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From the seat I sit... November 2015

By Janice Crampton posted 11-16-2015 02:02 PM

  

When you think about “meeting your goal,” what do you think about?
  a. Just new students
  b. Just returning students
  c. Both new and returning
  d. Dollars that are represented by “X” students enrolled
  e. Combination of  C + D
  f. Other

 

With most of my fall travel completed, I can see this part of our season drawing to a close. November is that month when many of you have had the first significant look—both in numbers and in face-to-face encounters—at your next year’s applicants. Open houses, student visits, and “Take-a-peak Tuesdays” have taken place or are at least on their way to being completed. Applications are being submitted, and you can already visualize weeks of being sequestered for committee review.

As we edge ourselves to our next stage of the process, the month of November also marks the traditional, if not universal, season for governing bodies and senior administrative teams to begin setting 2016–17 tuitions and asking our offices to make enrollment projections.

From the seat I sit this is another opportunity for admission and enrollment management professionals to demonstrate our mastery of the art and the science of our incredibly important work.

As I travel the highways and byways and ask you whether you seek to achieve your enrollment goal based on the number of students enrolled or by the dollars generated, more often than not I hear, resoundingly, that many of you are making projections based just on the number of students enrolled.

The art and the science of admission and enrollment management in the 21st century, however, requires you to consider both relationships—that all-important body count—and revenue. You must understand and influence not just the end result in both categories but also the strategies, insights, and implementation tactics to cover both.

Hyper focus on just student numbers or the just revenue misses out on an essential and critical part of the total enrollment equation. Creating a community of students that advance the mission and vision of your school requires examination of “goodness of fit”—the traditional centerpiece of our work. And achieving revenue benchmarks and markers allows for the continued sustainability of your school, a factor just as important as “fit.”. Without considering both, even the most robust enrollment number may fall short of budgetary goals.

No other member of your school community sits in the seat you do. Crafting a class takes skills and traits that are not for the faint of heart. Marry this with financial acumen and understanding … magic.



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