We all know how stressful school can be — not only to students, but also for the staff. Your admission counselors can really start to feel that stress, especially at the beginning of the year. They are responsible for so much of what’s going on; without them, everything would fall apart. Here are some quick and easy tips on how to keep the workflow as stress-free as possible and keep your busy college admissions counselors from burning out.
| Image by Flickr user Stuart Seeger |
The best approach to any job is of course to have a plan! I know this may seem to be an obvious tip, but when you think about everything your counselors are going through and all they are responsible for achieving, it definitely pays to step back and plan things through. You can’t just jump in without having some idea what you’re doing. Even those who are best at their job will agree it is much easier to have things laid out in an orderly manner. This way, they know what is going on at all times, especially when working with a team or with even with students.
Enrolling in school can be stressful enough for incoming students, and it is your admissions counselors’ job to make the whole process as stress-free as possible for everyone involved. They are the professionals after all. How is anyone to expect these prospective students to depend on their counselors if there is no plan for their future? It definitely makes it easier all around to know everything that is going on and what to expect, for faculty and students alike.
Not only does planning help with admissions, but you can also take advantage to gain clarity for evaluating and measuring enrollment progress. This way you can keep better track of all your important information, such as how many students you have coming through your program. You can also use these records to easily fix problems that occur from semester to semester. If you plan ahead, you will quickly see a decrease in stress when it comes time for enrollment.
One thing I will tell you is that it is possible for one to be too organized. Try not to be so organized, or expect such organized work, that it becomes unlivable. With so much going on, it is easy to overlook and/or become lazy when trying to stay so organized. It might seem easy at first, but when business really picks up, some simply don’t have the time or patience to keep up with that high standard of organization.
However, don’t let that get you discouraged. We all know each and every counselor will have his or her own degree of organization, as we are all different. However, there must be some sort of happy medium so everyone is on the same page. As long as there is a minimal organization standard, every counselor can communicate on what’s going on with ease. You just simply find that level of organization for your office. There needs to be a basic, underlying organization all of your admissions counselors can relate to and they can individually move on from there.
Again, an added plus is that this also makes it much easier for everyone to view and understand how the recruiting efforts are going in the long run. If your office stays well organized, when the busiest part of your season is finished you will be able to look back and easily pinpoint things your team succeeded at, as well as those that need some improvement. From there, you can start planning and organizing for upcoming business.
This is a no brainer. Obviously, to help with the planning and organization you are already working on, you need some sort of technology to help make things run smoothly and keep your records. Make sure you are using SAAS or web based programs and systems to better enable connectedness for those coming in and out of the office. This is key to solving multiple issues to anything from simply keeping your records straight to easily finding answers to questions other faculty members, or even students, may have. Technology is growing every day and it’s important to stay in the present and have an efficient system in place.
| Image by Flickr user Dan Zen |
Believe it or not, it is difficult to work in admissions without believing in the institution you are working for. If they have no enthusiasm for their job or institution, how are counselors to instruct students to attend? First impressions can be everything and you need your prospective students to see the excitement and pride your staff has for the institution students are about to commit to.
One way to keep up the morale in your admissions staff may be to review alums that have made a difference. They can take pride knowing they were involved, no matter how little, in part of their journey. They can also use this information to give encouragement to those students enrolling by giving them some insight about the opportunities the institution can open to them. Knowing there are alumni out there achieving great things post-education can create great pride in both students and faculty. This is just one example of ways to create positive energy all over campus. A student’s journey through the institution starts at enrollment, so you are going to need your admissions counselors to also exert that great enthusiasm.
Knowing the central focus of an institution is the well-being and success of its students, it can be easy for faculty, including admissions counselors to feel separated from the rest of campus. It may feel as if they are not even there, or that they are not important to the success of the institution. Partially the lack of admissions counselors’ morale as stated in my previous point may stem from this. Along with seeing the amazing people the institution has produced, your counselors must know they did, in fact, play a part in these success stories.
Another issue is many, including admissions counselors, feel that anyone outside of the teaching/learning endeavor may feel as if they are not significant. Some may think that their degree of importance is less than that of other areas of staffing. When one thinks of an institution, it is sometimes easy to forget all the people behind the scenes, making sure a student’s journey from admissions to graduation runs smoothly and as stress free as possible. However, sometimes those are the most important people; those are the ones with the hardest jobs.
A solution to this is to try and show them the appreciation they deserve. Sometimes, simply knowing they are appreciated for the role they play in the bigger picture is enough. After all, they are a part of the reason students show up in the first place. For this reason, they must see themselves as central to the success of the school. After all without them, there would be no students at all, there would be no organization. They are the beginning of the journey these young adults are about to embark on at your institution.
Like I said before, school can be so stressful, and faculty too can feel the heavy load. Hopefully these little tips such as planning and organization, as well as the overall feeling of being apart of the success of your institution can help relieve some those stresses all while helping your admissions counselors keep up their energy during enrollment.
Photo credit goes to Flickr user Denise Mattox