I think our admission process can help retention, provident teachers get more involved. Teachers should work with business community also to find their need and incorporate it in the course requirement.
We need to do more to help prepare the student after they have signed the contract. Admissions has too much pressure on them to sale. After the sale the future student needs a point of contact to prepare them for housing, budgets, life skills and employment. If the student does not have the basics needs met for living, their chance of success is limited.
Good point. It is so important to "link" early in the process. If the student's vision does not match what is promised, he or she will drop.
Dr. Banks
Yes, it could be improved by implementing the checklists. Knowledge is the key to success and there is never too much information about the career we choose so, we have to make sure our prospect students have all the facts about the career they going to start to be successful and improve our retention. Don't you think so?
Knowledge is one thing... The key is to use knowledge to make it happen. In otherwords, focus on applying what you know to the process. The result will be, improved retention. Keep up the good work, Maria.
Dr. Banks
You are right; if we have the knowledge but we do not use it is worth nothing. The key is to use the knowledge we have to be a better person and off course improve our retention.
Thank you Dr. Banks
I believe our Admissions' department does a good job in explaining each program. In addition, they tour the potential student around campus and so them the learning environment, introduce the potential student to their instructors and answer any questions they may have a long the way. They also encourage each new student to attend orientation. They send reminders for orientation and also follow-up with any student who didn't make it to orientation.
As an opportunity of improvement, the Academics' department has invited the Admissions Reps to come and sit in on their class. This way, the Admissions' Rep and truly experience the studnet experience first hand and have a better understanding of what they are selling - an education.
The admissions process is very dynamic and should be tailored to meet the needs of the interested students. I agree to the point mentioned in this module that the longer the admisssions team spends with the student the more likely the student will be successful in completing the program. In the coming year I want to work with our admissions team to help the school reach its retention goals. We are seeing students enrolling and dropping out because they were not prepared to stay in longer. Maybe the self-evaluation checklist would be a good start in assessing the candidate.
I believe that as a company we have a very good admissions process. I feel we could improve if we worked better as a team starting from the field reps thru the admissons personal to the education management team to the instructo team. In many aspects we could be mentorss.
Working as a team to enroll and keep students is a major key to improving retention. And, you ought to pay attention to a mentoring process.
Dr. L
Our school has a pretty comprehensive admission process and seems to really promote job opportunities in their industry (culinary arts). I am not saying they couldn't add more, perhaps some mentoring?? One thing we recently (I believe) added is a very good retention program in place on our portal, where all instructors are reminded to use and then, the school follows up with the student. I recently used it and had great follow-up right away with a student who had missed classes and it turned out to be simply a matter of a "no-gas money" issue...He really wanted to be there, so the school is working with him now.
Sounds like you have an organized approach to admissions. The key is to link to jobs and to keep the vision alive all through the program. And, that starts from the first time they step into the school.
Dr. Banks
I do believe that the process can be improved. We can develop and administer a checklist. At our campus we have a couple of distinct programs that would make this process somewhat simplified. We could tailor the questions around our programs and the type of student it takes to be successful in the program. We could also possibly shorten the length of our admissions process. I think that spending too much time with a student who probably would not be successful in our programs takes time away from meeting with students who would be. Coming up with a better screening process could actually save time, energy, and money.
You know, a checklist is a good idea. By standardizing the process, you have a better chance of communicating important points. The key is to build a relationship that is linked with admissions and academics.
Dr. Banks
A process can always improve, but moving people to change is the challenge. There will always be some measure of tension, positive and negative, between the need for admissions to meet their enrollment numbers and academics working with new students who they feel are under-prepared or uncommitted. We are working to eliminate the independent silos of admissions and academics recognizing that we all need to work together as we're not on opposing teams. Admissions staff sits in on classes to become more familiar with the classroom experience while instructors have been working to try to sit in on admission's interviews to have a better understanding of how the acceptance process works. Team unity is very important.
There's always room for improvement! Our college has implemented a program whereby faculty observe an admission intake for a potential student. They can observe what expectations the student may have obtained just from the admission process. I am from the education side of our college, so I'm not privy to all or any changes the admission department is making toward their processes.
Sounds like a great idea. Do all that you can to link with admissions early in the process.
Dr. B
But of course it can be improved, there is no doubt we need to improve. People change, life change, what we did yesterday may not work today. High expectation, high tech, our customers want more for their money. It is an everyday challenge, ant it is what make it fun and alive.
Always the admission process can be improved. It is an evolvement and needs to be continuously monitored and evaluated. Admissions reps are trained initially; however, the feedback that can come through those who have been assited into the process by admission reps is valuable to insure credible information is presented and reliable presentation methods are being utilized in conjunction with professional procedures. Also, infomation regarding coursework and policies must be up-to-date, accurately presented and promises of service (i.e. follow-ups) must be done for the credibility to flow. Admission reps must personally delivery what they promise and just as important they must know that the insitution can deliver what has been promised in the admissions presentations.
Misleading, either intentionally or unintentionally, has no place in the world of admissions.
Good point. The school needs to give information in a fast, friendly, and accurate manner. Students remember what was said, and sometimes what was not stated.
Dr. B
