Mary,
Your admissions department should welcome instructor participation easily. Nothing helps "sell" the school more than making a connection to the instructor. Aids in retention too.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
yes, our process can be improved by enrolling students who may have experience already into the field and have a great understanding for the requirements of the field. this will help with graduate employments in the end.
For those students who never been in the field of study, provide a check list and provide them a true real life of what the field entails and type of jobs they can get. Also, make the students speak to instructors and graduates to get real sense of what they are going to enter into
Suzanne,
A great reply and so right on. Thank you for this post.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
Heather,
I think that our Admissions Department does a great job, however, I like the idea of having our Career Services Department be a part of admissions process, but can honestly say that I don't think they have the time. While I think it is important for the student to have this information to determine if this is the best course of action to take, I would hope that the student would have already done their research on their new profession prior to spending their money. What might be a better solution, is having Career Services develop listing of all students who have been placed in externships/jobs within that field. Another piece that our Admissions Department continues to do and increases retention to a degree, is they will f/u with the student, once they start, either in the classroom or by phone or email and ask how everything is going. There can never be too much attention given to the student to make them feel support by the entire school department.
Assess your current admissions processes. Look at how clearly the prospect is helped to learn about your training programs and the job opportunities. Do you feel your admission processes can be improved to increase student retention? How?
Susan,
Setting proper expectations with the students from the beginning sets everyone on the proper path. Glad to read about the results of implementing interviews for all prospective students. I am willing to bet student satisfaction has increased as well.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
Our admissions processes were updated a year ago to include an admissions interview for students at all levels and not just at the doctoral level. Based on experience, we noticed that especially undergraduate students and some master's degree students were underestimating the time commitment required to be successful in the individual courses and programs overall. This led to the implementation of interviews for all degree programs. In the last year, we have noticed a significant increase in student course completion rates. We have also noticed that the extra step in the admissions process allows us as a school to identify areas of misunderstanding on the part of the student and allowed the student sufficient time to ask additional questions.
Jacqueline,
You are absolutely correct. Ultimately it is the student's performance that makes for their success. The students that choose the appeal process are working the system and feel entitled. That will always happen to some extent.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
Unfortunately, we already do that AND that's not the end of the issue. "Letting your professor know ahead of time" does not mean that the student bears no responsibility for what he or she has missed in class. Alternately, there are occasionally students who file grade appeals at the end of the semester because "I went to every class and did most of the work." Often times when reviewing these appeals I notice that the students may have missed a final paper or test entirely, may have missing homework assignments, or performed poorly throughout the term. Attendance in class does not equal success; absence does not equal failure. The bulk of the student's performance lies in his or her effort, engagement, and understanding of expectations.
Jacqueline,
OR provide product knowledge to the admissions department and clarify the message. What the Admissions person should say is, "We know life gets in they way sometimes and you might miss a class. Let your professor know ahead of time". Similar content, clearer expectation.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
I think our current admissions process lacks a discussion about understanding the expectations for successful college students. I have heard admissions representatives leading tours use sweeping generalizations to put the students at ease like, "if you have any problems at all, this is where you come" or "it's ok if you miss class, just let your professor know." Sometimes these students are shocked by the workload or expectations faculty has for them. I think we could easily improve retention by involving faculty and departmental staff other than admissions in the process.
Monica,
Gathering around the coffee machine often leads to good conversations and uncovers things that need to be discussed.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
Yes, in my school we are focused in the demographic profile, however it would be very helpful to implements a check list mentioned in this module. Since we are an online school we could also implement a virtual coffee with some of the faculty and administrative personnel to welcome the new students as well as provide them more info about the program they'd like to enroll
Renee,
Thank you for your post. It is great that the checklist concept is one that you want to bring to your school. Students being prepared for school helps them finish school.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
The admissions staff is amazing at our campus! They have passion for the students and know each of the programs. Do I think that the admissions process can improve? Deffinitely! I think this starts with the student. Unfortunately, students come in without doing research and has the excitement and expectation of signing up for school now. I feel the admissions process depends on how the student comes in, the excitement of the moment.
I like this idea of a doing research on the student and their resons for staying and also the their success. I also love the checklist idea! I plan on discussing this with my dean and admissions director.
Annie,
And visa versa. If Admissions cannot come to the other departments as often as possible, folks from other departments should visit with Admissions.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
Well every department always has room to grow as in room to get better. With our company I think the admissions team should spend time with other departments before they start taking leads so they get a better understanding of the school as a whole.
Karen,
Providing product knowledge sessions for Admissions with information from the Education and Career Services department on a regular basis could help to assure student expectations are properly set.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
I believe our admissions process can improve by focusing more on students expectations versus reality in the field. For most of our Billing and Coding students, they believe from the very beginning that they can complete their program and begin working from home. This is true, to an extent, because students must get experience prior to any one offering to trust them with their billing needs.
Dorothy,
An extended or continuing orientation is helpful. It really is not orientation as much as acclimating students or strengthening the bond between the student and the school.
Dr. Ron Hansen
