University Business - May 2008 - (Page 32)

MONEY M AT T E R S the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, points out that “today’s college-bound students, and often their families, are very brand conscious. And part of that consciousness is a desire for some type of evidence that an institution’s brand statement is accurate.” Gyure’s team at UPJ, which oﬀers both professional programs and traditional liberal arts majors, has found that referring to placement data helps underscore descriptions of graduates’ success. Admissions recruiters can refer to data from the Career Services Oﬃce’s annual survey of UPJ graduates during admissions interviews, Gyure says. “To be able to provide speciﬁc examples and stories, we also gather up-to-date information from acarectly with outcomes. We are very proud of the success our alums have experienced in both job and graduate school placement.” Collaboration and active communication have made Marist’s Center for Career Services eﬃcient and successful, Kaylor explains, adding that proactive relationships between employees, alumni, faculty, and students are key. Information gleaned from an annual survey on postgraduate experiences is used by the enrollment area to better explain potential ROI to prospective students and their families. Alumni are another often untapped resource for demonstrating the return on investment. As “walking billboards” for their institution, alumni should be involved in meaningful and appropriate ways in the recruitment process. Susan Sloan, director of Admissions at Wells College (N.Y.), formerly a women’s college that went co-ed in 2005, notes that “alumnae volunteers provide the college with much needed recruitment support.” More than 200 volunteers from across the country participate in admissions activities each year, from participating in college fairs and on-campus recruitment programs to hosting receptions and referring new students. “I’ve found our admissions volunteers to be very enthusiastic and capable ambassadors for the college,” Sloan says. “I’ve also found prospective students and parents eager to talk to our alumnae volunteers to get ‘the real story’ about Wells. Families really beneﬁt from connecting with someone who made the investment in Wells.” While developing and nurturing an eﬀective volunteer program took time, she adds, the college now beneﬁts every year from those initial eﬀorts. TAKING A STEP BACK If you are concerned about your discount rate, take a step back and assess how well you’ve communicated the value and beneﬁts of your educational experience. Developing a stronger brand and sharing outcomes and success stories will enhance your institution’s reputation, increase demand, and ultimately result in greater willingness to pay. counselors have diﬃculty talking to prospective students about beneﬁts and wind up concentrating on the discounting side of the value equation. It is important to demonstrate aﬀordability—for example, by providing income proﬁles of the entering class and case studies of enrolled students from various socio-economic family backgrounds—but demonstrating beneﬁts is equally important, if not more so. PRESENTING ROI Convincingly presenting the ROI of the total educational experience through data on the career and graduate school success of graduates is a critical, yet often missing, component of the value equation. This generation of parents and students considers the ROI for most major investments, education included. In terms of value and prestige, they are as focused on outcome variables (jobs, graduate school, etc.) as they are on input measures (standardized test average, GPA, selectivity, etc.). When families ask, “Why institution X?” staﬀ must be able to answer convincingly, with authentic proof points and outcomes. For example, students want to hear about career development opportunities (read “résumé building”) or outside-theclassroom experiences available to them while earning their degree. This may consist of research opportunities, internships, coops, practicums, study abroad programs, clinical placements, and other career-related, educationally purposeful learning and service opportunities. Parents want to know their child will obtain full-time employment in their area of study upon graduation—or that they will be admitted to a well-respected graduate or professional school to gain an advanced degree. Every institution has a story to tell. Successful IHEs are able to communicate successful outcomes, with proof statements based on disciplined collection of data and analyzed by major program, with emphases on employer names, job titles, average starting salary ranges, graduate or professional schools attended, and degrees sought. James Gyure, senior assistant to the president for enrollment management at Alumni are an often untapped resource for demonstrating the return on investment. demic division oﬃces and Alumni Aﬀairs, and stay in touch with our former Admissions tour guides. That type of real-life narrative can be compelling.” At many IHEs, such data have not been collected. At others, the career services ofﬁce and/or academic departments have gathered the information about what graduates are doing and where they are advancing their education, but the data have not been organized eﬀectively or shared with the admissions oﬃce. At still other schools, the data have been collected and shared, but the admissions staﬀ has not translated the information into meaningful messages that 18-year-olds and their parents can both understand and value. In the absence of data, many IHEs include the career services oﬃce in recruitment days and admissions tours in order to address outcomes-related questions. As Sean Kaylor, vice president for Enrollment at Marist College (N.Y.), emphasizes, “Our value proposition is centered on two main points. The ﬁrst is aﬀordability. We pride ourselves on oﬀering a high quality, moderately priced education. The second deals di- 32 May 2008 universitybusiness.com http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - May 2008

University Business - May 2008
Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
People Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Money Matters
Financial Aid
Human Resources
Community Colleges
Art Appreciation
HR Directors Speak Out
Marketing: The Big Questions Answered
Top 5 Reasons You Should Attend EduComm 2008
What's New
Calendar of Events
End Note

University Business - May 2008