REMODEL IN PROGRESS: Enhancing Your GEM Toolkit to Develop an
Innovative Recruitment Blueprint
Presented by:
Ashley Buckner, Student Recruitment Coordinator Lauren Carr, Director of Enrollment Management
Molly McLean, Assistant Director, Enrollment Management
Content Overview
� Introduction and Objectives
� Nontraditional Student Populations & Trends in Higher Education
� The Citadel’s Growth Goals
� Evolution of CGC Office’s Roles, Titles, & Structure
� Recruitment of Nontraditional Student Populations
� By the Numbers
� Assess & Plan for the next 50 years
� Key Takeaways
� Discussion
The Citadel &
The Citadel Graduate College
The CitadelThe Military College of South Carolina
� Founded in 1842
� One of six senior military colleges in the U.S.
� SC Corps of Cadets: 2,350 students
� 5 Academic Schools and one Leadership Department
� Average of 30% of graduating students commission into each of the branches of the military
= Civilian graduate school within a military institute
Day Students:SC Corps of Cadets
Evenings & Online: Graduate, Evening Undergraduate & Veteran Students
The Citadel Graduate College (CGC)
� CGC: Celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2018!
� ~870 graduate students
� Programs Offered:
� 26 Graduate Degrees (with 42 concentrations)
� 25 Graduate Certificates
� Online: 6 Graduate & 3 Grad Certificate programs offered 100% online
� Classes are offered in the evenings and online
� Started offering online degree programs in Fall 2016
Learning Objectives
� Assess your office’s strengths & weaknesses in order to move forward with your departmental goals to stay on track with current higher education trends
� Leverage existing staff to support recruitment & retention efforts
� Identify local & large-scale recruitment efforts targeting nontraditional students
� Review Strategic Enrollment Plan(SEP)/blueprint to ensure alignment with institutional goals
Nontraditional students
Delayed enrollment
Attends school part-time
Works full-time
Financially independent
Has dependents other than
spouse
Single parent
Does not have a high
school diploma
NOW: Nontraditional student = Traditional student
Adult learners = 25 years of age and older
NCES defines nontraditional students as meeting
one of seven characteristics
Reaching the Nontraditional Student
� What they want:
� Evenings or weekends
� Hybrid
� Online courses
� What they don’t want:
� Failure
� Expense
� Inability to balance school with work & family
CGC realized: needed to renovate to thrive!
Trend: Changes in Graduate Applications
FALL 2006 – FALL 2016
Source: 2016 CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees
5.7%Average Annual Growth,
2006 - 2016 1.2%Percent Growth,
2015 - 2016
2.5%Average Annual Growth,
2011 - 2016
Trend: Changes in Graduate Enrollment
FALL 2006 – FALL 2016
Source: 2016 CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees
1.1%Average Annual Growth,
2006 - 2016 0.9%Average Annual Growth,
2015 - 2016
0%Average Annual Growth,
2011 - 2016
LEAD 2012 – 2018 (Leadership Excellence and Academic Distinction):
� Strategic Initiative Four: Develop the Student Population
� Objective 4.1: Expand enrollment in The Citadel Graduate College
� Key Performance Indicator: Increase enrollment in CGC by 25%
The Citadel’s Strategic Planning & Growth Goals
The Citadel’s Strategic Planning & Growth Goals
� Target Enrollment Growth Initiatives
� Strategic Enrollment Plan
� Enhance recruitment
� Support from Leadership and Faculty
� New curriculum offerings
� Accountability
� Admissions Processes
� Recruitment
� Inception of Online Degree Programs
EVOLUTION OF OUR OFFICE’S ROLES, TITLES, & STRUCTURES
Evolution of Our Office’s Roles, Titles, & Structures
� Pre-Renovation
� 9 full-time positions
� Dean and Associate Provost
� Assistant to the Dean
� Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management & Technology
� Director of Education Programs & Summer School
� Director of Prospective Student Outreach
� Director of Admissions
� Enrollment Management Coordinator
� 2 Admissions & Records Specialists
CGC Office Structure Pre-Renovation
Evolution of Our Office’s Roles, Titles, & Structures
� Very silo’ed approach
� Strong reliance on graduate students
� No CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
� Used Google docs.
