Campus Partner Primer

Create environment with Facilities

17.4%

of unsatisfied campus visitors report facilities as the source of the bad impression

One of the top reasons why students choose (or don’t choose) an institution is campus environment. This reason ranks as more important than academic reputation of the school, the cost of attendance, the school’s location, or whether or not the institution offered a prospect’s intended major. In an analysis of an online forum discussion of what made a bad campus visit, facilities and grounds issues accounted for 17.4% of the bad experiences mentioned. With so many bad visits being at least partly attributed to the physical campus and its state of repair, facilities and maintenance professionals are key strategic partners for improving campus visits and putting your best foot forward with recruitment.

Cultivate buy-in from faculty

Faculty, the faces of the education a prospect will receive, have constant demands on their time. This can make them hesitant to commit to recruitment activities. Some campuses are fortunate enough to have faculty who understand their importance in enrollment strategy, but many institutions find themselves having to convince faculty to participate in campus visits and events. Top complaints from faculty are related to scarce time, the lack of value for their participation, and bad past experiences with recruiting.

Getting enthusiastically involved faculty requires intentionality in the way you use their time. We recommend reframing the conversation around how they are helping you build their next class and asking them to weigh in on what they want to see in the coming academic year. In addition, free them to recruit their own ways.

Collaborate with IT

Each institution’s IT department should be an indispensable part of the enrollment strategy at large, but IT also plays a critical role in the campus visit and events programming. Moreover, the senior leadership of nearly every IT department wants to be an active participant in enrollment teams’ planning.

To begin a partnership with IT, take stock of all the ways the institution’s admissions and enrollment teams use technology and software products. Be careful to note the tools and resources the team uses that are not currently on IT’s radar. Teams that are proactive about bringing issues such as unsecured routers or independently purchased tech to IT can support institutional security as well as get greater support from IT moving forward.

Engage campus staff

The web of individuals a visitor meets on your campus is far more complex and wide-reaching than it may seem at first glance. The larger your campus is, the more likely visitors are to interact with up to half a dozen university or college staff members before they make it to the main event: the campus visit itself. Each of these one-off moments counts, and they inform the overall impression visitors leave with.

Another set of potential interactions occurs during the tour itself. Whether you host individualized visits or bring groups around campus, it is important that your prospective students and their families experience a set of campus staff members who are both expecting them and are friendly.