Report of the Subcommittee on Recruiting and Marketing

Transcription

1 Report of the Subcommittee on Recruiting and Marketing Strategic Enrollment FAIRMONT STATE UNIVERSITY June, J. Robert Baker, Co-chair Edward D. Gailey Elizabeth M. Huff John E. O Connor, Co-chair Kenneth Millen-Penn Paul D. Reneau Michael K. Ross Sharon L. Smith Robert C. Weaver

2 Report of the Subcommittee on Recruiting and Marketing Strategic Enrollment Planning June, Fairmont State University stands today at an enrollment crossroads. Demographic studies indicate that there will be a continuing decline in the number of high school seniors in West Virginia. The Bureau of Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University reports that by July,, there will be,9 people, aged -9, or,9 fewer than in ; the Bureau forecasts that this is a long-term trend, so that by July,, the number of students in this category will fall to,. Thus, the institutions of higher education in the state will be competing for a smaller and smaller pool of students. The demographic projections are compounded by the continuing economic uncertainties and increased scrutiny by the federal government of financial aid; in fact, concerns about loans and other forms of assistance suggest that student aid may be the next economic bubble to collapse. Shrinkage of West Virginia s working-age population complicates the economic situation, for there may be less family and community support of students attending college. The University s negotiation of the demographic and economic hazards will shape and largely determine its delivery of a high quality education to students and to meet the priorities laid out in its strategic plan quality, distinction, financial strength, and resource stewardship. The University certainly can meet the challenges it faces and carry on as a vital institution that provides a first-rate, low-cost education for students and that contributes to the well-being of the region. Fairmont State is situated in a geographical location that is surrounded by declining populations and as such, must realize there is no individual demographic that can fix a declining enrollment caused by population trends. The University must begin to reach outside of its traditional recruiting areas to find demographics that are well-suited to the FSU brand in order to create a diversified portfolio of recruitment options that can withstand population and economic downturns. A dynamic and diversified recruiting plan must be researched, territories established, and recruiting efforts supported internally in order to maintain enrollment growth. Research must follow a wide-range of economic trends and employment trends as well as local and national higher education trends Territory management may send recruiters country-wide and abroad to find small, but rewarding pockets of students that can be developed into established sources of students Recruiting efforts must be supported internally by creating easy articulation agreements and an easier transfer of credits; increasing study abroad programs; strengthening ties between the office of recruitment and academic departments; and promoting cooperation between Fairmont State and universities abroad To that end, the Recruiting and Marketing Subcommittee of the University Strategic Enrollment Planning recommends that the University concentrate its active recruiting efforts on quality students from West Virginia, from surrounding states, from other promising domestic markets, and from abroad. Our strategic recruiting efforts, focused on students who are better

3 prepared and more highly motivated, will not adversely impact recruiting of our historical base of enrollments. In fact, the University should continue to welcome inquiries,, and enrollments from the area from which most of its students have come up until now. Focusing our recruiting budget and efforts on superior students and markets beyond West Virginia will help the University avoid the difficulties other institutions in the state and across the nation have suffered as population declines in traditional markets have caused enrollment drops; centering its active recruiting efforts on students with higher standardized test scores will likely improve retention rates and student satisfaction. The history of the last six years illustrates the challenges that face Fairmont State University in recruiting students. (See Tables and.) Of course, every recruiting year has positive and negative factors which affect the final enrollment numbers. Because some factors are not quantifiable, it is important to look at each recruiting year holistically so that all contributing factors can be taken into consideration when determining the success of a recruiting year. Table. History of Total Goals and Enrollments - 9 Enrollment Goal 9 9 % Change from previous year -.% +% +% +.% +.% Actual Enrollment % of Enrollment Goal 9.9% 9.% % 9.% 9.% 9.% % Change from previous year +.% +.% +.% -.% -.% First-Time Freshman Enrollment Goal % of Goal Change from previous year Table. : History of Freshman Goals and Enrollment % +.% +.9% +.% -.% Actual Enrollment % of Enrollment Goal 9.% 9.%.%.% 9.9% 9.% % of Actual Enrollment Change from previous year +.% +% +.9% -.% -.% Carnegie Communications described this as the University s primary market area...within a mile radius of the University s campus ().

