Enrollment Manager

Dr. Scott Miller
President
Bethany College

Marylouise Fennell, RSM
Principal
Hyatt-Fennell

We’ve written before on the critical topic of transformational presidential leadership. This column is devoted to the relationship between the college president and the chief enrollment officer. Because enrollment is the single most important revenue “driver” at most colleges and universities, the strength of that relationship is critical to institutional success.

In dozens of consultancies at diverse institutions, we’ve found that all have at least one thing in common: a proactive president who demonstrates a commitment to a culture of recruitment and retention.

Keeping Your Eye on the Prize

Urgency and continuity of focus are critical, observes Dr. Joe Pace, a nationally-known specialist in student retention and chairman of the board, PX2 Youth and Higher Education, who also serves as program director, facilitator and speaker for The Pacific Institute in Seattle, WA.

“What we almost always find when we are retained by institutions with slipping recruitment and retention is that the little things that make all the difference to students have slipped through the cracks,” says Pace. He adds, “Just a small lapse in attention to student needs and expectations can result in a critical slippage in students.”

The President

Dr. James L. Fisher, noted author and President-emeritus of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, states, “A transformational leader can be likened to the captain of a ship; others may steer the ship, but the captain must first chart a clear vision.”

With changing student and family demographics, eroding financial support from federal and state governments and competition becoming ever more intense, visible and entrepreneurial presidential leadership is essential.

The visible CEO challenges the status quo, setting priorities while engaging the community and openly linking enrollment to the financial health of the college. He or she leads the desired profile, establishes an organizational structure to facilitate productivity, frames issues and policy and pilots institutional strategies and approaches.

Moreover, the transformative president must demonstrate a keen understanding that buildings, grounds and technology are an integral component of strategic success. This is especially true of health, fitness and athletic-related facilities and amenities: NCAA statistics point out that student participation in varsity and junior varsity teams nationally continues to rise at the rate of about 2 percent a year. As our colleague Dr. Walter M. Bortz III, former president of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, states, “Ensuring that the campus has curb appeal and is filled with first-class technology, faculty and facilities helps to guarantee the necessary enrollment to keep the enterprise operational and growing.”

Championing Enrollment

The president must continually champion enrollment, engaging key leaders in the process while allocating the resources needed to get the job done. Although vision is vital, attention to detail is equally critical. Progress requires a business approach and demands weekly reports from the chief enrollment officer. These should include:

An overall report that includes, but is not limited to, contacts, inquiries, applications, completed applications, acceptances and confirmations;

Individual reports for counselors and call-center personnel that include volume of contacts and conversions, and

Financial aid reports including, but not limited to, pre-awards, awards and acceptances. These three areas are the most crucial, and an effective enrollment president always has command of this information.

The Chief Enrollment Officer

The role of this key individual has become increasingly complex, states Bethany College vice president Sven de Jong, who has successfully implemented a model recommended by The Dysart Group in 2007. After years of “roller coaster” results at Bethany, the model has resulted in three of the College’s largest classes in the past 30 years and the largest head-count in 35 years in 2011. This while also progressively improving the profile of each incoming class.

“Increased competition means that chief enrollment officers must be continuously scanning the enrollment landscape, seeking new approaches and proactively recommending strategic responses to new trends,” he adds. “New trends are pointing to an approach in which enrollment resources must be simultaneously directed not only toward bringing in next year’s class, but also focusing on high school sophomores and juniors, increasing numbers of transfer students and connecting with them in ways and on platforms prospective students expect in today’s highly technologically integrated society.”

Depending on the complexity of the organization, this key campus leader might carry any one of a variety of titles; those of vice president, dean or executive director are among the most common. de Jong is Vice President for Institutional Advancement, with all external affairs (including enrollment and fund raising) falling under his supervision. A Director of Enrollment reports directly to him. “It is imperative that he or she be an active institutional spokesperson, a team builder and an accomplished motivator all while holding the staff accountable,” de Jong noted.

Presidential expectations for this individual include the set-ting of realistic goals and energetic, ongoing participation in website and e-marketing (including social media), print media, direct mail and the college’s first-year program. Further, he or she must understand the vital role of research in analyzing trends, the pivotal role of marketing, the volatile world of admissions and financial aid, the value of student orientation and the necessity of retention and advising. The enrollment manager must also demonstrate the “people” skills to train and motivate the enrollment counselors who work in the field and those who staff the call center.

Finally, the effective chief enrollment officer must operate from a bottom-line perspective, focusing on the objectives of each component reporting to this area. Combining these big-picture and detail-oriented factors leads to a successful outcome, with the result exceeding the sum of its parts.

Dr. Scott D. Miller is President of the College and M.M. Cochran Professor of Leadership Studies at Bethany College in West Virginia. Now in his third college presidency, he recently started his 22nd year as a college CEO.

Dr. Marylouise Fennell, RSM, a former president of Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA, is senior counsel for the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and principal of Hyatt-Fennell, a Higher Education Search Firm.

They have collaborated on nine books, including “President to President: Views on Technology in Higher Education” (2009) and “Presidential Perspectives: Economic Prosperity in the Next Decade” (2011). Both serve as consultants to college presidents and boards.

