NAGAP Perspectives Spring 2018

VOLUME 30 NUMBER 1 SPRING 2018

PERSPECTIVES A Newsmagazine for Graduate Enrollment Management Professionals

IN THIS ISSUE  2 From the President  4 How SEO and User Experience Go Hand-in-Hand for Higher Ed Websites  6 Recruit Well-Rounded Students with Holistic Admissions  9 Meet Kelly Luquet, NAGAP’s 2018 Winter Institute Fellow 10 Making Diversity and Inclusion Priorities on Our Campuses: The Community of Scholars Program at University of Minnesota 17 Recruitment Challenges for MFA Programs—See What Our Colleagues Have to Say! 19 Coming Soon! A New NAGAP National Salary Tool and Survey Report 20 International Graduate Students’ Experiences with Agents: What Institutions Need to Know 24 Losing a Student 31 Becoming a Future Mentor 32 Differentiating and Attracting Mission-fit Candidates 34 Meeting the Needs of International Doctoral Students Across Disciplines 38 New Orleans 2018 NAGAP Conference 39 Working with a Partner to Achieve Your Goal: Improving Digital Marketing 41 Reaching Out to Students from War-Torn Regions 44 Documentation in Times of Crisis

www.NAGAP.org

FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear Colleagues, Welcome to the spring 2018 issue of Perspectives.

It’s hard for me to believe that this will be my final welcome to you in my role as President of NAGAP; my how time has flown! Perhaps it feels that way because there’s always more work in my office than can ever be fully accomplished. Or because of the changing political landscape and efforts to try to keep up to speed on what’s happening and how it might impact my work and my family. Or because of the countless natural disasters that make me stop and catch my breath and remind me of what’s truly important in life.

PERSPECTIVES A Newsmagazine for Graduate Enrollment Management Professionals

Editor, Jennifer Kulbeck

Assistant Dean of Liberal Arts Saint Mary’s College of California 1928 Saint Mary's Road Moraga, CA 94575

Needless to say, there have been very few dull moments over the past couple of years. Through it all, however, I have been blessed to volunteer alongside an incredible group of colleagues, including those who sit on the NAGAP board with me and all of you who volunteer on NAGAP committees, are active in regional or special interest chapters, and otherwise donate your time to our incredible association. Together we have accomplished so much, and I am so very proud to have stood among you and led alongside you.

NAGAPpublications@gmail.com NAGAP Perspectives is published three times per year (fall, spring, summer).

Articles of particular interest for publication are graduate enrollment management research/study results, how-to articles, success stories, reports of workshops/ seminars, book reviews, etc.

In that spirit, allow me to congratulate Keith Ramsdell (Bowling Green State University), Jeremiah Nelson (Wake Forest University School of Business), Teisha Johnson (Illinois College of Optometry), and Andrew Kim (Memorial University of Newfoundland) for their success in the recent elections. I am confident they will do a wonderful job leading NAGAP in their respective roles as President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer for the 2018–2020 term, and I am excited to serve with them as I transition into a new role as Past President.

Submissions should be sent to the editor via email. Articles should be provided in Microsoft Word, with figures and photos provided separately as high-resolution TIF or EPS files. APA style is preferred for documenting sources. Submission deadlines: August 30, January 6, May 16.

Turning to this issue of Perspectives, I am incredibly excited about how robust the content is. This is a good opportunity for me to give a shout out to our Editor, Jennifer Kulbeck, who has served in this role for the past six years and has worked tirelessly with the publications committee to get these issues out and to keep them such a rich and relevant resource to our members. Jen, thank you for your longstanding commitment and volunteerism; you have done an incredible job and I am so proud of the publication committee’s work under your leadership.

Copyright © 2018 NAGAP

Prioritize your own professional development by setting aside some time to dive into this issue, which features a conversation with the NAGAP Experts Bureau on holistic admissions, insights from international graduate students on their experiences with agents, a case study on making diversity and inclusion a priority on campus, and information on how to be a future mentor. We also hear from two of our members who received Honorable Mentions for their NAGAP Research Grant submissions— their topics are “Meeting the Needs of International Doctoral Students Across Disciplines” and “Reaching Out to Students from War-Torn Regions.” This content and so much more is inside this issue and I once again encourage you to take the time to scan through and find articles that are most relevant and helpful for you.

NAGAP is committed to diversity and inclusiveness in all of its activities.

This commitment embraces respect for differences including age, culture, disability, education, ethnicity, gender, life experiences, race, religion, and sexual orientation. NAGAP champions an open exchange of ideas in a collegial environment that embraces academic freedom, cooperation, mutual respect, and responsibility. NAGAP supports activities that promote and nurture professional development, best practices, research, and collaboration of a diverse and global community of graduate enrollment management professionals, encouraging dialogue that fosters professional growth among all of its constituents, in the U.S. and internationally.

As you flip through the pages, be sure to make note of the details for the Annual Conference, which will take place at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans from April 11–14, 2018. This year’s theme is “Sustain & Innovate: From Strong Foundations to Creative Solutions.” The only association dedicated exclusively to the needs and concerns of continued on the next page

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graduate enrollment management professionals, the conference is designed to appeal to everyone ranging from new professionals to experienced veterans. Building on our history of expertise in admissions, we will also have education sessions on financial aid, student services, diversity and inclusion, global issues in higher education, and more. If you can, come down a night early and attend the Pre-Conference Institute. This half-day offering on April 11 will focus on “Managing Disaster: Strategic Action & Responsive Communication in an Ever-Changing World.” Between the rich educational offerings and networking opportunities within the walls of the conference, and the rich culture and music of the French Quarter, our meeting in New Orleans is one not to be missed. In the words of marketing professionals, “business is best served with beignets.” Non?!

On a more serious note, I want to conclude my welcome by saying just how honored I have been to serve alongside an incredible group of individuals—people who have volunteered their time, prioritizing service to NAGAP while juggling the many competing priorities of their professional and personal lives. These individuals, these volunteers—they are my colleagues and my dear friends. Thank you to all of you for enriching my life and creating for me a family within NAGAP that is equally as precious as my family at home. I look forward to serving you these next few months and to my transition into my new role as Past President come April. n

Julie Deland NAGAP President

NAGAP Volunteer Opportunities NAGAP is a member-driven association, and there are many ways to get involved!

Check out the Volunteer Opportunities Page to learn more about the committees, organizational activities, and other projects to which you may volunteer your time.

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For more information, or to talk to someone about ways to become more involved with NAGAP, you can email a member of the Leadership Cultivation & Elections Committee.

The Leader in Graduate Enrollment Management

We hope you will take the time to consider the opportunities for volunteer participation, and that you will discover a way to become more involved in NAGAP.

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HOW SEO AND USER EXPERIENCE GO HAND-IN-HAND FOR HIGHER ED WEBSITES

By Rebecca Blanchette, Carnegie Dartlet When prospective graduate students begin searching for a master’s, doctorate, or certificate program, many first turn to Google or another search engine. That’s why terms like “master’s degree,” “master’s programs,” and “doctoral programs” have tens of thousands of monthly Google searches.

Ensuring your website, especially your program pages, are optimized for search engine visibility is a must-do in 2018.

Maybe you’ve heard the term “SEO” before, but you’re not quite sure what it means or what it entails. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, refers to the process of optimizing your website so that it is visible to search engines. While optimizing your site can involve some back-end technical work in your Content Management System (CMS), content is actually the biggest factor when it comes to search engine visibility.

Search engines like Google want to serve up results that contain content that users find helpful. That’s why SEO and user experience go hand-in-hand.

However, SEO is about more than just simply showing up in the SERP (search engine results page). It’s also about how you show up and what users see when they click through to your site. That’s why you should have a few goals in mind: • Show up in search engines and make users want to click on your result • Provide useful content on your website • Have a website that is both easy to navigate, and inspires conversions

Show Up in Search Engines and Make Users Want to Click on Your Result Ever heard of the term “metadata?”

In the SEO world, it refers to the title and description that you see for every search result. In your CMS, you should have the ability to customize metadata on every page of your website, which provides you with the chance to market

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to prospective students while they’re already looking for exactly what you offer and where they’re already looking.

