Agility In Action: Notes From The Field

As NACAC gets underway and enrollment leaders gather to talk strategy, one theme is already taking shape back on campus: agility is no longer aspirational. It’s operational. And it’s showing up in how teams are adjusting their work in real time based on what students are actually doing right now.

By mid-September, the fall cycle is fully in motion. Counselors are traveling. Applications are starting to come in. Early events are producing feedback—both in the form of student behavior and counselor experience. It’s the moment when a static strategy starts to get pressure-tested. And increasingly, admissions teams are choosing to respond before the pressure builds too far.

The phrase “agile admissions” can sound vague until you see what it looks like in practice. From conversations over the past two weeks, here’s what we’re hearing:

Teams are adjusting travel routes mid-season. Some are shifting their counselor assignments based on engagement signals they didn’t anticipate in August.

Communications teams are cutting underperforming sequences early, not just tweaking them. If a campaign isn’t landing within the first two sends, they’re moving on.

Directors are working with staff to identify applicants who submitted early but have gone quiet—and prioritizing those students now, rather than waiting until winter.

Some schools are delaying planned yield pushes for specific groups because the behavioral signals haven’t caught up yet. They’re holding back rather than over-saturating.

None of these are dramatic changes. But together, they represent a shift in how enrollment teams are approaching the fall. Instead of waiting for the full cycle to play out before making adjustments, they’re using the first signs of activity—or inactivity—to shape what comes next.

The most agile teams aren’t tracking every metric. They’re watching for the right ones. They’re noticing when a student who previously opened every message has stopped. They’re flagging when the gap between application and follow-up grows longer than usual. They’re asking questions when a campus visitor doesn’t schedule a next step within the expected window. And they’re acting on those observations quickly.

That doesn’t mean abandoning plans. It means being willing to revise them.

One director described this as “staying tuned in without overreacting.” It’s a good way to frame the goal. Agility in enrollment isn’t about chasing every shift. It’s about recognizing patterns early enough to change the outcome, and trusting your team to move with purpose when the data supports it.

This type of responsiveness isn’t just a fall advantage. It’s a leadership asset. When staff can focus on students who are sending signals now, they spend less time wondering if their efforts are landing. And when teams can see which efforts are working in the moment—not just at the end of the cycle—they’re more confident, more productive, and less prone to burnout.

Next week, we’ll be talking with Robert Nowak, Dean of Admissions at Lawrence University, about what this looks like in a real admissions office. Robert will share how his team monitors student behavior during the fall, how they use real-time data to guide their efforts, and how they make tactical decisions while keeping a long-term strategy in place.

As NACAC continues, it’s a good moment to consider what agility looks like on your campus. What systems are helping you spot early movement? What routines help your counselors adapt? And where are you still relying on assumptions that may have made sense in July, but no longer reflect what students are doing in September?

Join us September 24 to hear how Lawrence University is building agility into its admissions strategy: crowdcast.io/c/vprobert