Enrollment Management Overview November 7, 2007 Marilyn Osweiler and Jim Reilly, Stamats

1. Enrollment Management Overview November 7, 2007 Marilyn Osweiler and Jim Reilly, Stamats

2. Enrollment background • Enrollment at SJC has been a rocket ride • Fall headcount increased by 432% since 1982 from 1,868 students to a high of 9,270 • Fall 2000 HC = 6,650 Fall 2006 HC = 9,941 (+52%) • Fall 2000 FTE = 3,363 Fall 2006 FTE = 4,109 (+22%)

3. Rocket Ride Headcount % Increase FA98 5,929 FA99 6,045 10% FA00 6,650 10.4% FA01 7,344 11.6% FA02 8,196 10.4% FA03 9,270 13.1% Fall 1999 through Fall 2003, SJC skyrockets with 10% headcount increases each fall

4. Taking Care of Business Double digit enrollment increases contributed to an environment focused on: • Taking care of the students who came to SJC • Providing high quality customer service • Expansion of programs and offerings • Juggling to keep up with the demand • Building infrastructure to handle the growth Rather than: • Aggressive recruitment efforts • Fully developed retention strategies • A comprehensive enrollment management and marketing plan

5. When things started changing – fall 2004

6. Engage services of national marketing firm – Stamats – in spring 2007. Communications audit in January 2007 Student survey conducted in summer 2007 Enrollment Management Task Force formed in fall 2007

7. Primary Objectives of Survey • To assist San Juan College in its recruitment processes by providing insights regarding traditional and adults students. Specifically: • How do applicants view San Juan College? • How did applicants feel as a prospective student? • What are the potential barriers to entry keeping students from pursuing higher education? • What services could be offered to students that would be of value to them?

8. Method • Stamats completed a total of 266 telephone surveys among San Juan College’s 2007 applicants: • 133 completed surveys among traditional age applicants (ages 18 to 24) • 133 completed surveys among adult applicants (ages 25 and older) • List provided by San Juan College • Survey development, data collection, analysis, and report writing conducted by Stamats • Sampling error of ±5.5% at the 95% confidence level for the entire sample

9. Demographic Overview • Gender – 53% female; 47% male • Race – n 45% Caucasian; n 35% Native American; n 12% Hispanic; n 2% African American; n 1% Asian; n <1% mixed – no dominant race; n 4% refused • Age – n 50% under 25; n 24% 25 to 34; n 10% 35 to 44; n10% 45 to 54; n 4% 55 or older; n 2% refused

10. Traditional-Age Applicants(18-24)

11. Current Educational Goal • Not surprisingly, the most prevalent goal among traditional age applicants is to earn an associate’s degree

12. Reasons for Pursuing Additional Education • Similarly, it should not come as a surprise that the majority of students are looking for an associates degree to pursue a new career • However, students not naming San Juan as their first choice are five times more likely to indicate they plan to transfer to a bachelor’s program • As more students view two-year institutions as a stepping stone to a four-year degree, it is important that San Juan is accommodating this and communicating the transferability of its two-year degree into four-year institutions

13. Concerns in Pursuing Education • This graph indicates the top barriers to entry facing traditional- age applicants • Of most concern should be helping students understand how they can pay for a San Juan education and how they can balance work and taking classes • While these aggregate results suggest that only two major barriers exist, the following slide breaks down these results by race • Specifically, a larger percentage of Native American applicants indicate having concerns regarding their education

14. Concerns in Pursuing Education by Race • Native American students have significantly higher concerns regarding their pursuit of higher education • Specific services should be aimed at this portion of the student population such as transportation to and from campus as well as child care assistance • Additionally, Hispanic and Native American students alike could use extra help in understanding exactly how to finance their San Juan education, as well as help ensuring they are prepared for the rigors of college-level coursework

15. Potential Services of Interest • Among the aggregate traditional-age population, we see that the top four items in the graph have substantial interest • However, other services tested should not be ignored, as minority students tend to show strong interest in many of these, as shown on the following slide

16. Potential Services by Race • We again see that all potential services tested are of most interest to Native American applicants • Particularly, notice the unique need for a college shuttle among this group as well as the much stronger interest in a personal tutoring service and computer labs • These results suggest that if feasible, implementing all of these services would be beneficial to students, Native Americans in particular

17. Program Format Preferences • Much in-line with national traditional-age student research, the large majority of students are interested in on-campus courses only • While an online education may be more convenient, many traditional-age students desire the traditional college campus experience that allows them to have hands-on experience, interaction with classmates and professors, and the associated experiences of attending a college

18. Feelings Toward Online Education • Consistent with the results from the previous slide, many students simply state that online courses are not for them • As we will see shortly, online courses are more embraced by adult students

19. Learning about San Juan College How did you first begin to collect information about San Juan College? • It is interesting to see such a high percentage citing their high school counselor for this question • According to our 2007 TeensTALK®study, only 10% of students nationwide first learn about the college they attend from a high school counselor or teacher • With such a large percentage of San Juan’s applicants first learning about the College from their high school counselor, it is vital that San Juan College is creating strong relationships with the local high schools, ensuring they are up-to-date on what San Juan has to offer traditional-aged students