Many CMSs such as WordPress, Drupal, and Expression Engine have easy plugins that can be used to painlessly enter the title tag and meta description.

Before creating metadata, you should perform keyword research to see what the most popular search terms are for each page’s topic. You can then use these keywords in both the title and description, as well as the front-end content, to increase that page’s visibility. Here are some tips for creating metadata.

on the page and utilize keywords that match users’ search terms.

• Include a call-to-action at the end of each description to tell users what they can do if they click through to your site. For example: “Learn more!”, “Request more information!”, “Apply today!”.

“It’s important to remember that there may be a difference between what you want to say and what prospective students are looking for, and you have to find the “sweet spot” where you’re doing both.”

For creating title tags: • Title tags should be around 60–70 characters, or however many fit within a 600 pixel display. If the title is any longer, it will get cut off and replaced with ellipses.

• Every title tag on your website should contain your school name after a bar.

Example: “ | Your University”. This should always be the institution name, not the name of a specific college within the university, i.e. “Smith College of Business.”

• Before the bar and institution name, you should have keywords that describe what is on the page. For example: “Master’s in English Degree | Your University.”

For creating meta descriptions: • Google recently expanded the character length for meta descriptions. Previously, the max number of characters was 160, but the number has now doubled to 320. Ensure that your meta descriptions are no more than 320 characters to avoid having them be cut off and replaced with ellipses, which creates a bad user experience.

• Your meta description should contain 2–3 sentences that describe what is

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Provide Useful Content on Your Website When prospective students perform a search, they’re looking for content. It’s important to remember that there may be a difference between what you want to say and what prospective students are looking for, and you have to find the “sweet spot” where you’re doing both. Ultimately, you want to be sure that you’re answering their questions.

For example, a prospective part-time master’s student may need to know: Is the program offered online? Are night and weekend courses available? Can the degree be completed in one year?

Speaking your audience’s language is key. It’s also important to remember that you may have many different audiences, including full-time master’s, part-time master’s, online master’s, and doctoral students. You may have prospects right out of college and others that have been in their careers for several years.

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HOW SEO AND USER EXPERIENCE GO HAND-IN-HAND the search queries they’re making and that they identify with your content.

If the content on your college or university’s website hasn’t been touched in years, then now is the time. First, you need to evaluate what pages on your site are no longer relevant, and redirect or deindex these. Additionally, you should identify any duplicate content on your website and redirect or deindex this as well. (Tip: A lot of schools have a significant amount of duplicate content without even knowing it. Running a crawl of your website to identify issues is key.)

Next, you should make a list of priority pages to revise.

As was stated earlier, content is the biggest search engine ranking factor.

Before you even begin writing or revising content, you should perform keyword research to see what terms and phrases users are typing into Google. Pick a few primary keywords for each webpage and work them into the content seamlessly (it should sound natural). These keywords should match up with the ones used in the metadata. Each webpage should contain 250 words minimum, though somewhere around 500 words is usually better. You should also utilize header tags, which are helpful for SEO, and allow you to break up large chunks of content to make it easy to consume.

In addition to refreshing existing pages for SEO and user experience, you should create new content consistently to get fresh information on your website on a regular basis. One way to do this is through blogging, which is one of the most underutilized resources in higher education. There are many different ways you can approach blogging. For example, you can have a thoughtleader blog housed under a certain department, such as a business blog with MBA student contributions. You can also have a general graduate school blog that highlights upcoming events or features current graduate students or alumni.

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If you’re worried about having the resources to blog, keep in mind that faculty, marketers, and students alike can all contribute. Like a regular webpage, you should incorporate keywords into your blog content and metadata. Every time you post a new blog on your website, you should always share it on all of your social media platforms. (Believe it or not, social media networks are search engines too!)

You can also incorporate blogs into email marketing campaigns, such as e-newsletters.

“Enhancing your site’s SEO and user experience doesn’t just affect prospective students who land on your site organically—but all site users. It’s important to remember that all roads lead to the website, including paid digital advertising,

Utilizing advanced analytics and user testing tools is the best way to evaluate user experience on your website, but at the very least you can try to simulate the prospective student experience on your website to see where you need improvements. Do a test of your site’s internal search bar. Type in a program name and see how it appears in the list of results. Does the most helpful and relevant page appear first? Similarly, test your menu structure by going to the homepage and seeing how easy it is to find that program’s page and how many clicks it takes to get there. When you land on the page, is it easy to take the next step? Does the side menu bar have links to other content related to the program? Are there call-to-action links to request more information, sign up for email updates, or apply? You want to be sure that your website ushers prospective students further down the funnel rather than leading them to a dead end.

In Conclusion

social media posts, e-mails,

Aside from content and user experience, you must ensure that the back-end of your site doesn’t contain any technical roadblocks in regards to URL names, breadcrumbs, page errors, redirects, keyword stuffing, mobile responsiveness, mobile speed, image optimization, and ADA compliance and accessibility—all of which could be affecting your search engine visibility.

Running a crawl of your website is the best way to identify these issues.

postcards, magazines, direct mail, billboards, etc.”

Have a Website that is Easy to Navigate, and Inspire Conversions You want to make it easy for prospective graduate students to take the actions you want them to on your website—such as fill out an RFI form, visit the application requirements page, or apply. That is why your website’s information architecture is so important for user experience.

Enhancing your site’s SEO and user experience doesn’t just affect prospective students who land on your site organically—but all site users. It’s important to remember that all roads lead to the website, including paid digital advertising, social media posts, e-mails, postcards, magazines, direct mail, billboards, etc. After all, every prospective student who considers or applies to your school is going to visit your website.

Are you providing them with the best experience when they get there? n

If a prospective student can’t find what they are looking for on your website, they will likely leave. They may even deduce that you simply don’t offer the program they’re researching. That is why it’s so important to have a good internal site search feature, as well as side menu bars, call-to-action buttons, and internal links.

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RECRUIT WELL-ROUNDED STUDENTS WITH HOLISTIC ADMISSIONS

By Amelia Pavlik, Georgia Institute of Technology Standardized test scores and GPA— sure, these items provide some indicators as to how well a prospective student has performed academically.

But, do they really indicate how successful the individual might be in your program?

This question is one reason why many universities practice holistic admissions, an approach that considers many factors—including life experience— when deciding whether to accept a prospective student. During a recent conference call, the following members of the NAGAP Experts Bureau discussed the topic of holistic admissions: • Cammie Baker Clancy, Director of Graduate Outreach and Admissions, School for Graduate Studies, Empire State College • Rahul Choudaha, Executive Vice President of Global Engagement and Research, StudyPortals

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• Matthew Cipriano, Manager of Enrollment and Education Operations, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Cornell University • Julie Deland, Director of Admissions, Harvard Graduate School of Education • Dave Fletcher, Director of Admissions, School of Podiatric Medicine, Barry University • Joshua LaFave, Director, Center for Graduate Studies, State University of New York at Potsdam • Francesca Reed, Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management and Director of Graduate Enrollment Services, Marymount University • Donald Resnick, Chief Enrollment and Success Officer, The New School, New York City Read on to learn more about their experiences and thoughts regarding this approach to admissions.

A Popular Approach All of the participants said that their programs practice holistic admissions.

But, what this entails varies a bit.

“We’ve been practicing holistic admissions for more than five years, and for us, this means we’re looking at the application as whole, not ruling anything out,” LaFave said. “Also, we have profiles of students who have

“…many universities practice holistic admissions, an approach that considers many factors— including life experience—when deciding whether to accept a prospective student.” continued on the next page

Cammie Baker Clancy

Rahul Choudaha

Matthew Cipriano

Julie Deland

Dave Fletcher

Joshua LaFave

Francesca Reed

Donald Resnick

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RECRUIT WELL-ROUNDED STUDENTS been successful in our program, and we use those profiles to help review our process and determine what we should be considering during the application phase.”

At Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, there are no cutoffs used for the GRE scores or GPA. Cipriano said that his school also looks at previous work and research history, and conducts an interview with the prospective student.

“Every individual application we receive is reviewed just that way—individually,” Resnick said. His institution has used holistic admissions since his arrival five years ago.

Fletcher said that in his school they’ve used the approach for three years, and there are no cut-off scores for applicants.

