As a new hire I was given documentation with websites to navigate concerning the matter. I beleive they do weekly trainings even if no changes go into effect just to keep the staff o the same page.
Good point about including other resources in your conversation Terry. This ensures the most current and accurate information and supports your idea of "staying in our lanes" (even internally).
We have statistics, I like the idea of putting the costs on the website though. It keeps reps. from havingto go in to it.
Yes, We have incorporated all the new federal rules to the training and on-going training process
Our school has included the web links on an information sheet that we give to every student interviewed. We still tell students the program costs when going through the ten step method....
Yes they do train us, we learn from training and other AOs about FA
Our school has done the same as well. This helps the students be able to access information such as tutition, job placement rate and retention much more easily. Also, I feel students don't feel as though we as representatives are pressuring them to start school.
I agreed with being an expert in OUR school or OUR product. I often referred to that as "staying in our lanes." I recently retired from the Air Force and spent many years in recruiting. I never bad mouth other services and if students asked questions about them, I refused to answer because I was not the expert.
I stay focused on my job. I often use various departments here at our campus. I often connect my student by use a warm-transfer, and or conference call to create interaction between Housing, Finance, Placement Services, etc...
I'm new to the admissions world, and I'm a firm believer of doing things right. To date, I'm impressed by how transparent we are. On the bottom of our signature blocks (email) we include our disclosure link which gives students direct access to all our disclosures, catalogues, addendums, etc. I let them know it there and it helps them relax knowing they have access to it.
Yes we break down the cost at the beginning of the Interview
I just try to periodically check for new updates
Hello Mr. Ware,
I am very familiar with the rules and regualtions that went into effect by an investigation led by the GAO for non-profit and for -Profit schools alike. Some of the new rules include the changes with Safe Harbours, and enusuring that all consumer information and prices are the institutions web-site. There are also new rules that cover what you can and cannot say to a prospective student regarding Financial Aide and Career Services. Our school ensures that every Admission reprsentative understands and state the compliance statements verbatim to avoid any misrepresentation of the school or mis information to the prospective student inquiring about College.
Our campus has not only added the website with costs and outcomes but all marketing material has the website on it also. The larger impact has been in how we motivate and coach our advisors. We have moved away from the individual numbers and focused on processes. I perform a minimum of 2 interview and 2 phone observations per advisor a month. Coaching is much more work for the manager on the front end but the outcomes will be long term.
Yes. While we have been very compliant over time with disclosure of information, we have tightened our orientation of admissions reps to ensure compliance on their part.
We are a not for profit so this isn't an issue for us. We do partner with several institutions of higher learning and work closely with them.
Richard,
I'm also interested in this sticker idea. It sounds very creative and it sounds like a great tool to engage each rep toward building those new habits up and confirming all steps have been completed prior to enrolling a new student.
I work with strictly online students like you, so I'm not sure how to incorporate the idea into what we do daily. We're already using a detailed electronic tracker system to ensure all areas have been fulfilled prior to enrollment.
I do agree with your statement on providing information or a comparison chart with our school and others in the area. With the updates on the rules for misrepresentation being so specific, I feel schools have enough challenges with making sure they're 100% compliant in how they represent themselves let alone trying to ensure they're representing themselves and other schools around them properly. As an admissions rep, I don't have the qualifications to advise students on other schools and what they offer, but I can be the expert on our programs and the student experience here.
At our institution I've observed more urgency toward the training completion and procedure modifications since the USDOE instituted the new rules. I feel very fortunate to be a part of an organization with strong core values toward providing the best service possible to our students and the communities they serve in. This desire toward excellence shows in how adaptable we've been toward these new rules. Some of these change we had been preparing years in advance for. We had been moving toward that direction of providing more detailed information regarding student disclosures but the new rules provided more concrete boundaries for us to prioritize on our website and our admissions process.
Richard,
It sounds like your school is handling the changes in a positive manner for all involved. I like your observation that this teaches you to be ready to improve and adapt to your environment.
Kimberly Stein
I think the sticker idea is very creative and could definitely be a useful tool for campus interviews. Unfortunately, I don't do many campus interviews so I have to be equally creative over the phone when delivering this sort of information.
One thing that we definitely do not do is provide comparison information about other schools in the area. From what I have been told by our executive director and from what I have read in this training module, I do not think it is our place to discuss/compare our programs to other schools. We are to be the expert in OUR school and to encourage the student to contact the other schools' agents if they seek comparison information. If there is ever a grey area, I try to avoid it to ensure that I stay within federal/state/school compliance.
A lot has changed over the last year or so and what I like about my college is that we make changes as we learn about the new federal rules instead of waiting until they pile up and then making a ton of changes all at once. I think this is an effective strategy because it creates a culture of change and teaches us to always be ready to improve and adapt to our environment.
To be more specific, we have listed many more documents on our websites, cited all sources whenever we list employment data, and we have added pages to our admissions packages which better explains the enrollment agreement, etc.