John W. Dysart
President
The Dysart Group, Inc.

When Dr. Martha Shouldis took over the presidency at Saint Joseph College in Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of her goals was to increase enrollment. In short order, she has achieved that objective.

A new recruitment model was implemented last year that resulted in increases in both applications and acceptances for Fall 2011. The number of newly enrolled students grew by 26% compared to the previous year. Enrollment growth continued through the most recent term. New student headcount is up by 38% for Spring 2012 compared to the same term last year. The total number of students enrolled at SVC has increased by 22% while total credits are up 20%.

According to Dr. Joanne Wolfertz, Vice President/Dean, the outlook for Fall 2012 is very good. Significant increases in applicants for admission have already allowed for greater selectivity for Fall 2012.

John W. Dysart
President
The Dysart Group, Inc.
Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, North Carolina, posted a 34% increase in new student enrollments for Fall 2011. This success has continued into the new term with additional growth realized for Spring 2012.

The good news began with an increase in the size of the customer base. Students indicating an interest in enrolling at Mars Hill College grew by 21% for the January term compared to the same time last year.

The aggressive communication strategies utilized the previous cycle were applied to the new inquiries. Early notification of scholarship eligibility, systematic communication and an emphasis on campus visits resulted in a 27% increase in applications.

Communication with applicants for admission was even more focused. Admission counselors used the telephone, text messaging, email and social media to encourage prospective students to learn more about MHC. Students responded in a positive manner as the number of applicants accepted for admission jumped by 54% over the previous year.

The real evidence of an effective strategy shows in the number of newly enrolled students. The College realized a 29% increase in new students and enrolled the largest Spring class in literally decades.

Recruitment increases continue. The data for upcoming Fall 2012 is very encouraging. Applications for admission are up another 30% compared to the record numbers posted last year. Craig Goforth, Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management, is leading the enrollment team to enroll even more students. He is working to actively educate every prospective student on the advantages of a Mars Hill College experience. In this difficult economy, prospective students and their families must be convinced of the value of a private college experience despite higher costs when compared to public institutions. At Mars Hill College, communicating value is paying dividends.

Dr. Abraham S. Fischler
President Emeritus and University Professor
Nova Southeastern University

During my long career in higher education and dealing with student retention, I have been amazed by the myriad factors that influence persistence. Dozens of research projects have been conducted over the years on retention and we now know several steps that can be taken to positively influence grade level progression and graduation rates. The challenge for colleges and universities is that many of these steps can be difficult to implement, arduous to maintain, politically complicated and expensive.

Curricular updates and advancements can be helpful, but the process for securing such change can take a very long time. Lengthy committee discussions, compromise and differing opinions will be part of the process and these aspects can result in “watered-down” reforms.

Early warning systems definitely work, but require proactive participation by diverse campus constituent groups. Sometimes college and university leaders are able to secure full participation, yet often wide-scale implementation is just not possible.

Retention rates can be improved by making material in-creases in the academic preparation levels of newly enrolled students. Recruiting and matriculating students with higher standardized test scores and higher high school grade point averages can increase graduation rates. Raising standards, however, is not a realistic option for many institutions. Even when there are opportunities to raise standards, other campus improvements also might be necessary to ensure that higher ability students actually enroll.

Higher educational professionals should consider looking to business and industry to find new ways to approach the issue. I learned that dropout rates could be reduced if students took a course in Success. Not the traditional “foundations” course, or typical freshmen year experience course, but an educational experience that emphasizes achievement of goals, teaches more practical life skills and helps students stay motivated. In conjunction with The Pacific Institute, Dr. Joe Pace, Chairman of the Performance Institute, created a course lesson based on proven research using techniques and tactics that have been successful in the business world. The curriculum, Thought Patterns for a Successful Career, has been implemented at a number of colleges and universities throughout the United States with impressive results.

We have all encountered students who have never been successful, and/or have not had the benefit of growing up with appropriate mentors and thus lack the vision or experience to succeed. Even students coming from second and third generation college families, and with better than average academic preparation can struggle. This can be countered by training students on how to dig deep down to find a picture or vision that motivates them.

One of the things we found in both research and in practical application is that people who stay in school have a vision in their mind about a specific outcome; they have a picture that’s very sensory rich. They can touch it, taste it. If a student is trained properly, he/she can tap this information and then use it for motivation and to overcome obstacles. The impact happens one student at a time, but by influencing one student at a time, your retention rate can improve 10 percent over the course of one year.

I recall one adult woman, who worked at the college where she graduated and said she thought about dropping out at least 40 times, but she kept going because of her 3-year-old son, Quentin. The college was able to help her use Quentin as her vision or picture for persisting. This particular college is always looking to find ways of helping their students lock on to a vision, a picture, something in which they take great pride. In this case, it was the student’s son. But visions for motivation can be found in many places for different students. Perhaps it is the dream of attending graduate school, or landing the dream job or making more money or just making parents proud.

