Higher Education Marketing and Enrollment Management | Tim Copeland

Where Undergraduate Enrollment Managers Go for Thought Leadership

Ever find yourself searching for new enrollment management ideas and insight to help you in your job? You may be looking for thought leadership. Wikipedia defines a thought leader as a buzzword or article of jargon used to describe a futurist or person who is recognized among peers and mentors for innovative ideas and demonstrates the confidence to promote or share those ideas as actionable distilled insights. I know, a little long, but the best I could find on an early Sunday morning.

Updated June 26, 2009

As part of a study I conducted this year, I asked undergraduate enrollment managers where they go within the industry for enrollment management thought leadership. To provide context, I was looking at companies whose primary competency is undergraduate enrollment consulting and research. Thus technology providers or communication agencies were excluded from the choices.

Of the 105 institutions that responded, 48% were 4-Year Publics, 37% were 4-Year Privates, and 15% were 2-Year institutions. Fifty-six percent of the respondents were at the Dean or Vice-President level, while 35% were directors.

Here’s what I found:

Breaking News: YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to Merge

Higher education marketers and enrollment managers take note.

In a bold move to simplify social tools, it was recently announced that YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook will merge.

Watch the announcement below.

Credit to www.collegeinteractivemarketing.com for finding this one.

Too good to pass up.

Enrollment Marketing, Online and Social Channels: Questions from the Field

From time to time, I get questions from people who stumble across the blog. Well, stumble isn't exactly accurate as www.enrollmentmarketing.org has the number one natural search ranking in Google!

I received the following note from a new higher education practitioner in the world of enrollment marketing.  As I found her question and comments to be quite insightful,  I asked her permission to post her question and my response:

The Original Social Networking Site

I caught this interesting 'take' on social networking last evening during a commercial break.

Now we know where social networking really started ...

 

Watch the video

As you are thinking about adding 'social' to your enrollment marketing approach, it's a good tongue-in-cheek reminder of what it is all about.

OMG! If You Are Not ‘Tweeting’, You’re a Bad Enrollment Manager!

Twitter and Facebook … the future of enrollment marketing and management for prospective students … or as some would have you believe. 

Consider the following excerpts from higher education vendor email messages I’ve received in the last two weeks.

‘Tweeting’, ‘Friending’ and other Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

In the mid-1600’s, the newly introduced Dutch tulip bulb skyrocketed to twice the price of gold. It was said that one of the rarest of the bulbs could be traded for 12 acres of land!

In his 1824 book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, author Charles Mackay proposed that crowds of people often behave irrationally, and he buttressed his argument with examples of crowds pursuing ‘get rich quick schemes’ including tulip mania, the South Seas and Mississippi company bubbles. Add the recent real estate collapse and the Internet bubble of the late 1990’s, and you get the idea.

According to MacKay, why do otherwise intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in collective action?

The Long Arm of the NCAA - Recruitment and Facebook

North Carolina State freshman Taylor Moseley is an avid basketball fan.

So much so he recently pitched in to help the Wolfpack recruit the nation's number one prospect using Facebook. With over 700 members strong, Moseley pleaded his online case to N.C. State recruit, John Wall, by starting a group entitled, 'John Wall PLEASE come to NC STATE!!!!' National basketball signing day is this week.

Unfortunately, the NCAA does not support Moseley's zeal.

According to AP writer Justin Pope, the NCAA says such sites, and dozens more like them wooing Wall and other top recruits, violate its rules. More than just cheerleading boards, the NCAA says the sites are an attempt to influence the college choice of a recruit.

Moseley got a cease and desist letter from N.C. State's compliance director, Michelle Lee, warning of "further action" if he failed to comply.

Is the NCAA simply out of touch with the realities of online access and transfer of information control, or are they right to attempt to keep a level playing field in the high stakes game of college athletics?

Read the full article

Fearing 'Rejection' Colleges Double-Down on Admission Yield Efforts

A senior enrollment officer told me recently, 'you know, we really don't accept students ... they accept us." According to a recent USA Today article, he couldn't have been more right.

