Tara Augustine

Many of the areas covered in this section warn us to stay away from using absolutes or guarantees. This is true in regards to employment, financial aid, and even facilities. You also want to avoid any verbiage in which you are creating comparisons with other schools. Misrepresentation is what you want to steer clear of, and also implying something that may be inaccurate.

I strongly believe that by commiting to always being truthful, transparent and helpful you create the culture of stellar student service. In the reading, when it mentioned that the best way to overcome mistakes with students is in the delivery, attitude, and positive interactions with the student it rang true. "Mistakes happen: we’re only human, at the end of the day. So if you find that the customer is indeed right in whatever complaint they’re making or issue they raise, the best thing you can do is face up to it. This is a much more effective way of getting… >>>

Institutions must stay compliant not only with what is being said to actual prospective students, but they must also be compliant with their marketing and advertising to all individuals who might see their ad.  In recent years, I know marketing through social media has become increasingly impactful, but I was surprised to find from the learning that around 50% of the over 750 million people that use Facebook do so on a daily basis. So, it is very important for our posts to be accurate.

All staff should read through their institution Catalog and have a copy readily accessible. Catalogs are updated and revised from time to time, and it is important to review and understand those updates as they occur. Additionally Student Handbooks are sources of information that staff members should familiarize themselves with to help understand the rules and policies of your institution.

One of the regulations is that employment predictions, or salary projections must be factual and based upon reliable statistical data. A good resource for this is the BLS, or Bureau of Labor and Statistics.  Encourage students to do their own research in this area and to utilize the BLS as a supporting resource.

Admissions personnel are to provide prospective students with truthful and honest information to make an informed decision before enrolling. In order to accomplish this, staff members need to have on-going, continuing education to ensure they are apprised of all the rules and regulations within their state and school.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, has detailed information about every occupation. This includes, but is not limited to, salary ranges, salaries by location, job outlook/job growth, and educational influence on those jobs. It is a very helpful resource and we encourage our students to review this information.

I completely agree with attempting to experience aspects of your institution's program first hand. Sitting in on a class, visiting your clinical sites, talking with the professors - all these things help you, as a representative of the institution, to provide beneficial personal insight to share your experience with prospective students.

Adhering to your institutions Admissions Checklist helps ensure the information is covered with the student in an orderly fashion and that it is covered to completion. This helps also to guide each representative to provide the same experience to each of their prospective students.

It is important to do continuing education annually to stay up to date on regulations and policies within the postsecondary education field within our respective states.