Some students may have a clear initial goal, but drop out be-cause their vision isn’t strong enough to take them through the rough spots over a longer period of time. The vision of a new car, for example, might not be enough. Others drop out because the classes aren’t what they expected. The student sees a glossy view book and an exciting web site and the ad-mission counselor helps him or her focus on how the university can meet his or her specific needs. But no one has bothered to share how the university has been marketed with the faculty and other staff and this can create the classic retention risk where expectations do not meet reality. Incorporating those aspects of the institution that attract students into the general educational experience does not mean lowering grading scales, or changing course outlines, but it might mean being aware of what initially excites students about attending college and then taking some proactive measures to make sure the reasons for the initial attraction are reinforced as often as possible.

Students are usually looking for a lifestyle change, and have an image in mind of a better life for themselves. Some faculty and staff think it’s just about the academic programming, the major or impressive faculty credentials. Students may not care about that. They have a dream in their minds, so the more the campus personnel know about the vision or picture, the more they can target that dream.

Colleges and universities have been successfully using this approach to improve class attendance. The simple task of effectively encouraging students to get up and go to class every day requires similar motivation. Colleges and universities can use the same visioning techniques. Constantly remind students of why they enrolled in the first place. Reinforce in the classroom experience why the information provided is important and how it is useful. When possible, help students connect the day-to-day classroom experience with their educational goal. This approach can enable students to consistently overcome obstacles.

There are some very simple things colleges can do to rein-force a student’s motivation:

- Some institutions take a picture of students in cap and gown on the first day of class or during orientation. The pictures can be given to students to put on their notebooks or on their residence hall room bulletin boards.

- Others make a tapestry with the names of everyone in the entering class.

-Some give out T-shirts with student names on the back.

These simple activities can help students create a new social group built around a common goal and success.

This approach to retention is based on research that has been around for 50 or 60 years and places it in a user-friendly context with practical applications. Many colleges and universities have realized significant improvements in retention outcomes by incorporating programs such as Thought Patterns for a Successful Career into their foundations or freshmen year experience course.

The impact of the course for students can be supplemented by providing faculty and staff with available training. Faculty and staff who are student-orientated and have positive expectations of students make a big difference in a college’s retention rate. Faculty is critically important because many students spend more time with them than other campus personnel. Coaches are also very influential for the same reason.

What I have discovered is that the approach described above can be greatly enhanced if, in addition to students learning these skills, faculty, staff and administrators under-stand the basic concepts and apply them when interacting with students. Everyone working on campus should strive to be models, mentors and monitors.

I advocate becoming an “edupreneur”- half educator, half entrepreneur- in order to understand both the business and educational sides of higher education. Sometimes the administrative side does not understand or fully appreciate the educator side and the reverse is as often true. I have been involved in training sessions that have helped the campus community to better understand the student perspective. The training involves exercises designed to allow faculty and staff to examine student encounters differently, while encouraging visualizing various situations from the perspective of students in order to react in ways that will enhance the student experience.

If you take nothing else away from reading this article, at least understand the dictate that “attention equals retention.” Research has consistently shown that paying exceptional attention to students over a period of time will result in improved retention. One could spend three months with 30 students and every day ask them how they’re doing, smile at them, and pay extraordinary attention to them. Over the three-month period, you would see major improvement in retention with this group. The effect multiplies when faculty and staff team up and expand the group of students benefitting from the attention. There’s sort of a law of synergy or a law of physics that comes into effect. I have seen that if I can get 10 out of 20 campus workers to say, “You know, this really makes a lot of sense,” it’s absolutely amazing how you begin to see it reflected in the way they interact with students every day.

Teachers, meaning all faculty and staff on campus, need an intelligent heart: knowledge about their subject and the heart to know how to reach students. Often staff members just want to focus on their every day job and are not concerned with being student focused and customer-oriented. It’s important, however, to achieve the balance of being part of an educational institution and being someone dedicated to student success.

Once staff and faculty have been motivated, how can colleges and universities foster continuation of student-focused attention? Well, it will not work with just a single training session. Follow up training is important and at least annual reinforcement is necessary. Chief administrators must both advocate for and demonstrate commitment to the approach. Bring in experts from off-campus to reignite interest.

Some might think this stuff is too touchy-feely, but it’s not. Research shows that in order to foster change of any type, to create lasting, meaningful synapses in the brain, there must be emotion involved. This emotion is sometimes mistaken as touchy-feely. Behaviors do not change unless there is a synapse in the brain that is sustained by some form of emotion causing motivation. That motivation can be value or threat, but the value works much better and fosters better results. In a democratic society where every vote counts, it is imperative that we provide an adequate education to every person to help them reach their full potential. We cannot afford to hide behind our excuses for not succeeding with every child, regardless of their background.

For more information on “Thought Patterns for a Successful Career,” contact Mark Panciera, President of Performance Institute, at (954) 602-9893 or mpanciera@performanceinst.com. 

John W. Dysart
President
The Dysart Group, Inc.

Retention is an important topic for every college and university. It is a subject we have been actively talking about for nearly fifty years. Committees have been formed, data has been collected and surveys have been conducted. Meetings have been held, papers have been written, strategic initiatives undertaken and personnel have been hired to specifically focus on retention. Yet, for many colleges and universities, little or no progress has been made and it can be extremely frustrating.