“There are so many things that influence the applicant’s success beyond academic factors,” he said.

“There are also human factors that will make our students good doctors such as empathy and determination. We want to make sure that these people will eventually be good residents as well as good students.”

Baker Clancy said her school’s approach is similar to others, and it is how they have been reviewing applications for over 20 years. But, they also require interviews for select programs, such as those leading to teacher certification, and they require a personal statement essay or analytical essay be written.

“This helps us get a sense of the person’s understanding of the program they are applying to, and we can better gauge the individual’s writing ability,” she said.

Deland’s school has used this approach since at least 2006 when she first joined their admissions office. There are no cutoff scores and all submitted materials are reviewed to assess the prospective

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CONTINUED their test scores—but end up thriving as students.

student’s potential for academic success as well as whether their intellectual and professional goals will be a good fit with the program.

“Often these are students from underrepresented backgrounds who are negatively impacted by the implicit bias of standardized testing,” he added.

“We’re interested in the experiences they’ve had in life and how they might translate into their contributions to the peer learning experience,” Deland said.

Reed mentioned that a number of her programs have eliminated the test requirement, because they saw little to no correlation between test scores and success in the program.

At Marymount University, Reed said that holistic admissions has been used for more than a decade, with such programs as Counseling or Interior Design. They define the practice as taking into account every single piece of material submitted, as well as an interview.

“But, some of our programs that don’t include interviews in their process have to rely on the scores, especially programs where students are coming straight out of their undergrad program and don’t have work experience,” she said. “In these cases, test scores can help illustrate success beyond what the transcript shows.”

Choudaha, who brings an international perspective to the table, brought up the fact that admissions processes for international students have additional layers of assessing language proficiency and equivalency of foreign credentials.

“These layers add significant complexity and diversity to the concept of holistic admissions process,” he said. “And, yet, there are emerging efforts to find alternative ways to assess these aspects of international students.”

Baker Clancy said that holistic admission review allows her programs to uncover some of the less tangible things about applicants, such as career expertise and communication skills, that will serve the student both in the program and once they’ve graduated.

The Benefits

A Word of Advice

As Fletcher pointed out, this approach allows his program to admit students who will be successful in their career as doctors and not just as students in the program.

If your institution doesn’t currently practice holistic admissions, but is interested, the bureau members have a few pieces of advice.

• Do your research. Think critically about what criteria you should be looking at that will really have an impact such as personality assessments and other non-cognitive factors, Fletcher said. “Look at your data, and use your colleagues through professional organizations such as NAGAP as resources,” he added.

• Be consistent. “By definition, this is a subjective review,” Resnick said. “That’s why you should have consistency measures in place such as

“It serves our institution in terms of access and recruiting a diverse pool of students—as a public institution we want our programs to serve our regional communities,” LaFave said. “It also adds to the classroom experience we can provide our students. Learning outcomes and general student experiences are greatly enhanced by the contributions students bring from their individual backgrounds.”

Cipriano pointed out that not having cut-off scores has opened the door for applicants to his programs who might not have had access based on

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RECRUIT WELL-ROUNDED STUDENTS protocols, rubrics, and training for the admissions committee members. This will help ensure that the subjective aspects are controlled for consistency year over year.”

• Involve faculty. Don’t create the process without faculty involvement or data to support why you’re doing it, LaFave said. “If you want a cultural change aligned with your mission, involve everyone at the table to design the process with you.

Then, it will be more sustainable.”

Fletcher added that one of his faculty members has mentioned that the

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holistic approach has forced him to look at nonacademic aspects of applicants. “He’s naturally resistant to that way of thinking, and he’s said that this approach has opened his mind to the fact that what an applicant brings to the table isn’t necessarily included on their transcript.”

Looking for additional resources?

NAGAP also offers a Holistic Admissions Resource Guide. Check it out at nagap.org/holistic-admissions-resourceguide. n

What is the NAGAP Experts Bureau?

This group of 15–20 NAGAP members was created in 2015 and trained and prepared to speak to members of the media about NAGAP’s key messages.

If you’d like to know more about the Experts Bureau, email Amelia Pavlik, NAGAP media relations lead, at media@nagap.org.

NAGAP Chapters

Join or Start a Chapter Today!

For those of you looking to get more involved with NAGAP, your local chapter is a great place to start. Chapters provide a wonderful opportunity to network, to participate in regional workshops and conferences, and to assume leadership positions.

They are also a great resource for learning more about GEM, especially if you are unable to attend the national annual conference.

NAGAP has eight regional U.S. chapters, one international chapter, and two special interest chapters. To find out which chapter your state is a member of, visit NAGAP’s Chapters page. Here you will find contact information for each chapter president, and a link to the chapter’s website or social media page. Most chapters have a “join” or “contact us” link right on the landing page.

If you find your state is not affiliated with a chapter, you may be interested in beginning a new chapter. For more information, review the How To Get Started overview. Questions?

Please contact us at info@nagap.org.

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MEET KELLY LUQUET, NAGAP’S 2018 WINTER INSTITUTE FELLOW

By Marianne Gumpper, Fairfield University Kelly Luquet, Fellow of the NAGAP 2018 Winter Professional Development Institute, held this January in Palm Springs, California, is no stranger to competition.

From the age of six she cut her teeth as a competitive swimmer growing up in New Jersey, and went on to swim for Virginia Tech in college. She majored in communication, and as a student interested in both sports and athletics, went on to receive her master’s degree in recreational sports administration from Indiana University. Her first job out of graduate school was at the University of Vermont (UVM) as Facilities Operations Manager for Campus Recreation. (Fun fact: University of Vermont is known colloquially as UVM, an acronym from the Latin, Universitas Viridis Montis, or University of the Green Mountains.) After a year at UVM, Kelly moved to Boston and found a position as Graduate Program Assistant for UMass Boston’s Exercise and Health Sciences graduate programs. It was a natural fit with her background and she loved learning about the academic side of things and working closely with faculty members.

This role combined the challenges of enrollment management and alumni relations, and she began to understand

We are working toward developing a hybrid admissions process and attending the Winter Institute would not only benefit me and our program, but would also have a meaningful impact on my college in general. We have a robust practice of collaboration across graduate programs and I intend to share the information I learn with my colleagues to help reconstruct, improve and solidify our GEM framework.”

the interconnectedness of each stage across the graduate student life cycle.

Fast-forward to today, Kelly serves as Program Manager for the Master of Arts in Kinesiology program at Saint Mary’s College of California. After relocating to California with her wife Caitlin, she initially secured a position as Graduate Council Analyst for the Academic Senate Office at UC Davis before moving onto her current dream job at Saint Mary’s College. She really missed working with students and faculty, and helping prospective students throughout the admissions process—and she finds that her role at Saint Mary’s involves these important pieces, and more, as she considers the holistic experience of the students in her program.

Kelly’s desire to attend NAGAP’s Winter Institute was also inspired by what she sees as the changing world of GEM. “The world of graduate enrollment management (GEM) is dynamic and evolving. While many different GEM models exist, it is imperative that colleges and universities utilize a model that aligns with their institution’s values, policies, and structure. Additionally, GEM should not end with recruitment and enrollment, but rather encompass every stage of the student lifecycle. Each graduate student is unique, thus there is a need for a comprehensive GEM model at every institution that provides for differentiated student experiences.”

Her desire to attend the Winter Institute is very much rooted in her desire for further professional development. In her fellowship application essay, Kelly said, “Attending the Winter Institute would assist in my professional development in two specific ways. First, at Saint Mary’s College, our admissions processes and student lifecycle for graduate and professional studies are decentralized.