20. Perceptions of San Juan College Please tell me how much you agree with the following statements regarding aspects of your communication with San Juan College so far. • Overall, these are strong ratings, which are to be expected from applicants of a college • However, personal attention ratings are low. With 71% of San Juan’s students being low- income and first-generation college students, this is a concern as these two groups are traditionally the most likely to not understand the college admission process • Interestingly, students not naming San Juan as their first choice tended to assign lower ratings only in academic-related attributes (quality of their program, quality of faculty, personal attention from faculty, and job opportunities for graduates)

21. Greatest Strengths Please finish the following sentence: I would choose to attend San Juan College because ________ • It appears that applicants appreciate the convenient location and quality academics offered at San Juan • Beyond that, it appears that they are appreciative that San Juan is available to help them further their education, prepare for a career, or generally accomplish their goals

22. Greatest Weaknesses Please finish the following sentence: The primary disadvantage of attending San Juan College is ________ • It is very encouraging to see that over half of respondents cannot name a disadvantage to attending San Juan College • Also, we do not see a dominant disadvantage, with the exception of students feeling San Juan is too far from their home (an attribute out of San Juan College’s control)

23. Overall Impression • These individual ratings combine for a mean of 4.2 on a five-point scale, a very strong rating • Typically, we see the largest percent of respondents assign a rating of “good.” Therefore, having the largest percentage rating San Juan as “very good” is a strong testament to the College, as is having only 2% of respondents assign a negative rating

24. Likelihood of Recommending San Juan College • These results are important, as likelihood of recommending something to a friend or family member is considered the strongest measure of customer satisfaction • With nearly 70% saying they are “very likely” to recommend San Juan, it is safe to say that applicants are generally pleased with their experiences with the College thus far • Additionally, word-of-mouth is the most believable form of marketing. San Juan can rest assured that its applicants (and likely current students) are speaking positively to others about the College

25. Usability of Web Site • Those having visited the Web site tend to be relatively pleased with the layout, as over 60% found it “very easy” to find the information they were looking for and another 33% found it “somewhat easy”

26. Adult Applicants(25 and Older)

27. Current Educational Goal(Top 8) • While slightly more likely than traditional-age students to be pursuing a certificate or taking general courses, the largest percentage of adults are also looking to complete an associate’s degree • The following slides highlight the associate’s degree and certificate programs that adult students are considering

28. Reasons for Pursuing Additional Education • Among adult students, three prevalent reasons are seen, with each receiving a similar percentage • It will be important for San Juan to understand that each of these educational goals has a substantial number and that each of these reasons for pursuing additional education comes with differing needs

29. Concerns in Pursuing Education • With the exception of “managing time between family and classes,” we see that adult students are less likely to rate any of these issues as major concerns • However, items in which more than one-quarter of respondents indicate a “major concern,” should be seriously examined by the College • The following slide examines these results by race, highlighting specific needs that may exist among certain sub groups

30. Concerns in Pursuing Education by Race • Unlike the traditional student data, we see the largest amount of increased concerns among Hispanic adult students, though Native Americans indicate elevated concern on key items as well • Again, specific services should be aimed at these groups of the San Juan College population to help alleviate some of their concerns

31. Potential Services of Interest • Among the aggregate population, we see significant interest in the top six items, in which nearly 40% or more of respondents indicate they are “very interested” • The next slide shows interest in these services by race. These results again indicate that certain services are significantly desired by specific sub groups

32. Potential Services by Race • This breakdown by race indicates that substantial interest exists among at least one group for each service with the exceptions of dining services and a college shuttle service • Particular attention should be given to services in which two-thirds or more of a specific race indicate being “very interested”

33. Program Format Preferences • With regard to online or blended courses, the adult student segment will be a more interested group than traditional-age students, as 68% would prefer some component of online education • While online course interest is much stronger among adults, it is important to note that 57% of Native American adults would still prefer on-campus courses

34. Feelings Toward Online Education • As would be expected, adult students are significantly more likely to feel they are disciplined enough for online courses • However, note that nearly 25% of adults state online education is not for them. It is important that San Juan College not alienate this segment of student by making too big of an online push for adult students

35. Learning about San Juan College How did you first begin to collect information about San Juan College? • Note the word of mouth sources highlighted in blue. Adult students are relying heavily on word-of-mouth from people in their lives when learning about college • However, there is a strong group (24%) that first learned about San Juan from the Internet. This highlights the need for a strong Web site and search engine optimization to ensure that they are reaching the San Juan Web site and they are receiving the information they need

36. Perceptions of San Juan College Please tell me how much you agree with the following statements regarding aspects of your communication with San Juan College so far. • Similar to traditional students, these are generally strong ratings for San Juan College • However, one concern arises. Adult students not naming San Juan as their first choice for college assigned significantly lower ratings regarding the relevance of classes to real -world jobs (mean of 3.9 compared to 4.5). This appears to be a very large disconnect for this group and perhaps a key reason for San Juan not being their first choice