Some administrators and leaders are now seeking retention solutions by trying to change the profile of newly enrolled students. Many enrollment managers are charged with the dictate to recruit higher ability students, students with greater ability to pay and students from families with more experience in higher education. Well, we would all like that!

It would be unfortunate, however, for institutions to lose sight of mission. It would be a shame if such an approach to retention lessened national student access to higher education. For some schools, it is time to embrace their historic student population and find better ways to enhance persistence and graduation rates for these students. It is by no means an easy task and might require brand new thinking on the topic and a willingness to try innovative approaches.

Colleges and universities who recruit and enroll at-risk students have an obligation to take extraordinary measures to help these students succeed.

Tad Graham-Handley
President
The Art Institute of New York City

The majority of colleges and universities in America do not have the luxury of being particularly selective. By definition, then, the majority of institutions admit students who are not ideally prepared to succeed in higher education. Many of these students struggle to find their footing, and quite a few fail.

Any college’s retention rate can be predicted fairly accurately given the demographic characteristics of the student body. I and many others have found that four factors are strongly predictive of lower persistence: Low socio-economic status of students’ families; poor quality, on average, of high schools attended; a high percentage of minority students; and a high percentage of students who are the first in their families to attend college.

There are strong ethical, social and financial reasons to help students persist. The above notwithstanding, some colleges have better retention rates than others with similar student demographics. I would venture to guess that nearly all colleges have retention plans in place. Why do some work better than others? The answer lies in the culture of the individual colleges.

A Re-Purposed Parable
Perhaps you have heard the following parable: There was a village by a river. One day a villager was looking at the water and he saw a body floating by. He grabbed a nearby stick and fished the body out. “I don’t know whose body this is, but we ought to bury it,” he told his fellow villagers. So they gave it a respectful burial.

The next day, another body floated by and the villagers fished that one out, too. It turned out the person was still breathing. The villagers bandaged him, fed him, and got him back on his feet. They felt good when the person got well.

In the next few weeks, more bodies floated by. Some of them slipped silently past in the night and the villagers never saw them. Others they spotted and fished out. More than a few they were able to restore to good health. They began to specialize. Some villagers were good at transporting the bodies, others fed them, others treated medical issues, etc. They became increasingly skilled and efficient at dealing with all the bodies, conducting triage, burying the dead ones and saving as many of the live ones as they could. They felt good about the ones they saved.

One day, a particular villager got frustrated by the inexorable flow of bodies. She decided to walk upstream to find out how they were getting in the water in the first place. Her goal was to solve the problem at the source.

Traditionally this story is told to illustrate the difference be-tween charity and social change: The work of the villagers represents the former; the villager walking upstream the latter. There is need in the world for both.

We can regard at-risk students in a similar way. Those who are already in trouble need help immediately. Think of them as if they are already floating down the river. Some are in financial straits, others are overwhelmed academically, some have relationship problems, some have gotten sick, perhaps a few have gotten themselves in conduct trouble, etc. Saving them is definitely worth doing, and we should keep doing it. We need to assign specific “villagers” to help these students, people skilled and efficient at addressing these issues.

Let’s not forget that quite a few of our students are “floating by in the night.” They withdraw without ever talking to any-body at the college. We need to get more skillful at spotting them before they drift away from us permanently.

We should also create conditions “upstream” conducive to keeping students safe, warm and dry in the first place.

Creating Conditions to Help Students Stay in School
The primary opportunity to keep students in school is not financial, it is social. The most powerful motivator for students to persist is a web of positive connections with people in the college community, including other students, faculty and staff.

The reason these efforts work is that they help students to feel like it is not just a school, it is their school. To drop out is to disappoint people they know, who care about them. With-drawing is tantamount to stepping out of the circle, away from the warmth and light of the fire. Therefore it is critical to create conditions whereby students will make such connections early and often.

First let’s talk about positive early interactions with faculty and staff, which strongly correlate with improved persistence. (Incidentally, the opposite is also true– negative interactions are a big risk factor.) Here are some things that we have control over:

Instructors can have discussions with students outside of class. Virtually all such conversations are effective if they take place in a non-evaluative way. Examples include off-the-cuff conversations after class, drop-in meetings during office hours, or even talking informally in line in a coffee shop. Any time we show personal interest in a student’s story, in his or her life, it flips a switch. We can all re-member a teacher who did that for us. It feels wonderful when a teacher takes an interest in us personally. Wherever possible, even in general education courses – especially in general education courses — faculty should encourage active, project-based learning. This is most important early in the program. It is conducive to student engagement. We can and should practice better pedagogy than the so-called chalk-and-talk method.

Faculty should personally call students who are absent, and let them know that it mattered that they were not in class. This is an extremely effective retention tool. Calling is better than e-mailing because it creates an opportunity to connect on a human level.
Teachers should identify students who are at risk of failing in the class and reach out to them “off-line” to see what help they might need. Faculty should practice compelling disengaged students to engage in a lesson, overcoming their resistance and rewarding them for doing so by respecting their contribution.

Wherever possible, instructors should design their courses to help students achieve incremental success. Acknowledging even small victories with genuine, heartfelt pleasure is another key technique for improving persistence among at-risk students.

