In our new environment, and having worked in other schools, I was please to see that my college has already implemented so much of these practices already.

This section made me realize how important it is for me to have the reps the sharpest tools in there toolbox. They need to be able to present the most recent and accurate data at all times, not just when the student asks for it, but to use it to build value as well.

A great refresher on listening

I think the most important step in this process really is questions asking and listening to understand. If a student sees you genuinely listening to there concerns it goes a long way

Which listening method have you found to be most useful? How did you/do you practice these skills?

What are some of the common practices that you all use to prepare for face to face communication. How do you un-nerve?

I've found in my professional career, although it can tend to be a bit difficult to be all things to all people, face to face communication is the most effective form of communication in my line of work. It makes agreement easier.

Keep office quiet

Being engaged?

Is is not modeling

Very true

What kind of programs do you have in place in the community? From what you’ve learned in this course, what programs can you put in place? What kinds of surveys and outcomes assessment plans do you have in place? What are you doing with the information? For the second time annually, this particular university participates in many different fundraisers that help the community. For example during Christmas we participate in Toys for Tots. During Breast Cancer Awareness month we raise money to help find a cure for cancer. During March, we participate in the March of times. All of these community events help give us exposure and provide employees with job satisfaction because they are giving back, but also helping the community. Student surveys are sent out to everyone after they complete a course. However, I believe we need to have more general satisfaction surveys put in place so we can gauge how well we are doing as a university.

How is your school using visuals, radio, and TV to reach students and prospects? What could you be doing more effectively? What advisory boards do you have set up? Are you getting the maximum results from these boards? What could be changed so that the boards and your school benefit? How can Internet marketing play a role in your publicity and public relations efforts? This university does an amazing job with ensuring there are plenty of visuals for the community to see. At career fairs, water bottles, pens, lanyards, coffee mugs and draw-sting bags are all examples of items that are handed out to pretty much everyone who comes to the table. Having something tangible gives the students something to remember. Because we live in an internet-driven world, this university does a fairly decent job marketing online. The website is available 24/7 and in some cases even reaches international students. The only thing that I would change is to add a discussion forum to the site where students can put their "wish list" or wants and needs at each particular location. Being a fairly new university, there have not been any advisory boards set up to date. Advisory boards would be extremely beneficial for this location as we tend to have students with many different needs. Sometimes, working in admissions it is hard to make sure your current students needs are being met while trying to enroll new students. The advisory board would allow a chance for students to get their frustrations out in a constructive way or merely help the university function better.

How do you get information about your school out to your community? Who is responsible. As a result of what you learned so far in this course, what new strategies will you put in place? Who will you assign to coordinate these efforts? Personally, I do not have much knowledge of how information is pushed out to the community. I imagine student services works hard to ensure within our own community are up to date on things that are going on within the university. Outside of the university, we have military out reach coordinators who are responsible for going to local bases and creating lasting relationships and generate new leads for the military population. We also have several working relationships with different employers in the area who have a direct point of contact with the Director of Admissions. Because the particular university that I work for has multiple campus locations- there is only one marketing director that I am aware of who travels to each one individually and comes up with a marketing plan. I personally believe that there should be an "in-house" marking director at each location. This person would be responsible for coordinating all efforts for that specific campus. In order for a person to be an expert on a certain demographic, it is vital for them to be extremely familiar with how that campus operates. It can be challenging to do that when you are worried about marketing strategies for multiple locations.