virginia western-vcca 2008
DESCRIPTION
How does a community college "Express Yourself" without a printed schedule?TRANSCRIPT
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By Margaret Boyes and Debbie WeeksBy Margaret Boyes and Debbie Weeks
Virginia Western Community CollegeVirginia Western Community College
How does aHow does acommunity community college college “Express “Express Yourself” Yourself” without a without a printed printed schedule?schedule?
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ObjectivesObjectives
• Demonstrate that a printed schedule may not be the death of college enrollment.
• Show how a creative marketing approach that is versatile and allows for targeted messages can energize promotion, affect enrollment, and may even be more cost-effective.
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Intended AudienceIntended Audience
• Anyone interested in eliminating a printed schedule.
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The Tale Began…The Tale Began…• Not with a meeting
• Not with a note
• Not with an email
• Not with a passing conversation in the hallway
• But by hearing the news through the college grapevine
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Just The Facts, Ma’amJust The Facts, Ma’am• Virginia Western had been
experiencing declining enrollment for all of the ‘05 and ‘06 semesters
• The directive was to eliminate the printed schedule
• There was a little over two months before fall registration was to begin
• Our community had been getting the class schedule in the newspaper
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Planning? What Planning?Planning? What Planning?
• Can you say PANIC?
• Now, think quickly!– Timing with market research firm on
campus. Use data wisely.
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Market Research…Market Research…
• Sandra Golden and Associates– Focus groups (14), community perception
study (400), two-day workshop
• What did they find?– The largest segment of our population was
between the age of 50-59 (28.5%)– The second largest segment was age 17-29
(26.5%)– People wanted to hear from Virginia Western
via direct mail, which we were not doing– The overall awareness of the college was
good, but could be improved
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Personal ResearchPersonal Research
• VCCS Distribution Email
• Sandra Golden Associates– The Community College of Baltimore
County.
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• Summer 2002– Eliminate mailing to outlying zip codes in
Baltimore County that had lowest draw rates– Stop mailing schedule to currently enrolled
students. Instead, send a post card announcing early registration dates/times, etc., and that schedule was available for pick up on campus
• Spring 2003– Suppressed additional zip codes
• Fall 2003– Eliminate class schedule mailing to all county
residents, except those residing in six zip codes immediately surrounding three main campuses
– All other residents received brochures
CCBC -- Their StoryCCBC -- Their Story
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• Winter/Spring 2004– Eliminate all residential mailings of class schedule– First time they produced combined winter/spring
course schedule, which they also did for summer/fall
– Residents received a brochure– NOTE- during this process, data they received
revealed no significant correlation between enrollment and receipt of schedules or brochure within a particular zip code
• Winter Spring 2005– For this semester, they honored a request by
someone to mail schedules to the six surrounding zip codes near their three main campuses
CCBC -- Their StoryCCBC -- Their Story
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• Summer/Fall 2005, Winter/Spring 2006, Summer/Fall 2006– No residents were mailed class schedules.– With budget cuts in ‘06, they also mailed a
postcard versus the brochure, which they sent to zip codes with at least 25 students previously enrolled.
– For fall 2006, the direct mail recruitment postcard was replaced with Link, a 12-page magazine style recruitment brochure with online component, stories demonstrating CCBC’s impact and value, and a center spread promoting credit and non-credit programs.
– This piece was mailed to all Baltimore County residents.
CCBC -- Their StoryCCBC -- Their Story
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Now, back to Virginia Now, back to Virginia WesternWestern
• What do we do now?• Clear up some misunderstanding
– A course schedule would be on campus for those who’d like to stop by or for those who’d like one mailed to them
• Develop a Strategy– Use our new theme to get the message across
– Utilize direct mail for total service region coverage
– Change our web site to be more user friendly
– Utilize student ambassadors to field calls and mail requests for schedules
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Roll Out…Roll Out…
• And here’s how we did it.
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Postcard #1Postcard #1
It arrived in early July to coincide with the fall schedule posting on web
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Fall BookletFall Booklet
It arrived about two weeks after the postcard
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Express Express Change!Change!
Roanoke newspaper ad
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Postcard #2Postcard #2
It arrived about three weeks after the booklet, and two weeks before the opportunity to enroll for courses ended.
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OurOur message was key message was key• Express Change!
