible changes they’ve made in their careers and institutions as a result.
June 26, 2025
Discovering Your Gifts: Decolonizing the Career Exploration Experience
Discovering Your Gifts is an interactive and relational workshop, thoughtfully developed by Mike Calvert and Coline Casey at Northern Lights College…
May 22, 2025
Cracking the Code: Rethinking Student Success with HeadStart
If you knew who your most at-risk students were before they even set foot on campus, your support services could start reaching out to them on day one and make a difference with the students who almost immediately feel they aren’t going to make it.
Receive Weekly Student Insights
Subscribe to The Weekly STAT to receive weekly insights based on our annual research with more than 20,000 students in Canada.
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#1
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55%
of students think their school is responsive to their needs.
37%
of students expect to secure a full-time job before they graduate.
Strategic Enrolment Management & Marketing Socialization
The following free resources were created to help institutions align everyone—from admissions to academics, from student services to senior leadership—around a shared goal: student success, institutional health, and organizational resilience.
How Systems Thinking Strengthens Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM)
Brainstorm Blog
Ideas and insights to help you attract and engage the next generation.
Research
Our research provides critical insights into both student career interests and employer hiring trends, enabling us to develop targeted programming, resources, and member engagement initiatives.

2025 SEMM Landscape Survey Results
The SEMM Landscape Survey is conducted annually by post-secondary professionals across universities, colleges, and polytechnics, highlighting the evolving landscape of student recruitment, decision-making, and institutional readiness.

The Brainstorm Student Interests Report
The Brainstorm Student Interests Report is a comprehensive research study that provides an in-depth look at the mindset of Canadian post-secondary students. Find out how you can get a free customized report comparing your students responses to national data.

The 2025 Canadian Campus Recruitment Outlook Report
With over 35 pages of insight into Canadian campus hiring activities and 30+ charts and graphs highlighting key findings, the report is designed to help you develop effective student recruitment and communications strategies to attract, engage, and retain top talent.
Get Involved
We are grateful for the support of the many volunteers who share their time, expertise and insight with the SEMM community.
Present at a SEMM Conference
We're looking for unique perspectives, ideas, insights, and successes that have positively impacted students and enrolment at your school.
2025 Atlantic SEMM ConferenceCommunity Webinars
Are you ready to share initiatives that have improved student and enrolment outcomes with the SEMM community in Canada? Click the button below to submit a webinar proposal.
Submit Webinar ProposalAdvisory Groups
Advisory group members from across the country meet virtually to provide guidance which shapes current and future offerings. To view the current members of our advisory groups, please click here. Reach out to Jennifer Powell at jennifer@brainstorm.ca if you'd like to put your name forward for a committee or council.
SEMM Advisory Council
The Council comprises strategic enrolment
management professionals from across the country
who meet virtually four times yearly.
Dr. Christopher Busch
University of Windsor
Assistant Vice President, Enrolment Management
Dr. Christopher Busch
University of Windsor
Assistant Vice President, Enrolment Management
Dr. Busch is the University of Windsor’s Associate Vice-President, Enrolment and Senior International Officer. He is responsible for leading the institution’s enrolment and internationalization activities in collaboration with other senior institutional leaders. His scholarship focuses on the role organizational culture has on internationalization, or the process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into higher education.

Danny Friere
University of Saskatchewan
Governance Officer

Danny Friere
University of Saskatchewan
Governance Officer
Danny Freire is an energetic and dedicated professional with a combined fifteen plus (15+) years’ of experience in student recruitment, registrar services and enrolment management. Danny was born in Ecuador and moved to Canada on a high school exchange. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and his Master of Leadership in Postsecondary Education at the University of Saskatchewan.
Danny began his career in the language education sector, working for more than six years in Japan and China. In 2010 Danny accepted the position of Assistant Marketing Coordinator at the University of Saskatchewan Language Centre where he was responsible for recruiting students from Latin America, Japan and China.
Danny was promoted to the position of Manager of Student Recruitment at the University of Saskatchewan in 2014. He was responsible for providing leadership and coordinating student recruitment activities across the university’s 17 Colleges and schools, assisting the university with meeting its ESL, undergraduate and graduate student enrolment goals. He also ensured that the university was aware of new partnerships, collaborations, and research opportunities.
In 2022, Danny joined Saskatchewan Polytechnic as the Director of Enrolment Services and Registrar, where he had an opportunity to lead a team of 6 Managers and a combined 80 staff members in service of the institution. Modernizing the office of the Registrar was a priority task with the successful implementation of MyCreds, a digital credential platform, a comprehensive review of the Admissions Policy with a Strategic Enrolment Management lense, the implementation of the Academic Scheduling (provincially) and the Customer Relationship Management (application and admissions), and finally to modernize and re-organize the office to reflect the provincial model.

