Governing Board Forum: Enrollment Management Presentation Baltimore, - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Governing Board Forum: Enrollment Management Presentation Baltimore, MD November 2, 2012

Workshop Outline  My Context for Comments  Trends/Issues in Enrollment  Overview of Enrollment Management Theory  The Role of an Admissions Director  Using Data to Inform Decisions  Creating a Recruitment and Enrollment Plan

About Maguire Associates  Research-based consultancy based in Concord, MA  Serve educational clients, public and private  Established in 1983  Staffed by experts, practitioners, and analysts from:  Admissions & Recruitment  Financial Aid  Institutional Research  Advancement  Governing Boards  Industry leaders in predictive modeling  Recognized for thought leadership and publishing 3

Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools 1. Malden Catholic High School Malden, MA 2. Nazareth Regional High School Brooklyn, NY 3. St. Johns High School Shrewsbury, MA 4. Saint Xavier High School Louisville, KY 5. St. John's Preparatory School Danvers, MA 6. St. Mary's Ryken High School Leonardtown, MD 7. Xaverian High School Brooklyn, NY 8. Mount St. Joseph High School Baltimore, MD 9. Our Lady of Good Counsel High Olney, MD School 10. Xaverian Brothers High School Westwood, MA 11. Xavier High School Middletown, CT 12. Lowell Catholic High School Lowell, MA 13. Saint Bernard School Uncasville, CT 4

TRENDS/ISSUES IN ENROLLMENT

What Do We See?  Greater awareness of the importance of marketing, recruitment, and enrollment – “if you build it, they won’t automatically come.”  A developing understanding that enrollment is an institution-wide responsibility.  Increasing role of merit- and need-based financial aid in the enrollment equation.  Admissions Directors as members of leadership teams.

What Else Do We See?  Too few schools collecting and analyzing data to guide decision making.  Amazingly few written marketing, recruitment, and enrollment plans.  A tendency to place people in Admission positions with little experience.  Insufficient attention to relationship building.  Retention as an allusive concern.

What about the Overall Environment?  Population growth or decline varies widely by region.  The proportion of non-white students is growing, especially Hispanics.  Numbers identifying a Catholic affiliation is dropping rapidly.  Economic woes clearly impacting enrollment decisions, but not in a linear way.

OVERVIEW OF ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT THEORY

What is Enrollment Management? A process that integrates functions having to do with recruiting, funding, tracking, retaining, and replacing students as they move toward, within, and away from a school. Hallmarks:  Collaborate across functions  Involve multiple constituencies  Harness the power of the latest information technologies  Assert strong, energetic leadership  Diverse efforts support a coherent, grand design

Goal #1: Admissions & Marketing To develop admissions and marketing programs to attract qualified students in sufficient numbers. The Checklist:  Who is responsible for admissions at your school?  How do you involve faculty, alumni, parents and students in admissions?  Do you have an adequate budget and staff to ensure success?  What impression is given to people who visit your school and website, or talk to current/former students and parents?  Who are your key audiences? How do you communicate with them?

Goal #2: Pricing and Financial Aid To implement pricing and financial aid strategies that will optimize the school’s ability to attract and retain the desired academic and socioeconomic mix of students. The Checklist:  Are you satisfied that your school is priced properly? Do you sense that you are over- or under- priced relative to your market?  Are you worried that cost-related increases will soon make your school unaffordable for target families?  Do you have any plans for reducing tuition dependence in the operating budget?  Do you have a comprehensive financial aid policy at your school? How do you establish priorities for deciding who is eligible for limited funds?

Goal #3: Student Information Systems & Research To create an information-rich environment to inform enrollment-related decisions. The Checklist:  How satisfied are you with the systems you are using to manage student information?  Do sufficient numbers of individuals know how to use them?  Can you obtain a prompt and accurate “snapshot” of student inquiries, applications, and enrollments at all levels at all times of the year?  Do you regularly collect and analyze feedback from important groups (admitted families, current parents, faculty, students)?

Goal #4: Strategic Planning To develop a capability to anticipate immediate and long- term student interest and methods for improving the school’s ability to provide for these interests. The Checklist:  Has your school prepared long-range (5- to 10-year) academic and fiscal plans that identify school goals and include enrollment objectives?  How well known are these plans among the individuals who will be contributing to their success? To what extent do they have a voice in shaping the plans?  How realistic are the plans? Do they include well-defined goals and methods for fulfillment?

Goal #5: Collaborative Organization To organize departments/roles in a way that facilitates the coordination of staff, the flow of information, and the integration of enrollment-management decisions. The Checklist:  Are you satisfied with the coordination among marketing, recruiting, pricing/financial aid, teaching, and fundraising at your school?  In what ways do individuals responsible for these tasks share information?  How do they contribute to overall success in a cross-functional ways?

THE ROLE OF ADMISSION DIRECTOR

Admission Director Responsibilities  Understand enrollment expectations and develop a plan to meet them  Identify appropriate audiences for meeting goals and a plan for cultivating them  Develop a set of recruitment messages that positions the school among the competition  Construct an internal operations system to  Field and fulfill information requests  Track students in a database from inquiry to enrollment  Process, complete, and review applications  Schedule and organize interviews  Determine student selection and yield strategy  Organize or “hand off” orientation

Admission Director Responsibilities  Engage volunteers  Create and orchestrate special recruitment events  Monitor results and analyze data  Report to the community  Revise plan for the following year

Skills/Disposition to Seek in an Admission Director  Belief in the institution and its mission  Curiosity about people  An engaging personality  An analytical mindset  Strong marketing instincts  Attention to detail and customer service  Willingness to make judgment calls  Sensitivity to cultural differences  Ability to advocate for resources  Confidently represents strategy to the school community

USING DATA TO INFORM ACTION

Data Resources for Schools • Institutional Data • Testing Data • Census Data • College Board and ACT • WICHE (Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education) • National Student Clearinghouse • NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) • Your local state educational agency • Diocese/archdiocese

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Public School Enrollment in Selected Feeder Towns/Cities 8th 5th 1st % Change % Change Town Notes Grade Grade Grade 8th to 5th 8th to 1st Massachusetts Andover (05501) 490 466 423 -4.90% -13.7% Big Drop from 2nd to 1st Billerica (01821) 504 505 505 -- -- Increases in other years Chelmsford (01824) 428 394 427 -7.94% -- Large 3rd and 4th Grades Dracut (01826) 364 367 297 -- -18.4% Steadily Downward Enrollment Groton-Dunstable (01471) 243 238 224 -2.06% -7.8% Littleton (01460) 103 125 154 21.0% 49.5% Appears to be considerable growth Lowell (01852) 1,219 1,097 1,127 -10.01% -7.5% Tyngsboro (01879) 159 178 195 11.95% 22.6% Steady Growth Westford (01886) 421 411 414 -2.38% -1.7% Small 2nd Grade New Hampshire Hudson (03051) 341 340 295 -0.3% -13.5% Large drop from 5th to 1st -22.1% -12.8% Nashua (03060) 1,064 829 928 -6.3% 14.4% Steady growth Pelham (03076) 174 163 199 25

Sample School Enrollment Projections New Students, Fall Term 2011 What If? Pessimistic What If? Optimistic 1,500 Inquiries 1,500 Inquiries 47% 53% 700 Applications 800 Applications 75% 93% 650 Acceptances 600 Acceptances 46% 58% 300 Deposits 350 Deposits 95% 96% 285 Enrollees 335 Enrollees What If? Realistic 2011 1,500 Inquiries 50% 750 Applications 92% 690 Acceptances 47% 325 Deposits 94% 305 Enrollees