Fundamentals of Strategic
Enrolment Management

Graham Donald is one of North America’s leading experts on attracting, recruiting, and engaging students and graduates.

He founded Brainstorm Strategy Group Inc. in 2003 to focus on improving students’ school-to-work transition by advising and training both the employers that hire students and the educators who support their career development on campus.

His clients have included KPMG, PwC, University of Toronto, Deloitte, GE, McGill University, HSBC, UBC, Rutgers University, Kraft, and many others.

He chairs several conferences annually including the Campus Recruiting Forums in cities across Canada and the USA; the Canadian Career Development Summit; and, the Strategic Enrolment Marketing & Management Forum. He also speaks regularly at conferences across the US and Canada.

Graham Donald is a firm believer in the value of a general arts education and makes use every day of the skills he developed pursuing a double-major in English and Literary Studies. He received both his BA and MBA from the University of Toronto.

Dr. Clayton Smith is Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Windsor and Associate Faculty at Royal Roads University where he teaches in the Graduate Diploma in SEM program. Dr. Smith previously held senior enrolment management positions at the University of Windsor, the State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill, Tallahassee Community College in Florida, and the University of Maine at Augusta.

Known for his focus on comparative enrolment management, Dr. Smith has performed collaborative research into the distinctive qualities of enrolment management in the United States and Canada that has allowed educational leaders from both countries to compare and share best practices. Dr. Smith has, with research colleague Susan Gottheil, co-edited SEM in Canada: Promoting Student and Institutional Success in Canadian Colleges and Universities (2011) and The Effectiveness of SEM in Canada: Reflections from the Field (2022). His recent research focuses on the faculty role in SEM, how change management impacts successful SEM institutional implementation, and Canadian enrollment leaders’ reflections on the effectiveness of SEM in Canada.

Dr. Smith is a leader in the field of enrolment management, with special emphasis on the areas of institutional SEM readiness, implementing SEM, enrolment planning, change management, international student affairs, and student success and retention.

Dr. Smith holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern Maine, an M.A. in Political Science from Drew University, an M.P.A. in Public Administration from the University of Maine, and an Ed.D. in Higher Education from Florida State University. He is a senior consultant with AACRAO Consulting and currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly.