Complex and automated CRM systems can make interactions and interventions with students feel anonymous, even robotic. And institutional cultures, in many cases, place the onus on the student to make 100 percent of the effort -- “they come to us”
when they need something.
“The human side of enrollment is often overlooked,” said Alex Terwilliger, Leavenworth Student & Academic Services Manager at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus (KUEC). That’s why KUEC has spent the last two years shifting their
culture away from the more passive and dehumanizing norm, toward a more dynamic and relational one.
“We want to see our students as people with hopes, dreams, and aspirations, and use our CRM to support that -- rather than seeing our jobs as a series of tasks,” Terwilliger said. “We believe if we place the human first and invest effort
in those humans, enrollment will come.”
Since the implementation of the new CRM and student-centered culture, enrollment has increased almost 25 percent.
Changing the norm: Resistance to acceptance
The time was ripe to start the culture shift in 2017. At first, there was cultural resistance. It was a major paradigm shift from students investing all of the effort to employes embracing the core values of creating a culture of “hustle”
for students -- proactive rather than reactive interactions.
In describing the shift, Terwilliger referenced Kubler Ross’ change curve -- which aligned
with the five stages of grief -- as part of the process.
“I got to build my own team, so I was able to hire the cultural norm from the beginning,” Terwilliger said. “For others, as we got to the bottom of the pit [of the change curve], where people resist everything, they had to decide whether
they were going to leave or make the choice to stay and lean into these core values.”
Professional development sessions, one-on-one conversations, and other trainings were key to supporting those employees who were ready to change. Since the implementation of the new CRM and student-centered culture, enrollment has increased almost 25
percent.
CRM: Asset, not taskmaster
“We had to figure out how to operate ‘human first’ practically, using our CRM,” said Penny Jones, Program Assistant, Student Services. “How do we assist students with their hopes and dreams while using the CRM? We have to
look at it as an asset, rather than the task master.”
In this vision, the CRM provides the opportunity to connect with students, putting the task in front of staff to prompt them to reach out to students and continue the conversation about what they need.
“The culture change helps us to see CRM-driven tasks as opportunities to advance the relationship and change a student’s life -- so we’re not robots making phone calls, but humans having an intentional conversation with another,”
Terwilliger said.
Shift culture on your campus
Terwilliger and Jones will discuss “The Human Side of Enrollment Management” in their session at the AACRAO SEM Conference in November. They’ll discuss how to customize the CRM on your campus to create automatic rules for more effective engagement, as well as how to build the campus culture around the CRM to support student success. Learn more and register now.