Stephen,
Very interesting idea. Yes, do all that you can to get the campus involved. Retention is the business of the entire school.
Dr. Larry Banks
Our current process includes an in home visit and a scheduled visit to the campus to view the program and view activities in the lab. I feel the prospective student is well informed as to what he/she needs to be successful. The home visit pre-screens the applicant to determine if this is the direction and career the individual wants to pursue. I think there could be more at campus involvement for the prospective student giving them an opportunity to better understand what is involved not only in the training program to be successful, but also in what it will take to be successful in the industry they will be training for.
As an adjunct instructor, it is difficult to address the admissions processes with sufficient knowledge to comment. My experience with the admission staff has been excellent to date and my experience has indicated that they are committed to continual improvement. I don't feel I'm in a position to suggest improvements but may ask staff members what steps they may be considering and how they measure their effectiveness.
One of the best tools I use is a check list,prevents me from over looking important information that will benefit the student.
Dawn,
Yes, I love the fact that you take the time to talk with touring students. This is important. Why? Students really want to ask you questions. Do anything that you can to build a relationship early on.
Dr. Larry Banks
Because I am an instructor, I do not have anything to do with the actual admissions process, however, I do know that they take the prospective students on a tour of the classes in the area that the student is interested in. If I am teaching when the prospective student is touring, I will stop and ask if them if they have any questions they would like to ask either myself or my students. That way they have the opportunity to speak with someone who is actually in the program, and not just the admissions rep.
I do believe our school has a great admissions process. However, there is always room for improvement. I believe that informing the prospective student of the different opportunities available in the area, and the steps required to reach their goal in their selected field, is vital. They need to know that their interest is met with opportunity.
It seems that our potential students are rushed through the admissions process in order to get enrolled into the program. In the past I have heard admission reps give the students misinformation about the program in order to speed up the process. The other instructors and I have now taken steps to stop the spread of misinformation about our program by letting the admission bring the students to us if they have questions and by educating the reps themselves. While it seems to be getting better I think that the admissions reps see the students as numbers more than they see them as people. I think that if the company could look at the human factor and just not at the numbers then maybe we would not have to worry about retention as much.
Yes, I believe it can by giving the student a more realistic view of what the culinary business is like and also culinary school. Sometimes students come in with a romanticized idea of what the culinary world is like due to food television exposure and come in thinking that is what they will go into. A more detailed and realistic perspective will help that situation.
I think our "Career Services" dept. does a nice job of preparing students using mock interviews and portfolio training. They have individuals from our local business community available to assist with this process as well.
Yes I do. I believe in the past, the admissions team was more into adding another student to their list d/t various incentives related to high numbers rather than helping students to find the right fit for them. Our process has recently made a change for the better in that department and also have more specific criteria the student must have to be considered for the nursing program. I think this will be a win-win situation.
Admissions, if successful, is all about recruiting the "right" students for our discipline. Students who lack the appropriate motivation, skills and knowledge have a significantly lower chance of success than those who are highly motivated to succeed, are quite knowledgable about our discipline and are prepared about success. Admissions is our gatekeeper and they should successfully admit those with the right qualities and re-direct those who don't.
I feel that our admissions process is great. They are very concise, answer many questions the student has, etc. The admission representative also stays in touch with the student throughout their first quarter.
Hans,
Do your best to remove barriers as well. Retention is the business of the whole school. What would happen if you linked for the sake of retention?
Dr. B
admission should more aware of some of the obstacles of adult education and discuss it with prospective students more realistically. most students will look at that as a challenge they will overcome if they are aware of it early on and prepare accordingly.
Yes, that would help. And if academics would link with admissions in the process, what could happen? A team working to retain students is the idea.
Dr. B
The admission can improve increase the student retention, by having the prospective student go to screening:(i.e. interview, short entrance written test, quick assesment, etc.) If the Admission agent or personnel will layout good clear plan of how the student will do in the class. It's also have a clear written plan of what to expect from the instructor and what instructor expect them (student). This may help the studnet retentions, if the written expectation are achievable.
Program features and benefits are important. Especially link the benefits to future careers. Is there anything that you can do to help?
Dr. B
The admissions process at my school could use some improvement, just from observing how our admissions reps handle our prospective school, I think further training and full knowledge is key. I think it looks bad when the reps have no clear answer to the potential students questions or aren't very clear on the entire admissions process; example (financial issues or full understanding or academic part).
I agree. Take the time to connect and to answer questions... It is always a good idea to include academics with admissions where possible. The idea is to tell the same story.
Dr. B
