Institutional Assessment Deborah Knaust Developing a Marketing Plan Eleni Hoffhines

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Institutional AssessmentDeborah Knaust
Developing a Marketing PlanEleni Hoffhines
Recruitment Planning 101
St. Paul, Minnesota
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Institutional Assessment

• Some ideas and information were taken from the
  NAFSA
• Management Development Program, May 2004.
• Reinforce your strengths and transform
• your weaknesses
• Consider

School mission Recruitment and retention Publications, handouts, website, etc. Resources (Staff, Budget, etc.) Academic Programs Tuition, scholarships, financial aid Fund raising programs Institution Location and Physical Facilities Other
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Look at your current situation

• International Student enrollment
• At the University of St. Thomas
• 314 Graduate
• 62 Undergraduate
• 52 on OPT
• 428 total for Fall 2004
• Countries represented
• At the University of St. Thomas
• 76 countries represented, the Top 5 countries
  are
• India
• Nepal
• P.R. China
• Bangladesh
• Pakistan

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Look at your current situation

• How students learn about your institution
• At the University of St. Thomas
• Word of mouth (Friends, family, colleagues,
  etc.)
• Personal visits from International Admissions
  Office
• Website (University and office)
• Faculty interactions (research and volunteer
  projects)
• Exchange Students
• Other
• Other things to consider
• Application process / fee / deadlines
• Campus reputation, culture and other related
  issues
• Unique issues at your institution

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Evaluate your situation using SWOT with a twist

• SWOT with an Environmental Scan
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities (Current and Potential)
• Threats (Current and Potential)

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Environmental Scan

• Environmental Scan can be focused on large
  scale-events removed from the school such as the
  passage of legislation or campus events such as a
  change in personnel, a new admissions policy or a
  change in the availability of housing.
• To make the concept more workable, you can break
  the Environment into 11 categories (based on
  Egan, G. 1993).

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11 Environment Categories
Institution International Education
Trends Global Trends Events Government Social
Trends Economy Physical Environment Changing
Demographics Political Climate Competitors Emergi
ng Technology

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Why an Environmental Scan?

• If your office/department is in need of strategic
  focus and direction, an environmental scan is a
  useful way to begin.
• Environmental scans are an effective means by
  which you can communicate the big picture to
  senior administrators.
• Conducting an environmental scan could provide
  helpful context to accompany budget requests.
• As an internal exercise, conducting an
  environmental scan is a good way for you to pull
  your thoughts together in an annual updating of
  your programs strategy.

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Example SWOT and Environmental Scan

• Institution Example from the University of St.
  Thomas
• Strengths
• Reputation in Midwest
• Location
• Legacy / Word of mouth very strong
• Strong Exchange Student Agreements
• Personal attention for students
• Weaknesses
• Location
• Few International Student Scholarships
• Tuition costs are higher than other nearby
  schools
• Recent budget cut-backs - difficult to do more
  with less
• Changes in College of Business transition

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Example SWOT and Environmental Scan

• Institution Example from the University of St.
  Thomas
• Opportunities (Current and Potential)
• ELS Language Center located on our campus
• New residence hall being built
• Downtown MPLS campus expanding
  Entrepreneurial Building
• Capital Campaign to begin (possibly more for
  scholarships)
• Changes in College of Business accreditation
• Law School increase in International Students
  enrollment
•  
• Threats (Current and Potential)
• Tuition costs are high predicted to continue
  to rise in the future
• Other nearby schools have more scholarships for
  Intl Students

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ELS Language Center Recruiting

• Visit ELS Language Center classes each month at
  the start of new program.
• Give brief overview of St. Thomas and academic
  programs
• Advantage of this recruitment strategy is
  students are already on campus.
• Send notes after visit to students who indicated
  an interest.
• Offer a scholarship

ELS
UST
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Community College Recruiting

• Attend Community College Fairs in collaboration
  with our Undergraduate Admissions office.
• Send notes to students who indicated interest in
  St. Thomas.
• About a week later send application packet
• Advantage of community college visits is students
  are already in the U.S.
• Offer a scholarship

ELS
UST
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Hobsons

• Contracted in August with Hobsons for one year to
  advertise on their website and in two of their
  magazines, Latin America and Asia
• Receive weekly spread sheets with names of
  students who are inquiring
• Send application packets

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Local High Schools

• Collaborate with undergraduate admissions
  counselors to visit local high schools and meet
  with high school counselors and international
  students.
• Advantage is that students are already here.

UST
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Embassy Visits

• Visit Embassy and meet with officials to
  establish relationships

UAE
OMAN
KUWAIT
BAHRAIN
SAUDI ARABIA