Maintaining Enrollment Momentum

Your institution has had a successful recruitment year, the incoming students have experienced a fun orientation and said their goodbyes with family, and classes have begun for the fall term. It’s late August, and all is well, right?

There’s something missing, however: what you’re supposed to be doing next. To keep enrollment momentum going, it’s imperative that admissions staff never take their eyes off recruitment goals for even a second. Complacency among enrollment staff, coupled with lax accountability and expectations by their supervisors, can undo winning programs.

The result? One successful year without strict adherence to goals for next year can mean loss of market share, empty beds in residence halls, even new rounds of operational budget cuts.

With extensive experience in student recruitment, we have learned to take nothing for granted in the enrollment office. Simultaneously, we have developed a set of “recruitment commandments” that cannot be broken.

Visit the enrollment office early and often. To ensure that staff are not simply sitting back and reading their own press reviews, presidents need to insert themselves in each recruitment cycle. Ask for trends data, regular reports on conversion of applications to deposits, coherence with marketing strategies and institutional messaging, and updates on staff evaluation and accountability.

Stress the vital revenue stream of enrollment. Most institutions are enrollment-driven, meaning that operating budgets are balanced on occupied seats in classes and beds in the residence halls. Unless your college or university has an exceptionally large endowment, as enrollment goes so goes the budget. One year’s downturn can have significant consequences on the balance sheet, usually leading to required cuts in personnel and program budgets. Therefore, not meeting admissions goals is not an option.

Clarify goals. Make sure that the head of enrollment and his or her fellow coordinators and counselors have clear understanding of goals. Counselors may have more than one set of numbers to hit, depending on what kinds of students are being recruited. Goals might be met for one group of students, while others are neglected. An example is bringing in the targeted number of commuting transfers while failing to produce the full-time, residential students who really drive the operating budget.

Beware the downward spiral of declining enrollment. Campuses represent multiple realms of internal and external communication. Students talk to students—on campus and back home. Faculty listen closely for enrollment updates and the possibility of salary increases. Trustees and alumni councils expect to hear that the numbers are up, not down. Email and social media can spread negative or false perceptions about the health of your institution. The best antidote is good news from the enrollment operation. Just as important is transmitting that good news to your stakeholders—including current and prospective students—because exciting your internal constituents empowers them to be strong advocates externally.

Make sure the enrollment operation has the right kind of support. In addition to establishing clear goals and holding staff accountable, regularly review your electronic and printed publications, website, social media, and marketing and communications collateral. Be consistent and current across all platforms with your messaging, branding, and constituent talking points. Someone on staff should monitor institutional social-media sites and counter negative, invalid, or out-of-date postings quickly. Set up welcome signage for open houses and related events. Train student tour guides to respond to questions with easily understood answers.

Be adaptable. Even the best enrollment plan can use updating or adjusting. While being careful not to change strategies too quickly without adequate evaluation of results, be open to new directions for marketing. Tweaking can make a huge difference. For example, focusing on a few key themes (think value of education, not just cost; stress timely completion of undergraduate work, dual-degree programs) can help prospects and their families see your institution’s commitment to student success.

With each passing year, the enrollment game becomes more challenging—and the rules often change without notice. Two constants, however, should be resistance to complacency and adherence to a comprehensive enrollment plan and the goals it outlines. Otherwise, it’s all too easy to go backward in August instead of ahead.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management March 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Authors

Dr. Scott D. Miller is president of Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was previously president of Bethany College, Wesley College, and Lincoln Memorial University. He is chair of the Board of Directors of Academic Search, Inc. and serves as a consultant to college presidents and boards.

Dr. Marylouise Fennell, RSM, a former president of Carlow University, is senior counsel for the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and principal of Hyatt Fennell, a higher education search firm.

Featured

  • University of Kentucky Integrates New Cleaning Technology

    The University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., recently installed a new cleaning system designed to improve cooling efficiency on campus, according to a news release. The Facilities Management’s Utilities and Energy Management Unit installed new chiller tubes into two of the chillers at the university’s Central Utility Plant.

  • University of Kentucky Sees Positive Results from Energy Efficiency Program

    The University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., recently announced the results of its Energy Program in Facilities Management, put into place eight years ago, according to a news release. Between the fiscal years of 2017 and 2025, the university’s campus grew by 13.6% while the energy use per square foot dropped by 19.2%.

  • California High School Starts Construction on New CTE Building

    Analy High School, part of the West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) in Sebastopol, Calif., recently broke ground on a new Career Technical Education (CTE) Building, according to a news release. The 15,000-square-foot facility will offer specialized facilities for students in engineering, welding, culinary arts, agricultural sciences, and design thinking.

  • AP Construction Breaks Ground on Two Projects for Austin ISD

    Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) recently announced that it has broken ground on two renovation projects for the Austin Independent School District, according to a news release. The work at McCallum and Anderson High Schools totals 97,350 square feet and is scheduled for completion in January 2027.

Digital Edition