37. Greatest Strengths Please finish the following sentence: I would choose to attend San Juan College because ________ • When asked to name the greatest strengths of San Juan College, adult students named the same items as traditional aged students • This indicates that overall perceptions of San Juan College are rather consistent among these two audiences

38. Greatest Weaknesses Please finish the following sentence: The primary disadvantage of attending San Juan College is ________ • Again, it is very positive to see that nearly half of adult respondents could not name a weakness of San Juan College • With the exception of “too far from home,” (which San Juan cannot control) we do not see a dominant weakness among adult students

39. Overall Impression • These individual ratings combine for a mean rating of 4.4 on a five-point scale, slightly stronger than overall ratings among traditional aged students • With nearly 60% of adult students rating San Juan as “very good” and only 2% assigning a negative rating, it is clear that San Juan College is a valued and appreciated institution to adult students

40. Likelihood of Recommending San Juan College • Again, these results are the best indicator of overall customer satisfaction • San Juan is clearly satisfying the needs of adult students, as over 70% would be “very likely” to recommend the College to a friend or family member

41. Usability of Web Site • Adult students having visited the Web site are less likely than traditional age students to have easily found the information they were looking for • This suggests one of two things: • First, adults tend to be less tech savvy than younger students. Having less experience with the Web in general, they may struggle with Web sites in general • Second, it is possible that some of the information specific to adult students may not be easily found on the Web site • It is recommended that San Juan further examine this issue to ensure that its Web site is user friendly for all groups of students

42. San Juan Communication: Statement Agreement Please tell me how much you agree with the following statements regarding aspects of your communication with San Juan College so far. • Similar to traditional-aged students, San Juan is performing well with regard to student communication • We again observed that Native American students are more likely to desire a brochure from San Juan, with 67% agreeing with this statement. This is again likely due to their lack of use of the Internet

43. Conclusions • The reasons prospective students are considering additional education are diverse. Traditional students are primarily attending to earn an associate’s degree for a new career, while adult students are nearly equally split between personal enrichment, starting a new career, or advancing within their current career. San Juan College must understand these differences in educational needs and assist students with all types of goals • There is evidence that San Juan College is losing some students looking to transfer to BA programs. There is a growing trend of students starting at a two-year program before transferring to a four-year program. Therefore, it is important for San Juan College to have a strong transfer program, perhaps even establishing relationships with four-year institutions • The traditional-age students that San Juan serves rely on their high school counselors for college advice more so than the average college-bound teenager. San Juan must establish strong relationships with the high school counselors within its service area, ensuring they are fully capable of explaining the benefits of San Juan College to the students they serve • Traditional-age and adult students alike have very high opinions of San Juan College. Overall ratings are well above 4.0 as are the majority of individual ratings. Furthermore, nearly 70% of respondents would recommend San Juan College to a friend or family member. This result alone is the strongest testament of the positive feelings respondents have for San Juan College

44. Conclusions . . . • While perceptions of San Juan College are strong, there are quite a few issues that the College needs to be aware of that arise from the population it serves. In particular, it is important to pay attention to the barriers to entry facing Hispanic and Native American students • Additionally, the potential college services tested in this study yielded strong interest, particularly among these underserved markets. San Juan should review these potential services and consider implementing all feasible items • With regard to online programming, this form of education is not desired among traditional age students, who want the traditional college experience. However, it is very desirable among adult students, with two-thirds desiring some form of an online education • It is important to not alienate the Native American population with a strong push to Web. This group is consistently less tech savvy, with many Native American adults (80%) being very interested in computer labs as a campus service. Additionally, only 33% of Native American adults have visited the San Juan College Web site • As a consequence of low online activity, nearly two-thirds of Native American students agree that they wish San Juan College would have offered a print brochure. Again, it is important to meet these students where they are and offer information about the College in a medium they are comfortable with

45. Conclusions . . . • Another Web-related finding to consider is the larger percentage of adult students who struggled to find the information they needed from the San Juan Web site. San Juan College should investigate this more in-depth to understand where the disconnect with adult students is occurring and find ways to make this information easily accessible to this audience • Campus visit questioning indicated strong interest for all activities tested from the Stamats Recruitment Audit. This further supports our initial recommendation that San Juan bolster its campus visit program by incorporating these visit activities

46. The bottom line Increase credit hour production 3.5% per year starting in SPRING 2008!

47. Enrollment Management Team responds • Subcommittees developed in: • Best practices • Branding message • Traditional recruitment strategies (NA, Hispanic, Women) • Nontraditional recruitment strategies • Course scheduling • Financial aid influence • Website • Retention

48. Spring 2008 Initiatives • Pre-register students in Math and English 095 • Remove barriers • Help students learn DAISY • Increase the number of students pre-registering and enrolling at SJC from these populations • Target GED completers via letter. Offer incentives. • They don’t have to wait until fall to take classes • Communicate “welcoming” message and encourage their attendance • Send letter to students who were eligible to graduate in spring 2007, but didn’t. • Make it easy to return • Offer incentives • Thanksgiving campaign – target parents of students who went to UNM, NMSU. • Market tuition waivers for employees. • Develop “niche” messages focused on: • “Get 15 credits for the price of 12” • “Great place to start.” “We’re here to help you.” • Develop branding message