Dr. Joe Stokes
Ontario Tech University
University Registrar and Associate Vice President, International

Dr. Joe Stokes
Ontario Tech University
University Registrar and Associate Vice President, International
Dr. Joe Stokes is the AVP International and University Registrar at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, where he is also an award-winning professor (adjunct) in the Faculty of Education. Joe is the past Chair of the Ontario Universities’ Council on Admission and the Ontario University Registrars’ Association, and has led work across the post-secondary sector on Internationalization, governance, strategic enrolment management, and student retention and student success.
Dr. Stokes’ research interests include International student mobility, strategic enrolment management, leadership psychology, and higher education policy and governance. In the last 3 years, Joe has led groups that have attracted over $1.3 million in research funding, including leading the creation of Ontario’s international study brand and the development of a competitive internationalization toolkit for the province’s post-secondary system. His most recent publications focus on international student mobility in the pandemic era and strategic enrolment management in a time of global disruption.

Dr. Lee Ann McKivor
Memorial University of Newfoundland
University Registrar and Associate University Secretary

Dr. Lee Ann McKivor
Memorial University of Newfoundland
University Registrar and Associate University Secretary
Dr. McKivor is an experienced academic administrator in higher education. She previously served many years within central administration at the University of Sheffield in the U.K., over 20 years as Associate Registrar and Director, and Associate University Secretary at Western University, and is now Memorial University of Newfoundland's University Registrar.
As University Registrar, Dr. McKivor is part of the leadership team spearheading the institution's SEM planning with a lens of strong collaboration amongst university leadership. She is skilled in staff retention, higher education administration, supervisory skills, higher education leadership and higher education policy.
Dr. McKivor also serves as an Assistant Professor within Western University's Doctor of Education program in a part-time, limited duties/contract position.
She has a Master of Education, Specialization in Higher Education Leadership (Calgary) and was part of Western University's first Doctor of Education graduating class.

Shelby Verboven
University of Toronto Scarborough
Registrar and Assistant Dean Enrollment Management

Shelby Verboven
University of Toronto Scarborough
Registrar and Assistant Dean Enrollment Management
Shelby Verboven is the Registrar and Assistant Dean, Strategic Enrolment Management at the University of Toronto Scarborough, where she oversees the Office of the Registrar and leads a variety of SEM initiatives on campus. A values-based leader, she is passionate about all things SEM, service to students, communications and building inclusive teams.
Shelby has more than 25 years of experience working in higher education, including registrarial functions, residence life, student advising, admissions and student recruitment.
Shelby holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts (York), a Bachelor of Education (York) and a Masters of Education (Memorial) in post-secondary studies.
Shelby is proud to have had her work acknowledged through the UTSC Principal’s Accomplished Leader Award (2017) and the Ontario University Registrars’ Association Award of Excellence (2021) and the UTSC Distinguished Service Excellence Award (2024).

Jenn Goodwin
Okanagan College
Vice President, Enrolment & College Relations

Jenn Goodwin
Okanagan College
Vice President, Enrolment & College Relations
Jenn Goodwin is the Vice President, Enrolment and College Relations at Okanagan College. Her portfolio includes the Registrar’s Office, Strategic Enrolment Management (including domestic recruitment and international education), College Relations, Government Relations, Campus Administration, Work-Integrated Learning and Career Development. Since joining the OC team in 2022, Jenn has led several initiatives, including a brand refresh, the development of the College's first SEM plan, and new measures to increase awareness of and access to the College's broad range of post-secondary programs.
Beginning her career as a broadcast journalist in Northern B.C. and Yukon, Jenn then transitioned to leadership in health care in Ontario in 2007. She led communications, community partnerships, and government relations for Providence Care in Kingston for a decade before moving back to B.C. From 2017 to 2022, Jenn was vice president of communications at Interior Health, working closely with communities across the region and provincially.
Jenn holds a Master’s in Environment and Business from the University of Waterloo, and a Bachelor of Journalism and Political Science/Français from Carleton University. She is an Accredited Public Relations professional through the Canadian Public Relations Society and a current member of the Canadian Mental Health Association – Kelowna & District Board of Directors.

Dan Seneker
Saint Mary’s University
Associate Vice President, Enrolment Management & Registrar

Dan Seneker
Saint Mary’s University
Associate Vice President, Enrolment Management & Registrar
Currently, Dan is the Associate Vice-President, Enrolment Management & Registrar at Saint Mary’s University.
He holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts (Bishop’s University) as well as a Master of Communications Studies and a University Teaching Certificate (University of Calgary).
During his career, he has worked at five major Canadian universities and brings a wealth of experience in key areas such as enrolment management, internationalization, student recruitment, admissions, scholarships, marketing, student success, retention and student experience.