The following elements help students come out of their shells and bond with their peers:

A longer more comprehensive orientation – This helps by providing students with realistic, accurate expectations about the program, but it also gives them additional opportunities to make friends. Social networking has enabled students to bond with one another very efficiently. Encouraging students to share their various on-line sites with one another is desirable.

Housing — Students who live in dorms persist better. It makes sense: Commuters don’t have the same number of opportunities to connect.

Project-based Freshman Year Experience classes – When properly designed, FYE classes are centered around active learning and subjects that students are psyched about, like dogs, or tattoos, or music, or helping others. Getting students to feel good about something together is a very powerful retention technique.

Clubs and Organizations – Students who have a passionate interest about something often blossom in groups where others have the same interest. Research shows that this is especially true for minority students.

Peer tutoring – Not only does peer tutoring aid in the retention of those tutored, it also helps the tutors themselves to feel like they are an important part of the community. In other words, it improves the retention of tutors as well.

It is also critical that our staff and administrators treat students respectfully and professionally. Some students need a lot of help. That is our job, the very reason we are employed. Smiling at students and taking a genuine interest in finding solutions to their challenges helps them to feel like they belong here.

Saving Students Already in Trouble
Our job is not an easy one. We enroll students who face a bewildering array of challenges. Furthermore, we cannot count on students to come to us with their problems, and we cannot rely on them to always tell us the truth when they do. It is embarrassing and stressful to reveal personal struggles to authority figures. This is yet another reason to make certain that every student has personal connections in the college community, go-to people with whom they feel safe.

What are the primary reasons why students withdraw? At my institution we analyzed the data, interviewed students and read a large number of studies about student retention. When you strip away the jargon and eliminate the one-offs, here are the three most common reasons for our students to drop:

Social and Family Problems – To keep up in our programs, students must work steadily, and not just in the classroom. Meanwhile, their friends often invite them to parties they have to turn down. Their families expect them to pull their weight with child care, house-work and even family income. Their romantic relation-ships become frayed, and sometimes they are even given ultimatums by their BFs/GFs/families that are not in their best interest academically. It is a lot to expect from a young person to stay focused on school in the face of relentless social pressures. They need to be re-minded of why they came to us in the first place to keep their eyes on the prize.

Financial Issues – Our students are initially packaged for tuition and fees for the first academic year, but sometimes they are unable to package for subsequent years. Perhaps a parent has lost a job or family finances have deteriorated. Maybe a sibling has started college. Also, many students are unprepared for the inevitable weekly expenses of transit, meals and supplies for their projects. Their families face financial struggles already, and students are reluctant to add to that burden. In the absence of proactive intervention by financial aid administrators they remain unaware of any potential solution. They withdraw to end the pain and frustration of not having enough money.

Academic Struggles – Students do not initially understand how intensive college-level work is, nor do they know how important attendance is. Perhaps they were able to get through high school without being in class a whole lot. Although we tell them in the admissions interview and during orientation what is important, it doesn’t have meaning to them until they experience it firsthand. Once their program starts, they get a little behind, then a little more behind, and before you know it the first term is over and they have failed one or more classes. They do not know how to get back on track. They are embarrassed. They feel like they have failed, and that is an unpleasant feeling they want to end as soon as possible. It is critical that an advisor talk them through what happened and what needs to be done about it. They need to know that this is not uncommon and certainly not fatal.

To improve retention, we need to become aware of students who are in trouble sooner, and establish protocols for what happens after we have found them. We have to fish them out of the river one at a time. The primary indicator that a student is in trouble is attendance. Our best opportunity to save these students is to call them every time they are absent. The most effective caller is the instructor. Next most effective are academic chairs, academic advisors and deans. The mes-sage must be that the student was missed, that it is important to come to class and that we care.

We can do these things, but we must be united in our resolve. Each of us can make a small difference, but all of us together can accomplish near-miracles. When we do, more students earn a degree, many of whom have never before achieved such a significant, tangible goal. When more students cross the stage at commencement, the eyes of more parents glisten. I love that.

There is little enough we can do for one another. Should we not do this?

Dr. Scott Miller
President
Bethany College

Founded in the rugged foothills of one of the world’s ancient mountain ranges, Bethany College is West Virginia’s oldest private institution of higher education — older, even, than the state itself — with its creation in 1840. Since its beginning, Bethany has earned a reputation as the only liberal arts college in West Virginia to have achieved national prominence. Its long history of resilient response to challenges confronting the nation — the Civil War, the World Wars, Great Depression and more — has developed in the College some of its greatest assets, including flexibility and a keen awareness of the changing realities impacting the liberal arts.

Today, when so many private colleges have been forced to change course in the face of significant economic hurdles, Bethany has instead remained true to its mission, advancing the remarkable vision of its founders while maintaining con-temporary relevance.

Guided by a comprehensive institutional review completed in 2008 and a subsequent 10-year Master Plan, Bethany continues to expand strategically upon its educational offerings. As a result, student enrollment — the most vital indicator of college growth — has increased in quantity and quality.

Since the implementation of the Master Plan, total attendance has increased from 803 to 1,020, the largest head-count since 1976-77.

