Tag Archives: Higher Education

Jun 17 2013
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Admissions, Affirmative Action, Community

Virtual Viewing Party: Admissions On Trial

AdmissionDocTITLESo, about that summer schedule. We have bigger things on our plate.

As you all know, the Supreme Court is set to rule on Fisher v. Texas before the end of June. As enrollment management pros, it would make sense that we (you) have a vested interest in the outcome, as should all of America.

I’m sure you saw Jennielle’s tweets the other night regarding a documentary that was recently released,  Admissions on Trial: Seven Decades of Race and Higher Education, and we’d really love to incorporate this into an overarching discussion on affirmative action and the court’s ruling.

SO – here’s what we have planned:

  • THIS Thursday (6/20) we’ll be having a virtual viewing party of the documentary. It seems like it was made for #EMchat because it’s just under an hour.
  • Thanks to PBS-KLRU in Austin, we’ve been set up with an OVEE account to view the documentary, with chat included – Click here!
  • Feel free to use #EMchat and #AdmissionsTrial as well on Twitter. I’ll be tweeting takeaways/facts throughout the documentary on Twitter AND participating in the OVEE.
  • We’d also love for you all to submit questions to us this week regarding the documentary and overall case that we can present to the documentary’s writer, director, producer, Lynn Boswell. We’ll pull these together for a Q & A blog post.
  • Our 6/27 chat will be replaced with a Reactions Chat centered around the decision. We’ll likely take some of the questions received throughout the week and rework them into a chat format.

We’re really excited about this and we’re pumped to be working with Lynn to make this a reality. Click on the Evite below to join the viewing party. We won’t have any questions scheduled, but I’m sure there will be plenty of thoughts!

We’d love to know who’s coming, so please RSVP!

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May 29 2013
1 Comment
EM, First-Generation, Retention

First Generation Student

This Thursday’s chat focuses on retention initiatives for first generation students and we’re looking forward to having our friends over at First Generation Student join us with some of their thoughts.

You may have run across them on Twitter or through your own searching, but First Generation Student is doing some incredibly valuable work for very deserving students (and families). FGS

First Generation Student is a Washington, D.C. based group that provides information, resources, and tools to aspiring and current first-generation college students. Their site covered every step of the process–planning for college, researching schools, applying, figuring out how to pay, and succeeding during and after college. Their writers have contributed to sites such as US News & World Report, College Board, Education Week, and more. Their goal is to provide the most comprehensive source of information available to this hard-working class of students.

They’re perfect guests for this week’s chat as we all know that retention doesn’t necessarily start once a student begins their first day of classes.

They recently launched their blog that features a wide range of contributors–first-generation students, university faculty, staff from non-profit organizations (such as the Century Foundation), and nationally recognized experts (such as Mark Kantrowitz of FinAid.org, Fastweb.com. and the New York Times). They have also launched a college search tool that allows high school students to sort through schools on an interactive map based on location, cost, diversity, and other data; a “Student Stories” section that allows current first-generation students to share their experiences for the benefit of high school students going through the admissions process; and they are continually planning updates and new features, highlighted via their social media streams.

You can follow First Generation Student on Twitter and Facebook as well as their chat, #firstgenchat!

Join us Thursday night for what is shaping up to be a great conversation. Bring your questions, bring your thoughts, and as always, bring a beer. See you then!

-Alex

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May 28 2013
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Admissions, EM, Recruitment, Uncategorized

The Power of Student Employment – Recruitment and Beyond

During my time as an undergrad, I had the amazing opportunity to be a Student Ambassador for my institution.  At first, I served as a volunteer giving the campus tour (no longer a volunteer position, but a paid opportunity).   I moved into a telecounseling position, and from there it exploded into an outstanding professional development and general growing up opportunity.

While maintaining the core objectives of learning about the institution, giving campus tours from anyone to classrooms of 6th graders through graduate students, and working the open house/special events, I worked in our daytime operations.  Our day time operations ran the office.  There was a student manager, someone answering the phone to schedule visits, someone (Me) to answer the general university email account, someone to float and assist, and two people to welcome and manage our front desk.  There were three shifts approximately each day, all coordinated by a student.  If our supervisors wanted to go to a conference and present on our program, and they did, they literally could point out that they were there and our office is still running.

While many people have concerns over the legitimacy of student work and whether the responsibility is appropriate for a student to do, I have to respond with, “Let them do it.”  Now, with that means training and supervision, but outside all the logistics and politics, you are creating something much bigger.

You are creating the opportunity for that student to grow.

