The Game is Changing:A Look at How Colleges and Universities Recruit

Presented by:Sam MahraDirector of Student RecruitmentKennesaw State University

Overview of Session

Admissions 101- The Fundamentals

Then and Now vs. Moving Forward

Strategies that Work

Challenges Facing Recruitment

What Trends Can We Expect?

Reflections or Questions

Admissions 101Understanding Enrollment ManagementDEFINITION:Enrollment Management is a term coined by Dr. Jack Maguire is used frequently in higher education to describe well-planned strategies and tactics to shape the enrollment of an institution and meet established goals.

Plainly stated, enrollment management is an organizational concept and a systematic set of activities designed to enable educational institutions to exert more influence over their student enrollments.

Enrollment Management is typically different from SEM (Strategic Enrollment Management) which typically looks at the entire life cycle of a student.

EM GOALS: Improving yields at inquiry, application, and enrollment throughout the “funnel” Increasing net revenue, usually by improving the proportion of entering

students who have “high ability to pay” a majority of the tuition sticker price Increasing demographic diversity – both ethnic and socioeconomic Improving retention rates Increasing applicant pools

Admissions 101The Recruitment Funnel

Source: Noel Levitz

The General Process Marketing Process

Source: www.marcomadvisor.com

Admissions 101Role of Vendor Solutions

Then and Now vs Moving ForwardTHEN and NOW…Name purchase The College Board, ACT,

NRCCUA, CBSS

Visitation High school visits, college

fairs, group and individual campus visits, open house events

Off campus interview, receptions

High school counselor liaison

Marketing Mass mailings of printed

pieces Telemarketing/Counseling Qualifying and grading of

inquiries Telequalifying

Then and Now vs Moving ForwardMOVING FORWARD…Predictive Modeling Use of statistical multi-variant analysis

in all stages of recruitment funnel Rank Scoring Inquiries

Use of Data Analytics SAS Data management Recruitment Analytics Survey Data

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Manage interactions with future and

current students Leverage, automate, and synchronize

communication, marketing and student service

Enterprise solutions

Then and Now vs Moving ForwardMOVING FORWARD CONTINUED…

Market Segmentation and Communication Demographic characteristics Academic programs Academic ability Talent areas Geographic areas

Cultivation of new revenue sources Online and Distance Learning Continuing education Corporate partnerships

Borrowing For-Profit Business Models “Speed to Lead” Service Oriented “Stitching In” Process

Then and Now vs Moving ForwardMOVING FORWARD CONTINUED…

Market Research Competitive analysis “Building a Brand” Price Sensitivity

Then and Now vs Moving ForwardEvolving Role of the CounselorTRADITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES: Heavy emphasis on “face to face” or phone communication Activities predominately conducted within traditional business hours Serving as the “gate-keeper” to admission Relatively stable environment not affected by market demands Traditional marketing approach of providing “information”

MOVING FORWARD: Emphasis on “yielding students” and producing outcomes Metric and data driven Utilization and understanding of social media platforms Leveraging mobile functionality - Texting Constant change affected by a volatile market demands Marketing approaches emphasizing “benefits” Greater need to understand generational differences –Baby Boomers to

Millennials Emphasis on customer service and student experience “Sales with integrity”

http://dwyereducationstrategies.com/enrollment_manager/?p=116

Strategies that WorkTop 10 most effective strategies and tactics by institution type

Noel Levitz: 2013 Student Recruitment and Marketing Practices Benchmark Report

Strategies that WorkTop 5 Modes of Communication

Noel Levitz: 2013 Student Recruitment and Marketing Practices Benchmark Report

Strategies that WorkTop five internal operations practices for four-year institutions

Noel Levitz: 2013 Student Recruitment and Marketing Practices Benchmark Report

Strategies that WorkEx. Measuring Webpages and Email

UNIQUE VISITORS Indicates website traffic and the individual visitors to a webpage

PAGE VIEWS Number of individual pages that your visitor click on. High pages views typically mean that the

content is relevant or engaging with your audience

BOUNCE RATE Indicates how many emails that are invalid or how many people come to your webpage and

then leave immediately.

CONVERSION RATE Can help in determining how many people click through a webpage or opened and viewed an

email.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Very popular in the online recruiting realm and trickling toward admission offices. Online

schools will use certain keywords and how their used to describe your content. Ex. Wanting a business degree you are recruiting for to shows up first in search rankings.

Contentmarketinginstitute.comCappex.com

Strategies that WorkEmail is Not Dead!

Noel Levitz

Strategies that WorkFun Facts on Social Media

http://www.cappex.com/blog/tag/social-media-and-admissions/

Strategies that WorkFun Facts on Social Media

http://www.cappex.com/blog/tag/social-media-and-admissions/

Strategies that WorkFun Facts on Social Media

http://www.cappex.com/blog/tag/social-media-and-admissions/

Strategies that WorkFun Facts on Social Media

http://www.cappex.com/blog/tag/social-media-and-admissions/

Strategies that WorkData and Metrics

Enrollment Specialist Name (All)Actual

Event Type Count of Program Type Sum of Number of Participants Sum of Number of Contact Cards Sum of Number of Viewbooks UsedCollege Fair / Night 105 15573 3946 8273Counselor Workshop 4 115 35 210Drop-off 89 84 0 382Lunch Room Visit 21 2265 318 648NACAC 6 7000 265 1090Other 3 1575 25 80Panel 9 1180 164 560Private Visit 80 1747 1465 1687PROBE 60 15165 4358 7848QUEST 2 600 67 200TAG 6 490 72 188Transfer Fair / Community College 6 225 35 100Grand Total 391 46019 10750 21266

