The Changing Role of the Admission Counselor in Modern Day Enrollment Management

John W. Dysart
President
The Dysart Group, Inc.

The Dysart Group, Inc. recently hosted a forum at their headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina to discuss the emerging role of the admission counselor. The meeting was attended by enrollment management practitioners from five states.

So much has changed in the recruitment process in recent years. Demographics present very real challenges. Poor economic conditions and cutbacks in federal and state support for higher education financial aid have changed the playing field. The advent of social media and increased student reliance on the web to make informed decisions regarding college attend-ance are changing the way we communicate with prospective students.

While we did not agree on all of the answers regarding the role of admission counselors in this new environment, we did agree on several things to be considered in the near future:

Is it time to reconsider the qualifications for admission counselors? Perhaps greater emphasis on skills utilizing social media, text messaging and the telephone are now as important or more important than face-to-face ?people? skills.

Is it time to change the job description for admission counselors? Specifically, is it time to de-emphasize high school visits and attendance at college fairs and focus the counselor more on in-house activities? Traditional office hours now may need to be reconsidered since social media communication, telephone communication and text messaging are more effective during the evening when prospective students are more likely to be home, or at least available via their cell phones.

It might be time to change the evaluation of admission counselors to focus upon outcomes regarding yield versus the traditional role of gate-keeper and ?counselor.?

It might be better to separate recruitment roles traditionally handled by the same people. While most colleges and universities will always need individuals to conduct high school and college visits and college fairs and meet with prospective students and families during visits to campus, the role of providing systematic communication with prospective students and their families over the course of the admission cycle may be better accomplished by other individuals.

So much has changed in recruitment and things will never be the same. Perhaps it is time to change the responsibilities of the admission counselor to meet new market realities.