Kelly was specifically interested in attending the session, “Communicating across Cultures: The Importance of Effective Intercultural Communication” and the “CRM: You’ve Got It. Now What?” session, since her school is currently in the process of implementing a new CRM. Having had the chance to speak to her while she was attending the Winter Institute, I heard first-hand how much she was enjoying the experience, even beyond the gorgeous setting of Palm Springs in January! While she finds attending NAGAP’s annual conference very helpful, she very much enjoyed the small setting that the Winter Institute provided for networking and opportunities to interact with the NAGAP board members. She is certain that this professional development experience will prove invaluable going forward. n

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MAKING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PRIORITIES ON OUR CAMPUSES: THE COMMUNITY OF SCHOLARS PROGRAM AT UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

By Caela Provost, University College Cork

Dr. Noro Andriamanalina

Dr. Karla Padrón

Dr. Jasmine Kar Tang

Director of Academic and Professional Development, Graduate School Diversity Office

Program Coordinator, Graduate School Diversity Office

Co-Director, Center for Writing

During the 2017 NAGAP Annual Conference in Salt Lake City, I had the opportunity to record a session given by Dr. Noro Andriamanalina, Director of Academic and Professional Development at the University of Minnesota Graduate School Diversity Office. Dr. Andriamanalina’s presentation entitled “Standing Naked in Front of the Other: Race, Language, and Graduate Writing” introduced session attendees to the University of Minnesota’s Community of Scholars Program (COSP)—a program created in the fall of 1998 to serve graduate students of under-represented racial and ethnic backgrounds. After leaving NAGAP, this session stayed with me, compelling me to learn more about the Community of Scholars Program, and how the implementation of similar programs in other universities and colleges across the United States might make an impact on our field at large.

and learning from these women. I hope you’ll find as much inspiration in their words as I have found.

of Minnesota received a generous grant to enhance the retention and degree completion of graduate students of color. That grant was the seed that grew the Community of Scholars Program, currently under my direction.

In crafting this article, I had the privilege of interviewing and working with not only Dr. Noro Andriamanalina, but also her colleagues Dr. Karla Padrón and Dr. Jasmine Kar Tang, all of whom play vital roles in creating the plans and curricula for COSP activities. It has been an absolute pleasure working with

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Caela Provost (CP): First and foremost, please introduce yourselves.

What are your educational backgrounds?

How did you land in the GEM field?

Noro Andriamanalina (NA): I am the Director of Academic and Professional Development for the Graduate School Diversity Office. I hold a Bachelor of Arts in English and Religion (Augsburg University), a Master of Arts in Teaching English (Minnesota State University, Mankato), and a PhD in Educational Policy and Administration (University of Minnesota). I was initially interested in pursuing a faculty career at a teaching institution, but realized I did not enjoy teaching multiple classes and did not see myself in that role for more than two years. I chose an administrative career because I wanted to affect institutional change while impacting student experiences through effective programming and policy development.

I began working with undergraduate students and then transitioned to support graduate students when the University

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My portfolio can be categorized into three areas generally: (1) lead and oversee strategic initiatives to support graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from under-represented populations across disciplines, (2) conduct research to inform how best to enhance the academic and professional development of graduate students of color, and (3) develop curriculum and facilitate sessions to train faculty and staff on creating a campus climate where diverse students can thrive through their graduate experience.

Karla Padrón (KP): I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Women’s Studies from University of California, Los Angeles, a Master of Arts degree in Mexican-American Studies from California State University, Los Angeles, and a PhD in American Studies with minors in Feminist continued on the next page

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MAKING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PRIORITIES Studies and Development Studies and Social Change from the University of Minnesota. Ten years ago, when I came to the University of Minnesota to pursue my doctoral degree, I became a participant in the Community of Scholars Program, where I am now a Program Coordinator. As a firstgeneration graduate student of color, and someone moving from California to Minnesota, I was keenly aware that I was entering new territory and the Community of Scholars program helped me feel grounded and connected to others as I completed my studies. I vividly remember the emotional and intellectual support that I received within Community of Scholars and this is where my commitment and admiration for the field of Graduate Enrollment Management was born. A large part of my job entails providing writing support to graduate students of color across all disciplines. I landed in this field because of my experience writing from an interdisciplinary perspective and studying how inequality is racialized, gendered, and classed in the U.S. My research has engaged labor and migration studies to examine the employment opportunities of transgender migrant women in the U.S. Centering social justice and using community-based participatory research practices have been of utmost significance to my professional development in this field.

Jasmine Kar Tang (JKT): Thank you for giving us this opportunity to talk about our work! I am Co-Director of the Center for Writing at the University of Minnesota. Before this position, I spent two years as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Graduate School Diversity Office, where I was the first Writing Initiative Coordinator in the Community of Scholars Program. I received my PhD in American Studies here at the U of MN, my MA in American Studies at Brown University, and my BA in Comparative American Ethnic Studies from the University of Washington.

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“The Community of Scholars Program seeks to serve under-represented students, and help them become more integrated in the greater graduate community, through workshops, forums, consultations, internships, and institutes.”

CP: The Community of Scholars Program seeks to serve under-represented students, and help them become more integrated in the greater graduate community, through workshops, forums, consultations, internships, and institutes.

Could each of you go into a bit more detail about your roles in creating the COSP community?

NA: My role is to establish the COSP vision and objectives by leading the overall programming and evaluation. I focus on building community, facilitating academic progress, and enhancing professional development to ensure timely degree completion. I use several methods to develop COSP initiatives.

These include: (1) interacting with COSP students, faculty, and staff to seek input on essential program components, (2) surveying effective practices at peer institutions, and (3) conducting research on U of MN graduate student experiences to identify pressing issues.

I am the lead for all COSP initiatives except for the writing and community engagement components. Karla and I co-lead a research project examining factors that influence career paths of graduate students of color.

workshops may be as specific as learning tools to write preliminary exams or win a doctoral fellowship. Other workshops, like the one that I am currently organizing, deal with broader themes of student success such as having effective communication with advisors. Another important aspect of my job is to link students to local community engagement opportunities to enhance their professional development and connection to the community. I am currently collaborating with Noro on a research project about the career paths of alumni of color. The purpose of this research is to help us learn of ways in which we can further extend our support to graduate students and their career aspirations.

JKT: The COSP Writing Initiative involves several different elements to help build a community of writers. For example, we began offering Shut Up and Write retreats, which are modeled after an event of the same name at the University of Oklahoma Writing Center, as well as the pedagogical practices of the U of MN Center for Writing’s Dissertation Writing Retreat. We also started organizing writing groups for interested COSP students, and we began developing a repertory of writing workshops on topics such as “how to get published,” “strategies for starting a paper,” and “writing from our strengths.” We also looked to collaborate with units across campus (such as my current workplace, the Center for Writing), offering co-facilitated workshops on “a conversation about ways of reading (and writing) as a graduate student,” “performing the prelim,” and “writer’s

“COSP was implemented because a study on the experiences of

KP: As a Program Coordinator, I support our writing initiative by providing individual writing consultations and coordinating writing groups and retreats for students. I also collaborate with faculty and staff to organize workshops focusing on themes within academic writing and publishing. Some of these

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black U of MN doctoral students, conducted in 1996, revealed that one of the main obstacles to student retention was isolation.” continued on the next page

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MAKING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PRIORITIES block(busting).” Finally, in the midst of these group events, the Writing Initiative offers one-with-one writing consultations, supporting all genres from conference proposals to dissertation chapters. With all of these elements, the Initiative looks to not only provide strategies for writing, but also to create a low-stakes, open space that can allow writers to be vulnerable and authentic.

“As the U.S. demographics become increasingly diverse, it is imperative to support diverse graduate students so they can maintain their identity, strengthen their voices, and help shape the academic community to address social issues.”

CP: Based on your experiences, why is having access to programs like COSP so important for today’s scholars?

What aspects of student voices and experiences are lost when academic communities fail to recognize the need for such outlets of student support?

NA: It is critical to understand that COSP was not created because graduate students of color were academically deficient and needed “extra” support to get through their programs. COSP was implemented because a study on the experiences of black U of MN doctoral students, conducted in 1996, revealed that one of the main obstacles to student retention was isolation. In 1998, the university took action by implementing COSP so graduate students of color could build communities across disciplines, interact with diverse staff and faculty, and become integrated into the broader university support system. Without programs like COSP, students, some of whom may be the only person of color

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in their program, feel detached and discouraged, especially when facing difficult situations with faculty and staff within their graduate programs.

Connecting with graduate students across the university provides a sense of belonging as students, collectively, navigate the academy while expanding their academic and professional networks. Some students have made life-long friendships and partnerships through participation in COSP. On the surface it may appear that COSP only benefits students, but we need to acknowledge, however, that institutions cannot advance their intellectual and research agendas without individuals who bring different perspectives and experiences to solve the world’s complex problems related to health, the environment, and education.

