Talking Stick - November/December 2014 - 25

and housing, or even athletics, as it
is at Lake Forest College in Illinois,
according to Stacy Oliver-Sikorski,
associate director of residence life for
student success.
Recently, conversations about
youth camp summer guests have
generally revolved around risk
management, safety, liability, and
policy development. What seems often
forgotten, though, is the very real
opportunity this provides for residence
life to recruit future students and
to showcase their staff and services.
The experience that youth campers
have in the residence hall can
generate a feeling of connection
and of campus loyalty early on. In
many ways we're auditioning for our
future students, and it's imperative
that their experience in the residence
hall and on campus is a positive
one. In addition to showcasing the
department, this opportunity to create
a meaningful, emotional connection
is a unique way to support the
institutional mission.
Train summer staff to be strong
employees and recruiters.
Youth campers will have the most
contact with team members at the
service desk and at check-in and
check-out, and each interaction
presents a unique opportunity to
create positive associations with the
hall and the institution. Training the
summer team to see each interaction
through this lens can encourage
them to share their excitement and
their own loyalty to the campus.
Additionally, training the team to
understand how they contribute to
recruitment strengthens their own
ties to the larger institutional mission.
Framing even a basic task, such as

checking a guest in at a conference,
as part of an extended audition can
help residence life staff bring youth
campers into both the residential
community and the campus family.
Use branding strategies.
Branding - the process of creating
an image that defines an institution's
unique identity - should always be
done in an intentional way and with
a specific outcome in mind. Though
higher education institutions spend

on campus but also about the spirit
and traditions of the institution, as
Melissa Cook, manager of conference
services, explains. Distributed at
check-in, the guidebook also holds
the necessary key and access card
- a fantastic example of integrating
recruitment and spirit with essential
administrative needs.
Work with campus partners.
Though most functional units on
campus are here to serve current

The Cost of Admission
Recruitment efforts are an expense at any institution, and they don't guarantee that
they will boost student numbers. According to the Noel-Levitz 2013 Cost of Recruiting
an Undergraduate Student Report, private institutions had a median recruiting cost
of $2,433 per new student while four-year public institutions spent substantially
less, at a median cost of $457 per student. The study found no statistically significant
connection between enrollment size and recruitment spending. Private institutions
hire more staff for admissions and outreach offices than do their public counterparts;
the median ratio of new students to full-time staff was 31:1 at private institutions and
111:1 at public institutions. Intentional recruitment efforts at summer conferences
may be a way to help ease these costs by adding extra staff to the sales force, so to
speak, at each youth event.

large amounts of money placing
their brands on such things as
publications, signs, and clothing,
branding efforts can also be very
simple and inexpensive. Putting the
departmental name or campus logo
on a lanyard, for example, creates a
long-lasting and memorable keepsake.
Branding already necessary items
is also an easy and inexpensive way
to connect youth campers with your
campus. At Texas Tech University in
Lubbock, youth campers receive a
conference guidebook that outlines
information not only about staying

students, they also have some
responsibility for creating an
environment that welcomes future
students. Partnering with major
campus entities, as well as with
admissions and recruitment, to
supplement evening programming
with a brief presentation to youth
campers is an effective way to
connect them to the institution.
Campus partners can participate
by doing something as simple as
providing materials that can be
distributed at check-in or placed in
campers' rooms. Other areas, such as
November + December 2014

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Talking Stick - November/December 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - November/December 2014