Among Bethany’s recent transformative ventures is a series of vital partnerships. Drawing on its national reputation, the College has spearheaded a variety of synergistic collaborations throughout the country and across the globe. Such agreements work to provide greater service to students while strengthening Bethany’s visibility and impact, directly affecting its enrollment efforts.

Bethany’s latest enrollment-related initiatives include articulation agreements with West Virginia Northern Community College and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. The plan establishes a Junior Year College Affiliate Program and Transfer of Credit Agreement that enables qualified Bethany College students to pursue specific Junior Year College Affiliate Programs at The Art Institute of Pitts-burgh — and defines a path enabling graduates from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh to articulate seamlessly into Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science programs being offered at Bethany College. After completion of the Junior Year option, during which time Bethany participants study in one of 15 selected programs such as advertising, fashion and retail management, game art and design, hotel and restaurant management, or industrial or interior design, students return to Bethany to complete their senior year and all graduation requirements.

The College has also re-affirmed professional articulation, or “seamless study,” agreements with Case Western Re-serve University, Columbia University and Duquesne University, providing greater options for students with sights set on graduate school. Such initiatives also enhance Bethany’s marketability and potential enrollment pool.

Students in Bethany’s engineering program, for example, may choose to earn both a bachelor’s degree from Bethany and a B.S. in engineering from Case Western Reserve University or Columbia University after completing a five-year sequence of study. Participants spend three years in the liberal arts environment at Bethany and then attend one of the participating universities for two years.

Bethany has partnered with Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA., to offer an innovative three-three program that allows students to complete three years of undergraduate work at Bethany and then enter the Duquesne University Law School for completion of the J.D. degree after three more years of study (four years in the Evening Division). Students earn a bachelor’s degree from Bethany after successfully finishing their first year of the law program.

Significant expansion of distance learning and continuing education programs also offer increased marketing possibilities for Bethany. Students can now take summer online courses through Bethany’s participation in the Online Consortium of Independent Colleges and Universities. With up to 12 credit hours to choose from, this program enhances Bethany’s course offerings and availability to students.

Bethany also continues to strengthen key ties with prestigious colleges and universities across the world. With strong relationships in 18 foreign countries, Bethany is moving steadily toward a global studies requirement. The College joined the InterAmerican Consortium, consisting of seven American and 11 institutions worldwide to foster global collaboration for students, faculty and staff. Bethany also has an agreement with Harlaxton College in the United Kingdom in which 15 American colleges partner to offer a variety of innovative programs on Harlaxton’s castle-like campus. Participants study British and European cultures and learn about them first-hand as they complete an extensive travel component throughout Europe.

Closer to home, exciting academic initiatives are flourishing. Business and economic majors, for instance, now have the rare opportunity to serve as investment professionals responsible for a $1 million endowment as part of the McCann Family Student Investment Fund. As participants apply their classroom learning to the real world of investment management, with support from an expert advisory council, they gain valuable experience researching stocks, making responsible investment recommendations and executing trades. The fund, established by dedicated alumnus Robert McCann and his wife Cindy, made Bethany the first college in West Virginia to offer a student-led investment opportunity of its kind — and one of only a handful of small colleges across the nation to do so.

Bethany recently launched its first graduate degree, a fully accredited Master of Arts (MAT) in Teaching. This progressive program serves as a valuable enhancement to the College’s ability to serve education majors and liberal arts graduates in all areas who aspire to teach. Degree-holding individuals who wish to advance their careers find significant professional development opportunity through the MAT, which also enables participants to acquire teaching certification in their area of expertise. The program coheres smoothly with Bethany’s liberal arts mission, affirming teaching not only as a profession, but also as an act of service to the greater community.

Also visible on Bethany’s historic campus are significant physical improvements tailored to the expectations of the modern student. In the past few years, the College has completed more than $3 million in recreation and athletic enhancements, including artificial turf, lights, a rubberized track and field upgrades at Bison Stadium, a new softball field, expanded weight and locker room facilities, and a new 24-hour fitness center. The school also acquired and renovated the town’s former Bethany School, transforming it into the new Judith R. Hurl Education Center, home to the teacher education program.

To support growing enrollment, Bethany has expanded parking throughout campus and a $4.5 million renovation of Cochran Hall, built in 1910, was completed in summer 2010. The re-opening celebrated the creation of modern, suite-style student housing for 72 additional students in the heart of the campus.

One more powerful example of Bethany’s ability to strengthen its national and international stature by capitalizing on local resources is the College’s equestrian offering, which utilizes the 160-acre Pegasus Farm Equestrian Center only four miles away. This award-winning program is a highly visible recruiting and enrollment feature, with more than 20 declared majors and minors and a member-ship of over 40 riders in the traveling Equestrian Club Team who earn top placements in competitions throughout the world. With the total of new students in each of the past three years comprising the largest classes since the mid-1970s, a current student population reported to be the most diverse in Bethany’s history by federal standards, a much wider geographical representation than in past years and an incoming class academic profile that was the finest in 11 years, Bethany College is poised for continued success in this new era of higher education. At the heart of the College’s enrollment strategy is its ability to draw upon and develop the energy inherent in both its local and global landscapes in a constructive, forward manner, allowing each to strengthen the other. This cyclical process respects the setting and values in which Bethany was founded while also developing the broad impact that gives Bethany its national and international significance, placing it among the best liberal arts institutions in the nation.

