Also good to have admissions sit in a class, too. Do all you can to create an excellent relationship with both students and admissions reps.
Dr. B
I am not envolved in admissions as I am instructor. I think its a great idea for a prospective student to sit in on a class and see what is actually going on and what they are going to learn.
Good, David. The key is that all of you are telling the same story.
Dr. B
Our admissions team is a high priority at our school. They do a good job of enrolling students in our programs.
Although they have improved greatly over the last two years I am sure there will be more progress to come.
I think our current admissions process works really well, judging by the waiting list for students to start classes. Listening to comments from students, there maybe cases where honesty about the industry takes a backseat to the desire to fulfill targeted projections. Every day we see tours of the campus given to prospective students and the guides appear to be very informed about the programs we teach, but it would be nice to all the information given to them.
I beleave the admissions processes is pretty good now, I see them and hear them weekley as they bring potential students around to all the classes and explain what is going on in that class and what the class is all about.
Admissions requires some very talented and dedicated people to balance the needs of incoming students with the needs of department goals. To be an effective organization we must have students in class. If a student tells his rep they are ready then we should give them the opportunity.
Anything may be improved upon. I liked the double check lists.
I completely agree with you. It always amazes me when students apply to a program and know absolutely nothing about it. It saddends me to see students enrolled simply because they can pay. If admissions processes are not improved we'll never improve the reputation of for profit schools.
I believe that in our program specifically, the entrance test needs to be more difficult. Although we have recently changed it, there are still students that may not have the academic abilities that it takes to be successful. I also believe that prospective students need to have it spelled out very clearly how much time outside of school will need to be spent on studying, homework, etc. Sometimes students aren't prepared for that & it seems to come as quite a shock.
I do feel the admissions process can be improved. The development of a checklist specific to our program could be invaluable to an admissons representative who has many programs to represent.
During the first day of a new module, I always ask the student "What life situations led you to choose this career path" About half of the students say that the admission rep chose for them or this was the program that was available at the time. A few also say they want to be in Medicine but do not want to touch patients; body fluids, needles etc... Occassionally the student can not pass the entrance exam for the program they really wanted and they are just shifted over to another that they can get into. I think we should do a better job of finding out the student interests and skill sets before we just stick them in a class just because we need to fill it.
I like the idea of a check off sheet.I think it would give the student some idea of what they were getting in to and what may be required of them. Most of the time, when a student leaves the program, it is in the first 1-2 modules. They often say it was not what they thought it would be or that they are not really interested in the field. They also say that they do not like research or reading or computers. I am always surprised because this is all we do! I even have some students that graduate (they did not want to quit what they started) but never work in the field as they really do not enjoy it.
I think every admission rep should be required to spend a day in a classroom, to see for them selves what the students do in each program.
I find it a very provocative idea that retention starts in admissions. At this school, it seems that the admission rep gets them in the door and the education department is wholly responsible for retaining them. When the student withdraws, the education department is always at fault.
As an instructor, I do not actually know what the specific admission process for our institution entails. However, the general ed faculty have discussed wanting more remedial classes so that students will have a greater chance of success and hence, a higher retention rate.
Definitely, our admissions processes can improve in many ways. The interview process can be more personal so the admissions rep will have additional (helpful) information when students are challenged and overwhelmed with college and school life in general. If main focus is the student and not only on the numbers, retention will be higher. More training programs for the Admissions team, involvement of career services right from the beginning are just a few of the ideal scenarios I believe can help increase retention.
I hear you. We should always be concerned about the probablity of success. The idea is to link with admissions early in the process to help all to predict the probability of success.
Dr. B
As an Instructor in my facility I get to see differant issues with the students, and their frustrations. The reps do provide info on the training programs and the job opportunities, however they tend to sugar coat the responsibilities of the student. They also sugar coat the job opportunities to inflate the students hopes for premium jobs. Sometimes the reps act as used car salesmans to sell the product no matter what the reading or writing skills of the future student. The best way to improve the addmission proccess would be to have all students having to be tested for basic intelligence, not to see if they see their breath in the mirror. also they should let the student know that high school is over and an effort will have to be put into their learning if they plan to succeed in this chosen field. The no student left behind was not meant to pass students that still cannot read or write and hand them a diploma, to me that is leaving a student behind.
Yes, our admissions process tends to be a little weak in qualifing the student's interest and matching with his/her professional training selection. The check lists we utilize seem to be more internally focused and we can learn a lot from the ideas presented in the first module of this course.
I definitely think it should be a "recommended option" for prospective students to sit in on one class in their anticipated program of study. This may not necessarily have to be one at the introductory level; it can be any class. For example, the program in which I teach has periodic presentations. This might be an excellent opportunity for a prospective student to see actual students' work and listen to how they speak about it.
This can go a long way in ensuring that the prospective student receives a realistic sense of what is expected. In a way, it could set in motion the concept of mentorship--an upper level student beginning to take a new student under her wing.
Of course. There is always room for improvement. As a member of the Academics Team, it is imperative that we/I accept the responsibility of providing product knowledge to our Admissions Team. This needs to be constant and ongoing--as a healthy curriculum is always under review and open for improvement and Team Membership is always evolving. As part of this product knowledge training, it is important that we assist our Admissions Teammates with the setting of accurate expectations for incoming students.