4 Three major statistics should be pointed out in this data: First, saw the greatest year-to-year increase of enrolled students and was the only year that saw the enrollment goal met. During the same year, two major scholarships were added to the list of what admissions counselors could offer students and orientation was revamped to bring incoming freshman on campus earlier. Second, 9 was a high watermark for FSU, with,9 ( traditional freshman) students enrolled. In 9, two more major scholarships were rolled out; the McClain Scholarship which had a major marketing campaign supporting its debut, and the Out-of-State Neighbors Scholarship, which helped reduce tuition and fees for all eligible non-resident students. Third, saw a.% (.% decrease in the University s enrolled numbers. Two key facts can easily be lost in this number. First, the Office of Admissions and Recruitment is a combined office for both Fairmont State and Pierpont and as such, recruits for both institutions at all events attended. Second, in Pierpont saw a spike in enrolled students of nearly % meaning that overall, the Office of Admissions and Recruitment saw almost a % increase in total enrolled students. This history does not include the number of admissions counselors traveling, the locations in which recruiting took place, the number of scholarships offered, timeliness of scholarship offerings, timeliness of application processing, changes in the leadership of admissions, types of orientation programming offered, the overall state of the economy, and other non-quantifiable factors. The Office of Admissions and Recruitment had four admissions counselors on staff until 9 when a dedicated PC&TC counselor was added. Until recently, the four original admissions counselor positions were tasked with recruiting for both FSU and PC&TC, a configuration which was successful when the operating budgets of the two institutions were more enmeshed and overall enrollment was climbing. As the two institutions continue their separation, such a configuration becomes more untenable and adds a unique challenge to determining the enrollment goals of through. The budgetary challenges facing the recruiting goals of also raise questions about the effectiveness of a combined recruiting office, questions that can be highlighted with one example from. In, FSU saw a decrease of students at the end of the recruiting season. Tasked with non-specific recruiting goals, the admissions counselor for the Maryland/D.C. area spent many weeks cultivating high schools in urban and inner city D.C. ultimately seeing of inquiries enrolled. However, of those students, only enrolled at Fairmont State while, or.%, enrolled at Pierpont. The present split of budget for the Office of Admissions and Recruiting between Fairmont State (%) and Pierpont (%) creates tension for admissions counselors as they try to recruit effectively and fairly for both institutions. Whereas tangible items such as marketing materials and the division of prospective student appointment slots can be specifically allotted,

5 determining when a counselor must stop recruiting for one institution over another is not so quantifiable. Therefore, before any specific enrollment goals can be determined for Fairmont State, the Committee first recommends that the Office of Admissions and Recruitment be separated to ensure that the admissions counselors can focus on and obtain the goals of their respective institutions. The Committee recommends the following enrolment goals for -: Table. Recommended Enrollment Goals, - Minimum Inquiry Goal Application Goal % of inquiries % of inquires % of inquiries % of inquiries % of inquires Admit Goal % of % of % of % of % of Minimum Enrollment Goal ( (9 (+.%) ( (+.%) ( (+.%) ( (+.%) ACT Goal... These goals are based on an average of actual inquiries,, admits, and enrollments since. These goals also include a breakdown of incoming traditional freshman based on a historical average of % of a total enrolled students being freshman. They assume a separate University Office of Admissions with a permanent Director of Admissions, an Associate Director of Admissions, four admissions counselors, a transfer coordinator, a special events coordinator, an admissions specialist, and a program assistant. They also assume a total scholarship reconfiguration requiring campus-based service/involvement as well as increasing the amounts of scholarship each year. The lower inquiry goals in our projection will permit admissions counselors to spend more time speaking with students and parents instead of merely collecting data. These recommendations will create a counselor-student ratio of : to :. They maintain a fairly static enrollment goal for first-year students to allow for an Office of Admissions and Recruitment overhaul and rebranding effort, but aim to increase the average ACT score each year. They aim for a higher conversion of admits to enrolled through a delinking of the Fairmont State and Pierpont automatic referral system. These projections will require resources and infrastructure if they are to be met. In the Office of Recruiting and Admissions, the resource required is staff. The Committee also recommends hiring as soon as possible a full-time director of Admissions and Recruiting.