Ali Martin-Mayer
McGill University
Director, Admissions & Recruitment

Janene Christiansen
George Brown College
Registrar and Associate Vice-President, Strategic Enrolment

Janene Christiansen
George Brown College
Registrar and Associate Vice-President, Strategic Enrolment
As Registrar and Associate Vice-President, Strategic Enrolment, Janene Christiansen leads the Registrar's office and plays a vital role in George Brown College’s efforts to provide equitable and accessible educational pathways for all students. She ensures academic policies, systems, data, and processes are in place for the college to deliver the highest quality academic programming, reduce barriers and provide the optimal student experience.
Janene brings a wealth of experience leading teams in areas such as admissions, assessment, convocation, fees and scheduling, financial aid, systems and reporting, and registration and audit. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated an unwavering focus on ensuring policies, systems, and processes improve the student experience and help learners succeed and flourish.
While she started her career at George Brown as an operations manager in the Registrar’s office in 2003, Janene spent more than a decade in a range of registrarial leadership roles at other post-secondary institutions. She returned to George Brown as Registrar and AVP, Strategic Enrolment in 2022.
Prior to her return, Janene was Deputy Registrar at Sheridan College where she led the Enrolment Services team across three campuses. Her team members nominated her for the Sheridan Inspirational Leader Award — an important nod to her leadership during the pandemic and to her qualities as a people leader.
She also held progressive leadership positions in the Registrar’s office at Humber College, including Manager, Fees, Audit, Reporting, and Scheduling; Associate Registrar, Fees, Reporting, Scheduling and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Student Team Lead; and Associate Registrar, Student Systems and Reporting. She earned a President’s Distinguished Administrative Staff Award in 2014 for her work on the migration from Humber’s home-grown Student Information System to Banner and for her leadership in other areas.
Janene holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Psychology from the University of Western Ontario.

Andrew Leopold
Humber Polytechnic
Associate Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Andrew Leopold
Humber Polytechnic
Associate Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Andrew has provided strategic, communications, marketing, branding (and more) counsel to colleagues and clients for more than 24 years.
At Humber, Andrew leads a team of Marketing, Communications, Creative Services and Analytics enthusiasts who Bring It to their work at Humber by telling the college’s many compelling student, faculty and partnership stories across multiple platforms to many audiences.
Andrew co-chairs the MarCom Guild and is a member of Colleges Ontario communications and marketing advisory groups. Prior to working at Humber (one of his alma maters), Andrew worked at two different global public relations firms in Toronto.
Andrew is eagerly awaiting his call to the Hockey Hall of Fame, knows the pen (and keyboard) is mightier than the sword, listens to the Dave Matthews Band and likes to chill with Charlee (the cat) and Lucy (the dog).

Dr. Chris McGrath
Niagara College
Vice President, Students

Dr. Chris McGrath
Niagara College
Vice President, Students
Dr. Chris McGrath brings over 20 years of higher education leadership experience through which he has developed an unshakeable focus on widening access and for individuals and communities to engage fully with the transformational potential of education. He is proud to serve as Vice-President, Students at Niagara College (Canada) since February 2024.
With a career that is the product of an incredible student experience, Chris has worked in senior roles in public and private post-secondary institutions in Canada and the US. Chris has also taught graduate courses in education at Royal Roads University, York University, and OISE/University of Toronto where the focus of his teaching is on higher education quality, policy, and student experience. He holds a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Western University, a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Vermont, and a bachelor’s degree in French studies from the University of Waterloo.
As a scholar-practitioner, Chris’ academic interests broadly explore how individuals and organizations perform leadership to advance the public good. In particular, his work interrogates intersecting discourses of educational quality and equity, and how they influence how organizations shape strategy, program and accountability in the interest of social and economic change. With a deep commitment to widening access to education and employment, his scholarship explores the role of social justice leadership in interrupting how privilege influences thinking and action. Further, he is interested in how the intersection of personal morals and professional ethics shapes how leaders exercise power and influence to shape social and structural change in public organizations.
Chris currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT) and Niagara Health. He has served on the boards of national and local non- profit organizations, including those striving to improve the lives of LGBTQIA+ youth, people living with HIV/AIDS, and youth experiencing mental illness. He is a past president of the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services, and was a public appointee with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.
Partners & Sponsors
Our programs and events are enhanced by the support and engagement of many different organizations that serve the SEMM community. Please email Jennifer Powell, Director of Community Engagement, at jennifer@brainstorm.ca to get involved.
Recent Supporters:
Past Programs
Halifax, NS
SEMM Atlantic Conference
June 12 & 13, 2025
Online
Strategic Enrolment Marketing for Leaders
Mondays from May 26 - June 16, 2025
Virtual
SEMM Virtual Conference
May 7 & 8, 2025
Online
Strategic Domestic Student Recruitment
Mondays from April 7 - May 6, 2025
Online
Fundamentals of Strategic Enrolment Management
Thursdays from February 5th - 27th, 2025
Stay in the Loop
Subscribe to our mailing list to be the first to know about our upcoming
offerings. If you have any questions,
reach out to Jennifer Powell, Director
of Community Engagement, at jennifer@brainstorm.ca.