Colleges and universities are hedging their bets as best they can as students delay deposits and wait out the best financial aid packages and educational deals. With a troubled economy, price-sensitive students seek the best 'fit' and the best price. In response, institutions are ramping up yield activities to new heights as they make a last stand to secure fall enrollments.

Looking to Sharpen Your Enrollment Marketing Message? Start with this Tool

What educational value do you provide your students?

Over time, it's easy to lose your core value proposition. Messages grow in number, words change, or simply get lost in the sea of media clutter.

Stephanie Platteter, director of enrollment marketing for continuing education at the University of Minnesota offers a one-page positioning worksheet for industry practitioners. The worksheet serves as a  fundamental planning tool for her account managers to bring continuing education opportunities to market.

Download a copy ...

Shorting For-Profit Education - Marketing Costs Under Scrutiny

I caught an interesting higher education segment this week on CNBC's Squawk Box. Jim Chanos, president of an investment firm, questions the value of for-profit degrees that leave students with onerous amounts of debts and little empirical evidence that these degrees make students more employable. According to Chanos, most of for-profit revenue stems from government guaranteed loans, up to 75-85% of Title IV assistance. Chanos speculates that more government scrutiny is coming on the high marketing costs of for-profit education.

While I don't get caught up in the philosophical debate of 'quality', for-profit institutions provide a model for making education accessible for students by removing external and internal barriers to enrollment. That's not a bad thing.

The education segment begins 58 seconds into the clip.

Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness – A View from Corporate America and the Nation’s Governors

I caught an interesting discussion last weekend on US Workforce Skills and Competitiveness on CSPAN.  As part of the  Governor’s Association Meeting, Governor Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), and Vice-Chair of the Education, Early Childhood & Workforce Committee hosted a televised session including presentations from executives from TPI-Composites, a manufacturing entity, and Microsoft. Interesting insight for colleges and universities programs serving adult learners.

CRM for Higher Education, What Does It Mean? - Upcoming Webinar

The topic of CRM is top-of-mind issue for many higher education professionals, from undergraduate admissions to professional and continuing education.

Facing an era of rapid and pervasive change, colleges and universities are struggling to balance the challenges of changing demographics, competition, and declining resources. With institutions increasingly competing on the same value propositions (e.g. quality, small classes, personalized attention), future success may hinge on the ability to differentiate by providing more and better service to students and constituents with the same of fewer resources.

On Friday, March 6 at 2:00 PM EST, I will be presenting a webinar entitled CRM for Higher Education, What Does it Mean? for SunGard Higher Education.

During this presentation, we will look at the art and science of CRM and context for higher education, recent research on the current relationship management practices of higher education, as well a best practices approach for moving CRM forward at your institution.

The webinar is free and is available to those currently working at colleges or universities (sorry, fellow vendors). Register now

New Warning for Collegiate Conferencing Directors: Corporate Travel is Being Cut Dramatically

Twice as many U.S. companies as previously expected are cutting their travel spending in response to the economic weakness and uncertainly. This according to today’s USA Today (Money, Section B). The Associate of Corporate Travel Executives says 71% of their member companies now plan to spend less on travel this year as compared to last. Less than five months ago, only 33% said they planned to cut back demonstrating the unprecedented shift in the economy future expectations.

Combine this market outlook with the strain on higher education resources and collegiate conferencing units are facing extraordinary times.

How do you move forward in 2009?

Balancing the Budget ... State Furloughs and Employee Ire

Georgia Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) acknowledged Monday what everybody at the Capitol already suspected: lawmakers won’t be able to balance the state budget without more furlough’s of the government’s 100,000 employees. This is according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution's James Salzer.

While many state agencies have forced employees to take days off with pay for months, this has not been the case for University system employees  (see Is the Academic World Sharing the Economic Pain?) ... to date.

Employees are now reacting online. Here's a sample of the comments:

Is the Academic World Sharing the Economic Pain? A $7 Million Dollar Advertising Budget

State of Georgia Lawmakers and the University System Chancellor faced off during a budget discussion on today. At issue? Required furloughs for college and university employees and a $7 million dollar university system advertising budget.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Chancellor Errol Davis took heat over the University System budget, a plan that would be cut some 10% under recommendations from the Governor.Like many states, all state agencies are under pressure to reduce costs and some are forcing employees to take unpaid days off to close the budget gap. The Chancellor is resistant to use furloughs.