The challenges confronting the liberal arts and potential enrollment pool — including economic distress and an increasingly unpredictable job market — may limit the public’s confidence in the power of a college education. But they also make the founding function and effective enrollment strategy of Bethany as a liberal arts college more necessary than, perhaps, ever before: to educate intelligent, informed citizens prepared to use their talents to benefit humanity as they honor their responsibility to go forth and serve the greater world.

Cheryl Hyatt & Marylouise Fennell
Partners
Hyatt-Fennell

In our earlier article, we emphasized that because no two searches are alike, all colleg-es would profit from using the customized services of an executive search firm to re-cruit the best-qualified candidates for senior-level positions. If colleges and universities do so, they will save time and money while expanding their candidate pool. The executive search firm will ensure a thorough vetting process, assist with the selection of finalists and constantly manage contact with the client and appointee.

Contrary to popular myth, firms such as ours (Hyatt-Fennell) are not “headhunters” seeking merely to fill positions. Rather, our pre-search visits, institutional profile, position specification preparation, candidate recruiting and evaluative process ensure a lasting, close fit between candidate and the hiring institution. We are truly a firm that partners and searches for the best person for each position with every institution. Our credibility, contacts, confidentiality and complete background checks can also expedite the sharing of information not typically possible when using in-house human resource departments.

There are several other reasons to retain an executive search firm when sensitive situations exist in the process. Two of the most common are Board-recommended candidates and in-house prospects favored by many internal constituencies, but perhaps not by the hiring manager. A third is composition of the search (interviewing) committee to create a balanced group that will fairly reflect the institution to candidates without alienating internal audiences. Everyone must realize that one person or group hires.

In the case of a presidential search, the Board makes the choice when hiring senior-level people. The president makes the final decision. Interview committees (search committees) are important to the process, but search committees do not have the authority to hire. Experienced executive search firms also work with candidates and hiring institutions to negotiate a successful contract.

Seasoned executive search consultants will present well-qualified internal and external candidates. We often see excellent internal candidates who, for whatever reason, may not be the right candidate for the position. Sometimes Board members or close friends of the institution nominate individuals who they deem appropriate, yet are not the right fit. Internal candidates and those nominated must be treated correctly and respectfully and presented in a fair and equal manner with all other candidates. However, if the administration does not see or want them in the position, seasoned consultants can work with the internal candidate to appreciate his or her cur-rent value within the organization, or with the nominated individual to understand the strength of the other candidates, thus helping the institution to retain a valued employee/Board member/friend without alienating internal audiences.

Search Consultants can assist in the formation of search committees to ensure necessary representation from all constituencies. In addition to culling committees to a manageable size, we can help the Board or President appoint the best committee members who will be able to ascertain the fit necessary for success. The search/interviewing commit-tee must be able to work together, interview well, serve as representatives of the institution, and present the pros and cons of each candidate to the person(s) responsible for hir-ing for the position.

Executive search firms can “broker” negotiations be-tween candidate and hiring institution. Consultants work closely with the candidates and the hiring institution to assure that there will be a successful conclusion. They monitor the wants of the candidates and keep them in line with the offerings of the hiring institution. Consultants work toward a win-win situation for both the successful candidate and the hiring institution.

Timothy Healy, SJ, the late former president of Georgetown University, said it best with regard to hiring senior-level candidates: “We are looking for God on a good day.” Competent professional executive search firms can work to help you do that. Good search consultants know your needs, your wants and your hopes. They can expand the pool and raise the quality of the candidates. A search firm can be your partner, your guide and your spokesper-son. It will be your advocate for candidates as well as the one who does the requisite heavy lifting throughout the search process, from recruiting candidates to conducting thorough and complete background checks. Every stone must be found, examined, weighed and evaluated. An error can be costly if you hire the wrong person…whether you use a search firm, or whether you conduct a search without counsel.

The more views heard… the more details checked… the more investigation undertaken…the better the opportunity for a good fit!

Dr. Marylouise Fennell, RSM, has spent more than 35 years in higher education administration and search and is among the best-known and highly respected consultants in the field of independent higher education. She served as president of Carlow University in Pittsburgh and is the senior counsel to the Washington, DC-based Council of Independent Colleges. She has been an independent search consultant for more than 20 years, and has consulted widely throughout the world, where she worked with many colleges, universities and non-profits. Dr. Fennell currently sits on three college boards and is the chair of the board of one of these institutions.

With almost 20 years of executive search consulting experience, Cheryl Hyatt has been responsible for successfully recruiting senior administrative professionals for educational and non-profit organizations. She brings 30 years of management and organizational leadership experience to her role with clients. Cheryl’s breadth of experience, knowledge and contacts make her sought after profession-ally in her field. Mrs. Hyatt also sits on various local non-profit boards offering a variety of expertise to each organization.
Both authors are partners in the Executive Search Group Hyatt-Fennell, a firm that works with not-for-profit clients with a strong commitment to education.

