By Kevin Pollock, Ph.D., President, Central Carolina Technical College and Senior Consultant, AACRAO Consulting
It all started as a casual conversation with fellow presidents attending a conference about our connections, or lack of connections, with those in student services, particularly in the admissions area. A story was shared about a president who, after making a personnel change in the enrollment management area at a college, called together all the employees in the area for a pep talk. He told them what a special group they were. He promised them that the admissions area would be the enviable office where employees would want to work. The problem was he never followed through on any promises. Employees left, positions were not posted and filled, and morale eroded to new lows.
“Not very smart” was the first comment made in our group. There was agreement all around. There was also an acknowledgment that there were often multiple layers of administration between the presidents and those in admissions, making it difficult for presidents to have a solid understanding of the workings of those offices. These layers between the president and those in student services were sometimes problematic. Our discussion caused me to ask a question: “What one piece of advice would you give, or question you would like answered, from those in admissions or student services? From that point on, the conversation grew…
The first president jumped in with, “We have conversion issues. There does not seem to be a real reason. Why is that?”
A second president asked, “Why can’t we convert dual-enrolled students? They are already here; why don’t they want to stay?”
Another president simply said, “Nobody seems to ask us what data we really need. It seems to be a guessing game.”
Questions and comments abounded, and soon, the topic of advising came to the forefront. One president pushed for more faculty in advising, while another president did not want faculty anywhere near advising. Concerning advising, a third president offered, “If you don’t ask students what their goals are and what we can do to help them in the first two minutes, we are going to lose them.” She was asked if those advising her students asked those types of questions, and she admitted she did not know the answer.
The overall student experience was a topic of conversation. A president noted, “There should be more touches during the student experience, so we know what is working and what is not working.” Another lamented, “We should be automating more things so we don’t use so much paper. Not to replace people but to streamline the work.”
One president wanted to know, “What are the barriers you experience day-to-day that I don’t know about?”
One president just firmly stated, “Tell the people at the front desk to treat people like family.”
After a few minutes, the conversation turned from questions to recognizing the impact student services provide. One president mused, “People may not remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel. Quality matters.” This brought another president to state, “They need to think of themselves as community organizers rather than student services representatives.” A reply from a third president, “Front line staff, including custodians, are the most important people because they are the first face of the institution. People may stay or leave because of you.”
What it All Means
The conversation and questions showed the president’s range of knowledge and familiarity with those in student services, as well as, at times, a lack of knowledge of what was happening in these critical college offices. Our discussion moved from the simple questions and comments to something deeper: how to try and find a better way to communicate.
After some time passed, one president noted the importance of the work being done: “Where else can you work, except maybe health care, where you can change someone’s life, and maybe not even know you did it?”
As the group broke up, there was agreement that we had just had a very useful conversation and that there was a need to carry that conversation back to our campuses. In a sense, we had raised more questions than answers, more areas of concern than before, and a recognition that there were many layers between the president and those in admissions and student services. It was hard for presidents to share their thoughts on admissions and student services and difficult for them to understand the areas conceptually. We did recognize that work needed to be done on our campuses.
The difficulty with any general call to action to address the communication gap between presidents and those in student services are often the people themselves. Most presidents do not want to micromanage, and the concern is that direct contact with those in student services might be perceived as such. The real question is how to better understand the needs of the college, through the eyes of the president, compared to the reality known by those doing the direct work with students. Throughout my time as a college president, I would often meet with the entire student services area once a semester for a general question and answer session. These were beneficial for all as we got to know each other, and the sharing of information was useful for all. Perhaps that might be a starting point for some presidents. At the least, it is time for presidents to better understand and support those in student services and find new ways to improve communication on their campuses.
One of the presidents smiled at me as we were leaving and said, “Look what you started.” He then said to me: “It was a great question. You need to bring another question the next time we are all together.”