Rep. Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta) questioned why the university system, which has more than 40,000 employees, is not furloughing employees. He noted that private companies are laying off workers, and many government employees are being forced to take time off. According to AJC staff writers James Salzer and Ariel Hart, Martin asked, “What has the academic world done to share in the economic downturn?”

State representative Martin raised an interesting question, one that should be considered by all colleges and universities. He criticized the system for spending money on recruitment advertising when schools like the University of Georgia are rejecting far more applicants than they accept.

The Worst Marketing Idea of 2008

I've been holding onto this 'marketing gem' since September when I attended the NACAC conference in Seattle.

As an employee of a higher education vendor myself, I fully understand the challenges of engaging attendees at conferences. Some conferences are more vendor-friendly than others ... I wouldn't put NACAC in that category (fine organization but a different post for another day).

Perhaps this is the reason that led Applywise to execute the offending marketing tactic at this year's conference.

Let me tell you a quick story of a fine dinner in Seattle and a demo post card in the Men's room.

Gaffes in the College Admissions Process

Don't be too polished. Pick inspiring essay topics. Don't stalk the dean.

These are but a few applicant recommendations from college gatekeepers across the country. In a Wall Street Journal article, Sue Shellenbarger writes about behind-the-scene experiences of admissions deans at a dozen top-tier colleges and universities when evaluating prospective student applicants.

The bottom line?

Too many students are submitting "professionalized" applications rendered all too slick by misguided attempts at perfection, parental meddling and what one admissions dean describes as the robotlike approach teens are taking in presenting themselves.

How Can We Integrate CRM? You're Asking the Wrong Question

With competition, rapidly changing demographics, and the need to be more productive with scare resources, many higher education institutions are looking to CRM as a competitive advantage.

Commonly known as Customer Relationship Management, Constituent Relationship Management, or simply as Relationship Management, CRM investments at colleges and universities are growing. Datamonitor projects technology spending on CRM in the markets of the US, UK, Germany, France and Australia will grow from $184.9 million in 2007 to $324.5 million in 2012.

CRM is a professional interest of mine since the early 2000’s. I had an opportunity to help lead a corporate global CRM initiative in 2001 and I consult with higher education institutions on the topic today. Given the range of technology investments already made over the last 10-15 years within higher education, I often hear the question, “how can we integrate CRM with all of this?”

In fact, this is the wrong question all together.

Managing Enrollment in An Economic Downturn

A sign of the shaky economic times.

The University of Denver recently sent letters to thousands of undergraduate students asking them to consider all options before leaving school for monetary reasons. The University is offering payment plans, extended deadlines, and financial aid, all in an effort to hold on to their students. This according to a recent FoxNews Report.

Managing enrollment in an economic downturn. It's a concern that's on the minds of college leaders and boards across the country. Forget an annual retention rate, many institutions are concerned about students returning for the next semester.

As I've talked with enrollment leaders from undergraduate, to graduate and professional education, I'm often asked what others are doing/what 'we' should be doing to compensate. Here are a few ideas and lessons that I learned in the corporate world:

Colleges Taking Hard Knocks - When Wall Street Sneezes Campuses Get Chills

Several news stories this week in the mainstream media on how colleges and universities are coping with the economic slowdown.

Here's a report from NBC news:

College Closings Could Rise in the Economic Downturn

Some colleges _ like many American consumers and homeowners _ may soon discover they took on more debt than they should have, lured by low interest rates and ambitious growth plans, according to Justin Pope, an AP education writer. Figures from Moody's Investor Service on private colleges show median debt up 50 percent over the last five years.

As quarterly investment statements arrive on campus combined with state budget cuts, over-extended institutions may be at risk. While college closing announcements are anticipated, it would likely be next semester, or next fall, when schools find out how many of their students don't return.

"We've seen what's happened to family income, the financial assets of so many families," said Matt Hamill, senior vice president of NACUBO, a college business officers group. The key question is "how that will manifest itself when it comes time to enroll next fall."