Estimated

YTDCounty Fall Semester 2010 Fall Semester 2011 Fall Semester 2012 Fall Semester 2013 Fall Semester 2014 Grand Total Avg Growth 2010-2013Cobb 2712 2915 3050 3164 2240 14081 5.27%Fulton 1173 1297 1390 1676 1438 6974 12.63%Gwinnett 1194 1360 1530 1493 1352 6929 7.73%Cherokee 965 1078 1132 1204 984 5363 7.65%Dekalb 363 488 617 673 600 2741 22.85%Douglas 360 454 433 453 402 2102 7.96%Paulding 353 373 374 394 341 1835 3.73%Fayette 289 355 346 339 320 1649 5.46%Forsyth 260 291 289 322 282 1444 7.39%Henry 180 257 281 326 321 1365 21.89%

Strategies that WorkData and Metrics-Multivariate Statistical

Least Effective StrategiesTop 5 Least Effective Strategies and Tactics

Noel Levitz: 2013 Student Recruitment and Marketing Practices Benchmark Report

Least Used but Effective StrategiesTop 5 Least Used Strategies and Tactics

Noel Levitz: 2013 Student Recruitment and Marketing Practices Benchmark Report

Challenges Facing InstitutionsChanging Demographics…

Challenges Facing InstitutionsEthnic Demographics…

WICHE

Challenges Facing Institutions…Yet the Amount Competition Stays the Same

Chronicle of Higher Ed

Challenges Facing InstitutionsAffordability

The Lawlor Group, 2011

Challenges Facing InstitutionsAffordability

The College Board: Trends in College Pricing

Challenges Facing InstitutionsFunding

Jennifer Ma and Sandy Baum,"Trends in Tuition and Fees, Enrollment." The College Board. July, 2012

What Trends Can We Expect?“What Hot Right Now?”

LGBTQ and Transgender Friendly

Veterans

Working Professionals

“Colleges as business” mindset with focus on revenue and return on investment.

What Trends Can We Expect?“Snowplow Parents”

DEFINITION:

“Snowplow parents, refers to those who not only hover like helicopter parents but also plow ahead to preemptively eliminate any obstacles from their child’s path. These are the folks who would like to hand-select their young child’s classmates, or who bribe coaches for more playing time, or who encourage teachers to pay extra attention to their child at the expense of other students. For those of us who work with college students there are tales of parent calls for notes from a missed class, daily requests for lists of salad-bar ingredients and parental involvement, via Skype, regarding a dispute between roommates over a missing jar of peanut butter.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/snowplow-parents-may-be-trapping-their-children/2013/12/20/4eceb40c-6749-11e3-8b5b-a77187b716a3_story.htmlhttp://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2013/11/09/parents-overly-involved-college-students-lives/mfYvA5R9IhRpJytEbFpxUP/story.html

What Trends Can We Expect?“The Tightrope Generation”Strengths:• Considered “digital natives” growing up in era of Google, Skype,

Social Media• Better equipped to deal with diversity than generations before

them• Very optimistic about their personal futures• High level of confidence in their own abilities

Weaknesses:• Not well equipped to handle face to face relationships due to

technology• Expects to be rewarding for “showing up”• The are defensive and can’t take criticism very well• Not well equipped to handle failure or setback due to ”having

never skinned their knees”

Other Key Facts:• Further contributing to the commoditization of education my only

choosing majors that will lead to job prospects• Financial pressure is delaying students ability to complete college

What Trends Can We Expect?More MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)

• Becoming part of the online strategy at most major universities, yet still controversial

• Kennesaw launched it’s first MOOCs in January 2014

Benefits:• Allows adult learners to expand educational opportunities• Typically free of charge• Do not have to worry about entrance requirements• Provides solutions to overcrowding and provided access on a global

scale• Since they are short, it forces professors to improve lectures

Cons:• Can’t get any credit or very few offer any type of credentialing if you

pass the class• Most students don’t complete them, 90% don’t• Can reduce faculty to “glorified” teaching assistants

Source: Heller, Nathan, “Laptop U.” The New Yorker. May 20, 2013

What Trends Can We Expect?Learning AlternativesCompetency Based Learning• Offering ability to finish degrees such as a Bachelors in 3 years or less• Focus on skills mastery rather than traditional seat time or credit hours• Potentially more affordable• Valid assessment procedures and legitimacy

Workforce Readiness/Corporate Partnerships• Allows corporations to close the skills gaps that may exist within their

organization• Removes barriers to higher education by providing affordability, access,

flexibility and is self directed• Takes the learning process to the employer

Transnational Universities• Satellite campuses worldwide

Public-Private Universities• Private initiatives and funding in public university education

What Trends Can We Expect?Return on Investment (ROI)• Completion Rates

• Placement Rates

• Learning Results

• Costs

• Debt Load

• Accountability

Final ThoughtsIs Education Primarily for Economic Gain?

Final ThoughtsOr to expand the minds and abilities of a society?

Or do some of you feel this way ?

Thank You!

Reflections and Questions