My final position in that office, on top of the tours, the answering of emails, and working special events, was “Professional Development Coordinator.”   A rather fancy title that I imagine a lot of us would like to have now as full-time professionals.  My responsibility, develop training sessions that helped build on the core responsibilities we learned from our retreats throughout the semester.  These trainings would be on effective communication, creating healthy work relationships, and all the other topics our supervisors wanted to talk about, but didn’t have the time to talk about it.  It was my opportunity to professionally grow in terms of developing trainings, presenting, communicating with others, and researching topics.

I wouldn’t be where I am without these opportunities.  As some of us continue to fight the battle with budget cuts, and even those that aren’t, there is lot to be said and a lot of power that can come from student employment.

Want to know more about my experience, connect with me on Twitter @JoshKohnert.

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Apr 30 2013
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Admissions, Data, financial aid, Recruitment

Independent Research: FAFSA & Free Lunch

I know that there are only a few people in our chat from Maryland, but I’m hoping this post will inspire anyone with interest in this data (which should be all of you!) to follow suit and create your own state reports.

For the last few months, I have compiled data (largely sourced from NCES and the FAFSA project website) on the state of Maryland. I initially wanted to compare per capita and household income to FAFSA completion rates. While we all know there is a disparity in completion rates between socioeconomic blocs, I’ve never come across a study that lists [public] high school by high FAFSAschool for an entire state. Like most states, Maryland is incredibly diverse when considering the socioeconomic spectrum. As a state that borders our nation’s capital with a highly-educated workforce, we have some of the wealthiest counties in the US. We also have some of the poorest. Continuing, these counties are oftentimes broken up into wealthy districts and zip codes. In short, it was nearly impossible to predict the per capita and household incomes for a specific school–students who have parents that make $250k+ could be sitting next to a student with both parents unemployed. In the end, I resorted to using free and reduced lunch data to compare to FAFSA completion rates.

What I found only confirmed what we all know. But, the information is now usable. Admissions counselors can now see what schools may need additional information or assistance when it comes to the financial aid process. High school administrators can see where their school ranks when compared to others in their district and across the state. Superintendents can target specific schools that may need additional programming and information sessions encouraging families to fill out the FAFSA. Organizations that focus on promoting college access can reach out to struggling schools. I believe this is only the beginning, but I believe it is a strong step in the right direction, focused on fostering collaboration between all sectors of education.

Please check out the data and let me know your feedback. I’m going to continue refining it (especially when the June 2013 data is released), and hope to create a report that I will be able to present to my state BOE. The most telling sheet is the fourth–just check out how the red (less than 50% completion) begins to change to white as you scroll down.

I’ve uploaded the doc to Google Drive

As a disclaimer, this research is far from perfect. The free and reduced lunch data was a percentage of the school; I applied it to the number of seniors, using the assumption that the students were equally distributed among all grade levels. Some of the NCES data did not match up with the FAFSA data; i.e., there were 2 seniors but 40 FAFSA completions. Schools sometimes overestimate their completions and things can be misreported to NCES. For a list of assumptions of the FAFSA Project, see here. Thus, ignore the obvious outliers of 400%, 1200%–it would be phenomenal if true, but it’s not. There are other assumptions I have taken in this study and I’d be happy to discuss them with you via email. Feel free to contact me: alex@emchat.net

Enjoy!

-Alex

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Mar 04 2013
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Admissions, Data

College Abacus & College Cost Transparency

Familiar with College Abacus? You are? We’re not surprised. Maybe you read about them on CNN, TechCrunch, or perused College Abacus LogoAbigail Seldin’s thoughts about the college scorecard on Inside Higher Ed.   Maybe you’ve seen a tweet or two discussing college cost transparency and the awesomeness [our words, not theirs] that their tool brings to the higher education space.

And…if you somehow haven’t heard –

Seldin headshot 2013We’re lucky enough to have Abigail Seldin jumping in as our #EMchat guest for the evening. Abigail is the CEO and Co-Founder of College Abacus, a recent winner of the Gates Foundation’s College Knowledge Challenge. A Rhodes Scholar, she is an ABD DPhil in social anthropology at the University of Oxford.

College cost transparency is perhaps the hottest topic in higher education, specifically enrollment management, right now. With the release of the college scorecard, it’s seems to be all that most people are talking about. In fact, if you missed it, we had a great chat on the actual scorecard just a few weeks ago. We’ll be talking about College Abacus itself and how it’s prepped [our belief!] to transform the world of higher education across the socioeconomic spectrum.

Join us this Thursday at 9pm ET to talk with Abigail — bring your questions, bring your comments, and as always, bring a beer.

See you Thursday–Cheers!