Read the full article

Association of Continuing Higher Education 2008 - Rethinking the CE Marketing Organization

Thank you to all who attended our panel discussion. Hard to believe we used the entire two hours for the session.

You can download a copy of the presentation slides as well as audience survey responses at the following link:

Rethinking the Continuing Education Marketing Organization PowerPoint Slides and Audience Survey Results

A special thanks to our distinguished panel and to Sean Gallagher from Eduventures for responding to some impromptu questions. Finally, I checked with Sean after the presentation. The percentages he cited for the amount of dollars allocated to marketing including personnel costs.

Online Learning in Continuing Higher Education - Promises and Perils

Online continuing higher education is in demand by students and institutions alike.

Today, 490 institutions offer online programming. Twenty-five percent of all enrolled continuing education (CE) students are currently taking online courses; by 2013, this number will grow to 35-45% of all CE enrollments, according to Sean Gallagher, research director at Eduventures.  Sean presented today at the ACHE 2008 conference.

The promise for students is schedule flexibility and for institutions the opportunity for growth.

One of the perils is cannabalization of enrollment. During his discussion, one session attendee noted that 78% of his institution's online enrollment represented on-campus students taking online courses. Others raised the issue of retention for online students, particularly for lower-division students. Sean noted that while 85% of adult learners would consider a 100% online course, it may not be the right delivery modality for 30-40% of students.

As the author of over 100 higher education research reports, Sean has a wealth of knowledge including organizational and course development benchmarking.

If you are looking for additional online continuing higher education insight, contact Sean at sgallagher@eduventures.com.

'A Can't Miss Investment' ... Notes from the 2008 Association of Continuing Higher Education (ACHE) Conference

How would you like to invest in a company poised to exploit the following tremendous market opportunity?

• The industry is a fertile new market, ripe for business investment
• Represents potential large economies of scale
• Industry is currently poorly run, has high costs, and low technology utilization
• Generates large amounts of revenue
• Market is growing and is increasingly global

The industry investment opportunity you ask? Higher education.

This according to a recent investment prospectus received by Dr. Andy DiPaolo, Executive Director, Stanford Center for Professional Development, and the opening session speaker at the 2008 Association of Continuing Higher Education (ACHE) Conference. I'm attending the conference and will be presenting on Tuesday.

Election Day 2008 ... How's Your Enrollment Ground Game?

Well after two years of campaigning, election day is finally here and we get a brief respite from nonsensical television campaigns ads (at least for a couple of years). The electorate is energized with some 130 million+ anticipated voters expected to cast ballots today.

If you watched any political coverage over the weekend, there was a lot of talk on the importance of the 'ground game' today with each political party having a set of strategies to get voters to the polls. As I learned about ground game fundamentals from political pundits, I started to think about the parallels to prospective student enrollment management and marketing.

I'm spending the first part of election day in Corpus Christi, Texas to present at the annual TACRAO conference. Given the theme of the day, my topic?

Planning for Recruiting and Admissions Success: Four Steps to Develop a Winning Ground Game (Download the presentation)

GM Suspends Tuition Reimbursement - Impact on Professional and Continuing Education

In the face of an extraordinary economic climate and mounting losses, General Motors announced additional cuts in production and white color jobs.

What does this have to do with higher education? In addition to suspending their 401(k) match for employees, tuition reimbursement will be halted at the first of the year for new participants. With the likelihood of increased taxes and a prolonged recession, this may become a national trend that will have negative consequences for professional and continuing education units, many who rely on corporate tuition programs to support degree program enrollment.

With states that already can't pay for themselves, a new level of fiscal discipline is required among our nation's colleges and universities. The 'build it and they will come enrollment philosophy'  - supported by a blank check from the government and families - is no longer viable.

There is no better time than now to rethink your enrollment strategy.

More Millennial Myth Busting ...

As I posted back in December (Marketing the Millennial Myth), the millennial craze is finally facing tougher scrutiny. The research that led to the wildly popular book Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation was limited and used a broad brush to paint the nation's 'next great generation." At the time, I wrote there would be more contrarian views on this in 2008.

Blogger Carol Phillips recently reported on some additional research conducted by the College Board that indicates this generation is not unlike ones that proceeded.