• Utilize top 10 reasons to attend Virginia Western
• Promote benefits of online registration• Provide a number to call if a printed
schedule was needed by mail• List registration period and first day of
classes
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Why this theme?Why this theme?
• It allowed for flexibility of messages
• It allowed for visual flexibility
• It allowed for showcasing the college
• It allowed for creativity
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Why this theme?Why this theme?
• It allowed for a great tag linewith a memorable message– Express achievement, ambition,
compassion, courage, diversity, excitement, hope, humility, joy, motivation, opportunity, possibilities, promise, respect, success …
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Some Market Research Results …Some Market Research Results …
• Some of the community perception findings:
– We needed to stick with a theme. Do not change it every year or often.
– People wanted to hear from us via the mail.
– Second choice was through the Internet with the newspapers garnering third place.
– Overall awareness of Virginia Western is fairly good, but could be improved.
– Of the 400 respondents, 48% said they saw advertising that was specific to Virginia Western.
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You Look Marvelous You Look Marvelous Dahling…Dahling…
• The rationale for the visuals and cohesiveness of our new look and our new message.
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Our course schedule booklet–Our course schedule booklet–the OLD way…the OLD way…
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2007-08 academic year’s booklets
Our semester booklet–Our semester booklet–the NEW way…the NEW way…
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Web advertisementWeb advertisement
Leaderboard advertisement on Roanoke.com, the online version of The Roanoke Times, promoting fall registration and driving viewers to our web for course listings.
fall08vwcc2.swf
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The redesigned web scheduleThe redesigned web schedule
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Fall ’07-June mailer
Promoting the new initiative-Promoting the new initiative-the postcard seriesthe postcard series
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Postcard seriesPostcard series
Fall ’07-August mailer
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Postcard seriesPostcard series
Spring ’08-October mailer
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Postcard seriesPostcard series
Spring ’08-December mailer
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Second iterationSecond iteration
Our Our semester semester bookletbooklet
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Postcard series-second iterationPostcard series-second iteration
Fall ’08-July mailer
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SUCCESS!SUCCESS!
• Student services saw about 100 more students per day for the first two days of registration.
• When other pieces appeared in houses and with the additional media coverage, there were spikes in the number of students seen by counselors.
• After classes began and for the first two weeks of classes we were at an 8% increase in FTES.
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Enrollment Comparison-Fall ’06-Fall ’07Enrollment Comparison-Fall ’06-Fall ’07First fall semester without a printed schedule.First fall semester without a printed schedule.
As of October 22, 2007, the As of October 22, 2007, the college’s Fall FTES were college’s Fall FTES were 2.6% above Fall 2006.2.6% above Fall 2006.
Through October 22, 2007Through October 22, 2007
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Enrollment Comparison Enrollment Comparison Fall ’07-Fall ’08 FTESFall ’07-Fall ’08 FTESSecond fall semester without a printed schedule.Second fall semester without a printed schedule.
Through September 9, 2008Through September 9, 2008
As of September 9, 2008, As of September 9, 2008, the college’s Fall FTES the college’s Fall FTES were 7.4% above Fall 2007.were 7.4% above Fall 2007.
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• Printed Schedule – Fall 2006 – 48 pages, offset paper,
8.5” X 11”– 137,000 print quantity
• Printing cost $37,063• Design cost $1,900• Insertion cost $16,440•TOTAL = $55,403
Whadya Pay for Alla That?Whadya Pay for Alla That?
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• Postcard – Fall 2007– Glossy card stock, 9” x 6”– 146,000 print quantity
• Printing cost $2,527• Paper cost $2,128• Handling cost $1,500• Postage cost $9,556•TOTAL = $15,756
» X2 = $30,352
Whadya Pay for Alla That?Whadya Pay for Alla That?
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• Booklet – Fall 2007– 16 pages, glossy paper
8.5” X 11”– 146,000 print quantity
• Printing cost $16,370• Handling cost $1,513• Postage cost $11,004•TOTAL = $28,887
Whadya Pay for Alla That?Whadya Pay for Alla That?
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So, whatcha doin’ now?So, whatcha doin’ now?
• Keeping on track.– Still plan to use Express Yourself.
– Still plan to utilize direct mail, which we also are using to communicate with high school students.
– Continue to do other media as we have done.
– We have stuck our big toe into the Internet world of Facebook, and we’ll see how that continues to grow for us.
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Thank you!Thank you!
Questions?Questions?