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

1. The Game is Changing:A Look at How Colleges and Universities Recruit Presented by: Sam Mahra Director of Student Recruitment Kennesaw State University

2. 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

3. Admissions 101Understanding Enrollment Management DEFINITION: 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

4. The General Process Marketing Process Admissions 101The Recruitment Funnel Source: www.marcomadvisor.com Source: Noel Levitz

5. Admissions 101Role of Vendor Solutions

6. Then and Now vs Moving Forward THEN 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

7. MOVING 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 Forward

8. MOVING 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 Forward

9. MOVING FORWARD CONTINUED… Market Research Competitive analysis “Building a Brand” Price Sensitivity Then and Now vs Moving Forward

10. Then and Now vs Moving ForwardEvolving Role of the Counselor TRADITIONAL 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

11. Strategies that WorkTop 10 most effective strategies and tactics by institution type Noel Levitz: 2013 Student Recruitment and Marketing Practices Benchmark Report

12. Strategies that WorkTop 5 Modes of Communication Noel Levitz: 2013 Student Recruitment and Marketing Practices Benchmark Report

13. Strategies that WorkTop five internal operations practices for four-year institutions Noel Levitz: 2013 Student Recruitment and Marketing Practices Benchmark Report

14. 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. Strategies that WorkEx. Measuring Webpages and Email Contentmarketinginstitute.com Cappex.com

15. Strategies that WorkEmail is Not Dead! Noel Levitz

16. Strategies that WorkFun Facts on Social Media http://www.cappex.com/blog/tag/social-media-and-admissions/

17. Strategies that WorkFun Facts on Social Media http://www.cappex.com/blog/tag/social-media-and-admissions/

18. Strategies that WorkFun Facts on Social Media http://www.cappex.com/blog/tag/social-media-and-admissions/

19. Strategies that WorkFun Facts on Social Media http://www.cappex.com/blog/tag/social-media-and-admissions/

20. Strategies that WorkData and Metrics

21. Strategies that WorkData and Metrics-Multivariate Statistical

22. Least Effective StrategiesTop 5 Least Effective Strategies and Tactics Noel Levitz: 2013 Student Recruitment and Marketing Practices Benchmark Report

23. Least Used but Effective StrategiesTop 5 Least Used Strategies and Tactics Noel Levitz: 2013 Student Recruitment and Marketing Practices Benchmark Report

24. Challenges Facing InstitutionsChanging Demographics…

25. Challenges Facing InstitutionsEthnic Demographics… WICHE

26. Challenges Facing Institutions…Yet the Amount Competition Stays the Same Chronicle of Higher Ed

27. Challenges Facing InstitutionsAffordability The Lawlor Group, 2011

29. Challenges Facing InstitutionsAffordability The College Board: Trends in College Pricing

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

31. 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.

32. 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.html http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2013/11/09/parents-overly-involved-college-students-lives/mfYvA5R9IhRpJytEbFpxUP/story.html

33. 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

34. 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

35. What Trends Can We Expect?Learning Alternatives Competency 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

36. What Trends Can We Expect?Return on Investment (ROI) Completion Rates Placement Rates Learning Results Costs Debt Load Accountability

37. Final ThoughtsIs Education Primarily for Economic Gain?

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

39. Or do some of you feel this way ?

40. Thank You! Reflections and Questions