first impressions and being on the same page with admin reps
yes I do believe that first impressions are the most important. but its awful hard to recover when admin reps tell prospective students one thing and then the students find out that it doesn't happen that way. Good reason to be on the same page from the front office to the lab floor. No misconceptions of what they will be doing and or recieving
Julia,
This is really unfortunately. Is there a particular pattern of topics that perhaps could be addressed?
Susan Backofen
We frequently run into discrepancies between what the students have been told and the actual policies.
This means that we have to turn into turnaround salespeople as well as instructors in an effort to retain the students after they realize that things might not be exactly as they were told.
Sometimes the students are angry enough to quit school. At the very least, they're disgruntled and the instructor has to deal with it for the entire term.
Losing a student affects our statistics, which doesn't seem entirely fair since we didn't create the problem in the first place. We are always playing "catch up" to try to undo the damage. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
Everybody needs to be held accountable for a lost student, not just the instructors.
Juliana,
Great idea...having times when everyone is in the same room and can help articulate what is truly involved with the program goes a long way.
Susan Backofen
I totally agree. It makes an institution look unprofessional when an Admissions Rep does not have a basic understanding of the program which they are presenting to the prospective student.
I believe having in-service training with both the Admission Reps and the Instructors and Program Directors could help get everyone on the same page and address any misunderstandings.
I truly commend you for taking the extra step in expressing the importance of this phase during the student's process.I find that it is not always necessarily inacurate information however, misinterpreted information due to lack of a full explanation. It is extremly important that everyone understands the impact of this in regards to retention. Thank you from an academic point of view.
Nicole--
What an akward experience. Sounds like you handled it well and I really like your suggestion to have admissions be part of your meetings. The closer faculty and admissions can work together, the better the communication and the more accurate the information to prospective students.
Susan
I have experienced a not pleasant experience as the instructor in a class and my 6 students mis-informed by Admissions about the reason they were taking my entry-level class. It is the worst feeling being the instructor and knowing what Admissions said is incorrect just to get the students to sign up.
I ended up being on the spot in the classroom and apologizing to the students.
I did report the incident to the Admissions Director and hopefully don't have to encounter that again. I also suggested to my Director of Education that since we are a small career college they should include the Admissions reps in our Faculty meetings. Because the faculty team has never been introduced to the Admissions team. Not good.
Philip--
Thanks for stepping up! Just like our students, employees also need to 'know the rules', and that means giving accurate information and exceptional service.
Susan
Being the Enrollment Services Director for my school - I run the Admission Department. My thought is that it starts with the management of the Admissions team. If im not managing corretly and my Admissions Advisors are giving out inacurate information then I am not doing my job. I hold all Advisors accountable for what they say. It starts from my team all the way through the process. Each department manager needs to hold their staff equally accountable for the school's policies and procedures. This way there shouldnt be any misunderstandings.
I definitely agree, it is important that we al speak the same language with the students. Sometimes the students come with expectations that are not real and some time is because what they have been told in admission. But once the student is enrolled we have to deal with that situation the best way possible. That misunderstanding doesn’t have to result in a dropped student.
David--
I couldn't agree more. Retention starts in admissions and everyone needs to be setting the appropriate expectations.
Susan