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Feb 18 2013
2 Comments
Admissions

College Admissions: Why I Love My Job

Ashley Scott (@ashleygscott)

Ashley Scott (@ashleygscott)

With every undergraduate admissions essay I read I am reassured education is the field for me. Instead of deterring or annoying me, the most overwhelming student essays compel me to work harder for solutions to their problems. It’s easy to downplay the impact a child’s home environment can have on their in-class and standardized test performance. Coming into this profession I believed that those who worked hard and focused would come out on top and that they deserved an offer of admission whenever they chose to apply. I thought that if determined enough, each student could exceed our expectations. Although those statements never really sat well with me I relaxed thinking yeah, they’ll be fine.

However as I read college admission essays summarizing accounts of rape, abuse, neglect, homelessness and low self-esteem I feel determined to serve as one of the champions these students need to succeed. I don’t believe we are put on this earth to survive all by ourselves. So every chance I get I jump at the opportunity to serve as the advocate they require to advance. Nothing will change for them unless passionate and determined people create space then offer support, resources, and opportunities to progress.

I work hard to make young dreams become reality and I’m proud to be associated with all who contribute to that cause as well. Parents, family, friends, teachers, school administrators, and supportive community members – be encouraged. Our hard work pays off. I’m thankful that it does; it is for this reason alone that I love my job.

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Feb 10 2013
2 Comments
First-Generation

Building a First Generation College Student Friendly Campus

Yolanda Norman - @FirstGenCollege

Yolanda Norman – @FirstGenCollege

 

Hello #EMchat Family!

Reasearch, research, research….that’s pretty much my life right now and I’m loving every moment of it. Recently I was asked what recommendations I have for making a campus First Generation College Student friendly. I have tons of recommendations, but to make sure you don’t spend hours reading all of the research I’ve done, let me try to sum it up for you.

  • Define It: Your campus has to have a clear definition of the term “first generation college student”. There are a number of different definitions out there and your campus has to decide on one so that you know exactly who you are trying to help. My campus decided to go with the definition used by the U.S. Department of Education as mentioned in the TRIO grant program. We define #firstgen students as any student whose parents don’t have a bachelor’s degree.
  • Spread the Word, and the Love too:  Once you define it, share it with the campus…especially the first generation college students. This very important act allows a sense of belonging among so many firstgen and creates a sense of ownership for them. Each office on your campus can get in on spreading the word and moving this group from  “invisible” to “visible”!
  • Involve The Family: In a post I wrote last year, I talked about our efforts with families of firstgen and the important of making sure the student feels supported by those that are closest to them. From the beginning of admitting the student, to orientation, to choosing a major, and preparing for graduation, involving the families of this group of students is a must!
  • No Networking: Instead of the idea of teaching our students to network, some of my students “hate” that very word and feel like it’s a fake way of getting something out of someone else. Teach them to “connect” instead. Those personal connections with other students (firstgen and non-firstgen alike), faculty, and staff helps with persistence. Remember, we are trying to counteract the “imposter syndrome” and remind these students that they deserve to be on campus and connecting with the university community is an important part.
  • Assessment: If you want to know if your efforts are working you have to assess it and put some quantifiable numbers on paper. Working with my Institutional Assessment office has been the greatest opportunity ever. These people are geniuses at what they do and the amount of information they can compare and help you think about is incredible. Tracking the progress of firstgens on your campus will help us all out as we look to fully support this growing population of students.

That’s it! That’s a pretty quick summary (I hope) of some things you can do to get started. If you are interested in learning more, follow me on Twitter (@firstgencollege) and let me know how I can be of service to your campus.

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Nov 01 2012
1 Comment
First-Generation

The Family Meet and Greet – The #FirstGen Way

A few weeks ago, we hosted our Annual “Family Weekend” on campus and new faces young and “experienced” were being seen on the yard. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and even family pets were learning about the college campus their student was now calling home. As families were registering for the different activities planned for the weekend, I was nervously excited about one event in particular. The First Generation College Student Meet and Greet.

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You see. This wasn’t the first year this event has been offered. Actually last year was the first year and NO ONE showed up. You might say I was a little sad last year when it happened, but that sadness turned into determination each day forward when talking with our firstgen students. The need to connect families was still there and it wasn’t going away. I knew we needed to try again next year and try we did. This time, my students were involved and the university was more involved too.

Fast forward to this year, we had mothers, fathers, aunts, and siblings attend our Family Weekend FirstGen meet and greet. We talked about the FirstGen initiatives on campus and our three year journey of providing support to all our students. Families asked great questions and their students provided great answers. Opportunities for story telling and realization (one sibling discovered she was firstgen too) filled the room. It was such an inspirational and moving day. Parents had a chance to meet other parents who were experiencing the same feelings they were feeling all along and had someone they could connect with throughout their student’s college journey.

