Collaboration Between Admissions and Financial Aid

1. Melanie Weaver, Director of Financial Aid Deb Miller, Director of Admissions Collaboration Between Admissions and Financial Aid

2. About ONU • Private, 4 year institution in Northwest Ohio • Located in a small rural village • Approximately 80-90 miles from Toledo, OH; Dayton, OH; Columbus, OH and Fort Wayne, IN • Five Colleges – Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, Pharmacy and Law • The Law college has a separate admissions office. • Financial aid serves all students • Total Enrollment of around 3600 • About 600 are graduate students, the rest are undergrad

3. About Our Offices Office of Admissions Office of Financial Aid 8 total staff 6 counselors/professional staff 4 counselors dedicated alphabetically 1 counselor for technical operations Director of Financial Aid 2 support staff • 16 total staff • 10 counselors/professional staff • 5 counselors travel Ohio • 3 out of state/specialized travel • Associate Director • Director of Admissions • 6 support staff • Shared • VP of Enrollment Management • Systems Analyst

4. Challenges for ONU • Location • Primarily compete with public institutions • Major offerings • Number of schools – 14 four-year • Large number of private schools in the state – over 50 • More regional recognition • 80% of students come from Ohio • Number of Ohio high school graduates declining • High cost/high aid model • In 13-14, 9th most expensive private school in the state • Of schools we compete against we are the 3rd most expensive private

5. Rationale • Loss of staff • Service families better • Efficiency • Effectiveness • Cost-Savings • Build an enrollment team • Campus visit is critical to enrollment

6. Key Admission Counselor Roles • Prospective student visits • Each visit • Campus tour • Meet with Admissions • Meet with Financial Aid • Academic appointments • Many students want to also meet with coaches, music, musical theatre, band, etc. • Academic focused with many interests • Host 10 visit days throughout the year • Overnight visits offered to accepted students • Travel • 8-10 weeks during the fall • Minimal spring travel • Review applicant files

7. Admissions • Trained admissions counselors to discuss financial aid packages with families • More in-depth compared to the basic overview they knew in the past • Walked families through financial aid packages to cover questions and concerns • Continued counselor/student relationships established during travel in the fall

8. Process • Developed reference sheets to guide admissions counselors through aid package conversations • Team approach – admissions shadowed financial aid counselors during calls and on campus visits

9. Key Financial Aid Counselor Roles • Meet with prospective students and families • Give early estimates of the total financial aid package • Official award packages each spring • Work with current students and families while enrolled • Counseling • Financial Literacy • Work study sessions • Specific populations such as Law, Veterans, RN-BSN and MPPA students (both when prospective and returning) • Complete federal requirements such as verification, exit counseling, professional judgments, etc.

10. Financial Aid • Trained financial aid staff to meet with admissions visitors • To have more in-depth admissions conversations • To learn more about marketing the institution to prospective students and parents • Walk students and parents through the admissions process

11. Process • Developed guide sheets on conducting an admissions visit • Team approach – Financial aid counselors shadowed an experienced admissions representative through visits with prospective students and parents

12. Admissions and Financial Aid • The whole team met with representatives from three of the undergraduate colleges and by department for the fourth college • Created talking points about each of the colleges/departments for admissions and financial aid counselors • Met as an entire enrollment team to train both staffs on how to have the conversation about value, placement and ROI. • Targeted our marketing towards value, placement and ROI • Train both staffs to use our CRM (Hobsons) and our SIS (Banner) for tracking comments and concerns

13. Successes • Common messages and goals through the entire enrollment team • All counselors have a stronger comfort level with discussing all areas of enrollment • Reached more families to discuss financial aid packages in the spring • Reduced travel budget by financial aid staff covering admissions visits in the fall • Both admissions and financial aid counselors are better trained to “close the deal” with students in the spring by talking about value, placement and ROI • Streamlined campus visits • One counselor can address both admissions and financial aid

14. Challenges • Inexperienced admissions staff • Getting staff comfortable with speaking to all areas and being consistent in their message • Pulling staff together for enrollment management training • Providing continued training

15. Questions? • Melanie Weaver m-weaver.2@onu.edu • Deb Miller d-miller@onu.edu