As the U.S. demographics become increasingly diverse, it is imperative to support diverse graduate students so they can maintain their identity, strengthen their voices, and help shape the academic community to address social issues.

KP: Based on my experience as a first-generation student of color who participated in COSP ten years ago, having access to this program is crucial to developing a sense of belonging in academic settings. People of color have always produced knowledge. Yet, the knowledge from communities of color has rarely been acknowledged as rigorous and intellectual. When students of color begin to participate in academic settings from a place of confidence, they bring their full identities to the table.

And, when they bring their full identities, they begin to create knowledge that has the power to change the world. This is because current world problems require collaboration across cultures, ideologies, and languages. When communities of color are excluded from higher education, social problems are only examined within a top-bottom approach.

People usually reject approaches or

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solutions that did not include their voices. Therefore, when students of color are not at the table creating knowledge, the knowledge being created may not have the same expansiveness and utility that we wish that it had. Supporting students of color is supporting their home communities and creating paths for solving social problems in a more communal way. When mainstream academics and researchers develop solutions to social problems and these solutions fail to be utilized or accepted, it is usually because they were created out of social context. Diverse students bring the social context that we need to implement and disseminate information.

JKT: Something that is critical to our work is the recognition that writing is an embodied, emotional act. Noro and I are working on a manuscript right now that involves focus groups with graduate writers of color, and the data is telling us that when it comes to people of color, the act of writing is often inextricable from their racialized, embodied experiences as students of color in the academy. When we do not acknowledge this link, we fail the student communities we hope to serve.

“When students of color begin to participate in academic settings from a place of confidence, they bring their full identities to the table. And, when they bring their full identities, they begin to create knowledge that has the power to change the world.”

CP: What were/are some of the biggest hurdles to creating, running, and maintaining the COSP program?

The writing initiative? Community engagement activities? continued on the next page

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MAKING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PRIORITIES NA: The biggest hurdle for COSP is staying relevant by being current on conversations that impact graduate education locally, nationally, and internationally. We have a responsibility to identify and lead effective practices so our students are not at a disadvantage when competing for jobs, funding, or opportunities with peers from other institutions. We must also be proactive in addressing incidences that affect diverse communities, as the university cannot be oblivious to social issues affecting our nation and our world. For example, after the controversial presidential election in November 2016, there was a tremendous amount of tension at the University of Minnesota. The Graduate School hosted a forum, which I facilitated, for all graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. The purpose of the forum was to share concerns and to offer suggestions on creating a more inclusive campus climate. COSP students were among the graduate students who led small group discussions to solicit input from participants. The ideas that emerged from the forum became the basis for a new initiative launched this year—the Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Alliance for Diversity and Inclusion. “The Alliance” is an opportunity to discuss and take action on issues to promote a welcoming and inclusive climate for the entire university community.

services at a time when the national political climate is openly hostile towards many different communities of color. When I was a participant at COSP, I attended writing workshops and community events. I was very grateful for these spaces because they grounded me and they allowed me to connect with other students of color at a very human level. I felt comfortable sharing some of the difficulties that I was experiencing as a first-generation college student. The challenge for me as a participant was that I always wanted more events and I didn’t know how to ask for additional support. I felt that asking for more would be rude because I should be grateful for what was being offered. I didn’t know that I could openly ask for more and I didn’t know how to phrase my need for help. I was doing well in my classes, but I needed more time with community. This need was completely new to me because I had taken community for granted when I was living in California.

KP: Since I am new to this position, I can speak of my experience as former participant of the program and as someone who is coordinating these

Today, as a Program Coordinator, one of the challenges in coordinating writing events is realizing that we cannot accommodate everyone’s schedule and personal circumstance when scheduling group writing sessions and workshops.

Inevitably, schedule conflicts will prevent some people from taking advantage of events. Yet, events must be planned with the larger group in mind. In terms of linking students to community engagement activities, some of the challenges also deal with negotiating individuality and community resources. I want to connect students with volunteer opportunities where they will grow, network, and feel appreciated. This is how they build spaces of support within and outside the university. In order to do this, I need to know what skills and interests they bring to the table and then find local places that would benefit from their presence and welcome them with open arms. There is no guarantee in making a match between a student and the local community.

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Local organizations are growing and shifting and so is our student body. The challenge and the beauty of linking students to community engagement is to keep learning and adjusting with every student, every cohort, and every local organization.

JKT: As far as the Writing Initiative is concerned, I think the biggest hurdle is limited staff. While we are thankful for the creation of Karla’s position as Program Coordinator, which began in August 2017, Karla has to split her time between research (25% of her appointment), community engagement (25%), and the Writing Initiative (50%).

While 50% time is certainly better than no time at all, providing writing support to a couple thousand students is a pretty big task. There are many, many programming ideas that remain unrealized. (For example, it would be amazing to facilitate dissertation writing groups the way Indiana University does.)

Thus, while the COSP writing program is one-of-a-kind, it’s just a start.

“The biggest obstacle for graduate students of color at a predominantly white institution is navigating academic culture.”

CP: What strikes you as the biggest obstacle in helping under-represented students realize and achieve their goals of academic and professional success?

NA: The biggest obstacle for graduate students of color at a predominantly white institution is navigating academic culture. When students face challenges with their advisors, they develop the “impostor syndrome” where they question their academic ability, leading to increased anxiety and mental paralysis. My role is to help students realize that they are continued on the next page

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MAKING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PRIORITIES not the problem. The problem is the academic system that did not take diverse communities into consideration when establishing university values and practices. Some graduate students of color have cultural values that directly conflict with academic values. Here is an example of a situation often encountered by students. In academia, it is the norm that faculty advisors expect students to be proactive in asking for resources or assistance.

Some students, however, come from cultures where it is disrespectful to ask something from someone in a position of authority, so students expect the faculty to offer assistance. Students who are not aware of this cultural dichotomy are frustrated by what they perceive as lack of interest on the part of the faculty; meanwhile, the faculty perceives such students as unmotivated.

Relationships can quickly deteriorate if there isn’t a conscious effort to inform both students and faculty of how to effectively communicate across cultures.

COSP facilitates conversations to engage with students and faculty on identifying expectations for the advising relationship to avoid miscommunication and misunderstanding. Without addressing academic culture, students will develop a negative self-perception as the “problem student”. Once graduate students understand the cultural context in which they are pursuing degrees, they are able to overcome the “imposter syndrome” and move forward to focus on their academic and professional goals.

“Once graduate students understand the cultural context in which they are pursuing degrees, they are able to overcome the “imposter syndrome” and move forward to focus on their academic and professional goals.”

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KP: Underrepresented students have one thing in common—they have experienced and witnessed inequality in education, housing, medical services, and political representation. To some extent, these experiences have shaped who they are and what they believe they can contribute to academia. To some extent, their consciousness has been shaped by inequality and lack of political power. Although many of them have been good students most of their lives, they are also aware that most members of their communities do not go to college. For them to see themselves as successful members of the professoriate means that they have to struggle with an identity shaped by mixed and often opposite messages: they are capable and intelligent, but they do not see many people in the professoriate who look like them. The biggest obstacle is helping them see themselves as worthy and deserving of higher education. The second biggest obstacle is convincing all key stakeholders the same. Since most professors and advisers are white, it is important that they believe in the skills of underrepresented students. Once they believe in their skills and their right to pursue higher education, they can affirm them and support them as they get to the finish line. I see the finish line as having a career where the former student is happy and confident and where they may continue to grow.

JKT: The biggest obstacle is epistemological: the research tells us that students of color bring their own experiential knowledge and embodied histories to the work, but their knowledge is often devalued and seen through a deficit lens. In this way, too, I like to think of our work as disrupting notions of “helping” students. Too often, support is framed through a savior narrative where we are helping/saving students (and here again, a deficit lens emerges). COSP students have what it takes to make it through, but there are institutional, systemic, historical forces at work that can make the journey extra challenging.

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CP: The creation of a program like COSP requires not only institutional resources, but also a shift in institutional priorities. How did/does your office successfully make the case for diversity focused programs on campus? How can other GEM professionals do the same?

