University Business - February 2012 - (Page 18)

cfo Cushioning the Blow “As the economy and the markets went to hell in the year after our increase, I did think and I still think college presidents need to be out there talking more publicly about the economic aspects of how they run their programs,” he says. Alyssa McCloud, vice president of enrollment management at Seton Hall University (N.J.), has become a national expert on how institutions set tuition and how they should communicate that news. She notes that, especially for incoming freshmen, the entire process is complicated by the fact that tuition rates and financial aid packages often are announced late in the spring, leaving prospective students with little time to compare schools and offers. At the point that school officials are making that tuition decision, they usually have a very defined pool of admitted students, McCloud says. “It’s most important that that word be communicated to the students already committed to the institution, because they’re the ones with the urgency of making the decision, and to returning students. Both are audiences we have the ability to directly communicate with.” Like many others, McCloud advocates for simplicity and directness. “Be as clear and upfront as possible,” she advises. “Messages should, in the first sentence or two, tell students what the issue is. Often people write messages and maybe the main message is delivered in the third or fourth paragraph, and by the time you get there you’ve lost them.” A corollary to the simplicity of the message, say others, is its frequency. “When you communicate early and often and in an understandable way,” VCU’s Lepley says, “people can understand the situation and put it in the context of where it is.” “More communication, better quality communication about financial issues, particularly because of the environment we’re in, is absolutely needed,” Osgood adds. To that end, Helm’s letter includes a table listing tuition and fees at schools with which Muhlenberg competes; most of them, he says, are more expensive than his institution and enjoy larger endowments. And so Helm takes care to write of how efficiently Muhlenberg educates its students, offering high quality despite lesser resources. “You know it costs money, and so do we, but we can do it as efficiently as possible without affecting quality,” he says. “That’s generally key to my message every year. I’ll have different specifics every year because we’ll have achieved different efficiencies. ... If you are convinced that your institution is providing an extraordinary educational experience, and that you’re doing it efficiently, you have nothing to apologize for.” 18 | February 2012 Campus Most Likely to Need a Communications Plan? Top 3 Tuition and Fees Percentage Increases* It’s always a good idea to have a plan for communicating tuition increases, but for institutions with the greatest increases, that need is heightened. Here are the top tuition and fees increases by institution type, according to the U.S. Department of Education College Affordability and Transparency website. Institution Increase, 2008-09 to 2009-10 Public 4-year and Above Northern New Mexico College Florida State College at Jacksonville San Diego State University, Imperial Valley Campus Private Nonprofit 4-year and Above Wells College (N.Y.) Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture (Ariz.) Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science Public 2-Year Charles A. Jones Skills and Business Education Center (Calif.) 200% Kiamichi Technology Center-Poteau (Okla.) 100% Somerset County Technology Institute (N.J.) 100% * Data is for full-time beginning undergraduate students and can be found at http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/. 51% 49% 47% 67% 62% 59% “Sometimes it’s just basic 101 communications,” McCloud says. “It’s very important to tell people the thing they need to know immediately, because it’s unlikely people will read the whole thing. We try to do that as much as we can.” Helm could not agree more, though he adds that the conclusion is just as important as the beginning. “One of the things I learned as a fundraiser is that they read the first sentence, and they read the last sentence,” he says. “If they’re really being generous with their time, they’ll read everything in between, but you can’t count on it. … It’s important to get straight to the point.” The final line in Helm’s tuition letter last year? “Please accept my deepest thanks.” Thomas W. Durso is the associate vice president for college relations and marketing at Albright College (Pa.) universitybusiness.com http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/ http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - February 2012

University Business - February 2012
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Financial Aid
Campus CFO
Education Gateways
5 Things Administrators Must Know About E-commerce Now
There’s an App for That
Internet Technology
End Note

University Business - February 2012

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