We all know enrollment can be a stressful time for students, parents, admissions counselors, and other enrollment faculty. As hectic as this whole process can be, we have some ideas on how you can use different tools to make the enrollment time a little more appealing to students and parents.
Admissions offices are already sharing a ton of information needed for students to prepare for school, however, it can seem a bit monotonous after a while. Here are four types of content that undergraduate enrollment services need to use to make the important enrollment information students and parents are looking for more interesting when meeting your institution for the first time.
| Image by Flickr user Sean MacEntee |
In today’s world, the Internet has become much more relevant than in the past. Social media has become a major part of today’s society, from children to the elderly. Due to this growing importance of information being accessible on the Internet, one way to easily reach your prospective students would be to create a blog. A blog is a personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis. For your own purposes, though, you could create a blog focusing on all the amazing things going on at your institution from important educational events to recreational activities. This is a great way for students not only to have access to pertinent information, but also to be able to keep up to date on new, exciting things going on at school.
One thing that would very appealing to incoming students might be to blog about campus life. Of course their initial curiosities are going to include the students that are already attending your institution. If you include all of the interesting things your current students are doing, it will appeal to those wanting to know what it will be like to actually be on campus. This will give them insight to different clubs and sports they might be able to join as well as the different occasions that are held on campus they can get involved in. This is an excellent way to show prospective students exciting events that are unique to your school, which they may not hear about otherwise. One way to draw students in is to show them the environment they will first handedly be experiencing.
Another topic to blog about that may be more appealing to parents would be the excited faculty, and all the things they are working on to improve students’ time while on campus. While students may be distracted by the excitement of being away from home, and having fun, parents still remember the reason they’re sending their children to your institution: a great education. It would be wise to appease these parents by also blogging about all the great things your faculty is planning behind the curtains to accommodate their children. After all, they are trusting your staff to help their children get through school successfully. Things to include in this section of your blog could include anything from student curriculum to safety procedures; anything to reassure parents that your staff is constantly working to better the lives of their children.
Another great point of interest to include in your blog for the general audience would be to include stories about your recent alumni. Everyone loves a good success story, and I am sure your institution has produced many, many successful alumni. If you have any well known/famous alum, you could blog about their experiences at your school, as well as what they did post graduation; you could include where they are now, steps they took to get there and how your institution played a role in that journey. It would be great for prospective students to see the accomplishments made possible by attending your school, and it would give them hope they can be that successful as well, if not more.
One last great thing to blog about would be points of interest around your campus. This can include anything from unique community landmarks, but more importantly campus neighbors or stakeholders that students can use to get ahead in their career. Many businesses surrounding campuses are known to specifically hire students for jobs, internships, or coops, especially if their major is applicable. Even if there are nearby non-profit organizations where students can volunteer to gain experience, such efforts will look good on resumes. Students are going to want to know where these businesses are and how they can take advantage of such opportunities while attending your institution.
| Image by Flickr user CollegeDegrees360 |
To go back to my previous statement about how the Internet has becoming much more relevant in today’s society, especially with the younger generation, along with your blogging, you will need fresh images of your institution to go with all your outgoing information. As helpful as all the information can be, it can also begin to seem monotonous if all your prospective students feel like they’re reading a novel. They are a visual generation. They need more imagery to connect to the information being handed to them. Along with your blogging, you should consider uploading pictures and videos relevant to what’s going on with that specific blog. You might also consider throwing in a few vlogs, which is simply blogging except the postings are primarily in video form. It can be refreshing for those already following your blogging to see something different every now and then, as well as draw in those who don’t take the time to read a blog. You need to be prepared to accommodate both visual and auditory learners.
Another route to take into consideration is taking advantage of social media services such as Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, etc. Since the beginning of the digital age, people have become more and more dependent on technology, and as a result most of your students carry the Internet with them on their person everywhere they go in the form of a cell phone. You can use this to your advantage as they are constantly checking social media sites. If you are updating your information on a daily basis using these services, students will pay attention.
The most important part of blogging, vlogging, or using social media to connect to your students is using imagery to attract their attention. Maker sure you have plenty of pictures of campus; show them where they’re going to be everyday while attending your institution. You need to cover all the major hangouts and busy corners of the grounds; show them there is a place for everyone. This includes photos of activities and regular events that students are welcome to attend. However, don’t forget to show them the world outside of campus. Any off-campus programs, co-ops, and internships will be more appealing with a few welcoming pictures to accompany the information. It can be intimidating to venture out into the world and apply for these opportunities, and it is your job to guide your students, giving them as much information as possible.
| Image by Flickr user wohnai |
Aside from the more leisure information to help students and parents become more comfortable with campus life, you need to make sure they have access to the important information related to their school work. There needs to be a specific place where course information is available, as well as syllabi for each course. This needs to be up to date when students need it. Also there should be interesting independent study proposals for those that apply, along with any first year expo courses that are available to incoming students. Along with this course information, you can include student and faculty research that can further guide incoming students decide on courses.
I have mentioned before about giving information on alumni and the success they have reached after graduating, but to dig a little deeper, you can use these examples to spotlight your institution. You should be proud of their successes, as your school was a part of their journey. Make these success stories available to your incoming students and parents. Show them the opportunities made available to them through attending your school. To do this you can also use statistics; even using certain courses that are popular on campus for certain majors. Some schools have certain programs/courses that are uniquely successful in comparison to other schools. It is important that those who consider attending your institution know any special achievements such as these. This also applies to any off campus programs, co-ops, or internships (if applicable).
One last piece of advice I have for you is that throughout your informational outpour, you should make sure you are giving out plenty of statistics. These are great ways to feed factual information in a quick manner; they can be anything from text to charts and images. Of course you will have stats on hours worked, students attending, and the number of grads you have, but this is also where you can play with the information you’ve recorded from campus and create a fun interaction with your incoming students. There are so many stats you can use to intrigue your students such as the number of pages in the library, things they don’t normally think about. Even things they will participate with every day can be a fun statistic such as amount of tofu eaten yearly vs. pizza; or the numbers of bottles of water that 10 minute showers saved by new green initiatives. This is a great example of how you can use stats to draw students into getting involved with different campus groups. There are so many ways you can use these small statistics to spice up your content and give some personality to your school while also getting information out to prospective students.
I know that drawing in your undergraduate student body is very important, which is why delivering so much content can seem like such a hectic task. However, taking advantage of these content tips can be helpful, especially if you are using the social media pipeline. These different types of content will definitely help make important, yet monotonous, enrollment information more appealing to students and parents meeting your institution for the first time.
Photo credit goes to Flickr user Amy