Hi Vinny,

You intuition is correct... The flow split/merge (aka fork) represents a number of things:

(1) All tasks after the split can only begin after the task before the split ("Enroll in University" in this case) is complete

(2) All tasks before the merge must be completed before the task right after the merge can start.  In this example this means that the process will not end until all the activities before the split are completed.

(3) There is no dependency between the two parallel flows.  For example: the student can "Attend the University Overview Presentation" before or after "Enrolling in Seminar(s)".

(4) The point of reference is also important.  My guess is that this process flow is from the University's perspective and, therefore, the activity diagram only shows constraints imposed by the university and not those of the student.  For example: the fact that the student can't attend the overview presentation until after University Enrollment is a university driven constraint.  This flow does not say that the student "MUST" enroll at the same time as he/she attends the overview presentation.  Of course, in today's world, even that is possible.  Students can attend the Overview Presentation Lecture while, at the same time, enrolling and paying for the seminar(s) on-line using a laptop.

Hope this helps!

- Adrian