� Did not result in increased applications and growth
CGC Office Structure Pre-Renovation
Evolution of Our Office’s Roles, Titles, & Structures
� Post-Renovation
� 12 full-time positions
� Associate Provost for Planning, Assessment, & Evaluation and Dean of Enrollment Management
� Administrative Assistant to Associate Provost
� Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management
Graduate Assistant
Graduate Assistant
Graduate Assistant
Assistant Director, Enrollment Management, Education & Engineering
Assistant Director, Enrollment Management,
Science & Math & Leadership
Assistant Director, Enrollment Management,
Humanities & Social Sciences
Admissions & Records Coordinator
Senior Assistant Director, Enrollment Management,
Business
Student Recruitment Coordinator
Enrollment Specialist
Enrollment Specialist
Assistant Dean, Enrollment Management
Director, Enrollment Management
AdministrativeAssistant
Associate Provost, Planning, Assessment & Evaluation
Dean, Enrollment Management
CGC Office Structure Post-Renovation
Evolution of Our Office’s Roles, Titles, & Structures
� School Enrollment Coordinator Model
� Tasks divided by academic schools/departments
� School of Humanities & Social Sciences
� School of Business
� School of Education and School of Engineering
� School of Science & Mathematics and Department of Leadership
Graduate Assistant
Graduate Assistant
Graduate Assistant
Assistant Director, Enrollment Management, Education & Engineering
Assistant Director, Enrollment Management,
Science & Math & Leadership
Assistant Director, Enrollment Management,
Humanities & Social Sciences
Admissions & Records Coordinator
Senior Assistant Director, Enrollment Management,
Business
Student Recruitment Coordinator
Enrollment Specialist
Enrollment Specialist
Assistant Dean, Enrollment Management
Director, Enrollment Management
AdministrativeAssistant
Associate Provost, Planning, Assessment & Evaluation
Dean, Enrollment ManagementCGC Office Structure Post-Renovation
Evolution of Our Office’s Roles, Titles, & Structures
� Development of Enrollment Center
� Director, Enrollment Management
� Student Recruitment Coordinator
� Two Enrollment Specialists
Graduate Assistant
Graduate Assistant
Graduate Assistant
Assistant Director, Enrollment Management, Education & Engineering
Assistant Director, Enrollment Management,
Science & Math & Leadership
Assistant Director, Enrollment Management,
Humanities & Social Sciences
Admissions & Records Coordinator
Senior Assistant Director, Enrollment Management,
Business
Student Recruitment Coordinator
Enrollment Specialist
Enrollment Specialist
Assistant Dean, Enrollment Management
Director, Enrollment Management
AdministrativeAssistant
Associate Provost, Planning, Assessment & Evaluation
Dean, Enrollment ManagementCGC Office Structure Post-Renovation
Evolution of Our Office’s Roles, Titles, & Structures
� Leveraging Office Staff to Support Recruitment Activities
� Each Assistant Director of Enrollment Management participates in one to two local recruitment events each month
� Enrollment Specialists get recruitment materials together for all of our recruitment events and attend technical college fairs
� Graduate Assistants can participate in local recruiting fairs on an “as needed” basis.
All hands on deck approach!
Evolution of Our Office’s Roles, Titles, & Structures
� More integrated approach
� Using Graduate Students as support and ambassadors
� More full-time recruitment/stronger outreach
� Implementation of Ellucian CRM Recruit
� Increase in applications and yield numbers
Evolution of Our Office’s Roles, Titles, & Structures
� Ellucian CRM Recruit
� Implemented by Undergraduate Admissions and The Graduate College
� Contract began in early 2015 and ends in 2020
� We are a SAAS (Software As A Service) Client
� Highly Customizable
� Pros: You can really make things specific to your institution
� Cons: You must have the people to devote to this 100%
RECRUITMENT OF
NONTRADITIONAL STUDENTS
Recruitment of Nontraditional Students
� Mongoose Texting Service� Purchase of GRE/GMAT Names� Military & Veteran Populations
• Military Base Outreach• Ex: JB Charleston, USCG Charleston, SC National Guard, USMC
Parris Island• Ex: Marketing Outreach
• Veteran’s Education Fairs• Ex: CareerEcoVirtual Veterans Fairs & Yellow Ribbon Fairs
• Collaboration with Student Veteran’s Association Chapter• Ex: SVA National Conference participation
Recruitment of Nontraditional Students
� Government Sector• CPAC 2017• Ex: Conference geared to Conservative students & adults
actively involved in politics in their region• Sea, Air, Space 2017• Ex: Sponsored by the Navy League, brings together defense
industrial base, private-sector, and key military decision makers
• Defense Contractors• Ex: Charleston Defense Contractors Association
Recruitment of Nontraditional Students
� Employer Outreach• Local businesses and organizations
• Ex: Boeing, MUSC, Charleston PD
• Ex: Stingrays and Riverdogs Games
• Partner with school districts and other institutions locally• Ex: Charleston County School District, College of Charleston, Trident Tech
• Connect with Chamber of Commerce• Ex: Young Professional Association, Connect Monthly Meetups
� Open House Alternatives• Virtual Open Houses
• Ex: CareerEco Platform & Blue Jeans Platform for our CGC Summer Virtual Open House
• HBCU Day 2018• Ex: Collaborative event with College of Charleston, students from two different HBCU’s attended
campus tour, info sessions, and met with Enrollment Specialists
Recruitment of Nontraditional Students
� L.E.A.R.N.