Dr. Marylouise Fennell
Partner
Hyatt Fennell, Higher Education Services

Dr. Scott Miller
President
Bethany College

When it comes to student retention, it turns out that what we thought we knew ain’t necessarily so. Current research reveals that many key assumptions on which we have often based enrollment management practices need to be challenged and modified.

Take, for instance, the traditional institutionally-centered focus on retention. When we as college CEOs and senior enrollment (admissions) managers turn this issue around, examining persistence from the student’s standpoint, we enhance existing perspectives about what fosters students success, says Dr. Joe Pace, a nationally-known specialist in student retention.

Institutions have often acted on the knowledge that stu-dents are most vulnerable to dropping out within their first 90 days of enrollment by creating success-centered classes, First Year seminars and the like. Such courses are helpful in stemming attrition, but they don’t go far enough. When we delve further into what motivates students to persist until graduation, we find that “it is total employee commitment and involvement that makes the difference,” Pace notes.

Further, we have often placed most responsibility for retention upon faculty or enrollment management staff, rather than fostering connectivity across the board. All employees need to be models, mentors and monitors. The stronger the connections they foster with students, the higher the rate of student persistence.

The reverse is also true. “Unconscious saboteurs” – those who (often unknowingly) create negative enrollment outcomes — can undo the best work of even model mentors. “It takes 11 positive mentor models to counteract the influence of one negative,” Pace notes.

Thus, it is critical for institutions to train all employees in what Pace calls “the edupreneurial spirit,” focusing on the student or customer-oriented side of higher education.

Next, institutions too often create a disconnect between student expectations and reality, emphasizing rational choices rather than emotion in the choice to remain enrolled or to drop out. College presidents and senior leadership need to embrace the “heart” or “hot button” strategies based on current cognitive behavioral research to assist students in persisting. Students who persist tend to have a sensory-rich vision in their minds; we want them to feel, taste and touch the goal. We may want to motivate them with a picture of the student in cap and gown holding a degree taken when he or she is a freshman. For many, it will be some other motivator, including photos with their parents, spouses and children and with them in cap and gown. Sometimes, the more humorous or audacious the imagery, the more effective. When students don’t persist, it is often because their vision isn’t concrete enough to take them through the rough spots.

Both i.q. and emotional intelligence are instrumental in boosting retention rates. Every employee of the college must know what has been promised by the college to its students, and everyone must work to deliver what has been promised; dreams can quickly unravel. The more employees understand about the student’s “picture,” the more they can support it. Research shows that emotion is involved in any type of long-term change; people do not change without it. Thus, successful retention strategies touch both the head and the heart.

Next, while we sometimes view successful enrollment man-agement strategies as relying on big, bold measures, we should remember that even small changes in institutional be-havior can produce measurable results over time.

You retain one student at a time, one here, another there, and before you know it, over the course of a year, your retention will have improved by 10 percent.

Finally, we must recognize that improving retention is a task that is never going to be completed. It is ongoing. People ask, “When will this retention thing be solved?” It will never be totally solved.

However, by paying scrupulous attention to students’ needs and expectations (attention equals retention), hiring and promoting instructors with “intelligent hearts,” training “edupreneurs” and “touching the heart button,” we can foster greater persistence, resulting in measurably higher retention.

Dr. Scott D. Miller is President of the College and M.M. Cochran Professor of Leadership Studies at Bethany College in West Virginia. Now in his third college presidency, he has served as a CEO for nearly 21 years.

Dr. Marylouise Fennell, RSM, a former president of Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA, is senior counsel for the Council of Independent Colleges.

John W.Dysart
President
The Dysart Group, Inc.

College and university presidents are rightfully focused on fundraising, endowments, curricular growth and public relations. For small, private colleges and universities, these priorities can often come at the expense of the most important issue for presidents at tuition-driven schools—enrollment.

I am always surprised at how often enrollment, recruitment and financial aid take a backseat to other priorities. Perhaps it is because presidents usually do not bring significant enrollment management experience to the table. Perhaps presidents place too much faith in their enrollment management professionals, despite disappointing outcomes. Presidents may too often be swayed by convenient excuses for poor performance such as demographic declines and bad economic conditions. I believe that presidents devalue the importance of enrollment growth at significant career risk.

I am writing on this topic not only because I have a direct interest in the business of enrollment management, but also because I have witnessed the reality of several respected, committed, qualified and dedicated college presidents losing their jobs directly because of enrollment stagnation or decline.

I offer the following advice:

• Make enrollment the top priority of your presidency.
• Do not accept traditional excuses for failure to meet enrollment objectives vital to the financial health of the school.
• Speak with other presidents about your enrollment challenges, especially those who have been successful.
• Be willing to invest in your admission and financial aid offices regardless of the overall financial constraints at your college or university.
• Do not hesitate to seek guidance from qualified consult-ants with track records of success.

Ultimately a successful college presidency includes much more than enrollment. The most successful presidents I know, however, have utilized enrollment growth and in-creased revenue to achieve other goals regarding increased salaries for faculty and staff, enhanced student activities, the addition of new sports, new buildings, the growth of the physical plant and overall good news to drive alumni participation and fundraising.