NA: Institutions implement diversity focused programs for different reasons.

Some do so as a sense of moral obligation. What is problematic is using remediation as the approach to “complete” or “fix” diverse students.

COSP was not a hard sell because, first, we sought input from students who would benefit from the program. We saw value and worth in their diversity as a strength, not a weakness. We then made the case to senior administrators that diversity enriches the university curriculum, research, and overall experiences of students, staff, and faculty. There was no push-back. COSP, in fact, was the model used to develop the Graduate School’s current academic and professional development initiative that benefits all graduate students.

To implement any program that requires a significant amount of resources, you have to have the support of senior leadership (dean, provost, president), otherwise the effort is futile. Programs like COSP need sufficient funding for salary, programming, facilities, etc. The fact that COSP has not only existed but expanded for almost two decades demonstrates the University of Minnesota’s commitment to having diversity among the institution’s core values. Without such commitment, COSP would have ceased to exist after the initial six years of funding from the Bush Foundation, or at least, considerably diminished.

KP: Institutional changes are made by tactful, savvy, and persuasive visionaries. When I came to the University of Minnesota in 2008, I met various administrators who used their experiences and voices to set up the continued on the next page

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MAKING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PRIORITIES development and success of COSP. As a new employee, I have noticed that our team is composed of people who are experts in many different fields, from genetics, to educational policy, to career development. This intellectual diversity allows for rich conversations about the logic and language that we use to create a cohesive message that makes a case for diversity. Part of the success of COSP has to do with the individuals who have created this space. Their vision and courage made the success of this program possible. The passion and focus of the current team is what makes it sustainable. Knowing how to build a team that is diverse and committed to diversity is key. Knowing how to ask the questions that would identify these team members is imperative. Often, the people who know how to build a great team are the same people who have advocated for diversity not because they were paid to do so, but because they needed diversity in order to survive in academia. In addition, having a mission and vision that translate into measurable action and building a team that works toward those goals is how other GEM professionals can do the same.

JKT: I think that all you have to do is speak to COSP students to know how important this program is and what

“My advice to GEM professionals is to take time to convene diverse graduate students and other major stakeholders to develop a clear vision of what you want to accomplish and why. Why is your institution invested in diversifying graduate education? What would success look like? Is the purpose to assimilate students to academic culture, or can students help shape academic culture?”

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assimilate students to academic culture, or can students help shape academic culture? Once you have clearly defined goals and objectives, you can begin to take steps to build a program by making sure the responsibilities closely align with the passion and skills of the individuals leading the work.

kind of impact it has. In this way, we have to systematically conduct program assessment and evaluations so we can simultaneously improve and make a case for our programs.

CP: As a follow-up to the last question, what advice would you give to GEM professionals hoping to create a similar program to support students at their institutions?

NA: During a session I facilitated for faculty and staff on creating an inclusive environment, a staff member suggested we recruit students of color through disciplinary “clusters” to improve retention, because they could support one another throughout their graduate programs.

This posed the larger question of the purpose of recruiting diverse students and developing diversity-focused programs.

What would it mean if students find support and feel empowered to challenge university practices? Would the university be willing to change, or reprimand students for initiating change? A member of the faculty then pointed out that changing academic culture is beyond the purview of any one institution, because faculty and administrators are steeped into disciplinary and professional societies that perpetuate the status quo. According to this individual, unless these societies were also willing to change their practices to align with academic institutions, it was unethical to train graduate students to go against the norm because they would be at a disadvantage, especially students who want to pursue academic careers.

What is concerning was the lack of personal agency among the participants to go beyond the university to advocate for change.

My advice to GEM professionals is to take time to convene diverse graduate students and other major stakeholders to develop a clear vision of what you want to accomplish and why. Why is your institution invested in diversifying graduate education? What would success look like? Is the purpose to

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KP: Have an open, transparent, and sincere conversation with stakeholders to name and list all of the ways in which the institution has failed to value diversity. Connect with people who have used their skills to build places for underrepresented students, (ask students to identify these employees), create a mission and vision for a program that would recruit, retain, and graduate students of color. Build a team of diverse individuals who could get funding, and develop the team who could carry the everyday tasks of supporting students.

Identify ways in which your program and vision will be challenged and learn how to communicate the need for this space, not as a temporary or cosmetic “fix” but as a permanent fixture of the university.

JKT: As far as writing support is concerned, I think one of the most important things to remember is that there is a pedagogy of writing support, even in something as practical as organizing a writing group. It’s not just about putting on events or providing consultations; staff must have access to professional development opportunities that help us develop new programming and also deepen our pedagogies of teaching writing and facilitating forms of support. Relatedly, too, I believe that if we (as university administrators) want to support students’ research and writing, we need to be researching and writing, too. Doing so keeps us in check and keeps us closer to the stress of writing.

This is very key for me as a practitioner and researcher. How can I possibly support a writer if I am not doing a writing project of my own? continued on the next page

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MAKING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PRIORITIES CP: Where do you see the program in five years’ time? What new developments have you envisioned for future generations of COSP students?

NA: What is exciting about our work is that we have colleagues within and outside the university who also see diversity as strength and value students with different worldviews. We have developed solid partnerships with multiple academic institutions to provide teaching opportunities for COSP students who wish to pursue tenure-track positions. What we need to expand is opportunities for COSP students to connect with employers in industry, government, and non-profit sectors through paid internships. We currently collaborate with Hennepin County on a summer internship program, which has been highly successful, but I would also like to establish programs with companies in the Twin Cities and within the State of Minnesota agencies.

As the program continues to grow, another development would be space dedicated to COSP for workshops, forums, and writing retreats. I also envision a lounge where students can connect, network, or just rest before going to the next class. Space is a premium at the university, yet it is essential to create COSP space to build community and to sustain our programs.

A lot of the new initiatives will also be informed by our research, launched this academic year, on career paths of graduate students of color. We will draw from that data to determine what would best serve COSP students going forward.

KP: One of my recurring themes is “asking for more.” I have seen many students request more services and

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give thanks for what we offer. I see our program as growing in order to offer more writing sessions, professional development workshops, community engagement, and professional development that we currently do. I see our focus shifting to encompass not only recruitment, retention, and graduation, but also ensuring that students do all of these things with a sense of joy. Students will not only complete and compete but thrive and cherish the memories that they made as graduate students.

“It is imperative that we check our biases to make sure we don’t inadvertently label students before getting to know them as individuals. Recruiting graduate students because they bring diverse perspectives, but then expecting them to be like us, or someone else, is disingenuous and unethical. They must feel they can enter our academic spaces with all of their identities intact. Only then can they transition, unscathed, into rewarding careers empowered to lead wherever they land.”

CP: Finally, is there anything else you’d like to add? Any final words for our GEM colleagues?

NA: With tears rolling down her face, a student sat in my office and

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shared that she was not the “diversity” her advisor expected. The advisor expected her to behave in certain ways based on prior experiences with other advisees whom the faculty assumed shared similar cultural identities with the student. We all have biases, implicit and explicit. What can be most damaging to graduate students of color is feeling that they have to cast off parts of their identity to enter the university campus. They fear that they will only be accepted if they fit academia’s definition of “diversity”: that somehow there is “preferred diversity”.

It is imperative that we check our biases to make sure we don’t inadvertently label students before getting to know them as individuals. Recruiting graduate students because they bring diverse perspectives, but then expecting them to be like us, or someone else, is disingenuous and unethical. They must feel they can enter our academic spaces with all of their identities intact. Only then can they transition, unscathed, into rewarding careers empowered to lead wherever they land.

That is how I define success.

KP: Inequality is historically situated.

Yet, because of racism, many people have internalized the message that some communities truly are intellectually or culturally inferior. This erroneous belief maintains and rationalizes the unequal access to higher education. It is important to keep in mind the ways in which institutional racism has functioned throughout our history and how GEM programs can work to undo those beliefs and make spaces for people of color to complete their degrees with a sense of dignity and pride. n

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RECRUITMENT CHALLENGES FOR MFA PROGRAMS—SEE WHAT OUR COLLEAGUES HAVE TO SAY!

