Bernard, that's a great point. It sounds like you want to make sure that your students have a support team after they have enrolled to help with any concerns. Awesome job.
Dr. Jean Norris
I encourage students to share the benefit of attending school with me by letting them know that I am accessible to them for any concerns, questions, and just being there for support. Our actions will speak louder than words. The enrollment process does not end when the student has finally enrolled.
It looks like you are tailoring your conversations to each individual student Roberta. This will help you build rapport and a meaningful relationship with the students because each conversation will be focused on the student.
Dr. Jean Norris
I encourage students to share the benefits of attending our school by continuing to ask questions regarding how this would benefit them as well as keeping them engaged in conversation. The questions I ask will depend on the student and there interests and vision.
Pamela, it certainly sounds like you have a passion for working with your students. I love to hear this. You bring up a great point about using the tour to showcase the benefits of your school with students. Great job.
Dr. Jean Norris
I too am blessed with a comfortable and private office, a great place to get to know each other (build a relationship - through open ended questions and sharing articles about the profession and success stories). It all comes together during our TOUR of this fabulous 30 y/o school. We have many special sites along the tour, at which we point out various attributes and benefits, each tour has a different focus and outcome, depending on what we've learned before the tour. The best part, though, is when the propect has an opportunity to converse with a student. It never fails to excite and enchant me with the outcome. I have found, that without exception, if you ask a student what they 'love and dislike most' about the school, the answer is always the same...what they hate (ie: learning Anatomy) is exactly what they love (learning and working with Anatomy)! It has a wonderful effect on the prospect...it makes them curious and eager at the same time. The discussion after the tour is always animated.
Christie,
Interesting question. What do you do when a prospective student says they don't know the answer?
Dr. Jean Norris
I like to ask them how it would feel to graduate from the program- and how that would change their life.
I ask them about what will coming back to school give you that they presently don't have in their current life. This gets them talking about the benefits they would receive from going to college.
carlos,
It sounds like you work to understand how the change your student looks to make will benefit not only their future but also those individuals that are important to them, is that right?
Shannon Gormley
Michael,
Thanks for sharing your approach. It's great that you ask the student to articulate the specific benefit that they see for themselves at various points during your tour. That practice eliminates the need for you to guess at what a potential benefit may be! Sometimes if the student doesn't see a benefit right away, it may be because it's not something that is important to them at that moment.
Shannon Gormley
At each point on my Tour I ask my students how it would benefit them or not. If it does not I ask why and offer possible solutions.
How the changes in there career path are going to affect there life, family and future.
Thanks Sharon. It is critical for the student's retention and sucessful graduation that we impress this upon them right away. It is great to have a student have a strong belief in how their education is going to be impactful in their lives.
Sangeetha, great point. By asking those open-ended questions, the student can share a variety of experiences and then you can tailor your response to that student and provide the benefits of attending your school. Great job.
Shannon Gormley
Ask many open ended questions and encourage students to share their goals and aspirations. This can segway into building value for attending school.
Jeffrey, interesting. It sounds like you find it effective to have the student verbalize why attending school is important. Do I have that right? I think that is a great point and it allows you to get to know what is important to the student.
Shannon Gormley
To have a student share the benefits of attending school I ask, "What will this do for you?". It's not asking "why" and it makes then relate to their own life presently.
Maria, that is exactly right. Each student will bring their unique needs to you and you can help them by providing the benefits that fit their need. Thanks!
Shannon Gormley
Depends if the student is graduate level or bachelor or if the student work or not. That depend or the circustance of the student.
