Perfect. They must have confidence in you. Nice... this will help your retention.
Dr. B
Perfect. Might as well let them know what the expectations are from the get go. Be careful to let them know that they can. They can grad if they want to. This is key, "do they want to and do they believe they can do it."
Dr. B
I believe it would be beneficial to provide a questionairre for the incoming student. This would aid in finding commonalities between successful and unsuccessful students. Questions should include "What obstacles could prevent you from completing your educational goals?" and "What type of support system to you have in place to help you along your educational journey?" If our admissions department could find the problems in the potential students' lives prior to enrolling, it could prevent the learner from dropping out.
I also believe that having resources on hand in the form of a handout for them to have in case they need any type of service that our community would provide. (e.g., daycare, car pooling, food banks, reduced rental housing, etc.)
It would also prove beneficial for the admissions department to stay in touch with the student, either by dropping a card in the mail, sending an email, or calling them to seek out how the student is progressing in their studies and if there is anything they need in order to help them be more successful academically. Starting at admissions and continuing throughout their program is key, just as getting the student BEFORE they drop is key as well.
A successful student that will proceed to graduation really requires a team of players at the campus that all work together to assure the learner they are important and that we all want to see them succeed. They must feel a sense of belonging and that our campus has a family aura.
At our campus, Instructors have little chance of meeting or influencing admissions rep.s
Our admissions department talks to students several times before they arrive, and when they arrive, they get a tour of the campus. This tour takes them to every classroom, they get explanations of what is taught in each class. During student orientation, they have the oppurtunity to meet various Instructors and personel.
Orlando's main problem with retention is the difficulty students are having finding jobs while attending school.our unemployment rate is currently running at 12.5%. This is creating great hardship to our students. If they can not find employment, they have to leave school.
Base on student enrollment being rather high, at the current point I feel that Admissions Department for the school I am associated with does an outstanding job of initial contact, continuous follow up while student is attending school.
Admissions processes can always be improved. I think the biggest improvement is not to put quotas on admissions reps. I believe a lot of bad decisions are made and might not be in the best interest of the learner.
I think our current admissions process is pretty scripted. They do a good job of getting information out of the prospective student; but the admissions checklist and the self checklist are great ideas. This would allow an avenue of discussion between the representative and the student allowing a better fit overall. I agree that getting the obstacles out in the open right away will reduce anxiety leading to a more successful student.
Awesome. I love it when admissions is in tune with the process. You got the right idea.
Dr. B
I feel as though our retention policy can be improved starting with the admissions process. I think sometimes the students get so excited about starting school, that they don't really focus on the program that they are choosing. The student then gets started and realizes what the program actually entails, decides they don't want it and drop. I would like it for the students to get information on all of the programs before deciding on one. If the student is completely vested and interested in the program, they might be more likely to stay.
This training emphasizes that the longer and more involved the admissions process is, the higher the retention rate. Our admissions process is not usually very long at all, and students sometimes don't have time to get fully on board mentally before they are sitting in a classroom. I am fairly new here and not completely sure if our admissions staff currently uses checklists or not, but after going through this course, it seems that these checklist strategies are crucial. It is also crucial to keep the end goal in sight and make sure a student fully knows what college is about and what it takes to end up with a certain career. I know that our staff offers access to Choices Planner, but we could do a much better job of making sure a student uses it, and understands where to find the most pertinent information that will lead to greater retention.
The key is to tell the same truthful story and do all you can to determine the probability of student success.
Dr. B
Yes, improvement can always happen. Ongoing product knowledge training with admissions reps and education can assist with current knowledge of required skills as well as involving placement to discuss job opportunities.
I think our admissions process could absolutely be improved to increase retention.
Through the use of prospective student "self-checklists" I think our admissions staff could better understand what each prospective student needs to know in order to ensure they have all the necessary information before enrolling in our institution.
This approach would also impact my position in student services, as new students would have a more comprehensive understanding of the program and our policies. This would improve retention as these new students wouldn't be shocked or turned off by information throughout the course because they would (within reason) be aware of how things happen here.
I think our prospective students would also benefit from meeting student mentors during their admissions process. This is a procedure I look forward to implementing now that I have an understanding of how to structure a mentor program.
Hi Steve,
We can only provide guide lines & limitations to appearence and who it will fit in the market place. It is not only a question of loss of revenue, but definately a question of possible opportunities. As most employers will put a stop to excess, some might welcome it we are in a changing society that will allow things that were almost an outrage a decade ago. However they should be aware of the limitaions they are creating to their potential.
I feel we do an excellent job of helping students learn about our programs. There will always be ways we can improve student retention.
Improving Admissions; I really do not know much about the admission process here but from what I have read from the module, have check list and keeping in touch with the students should help retention. I do see one of our representatives quite often checking on her students. I think all reps should do the same.
After looking at our admissions process the only thing that I could possibly recommend would be a
pretest to let the students know ahead of time some of the areas of education that they will be experiencing.
That may be hard. Sounds like your relationship with admissions is good. If not, do all you can to tell the same story to incoming students.
Dr. B
We follow an interview process when enrolling students which really helps us get to know our students first on the phone, and then more in-depth when we meet with them in person.
The institution I work for serves mid-career vadults, and all of its programs are online. Admissions are nonselective, and my concern is that too many individuals enroll without realizing the time and emotional commitment needed to succeed in an accelerated (5-1/2 week) environment).