Read Carol's post at http://millennialmarketing.blogspot.com/

ACHE 2008 - Learn to Reinvent Your Outreach Marketing Effort

These are challenging times for continuing education leaders.  In the face of an economic crisis and the public’s concerns about rising higher education costs, leaders must try to respond to the call for increased accountability, while simultaneously taking the steps necessary to attract, enroll, and retain adult learners.

At this year's ACHE 2008 Annual Conference, I will be moderating a workshop on Reinventing the Continuing Education (CE) Marketing Organization. The panel - made up of leading CE practitioners and thought leaders - will discuss best practices and provide actionable ideas to improve enrollment management and marketing within your organization.

Trust Me ... You No Longer Control The Message

Raise your hand if you would be interested in a marketing campaign that would generate more response than any of your enrollment campaigns over the last 10 years combined. Who wouldn’t be … right?

The catch is that you would have no control over it. Still interested?

Let me tell you about Appalachian State University's HOT story and YouTube, the online video sharing service. First, enjoy the video.

Noel-Levitz Follow-Up: Beyond the Hype Presentation Survey Findings

Despite the media consumption habits of prospective students, interactive marketing investment ranks at the bottom of undergraduate recruitment spending priorities. This according to attendees at my recent presentation during the 2008 Noel-Levitz National Conference on Student Marketing, Recruitment and Retention.

Print media garners 36% of the recruitment budget, one-third of institutions have no plans to increase their interactive enrollment marketing spend in FY2009, and measurement tools are identified as the proof needed for more investment. I presented a new paradigm for enrollment managers to approach their interactive marketing efforts strategically, rather than the typical grocery list approach of selecting the tools and technologies.

What Noel-Levitz and Indiana Jones Have in Common

Just returned from the 2008 Noel-Levitz Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Retention. It's hard to walk away from this event without a notebook filled with actionable ideas, research, and best practices. Unlike some higher education associations,  Noel-Levitz tends to be a bit more vendor friendly so I had an opportunity to speak at this year's conference.

So what is the connection between the venerable Noel-Levitz conference and the world's favorite archaeologist?

College Coach Dislikes Internet Recruiting ... Transparency and The Impact on Yield

Internet marketing and recruitment of student-athletes isn't good for college football, this according to new Arkansas Razorback head football coach, Bobby Petrino. The transparency of information is apparently impacting the coach's recruiting yield. “I don’t like it. It is a trend, and it is because they’re reading people on the Internet,” Petrino told The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this June. “We’re having to offer more guys because of Internet recruiting.”

If you are responsible for enrollment management at your college or university, you are probably thinking ... welcome to my world!

Interactive Enrollment Marketing in Continuing Education

Despite declining trust in traditional advertising and seismic shifts in how individuals access information, share ideas, and communicate, continuing education (CE) units have been slow to embrace the opportunities that interactive marketing currently offers. Discover best practices from a presentation I made at UCEA 2007. Download the presentation slides and listen to the podcast.

Competition and Managing Enrollment Technology Lead List of Concerns for Conference Attendees

Increasing competition and managing technology to support enrollment efforts lead a list of concerns for higher education professionals. This according to presentation attendees at SunGard Higher Education's annual conference - Summit 2008. 

During Planning for Recruiting and Admissions Success sixty attendees participated in an interactive survey to list their concerns, common enrollment objectives, and rank commonly used recruitment performance metrics.

Enrollment Yields Drop for Fall 2008 Class

Declining enrollment yields are causing elite colleges and universities to reach deeper into their freshman wait lists according to today's Wall Street Journal.

With a record number of high school graduates combined with increasing numbers of applications and deposits, even the most experienced enrollment managers are challenged to forecast new student enrollment. "It was certainly a year in which there was more uncertainty than I've experienced in over 30 years in admissions," says Bill Fitzsimmons, Harvard's dean of admissions and financial aid.

Quality and Spending: New Research Into the Business of Enrollment Management

Despite the rapid increases in college enrollment tuitions, the investment is not translating into better results. This is according to a new study entitled, "The Growing Imbalance: Recent Trends in U.S. Postsecondary Education Finance."