By Marianne Gumpper, Fairfield University, and Troy Sterk, Seattle University Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs have grown rapidly over the last ten years both with on-campus and low-residency formats. These programs are unique and appeal to a very specific audience. As a result, recruitment to these programs presents unique challenges. Having the need to recruit for MFA programs, we thought it would be helpful to reach out to both program directors and graduate enrollment management professionals in the field to understand the challenges and identify strategies for overcoming the enrollment barriers. We asked a few questions: What are the top recruitment challenges for your program? How do you address these challenges? Do you have any strategies in place to address these challenges?

“We know from our own historical data that our applicants are attracted to our program but finances often prevent them from choosing us, or that they choose another program based on the aid package offered.”

Here’s what they had to say: From an MFA program director at a medium-sized university in the Northeast: The top recruitment challenge for us is the small number of scholarships we have to offer, particularly to support a diverse range of writers.

We have one merit-based scholarship per semester, but that often doesn't allow the flexibility to go above and beyond to support a specific writer who is talented but weighing offers from more than one institution. This also doesn't allow our team to make targeted offers specifically to grow

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to lose a few students each cycle who are awarded scholarships elsewhere.

diversity among our incoming classes.

We know from our own historical data that our applicants are attracted to our program but finances often prevent them from choosing us, or that they choose another program based on the aid package offered.

We are exploring ways to add scholarships (discounts) to our program and potential strategies for being competitive. We also need to identify the audience who can afford school as a passion or second/retirement pathway.

From a lead generation standpoint, we host authors on campus twice a year and advertise via Facebook with supporting email campaigns to our prospective student pool to attract applicants and raise awareness with people in the community.

As far as solutions, we have tried in the past to engage the development office on campus, but our base in the humanities has meant less attention from our development office and a lack of pro-active support. With the help of a new dean who has a background in fundraising, we now have more hope for a targeted fundraising campaign. In addition, we try to be transparent with our applicants about routes to access the aid that is available, encouraging them to complete a FAFSA, and about the discounting of tuition that is available. We began an initiative when I started as director to build connections with our veterans’ services on campus, which has led to a much more streamlined process for bringing veterans into our program. We have also added elements to our program to encourage our own capacity to serve students from diverse backgrounds and students with disabilities and chronic health issues, which has helped to support students as they work toward their degrees.

From an MFA program director at a small private university in the Northwest: We have created a comprehensive housing resource section on our website.

We still do not have a dedicated graduate housing site as part of our campus housing website. So we had to build our own. Regarding scholarships, we are trying to split the scholarship pool to award more students in hopes of helping more students make the financial decision to come to program. We also plan to offer hybrid options and possibly some online MFA courses in the future.

From an MFA director at a small private college on the West Coast: The top recruitment challenge is funding.

As a terminal degree program there are many programs that offer full funding, more similar to a PhD program than an MA program. Smaller schools with high tuition rates struggle to fill class sizes in a hyper-competitive market for a niche degree like creative writing. Other challenges born out of this funding crisis include recruiting a class with students from underrepresented backgrounds because many students from such

From a graduate enrollment management professional at a Western university: The biggest recruitment challenge is finding students willing to commit to a passion program for $32,000. This is primarily a passion (vs. career) for most of our students, and getting the commitment for 54 credits of time and a $32,000 investment is not easy for everyone. The other challenge is losing students to scholarships at other programs. We don’t have scholarships for our MFA program and we continue

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RECRUITMENT CHALLENGES backgrounds will receive offers from fully-funded schools and matriculate at programs that wave tuition fees.

We address these challenges through a multi-pronged strategy. We offer on-campus fellowships, community partner scholarships, where the partner represents a particular affinity group in the literary community, as well as scholarships raised from a donor pool.

The challenge is not quite met, as our on-campus fellowships do not yield full tuition waivers for the full program, as they do in comparable programs.

Rather, we are tempering the challenge and enrolling students that cannot

“Other challenges born out of this funding crisis include recruiting a class with students from underrepresented backgrounds because many students from such backgrounds will receive offers from fully-funded schools and matriculate at programs that wave tuition fees.”

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gain entry into the more competitive fully-funded programs. As more and more programs receive institutional funding or private funding to fully-fund all of their students, our recruitment challenges will increase.

Summary Over the last decade many more colleges and universities have begun offering MFA programs through a variety of formats. This increase has resulted in more choices for prospective students as well as recruitment challenges for faculty and graduate enrollment management professionals.

Recruitment challenges mainly center around funding and attracting a diverse population but also include finding available housing. Strategies employed by institutions to meet these challenges include increasing types of funding and stretching scholarship dollars among more students, as well as working with campus partners to attract a more diverse student population. Unless the number of programs is reduced, recruitment challenges will continue to persist and will likely grow partly because the MFA is often perceived as a personal interest pursuit rather than a career-centered degree. n

2016–18 NAGAP GOVERNING BOARD Officers President Julia B. Deland

Director of Admissions

Harvard Graduate School

of Education

Cambridge, MA

(617) 495-3414

julie_deland@gse.harvard.edu Vice President Keith Ramsdell

Bowling Green State University Secretary Teisha Johnson

Illinois College of Optometry Treasurer Jeremiah Nelson

Wake Forest School of Business Immediate Past President James Crane

Brigham Young University Executive Director Dana VanMeerhaeghe

NAGAP, The Association for

Graduate Enrollment Management

Check out the

NAGAP Online Resource Center

The Leader in Graduate Enrollment Management

Featuring a database of Holistic Admissions resources as well as archived book reviews, GEM articles, webinars, doctoral research, and more. nagap.org/online-education-resource-center

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COMING SOON! A NEW NAGAP NATIONAL SALARY TOOL AND SURVEY REPORT

Directors Cammie Baker Clancy

Empire State College Katherine Beczak

Rochester Institute of Technology Renanda Wood Dear Georgia State University School of Social Work Dave Fletcher

Barry University Andrew Kim Memorial University of Newfoundland Jennifer Kulbeck

Saint Mary's College of California Raymond Lutzky

Cornell Tech

will soon have access to the Graduate Enrollment Management Compensation Analytics Tool (GEMCAT), which will allow you to tailor your salary search criteria to fit your specific needs. You will be able to leverage this national dataset specific to the GEM field to improve your wage analysis and ensure success.

Quality compensation data is critical for those of us working in graduate enrollment management. Whether you are negotiating a fair wage or, as a manager, trying to align employee salaries with real market values, you need compensation data in your field to accomplish your goal.

The NAGAP Research Committee is pleased to report that we have compiled the responses from the 2017 Salary Survey to build a searchable database and interpretive tool. NAGAP members

This new tool, as well as a narrative salary survey report, will be launched in early spring. Stay tuned! n

Jahmaine Smith

Morgan State University Paula Baker

University of Minnesota

Media Relations Amelia Pavlik

Georgia Institute of Technology

UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Publications Committee Nicquet Blake, PhD

University of Texas Health

Science Center San Antonio

2018 Annual Conference April 11–14, 2018 New Orleans, Louisiana

Marianne Gumpper

Fairfield University Mallory Maggiacomo

Marist College

Summer Institute for New Graduate Enrollment Management Professionals

Kate McConnell

Pennsylvania State Grate Valley

July 19–20, 2018 Las Vegas, Nevada

Kittie Pain

McDaniel College Caela Provost

University College Cork

Winter Institute for Advanced Graduate Enrollment Management Professionals

Troy Sterk

Seattle University

January 17–18, 2019 San Juan, Puerto Rico

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INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES WITH AGENTS: WHAT INSTITUTIONS NEED TO KNOW

By Paul Schulmann, World Education Services, Inc. The experiences of international graduate students with recruitment agents are an important consideration for institutions that use or plan to use their services to increase international enrollment. The use of agents for recruiting international students is a controversial practice, which has seen its popularity and acceptance ebb and flow. Until as recently as 2013,

the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) held that university-commissioned recruiting of international students was unethical, in line with federal prohibitions of their use for domestic student recruitment.

Since the ban was lifted1, the use of overseas agents has increased according to a report by Bridge Education Group2,

Figure 1 Amount Students Spent on Agent’s Services

which additionally found that 37% of U.S. universities and colleges already use agencies to recruit international students.

