Typically, the Student Search ends when a suspect student “raises their hand” and becomes a prospect, handed off to the admissions office.
But the search process can do much more, according to Jacquelyn D. Elliott, Ed.D., Chief Enrollment Specialist at Marion Military Institute and President of enrollmentFUEL. A reimagined search process can be a great way to establish a two-way relationship with students and help them on their road to success.
“People think ‘Well, search is search. It’s only purpose is to get the student into the funnel,’” Elliott said. “Why? Why can’t it be more of a SEM effort to create data points to help us respond to student needs? Why can’t search be fun for students? Why aren’t we trying to learn about them? It’s never too early in the process of recruitment to ask a student who they are. If the student feels important, the institution’s message is better received.”
Not all inquiries are created equally
“If we are willing to take a risk and reimagine Student Search as an integral part of a holistic recruitment funnel, our counseling team can have better information about that student and get more students to matriculate,” Elliott said.
For example, almost all institutions build search as a one-way process: informing students about the school.
“Really, what we want to do is capture information about the student during the search process that gives us insight about their personalities, college interests, and expectations,” Elliott said. “That’s intel we can feed to admissions counselors right out of the gate.”
"It’s never too early in the process of recruitment to ask a student who they are. If the student feels important, the institution’s message is better received.”
Even beyond recruitment, a more holistic Student Search process can help with retention and success. For example, if you ask a student for three self-descriptive words at search, and that student says “shy,” that may impact how to structure their campus visit, where you position them in a group activity, or whether you offer some one-on-one time for questions.
“It’s that type of more in-depth collection at the very early stages that can help inform counseling staff and help recruit students in more purposeful and meaningful way,” Elliott said.
Case study of SEM search: Data-driven decisions
Elliott described a case study of an institution that developed a strategic enrollment management Student Search, using information collected during search to drive offerings from offices across campus, including admissions, career/student services, and academics.
“All of these offices are already creating sessions, planning classes, and so on -- but now they can do it with data-driven information about what the incoming students need and expect,” Elliott said.
In Elliott’s example case, incoming freshmen identified specific topics during search they hoped to learn in college. Three of the top interests were the ability to accept criticism, think critically, and learn how to maintain work/life balance. The admissions office used this information to create targeted admissions mailings in each area with tips. Student services and career planning then established new student programming around those themes. And faculty utilized the information to hone their intro classes’ curriculum and syllabi.
“Freshman courses are usually designed in the absence of student input,” Elliott said. “A more robust search process would let us know what learning outcomes the students say they need -- areas of deficiency or workforce needs -- and we can structure the courses with more of those kinds of opportunities.” For example, to achieve the learning outcome of being able to accept and grow with criticism, the professor may incorporate more presentations and peer feedback into the course.
Although the institution is only one cycle into this approach, they have already enrolled their largest entering freshman class in history with the lowest summer melt in history.
Revolutionize your search
Elliott will talk more in-depth about this remarkable case study, and also present example landing pages used to collect information about the student early in the search process, during her session “Executing a SEM Student Search Process” at the AACRAO SEM Conference.
Be more strategic about your enrollment goals. Learn more about the AACRAO SEM Conference, Nov. 11-14, 2018, in Washington, D.C.