Higher education leaders insist that spending increases are necessary to maintain educational quality. However according to Jane Wellman, the report author, "what we see across a broad range of indicators is that states and institutions are spending money in areas that may not be in line with the public priority of preparing more graduates."

Q&A Follow-Up: Reinventing the Continuing Education Marketing Organization Panel

Discover ideas and insight from this moderated panel discussion on Continuing and Professional Education marketing. Presented during the 2008 UCEA Annual Conference, a panel of enrollment marketing practitioners and industry experts address the current state of the CE marketing organization and share their experiences in overcoming common challenges. This posting includes streaming audio of the discussion, presentation slides, and a Q&A session with the panel

Reinventing the Continuing Education Enrollment Marketing Organization

Thanks to all those who attended Reinventing the CE Enrollment Marketing Organization for Student Centricity at the University Continuing Education Association annual conference. We had over 100 attendees crammed into Bayside C! 

I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to our expert panelists - Stephanie Platteter, Jeff Harmon, Jim Peters, and Jim Fong. 

We've compiled the results from our interactive survey.

Enrollment Management: The Secret to Student Retention?

Looking at the retention rates across institutional type, the problem ranges from mild to regrettable at the over 4,000 U.S. colleges and universities today. The core problem is that everyone – and no one - on-campus owns the challenge. I saw an interesting business study recently that may provide some answers. First, let’s consider how colleges and universities view retention today.

FutureWatch 2008 - A Must Read for Collegiate Conferencing & Event Professionals

The new FutureWatch 2008 study is a must read for collegiate conferencing and event professionals.

Conducted by Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and sponsored by American Express, this sixth-annual international study, surveys 1,643 meeting and event professionals and suppliers from around the world. Discover the trends and expectations impacting the conferencing industry.

Interactive Marketing Channels to Watch in 2008 - Undergraduate Recruitment

To adjust to the changing student expectations, colleges and universities will be deploying interactive channels as part of their enrollment marketing and recruitment mix in 2008. Email marketing is the clear-cut leader, achieving “proven status” with enrollment managers. Beyond email, channel adoption is mixed. Fueled by ongoing media reports, interest is high in the social networking movement and emerging communication tools such as blogs, podcasts, and online video. The acceptance and application of these channels is tentative at best, supported on an internal foundation of uncertainty and skepticism.

Is Higher Education CRM the Technology or Something Else?

As a means to attract and retain students, higher education institutions are beginning to look to constituent relationship management, or CRM as a potential solution and competitive advantage. Higher education vendors are developing - or have launched new systems - to support this emerging demand.

But is higher education CRM a technology or is it something else?

Marketing the Millennial Myth

Based on the work of Howe and Strauss, the so-called millennial generational theory has attracted attention from college campuses to the mainstream media. Based on the book Millennials Rising, this theory has generated a lot of material for conference keynotes and concurrent sessions.

I had the opportunity to attend such a session at the November 2007 AMA Higher Education Symposium. But these presenters were far from drinking the millennial Kool-Aid.

“Will the Technology Keep My Email Out of the SPAM Folder?”

Asked by a college administrator during a recent technology demonstration, it’s a common question raised by those using promotional email marketing for enrollment. The answer in this instance included a lengthy description of the technical considerations taken into account to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately, focusing on the email delivery system is not the answer. Keeping out of the SPAM folder has a whole lot less to do with the delivery system and everything to with your email marketing program.

Disbanding the CE Office of Enrollment Prevention

I spoke at the recent ACHE annual conference on the topic of enrollment prevention and specifically the continuing education (CE) office that supports this effort. I know what you are thinking…I have heard of enrollment marketing and enrollment management, but why would an institution want an enrollment prevention department?

Interactive Marketing: Continuing Education's (Lost) Opportunity

Despite declining trust in traditional advertising and seismic shifts in how individuals access information, share ideas, and communicate, continuing education (CE) units have been slow to embrace the opportunities that interactive marketing currently offers. Failure to master the basics of the enrollment funnel, budgetary and organizational constraints, and a lack of knowledge or skepticism toward interactive channels prevent CE marketers from fully adapting interactive channel use.