6 The office has been headed for the last two years by an interim appointment who has manfully supervised the office. Additionally, we recommend that of the four recruiters, one focus on territory that includes western New York and Pennsylvania, as well as markets in bordering states and New Jersey. Another would be responsible for recruiting students with ACT composite scores of and higher. (Our own experience has been that students with higher ACT scores tend to persist. See Appendix A.) This recruiter would be responsible for working with potential Honors students and with departments on campus for specialized initiatives. Additional recruiters are needed for diversity and for new territories in North Carolina, Texas, and California. We further recommend a team of callers be created to contact students who leave to survey why they left. This team will also interview who are withdrawing before they withdraw, so that some of them might be retained. The Committee recommends a restructuring of financial aid. Four-year scholarships must be given a priority over awards of two years. Two-year awards make us less competitive with other institutions. The Falcon scholarship should be scrapped and its funds put into focused, four-year scholarships. We also need to award scholarships and financial aid earlier in order to secure the enrollment of students who might have Fairmont State as a first choice but are being lured away by institutions that make earlier offers. We need to encourage the Fairmont State Foundation to give us a minimum figure for financial aid early in the fall term; this figure might be adjusted up, depending upon the performance of the Foundation s portfolio. We need to provide scholarships for out-of-state students. Market research, perhaps conducted by classes in the School of Business, can assess the enrollment potential to recruit out-of-state students if Fairmont State offers competitive financial aid. We also need to lobby our legislative delegation for permission to offer reduced rates to students from bordering states. Working through the Office of Institutional Advancement and with the Fairmont State Foundation, we need to expand funding for scholarships. Scholarship winners might help with recruiting through high quality videos, tweets, and social media. Some scholarship winners might help recruiters on week-long trips. At successful public and private institutions, everyone understands the importance of recruiting as well as their active role in the process. Recruiting at Fairmont State is now the business of every person at the University. Given the situation facing colleges and universities today, we need the help of everyone at Fairmont State in the recruiting process. We recommend the active involvement of departments in recruiting. Each department should designate a faculty member to work on recruiting. This faculty member needs reassigned time and travel support to be an effective recruiter.

7 Similarly, each department should designate a student to help with recruiting and provide that student with a stipend and travel support. Each department should create mentoring programs with current students contacting admitted students. The University should create an Assistant Director of Honors to help with recruiting of students with ACT scores of and above. International students remain a barely tapped market that would help to bring the institution a number of intangibles, including an increased global awareness, a broadening of perspective, and personal contact with cultures other than our own. Moreover, the HEPC wants to see campuses in West Virginia internationalize. The University s efforts at international recruiting have been hit-and-miss. We recommend a concentrated effort to attract more international students. A recruiter should be assigned to develop international markets. This person will establish international alumni groups and create ambassador programs with students and faculty traveling to countries to recruit. We need to use international students and alumni to help with recruiting Add infrastructure, such as additional tutoring and mandatory evening study halls to help international students succeed in general education courses.. The Committee finally recommends the creation of a parent association. Such an association could be used to help convert admits to enrolled as well as improving retention. The Committee advocates a number of strategies to improve our recruiting and marketing: Use ACT and other lists in a mailing campaign that includes sequenced letters from deans and faculty, along with s from students. Students who attended the Governor s Schools, Gear-Up, and other Fairmont State camps should be included in this mailing campaign. Implement a modest application fee of $ to increase the conversion rate of applicants to admits and admits to enrolled. The application fee can be applied to students accounts once they enroll. Collect an academic deposit of $ from students to whom scholarship packages are offered. (We will give you x-dollars if you commit to us with a deposit.) Proceeds would go to scholarships or toward staff salaries. Recruit children of alumni as legacies. Improve the perception and image of the University by delinking the University from Pierpont. Some of our adjunct faculty are teachers whom students have had in high school. Revamp marketing of individual programs. All programs might emphasize the caliber of the faculty since the University has benefited from the Ph.D. glut over the last twentyfive years. Similarly, programs might highlight small size of most classes, the negotiable size of the campus, the lack of teaching assistants, and the successful placement of graduates in jobs and in graduate or professional schools. This overhaul of our marketing

8 efforts might include DVDs for each program with faculty talking about courses that they teach. Revise the process of communicating with recruits. The process must be personalized, utilizing more faculty and student involvement with individual communications from deans, faculty, and scholarship students. A series of individual communications might focus on academics, town life, campus life, etc. Highlight prominent alumni for celebrity endorsements. Improve internal communications to stress that recruiting is everybody s business. The Director of Admissions and Recruiting should be asked to report briefly on activities and efforts at the opening convocations of the faculty each year. Review hiring, staffing, and compensation policies and practices in the student housing area to make residential life more formative of the students academic and personal wellbeing, so that residential life on campus will be a draw. Finally, there needs to be a system of follow-up and review for the recruiting and marketing plan that is adopted. This may be the next work of this Committee.

9 Appendix A Enrolled in Fall but not Enrolled in Spring - exclude graduates/completers and dual enrollment/hs students ACT Count of STUDENT_ID COM P LEVEL_COD E STUDENT_TYPEDESC (blank ) Tota l CC First-time Freshman Other 9 Readmitted Student Returning Student 9 Transfer Student CC Total GR First Time Graduate Student Other Returning Student GR Total UG First-time Freshman 9 Other Readmitted Student Returning Student 9 9 Transfer Student UG Total 9 9 Total 9 9 9