Company to help retention
Utah State University has hired consultants from the Noel-Levitz Company to formulate a plan to improve enrollment management in the specific areas of recruitment and retention.
According to the company’s profile on their Web site, www.noellevitz.com, Noel-Levitz is a “results-oriented consulting firm that specializes in all aspects of enrollment management including staff development, student recruitment, financial aid, student retention, market research and publications.”
Committed to increasing student success, Noel-Levitz is usually hired by universities all over the nation to develop annual plans.
Joyce Kinkead, vice provost for USU, said the decision to hire a consultant company was made when President Kermit L. Hall and Provost Stan Albrecht felt a long-term, one-year relationship was necessary to improve USU’s recruitment and retention goals.
President Hall said he previously worked with the Noel-Levitz Company while he was at Ohio State University, and contacted them one year ago because USU has never had an enrollment management strategy.
When searching for a consultant company, President Hall said he believed USU needed help to put a plan into place in order to have success in the competitive and demanding market.
“Ultimately, they were the best people [for the job] in the country,” President Hall said.
Kinkead said “The ultimate goal is to improve the reputation of USU and to improve the value of a degree here.”
A subcommittee formed to evaluate USU’s retention rate looked at the past academic and retention statis
tics, and listed ACT scores, high school grade point average and admission index categories as beingl positively correlated. As one category increases, the retention rate increases as well.
In order to increase the retention rate, Kinkead said the recruitment strategies and university acceptance standards need to improve. Noel-Levitz was hired to develop this plan.
“We’re paying for the company completely out of discretionary funds,” President Hall said. “No state appropriated funds were used. The dollars were generated from the institution.”
Joe Watts, a consultant from the Noel-Levitz Company, was on campus March 7 and 8 to discuss the strategies of recruitment. Then consultant Brenda Williams will be here Tuesday and Wednesday for retention strategies.
The enrollment management process begins when an institution completes an analysis of their current statistics, these are then sent to the Noel-Levitz Company so it can be compared with their national data to assess where the university is at. The company then develops appropriate goals for that specific institution.
“We are trying to put the university’s best foot forward,” Watts said.
In a meeting Thursday with the Recruitment and Enrollment Services staff, Watts said a successful enrollment management plan can be implemented by developing a positive institutional image, creating institutional awareness and interest from prospective students, working to influence a student’s decision to apply at USU, as well as increasing communication with students from the time they are accepted to when they arrive at USU in the fall. This will include personally calling each of the 1,090 accepted incoming freshmen students.
“We should be planting the seeds in the minds of prospective students to come here,” Watts said. “We shouldn’t be waiting for them to come to us. We need to spark their interest.”
USU needs to revise and reshape the institution image, Watts said, by changing the prospective student profile both academically and geographically.
“You’ve got to go outside the state,” Watts said. “You’ve got to diversify. Utah State needs to penetrate more diverse populations and bring more diversity from outside of Utah.”
Since the majority of USU students are white, Watts said retention rates would dramatically increase if more diverse populations are recruited and enrolled.
Another important element for improving recruitment, Watts said, is to research and understand student views better. USU needs to understand the reasons why students decide to select or not select USU, the student decision-making process and the general institutional qualities students consider as important.
A key element to increasing recruitment is to know the competition, Watts said. USU needs to understand other Utah universities and change marketing techniques in order to capitalize on the strengths and selling points of USU.
“I think Utah State is well on it’s way,” Watts said. “The elements are already in place.”
President Hall said he expects to see improvements in the next incoming class.