All in all it was a great event. I’m so excited to see where the initiatives go from here as it started a great relationship with families and our university. I hope this encourages you to do the same for you students and their families on campus! Keep the conversation going on Twitter and let me know your thoughts!

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Oct 22 2012
1 Comment
Admissions, Community, EM, Professional Development, Social Media, Tweetup

How Higher Education Professionals are using Twitter

When I hear non-twitter users inquiring about why they should use twitter, I often can hear the disdain in their voice.  They think of twitter as a vast wasteland of 140 character messages about what people ate, where they ate and whom they were with.  What many Higher Education professionals do not realize is that by not being an active twitter user they are missing out on a fast network of resources, information sharing and professional development.

As a contributor to a very active twitter community, EMchat, I can firmly tell people that twitter is much more than a place to show off your vacation spot or your gourmet meal.  Twitter is a platform to connect with others.  When Enrollment Management Professionals look for help they can turn to their colleagues. EMchat has a weekly twitter chat (Thursday 9PM ET) where professionals share ideas and learn with each other.

Some of the reasons to use twitter include:

  • Collaboration/Networking – twitter is a great networking tool.  Connect with people you know and find new people with similar interest to connect with. People who have met in the virtual world also have tweetups or in-person gatherings outside of the virtual world (IRL – in real life).
  • Community – people with a special interest like Enrollment Management can share information on topics of mutual interest.
  • Information Gathering – looking for a new CRM or wonder if there is a better way to do something?  Reach out to a twitter community to gather data. You can get multiple responses quickly.
  • Professional Development and Learning – follow leaders in your profession on twitter, keep abreast of current trends and topics in your industry and learn from others and help them back.
  • Training and Development – take part in community chats, attend virtual presentations and share information on twitter and continue to learn through discussions.
  • Socializing – connect with others in the virtual world.  Stay in touch with friends and colleagues across the globe or meet new ones through twitter.

Once you decide to take the plunge and signup and start using twitter, you should consider following a hashtag.  Hashtags provide a way for tweets to be categorized and followed.  There are many hashtags that are in use in Higher Education.  Inside Higher Ed has a twitter directory that contains a vast listing of HE hashtags.

Many people “lurk” when they first join a twitter chat like #EMchat.  I slowly joined in the #EMchat community and added my own insights and ideas.  When I first attended a chat I thought that I would not have anything to contribute.  That could not be further from the truth.  Even if you don’t have first hand knowledge you can contribute – ask questions, find resources online and share them etc.

I now look forward to Thursdays since it is the time that I connect with other professionals who are interested in Enrollment Management.  #EMchat helps me to network, collaborate, follow current trends and socialize with Enrollment Management professionals.  Most of all it allows me to be part of a community.

Follow me on twitter @timdunning and look for me on Thursdays at 9 PM ET on #EMchat.

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Sep 19 2012
2 Comments
Admissions, CRM, EM, Grad EM, Recruitment, Retention, Tech

CRM ’til the End.

I’m a communicator. I’m a collaborator. My greatest strength lies in my ability to interact with others and build relationships. While I think of it as a skill set, I also think of it as a blessing in that I’m so lucky that I have the opportunity to meet and connect with so many different people.

It would make sense then that I am fascinated with all things social and all things CRM. I’ve had the opportunity to use two different CRMs in two VERY different settings: my alma mater’s admissions’ CRM (EMAS) and SalesForce at a previous company. I have seen how these tools can be used effectively and also how they sometimes aren’t used to their greatest potential.

In the end, I’ve said it so many times. Don’t bother with a CRM if you don’t have a strategy, the team in place to get it off the ground, or the RIGHT people to manage it. Technology is important. But technology will never replace actual relationships. Sometimes we get so caught up in getting a job done quickly (although I’m certainly not undermining the overwhelming amount of work done on a campus), that we assume technology will take care of the rest.  Well, it won’t.

I’m excited to talk about CRMs this Thursday night at 9PM EST to see what tools institutions are using, struggles you have faced, and ideas you may have for enhancing communication both internally on your campus with staff and students and externally with prospects and constituents.

If you’re not that familiar with CRM, here are a few great posts that are worth reading. You don’t need to be an expert to have insight.

It’s Time to Put the Relationship in Higher Education CRM – Tim Copeland

sCRM: Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before – Peter Kim

The CRM Triptych and Overcoming Higher Education CRM Hype – Tim Copeland

Selecting a CRM Vendor in the HE Market – Ovum

CRM for Higher Education  – Intelliworks (Dan Obregon) and DemandEngine (Tim Copeland)

…Yes, there is a Tim Copeland trend. Yes, I’m an unofficial fan. Does that make it official?

–Alex

 

 

 

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