• Lowcountry Educational Admissions Representative Network• LEARN provides higher education
opportunities to employees through workplace sponsored education/wellness fairs and to the community at local events.
• 15 local institutions, meet monthly to discuss area events, recruitment, opportunities, and community outreach
Marketing to Nontraditional Students
� Digital Advertising• Google AdWords
• Behavior Retargeting
� Advertising in Government Sector• DC Metro & DC Airports
• Military Base/Print Publications• Ex: The Jetstream (Parris Island), Shaw Times (Shaw AFB), Military Times, The Globe (Fort
Bragg)
• Radio/TV• Ex: ABC 4 OTT Campaign, Lowcountry Live segment, public radio in DC, and standard
radio in Charlotte, NC.
DC Metro Marketing
BY THE NUMBERS
CGC Applications After the Renovation
673
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Fall 2015 Fall 2016 Fall 2017
Fall Semester Applications
Applications
491
643
National Average =1.2%Percent Change in Applications 2015 - 2016
CGC Graduate School Applications 2014 - 2017
1,188 1,146
1,417
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017
School Year Total Applications
Renovation: SU-FA 2016
CGC Registered Students Fall Semesters 2014 - 2017
800
820
840
860
880
20142015
2016
2017
829 835829
880
CGC Registered Graduate Students Fall 2014 – Fall 2017
6% increase
26
61
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2007 2017
Degrees & Certificates Offered
196
282
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
2016 2017
Online Students
CGC Growth
33% Increase in enrollment for all programs within CGC
…To the next 50 years!
Continuously evaluating & improving
� Recruitment
� Build New Strategic Recruitment Plan
� Analyze event evaluations
� Utilize Travel & Events module in Recruit CRM
� Increasing local outreach
� Critique and improve Recruit CRM Usage
� Communication Campaigns
� Touchpoints
� Increase collaboration with faculty & student services
� Strengthen online students’ on-campus involvement
Strategic Plan 2024’s Draft Initiative: Advance The Citadel as the Senior Military College and Graduate College of Choice.
� Continued growth
� New positions slated
� Focus on student services support
Key Takeaways to Start Your Blueprint
� Evaluate your office’s strengths and weaknesses
� Involve current staff and faculty in recruitment efforts
� Identify the nontraditional student populations you want to target
� Gain the buy-in from leadership and departments to support strategic enrollment plan (SEP)
QUESTIONS?
*Celebrating 50 years! Archive photos of CGC students
Molly McLeanAssistant Director
Enrollment [email protected]
THANK YOU!
Lauren CarrDirector of
Enrollment [email protected]
Ashley BucknerStudent Recruitment
Works Cited
� 2017 National Student Satisfaction and Priorities Report, Ruffalo Noel Levitz, 2017.
� Pelletier, Stephen G. Success for the Adult Students, Public Purpose, 2010.
� Sanborne, Lewis W., editor. Strategic Enrollment Planning: a Dynamic Collaboration: How Higher Education Leaders Can Align Mission, Vision, and Values with Shifting Market Needs and Expectations. Second ed., Noel-Levitz, 2016.
� Okahana, Hironao, and Enyu Zhou. Graduate Enrollment and Degrees: 2006 to 2016. Council of Graduate Schools, September 2017.
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