We are in the rebuilding stages of our admissions department, so this will be a great opportunities to put into practice these process and to measure the results they have on retention.
Hey Lucinda,
I know one thing that our admissions department does, is to stay in contact with our new students. Obviously they are in constant contact with the students through the enrollment process all the way through orientation and the first day of school. On top of that, our admissions team tracks each new student for the first two to three weeks of each quarter to ensure they are attending. If they do not, they are the first ones on the phone trying to find out where they are. After that time period, they also get updates from me. I continually track students that are out of school, and when I come across first quarter students that have been missing class, I refer those students to their respective admissions representative. We have found that first quarter students are much more likely to give a legitmate reason/concern for missing class to their rep, who they feel they know pretty well, as opposed to myself or somebody else in the Education Department that they may have only met on a tour of campus. Each school is different in size and format, so you may not be able to track individual attendance like our school is able to, but being able to use the reps as a retention tool after the quarter has started is a big help.
Hi Jack
Do you have any suggestions for Lucinda as to what Admissions does best to aid in retaining students?
Hi Lucinda
Achieving a partnership with Admissions can be helpful. Retention improves when all departments work together to help students succeed. And, it starts with Admissions.
I imagine you do a drop analysis and/or have a drop report. This might be the first step in raising awareness of what doesn't work.
Thank you for your response.
I believe the admissions processes can benefit from augmentations. Typically, prospects are interviewed and toured. They are not usually introduced to program directors or instructors. They do not typically observe classes or be provided with traits of successful students.
I like the idea of developing a checklist of traits from successful students and graduates.
Hi Jack
You are right that Admissions efforts are very important. It is crucial for the Admission Department to remain involved with the student. Admissions is usually the first contact students make with the school.
Everyone wants students to be successful. Perhaps if Admissions knew the profile of a successful student or could tell Education (although instructors can often tell immediately) which students might need more support it might improve retention.
Ours works in a similar fashion. They bring prospective students in multiple times, take them on a tour, follow-up with calls, and have an Orientation before our quarte starts. If they do not come to Orientation, they are required to meet one on one with our Admissions Director before starting the quarter. I feel that where our Admissions Department could use some work is by gathering more infomration on the prospective students in order to 'weed' out students that are statistically not likely to be successful. One other thing that our Admissions group does that is great, is that they follow the student through their first quarter. If they are not attending, they are informed, and are more than happy to help get the student back in class.
