Recruitment

Resources

The University now has significant processes and services to help meet its recruitment goals. In 1994 we engaged the Noel Levitz Center for Enrollment Management, a national consulting firm, to conduct an analysis of enrollment management operations. When they judged our operations as outmoded, we responded by organizing our resources more effectively, including:

• organizing student recruitment by territory;
• reorganizing Enrollment Management, putting all the functions (admissions, marketing, financial aid) into one unified Enrollment Management department with a coordinated strategy and leadership;
• implementing a student records database (BANNER®) to track students from initial inquiry to graduation, and analyzing this information to increase conversion rates from inquiry to enrollment; and
• implementing the Noel Levitz Enrollment and Revenue Management System (formerly known as the Financial Aid Leverage Analysis System) to help identify the correct balance between financial aid, tuition, and enrollment management policies.

Stabilization and modest turnaround in first year enrollments in 1997 suggest resources to support recruitment are at a level to reach our enrollment goals. However, the activities of Enrollment Management must be effectively coordinated with other University recruitment efforts.

Administrative Structure

Until 1992, all student services, from admissions to international students to counseling, reported to a Vice President for Student Services. Administrative restructuring (see Chapter 1, Response to Concern 8) eliminated this position and established an Office of Enrollment Management which reports to the new Executive Vice President and Provost. Directors of Admissions, Financial Aid, and the Career Center now report to the Executive Director of Enrollment Management. Staff is experienced, qualified, and sufficient to carry out their tasks. Most directors have over 10 years experience in their fields, and the Executive Director has nearly 30 years of experience.

Admissions has 11 staff, including 7 recruiters, one of whom specifically recruits underrepresented students, and Financial Aid has 9 staff. Organized by territory, our recruiters have goal-setting and budget responsibilities. Freshman and transfer admissions are handled by Admissions, and international admissions are handled by International Programs. In 1995, a new director of Admissions was hired through a national search. She has worked to improve professional development opportunities and staff teamwork.

Early in 1994, the President invited a team of MTU administrators to join him in launching an initiative that would integrate marketing throughout the University to carry out its mission more effectively. In April 1996, responsibility for integrated marketing was assigned to the Senior Vice President for Advancement and University Relations. He established an integrated marketing committee which identified the following goals:

• Update existing and develop new academic programs in order to meet the needs of society in an ever-changing marketplace.
• Improve the delivery of academic programs and services on and off campus.
• Develop a tuition pricing structure that will assure continued financial stability for the University while maintaining quality and access.
• Present a dynamic, consistent image to promote the benefits of academic programs and services to prospective students and to motivate financial support from prospective donors.
• Introduce marketing research into the University planning process and the evaluation of marketing strategies.

These goals were addressed in an integrated marketing report [2.9A] which will lead to the development of an integrated marketing plan for the University.

In addition to Enrollment Management staff, other professional staff, faculty, and students also play a significant role in recruitment. For example, faculty and graduate students in many academic units support on-campus recruitment by working in precollege summer programs coordinated by Youth Programs (Educational Opportunity) staff to introduce over 1,500 students and 25 teachers annually to Michigan Tech. The Departments of Humanities, Chemistry, and Biological Sciences, and the School of Business and Economics send faculty and staff teams to recruit local high school and community college students.

Among our strongest advocates and best recruiters are Michigan Tech students. They serve as residence hall counselors and teaching assistants for the precollege programs, provide campus tours, arrange high school visits, host on-campus programs, and attend recruitment college fairs with Admissions staff. MTSF has sponsored Red Carpet Days for high school students interested in attending Michigan Tech. The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) has sponsored the PreCollege Initiative since 1995; it annually brings 20–40 interested high school juniors and seniors from Detroit to visit campus.

Financial Resources

In 1995, a survey conducted by Noel Levitz Center for Enrollment Management reported that the percentage of the budget (less than 1%) spent by Michigan Tech on enrollment management was consistent with other public universities, although private universities spent more (2%–3%). In addition to this centralized budget, many departments often spend their own funds on recruitment.

Although the number of undergraduate students has declined since 1990, expenditures in grants and scholarships have increased significantly (see Figure 9).

FIGURE 9. University Student Financial Support Expenditures.

Source: Audited Financial Statement
Note: FY91 is first year that includes the exceptional student tuition program.

While the amount expended is adequate, a better distribution could significantly impact recruitment, according to the Noel Levitz study. The extraordinary increase in FY91 is the result of including funds for the "Exceptional Student Award," (ESA) a program which was implemented in 1987 to attract high school students from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Ontario (students in the top 15% of their class) and children of current active MTU alumni (residents of any state, in the top 20% of their class); transfer students with a 3.25 GPA are also eligible. The ESA program provided a financial award which covered the difference between resident and non-resident tuition. In 1997, these awards were replaced by the National Academic Scholarship, valued at a fixed rate of $5,100 annually.

The University not only awards institutional dollars for financial aid, it distributes aid from State, Federal, and other sources. In 1995/96, 63% of Michigan Tech students received financial support (including student employment and loans) worth $36.3 million, over double the amount administered in 1988. In sharp contrast to the high national percentage of student aid which is allocated as student loans (57% of total aid in 1996), Michigan Tech students carry only 32% of their aid as loans. Michigan Tech students have a relatively low deb load upon graduation ($9,354 in 1996). [1]

Physical Resources

All units within Enrollment Management now use BANNER®, an automated, integrated enrollment management system. All employees have personal computer workstations, and each unit has a WWW site and can communicate with students, parents, and alumni via e-mail. The Viewbook [7.6A2] is on-line. Teleconferencing is used to hold Admissions staff meetings with staff in downstate locations.

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