Despite this, there is a scarcity of information regarding many aspects of agent use, specifically from the perspectives of students. In order to elucidate questions on the use of agents from the student’s perspective, World Education Services (WES) surveyed 5,880 international students representing five regions and over 50 countries.3 Our research sought to uncover the prevalence of agent-use among WES applicants, what types of agents they use, how much they pay them and what for, and how satisfied they are with the services provided.

The following findings relate to the 1,134 prospective international graduate students who used the services of an agent to apply to U.S. higher education institutions. The original report, which examined agent use at both the undergraduate and graduate level and discussed differences by country and region, is available at: http://wenr.wes. org/2017/06/decoding-internationalstudents-experiences-with-educationagents-insights-for-u-s-institutions

Figure 2 Types of Agencies Students Worked With 4

Overall Findings Our research found that about 23% (1,134) of graduate respondents used agents during the application process.

Students were generally satisfied with the services offered, with 83% indicating that the agents met their expectations, and 75% agreeing that the agents provided useful information. Importantly, 71% agreed that the services that agents provided were a good value for the money they spent. Although the price that students paid for their services varied, almost half of students (47%) paid under $500. continued on the next page

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INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES In terms of the types of agents used, 73% of prospective international graduate students worked with an independent education agent or agency, while only 14% suggested that the agent they used was a representative of one or more higher education institutions. Notably, 10% of survey respondents could not identify the type of agent they used. In terms of the scale of operations, students selected agents from a wide array of business models (see figure 2). While the most commonly selected business operation was a local business (36%), 30% of agents students used represented businesses with a nation-wide presence and over one fifth (22%) were from firms with an international presence.

What Drives Students to Use the Services of Agents?

The question of what drives students to seek the assistance of education agents is crucial to the understanding of what services and assistance institutions should offer or improve to help demystify the process of the applying and enrolling at a U.S. higher education institution.

While the admissions process for domestic students may seem straightforward, a lack of knowledge about the college application process in the U.S. was the most often cited reason why prospective international graduate students seek the assistance of an agent, with 44% selecting this as a top three reason. These were closely followed by assistance selecting the school or program to apply to (43%) and the ability of an educational agent to reduce the time it took to complete the application process. Notably, language obstacles play a very minor role in a student’s decision to use an agent, with only 5% selecting this as reason.

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agent by international standards was important. Fifty-six percent of students surveyed found their agent through friends or family, suggesting that the reputation with peers carries a lot of weight in their decision.

was knowledge and expertise of U.S. admission guidelines and education system. This was followed by reputation (62%) and the breadth of services offered (43%). Interestingly, less than one third of graduate students indicated that certification or recognition of the

continued on the next page

Figure 3 Why Students Use the Agent’s Services Q: Please select the top 3 reasons you chose to use an agent. (n=1,134) Lack of knowledge about the college application process in the U.S.

44%

Needed help in my selection of which schools and/or programs to apply to

43%

It reduced the time and effort needed to prepare and/or complete admission applications

41%

Limited knowledge about U.S. higher education institutions

33%

Help preparing for visa interviews/application

31%

Career advice/counselling

29%

Increase in admissions probability

25%

Recommendation from friends/family

24%

Needed help meeting specific requirements (such as grade point average, standardized tests, essay completion, etc.)

22%

Language obstacles

5%

Figure 4 Why Students Sought the Services of an Agent

Not surprisingly, the same challenges that lead a student to work with an agent inform a student’s decision about what to look for in one (see figure 4). For nearly three quarters of graduate students who used agents, a main characteristic they sought

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INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES

What Services Did the Agents Provide?

Figure 5 Services Students Sought from Agents

Percentage of Respondents that Used Agents for the Following Services Prospecting Stage

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Application Stage

Pre-Arrival Assistance

Selection of schools

94%

College application preparation and/or submission

91%

Visa application preparation and processing

68%

Suitable degrees and program options

91%

Services such as essay, resume or personal statement editing

84%

Banking and insurance needs

59%

Choosing a study destination

88%

Obtaining transcripts, credential evaluation and other documentation for admission purpose

83%

Pre-departure orientation

58%

Financial requirements for studying abroad

80%

Initiate or manage communication with admission officers, departments, professors etc. at the institutions

75%

Travel arrangements

48%

Our survey revealed that students used agents for an array of services throughout the admissions cycle (see figure 5). The most commonly used services during the prospecting stage were help selecting schools (94%) and help finding suitable degree programs (91%). During the application stage, students were most likely to use agents to assist them with the application preparation and submission (91%) followed by obtaining necessary transcripts and forms for admission purposes (84%). Once admitted, 68% of students sought the help of agents to assist them with their visa application, preparation, and processing. This was followed by assistance with banking and insurance needs (59%).

The Successes and Challenges of Working with Agents

Financial aid & scholarship opportunities at institutions

78%

Preparation for admission interviews

72%

Availability of work opportunities

69%

Standardized testtaking preparation

67%

Housing and accommodations

47%

Figure 6 Challenges of Working with Agents

Overall, students were generally satisfied with their experiences working with agents. Seventy-seven percent of students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that their agent “had adequate knowledge and expertise that helped guide me through the entire study abroad process.” Fifty-seven percent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that the agent “influenced my decision to enroll at an institution,” which is important to note as the second most cited reason for using an agent was to help select institutions to apply to initially.

Despite the assistance that agents provided, students reported some notable challenges of working with them (see figure 6). While the most cited challenge was unresponsiveness to a student’s queries (28%), 22% noted that the agents were unclear about the financial obligations of working with them. Approximately one fifth of students reported misrepresentation of information related to institutions continued on the next page

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INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES and unrealistic expectations about on-campus jobs and/or scholarship opportunities. Despite this, students generally had positive experiences with their agents and felt strongly about their integrity. Eighty percent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that the agent “provided me with current, accurate and honest information throughout the process that enabled me to make an informed choice.” Additionally, 70% indicated that the agent increased their likelihood of enrolling in a U.S. higher education institution.

Concluding Thoughts Generally speaking, prospective international graduate students who completed the survey had good experiences with agents. Notably, the vast majority of respondents sought the services of agents unaffiliated with universities. This may have contributed to the satisfaction students had with their agent’s ability to find a good institutional fit and the influence they had over a student’s decision to enroll in a particular school.

It is relevant for institutions to note that many of the challenges that lead students to seek the assistance of agents are ones that institutions could help mitigate. The number one factor that

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led to agent use is a lack of knowledge about the college application process in the U.S. Additionally, the number one characteristic students sought in their agent is knowledge and expertise of U.S. admission guidelines and education system. Given the complexity and lack of standardization across programs and schools it is incumbent on the institution to help clarify what is needed and how applications are assessed.

using, it behooves institutions to publish guidelines for students on what to look for in these areas. Clearly, the reputation of agents is enormously important to students; institutions should have a bigger stake in defining this reputation by informing students of what to look for and what to avoid. n

Endnotes 1 Redden, E. (2013, September 23).

Giving Agents the OK. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www. insidehighered.com/news/2013/09/23/ admissions-association-lifts-bancommissioned-agents-internationalrecruiting 2 Bridge Education Group. Pace of Adoption of International Student Recruitment Agencies by U.S. Institutions. Retrieved from http:// bridge.edu/Bridge-Research-Library 3 Roy, M. (2017, July 06). Decoding International Students’ Experiences With Education Agents: Insights for U.S. Institutions. World Education News Reviews. Retrieved from http://wenr.wes.org/2017/06/ decoding-international-studentsexperiences-with-education-agentsinsights-for-u-s-institutions 4 Responses of “not sure” were removed.

Question was multiple answers, multiple choice meaning the business types may not be mutually exclusive definitions.

Lastly, institutions concerned with the prevalence of agent use should help educate prospective students about agents. With over one fifth of students unclear about the financial arrangements and fee structures of agents, and one in ten unable to identify the type of agent they are

“The number one factor that led to agent use is a lack of knowledge about the college application process in the U.S. Additionally, the number one characteristic students sought in their agent is knowledge and expertise of U.S. admission guidelines and education system.”

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LOSING A STUDENT

By Pam Gustafson, LIU Post Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program As college and university staff members, our role in students’ lives is often ambiguous. We meet them during recruitment, and help them change the course of their graduate education experience by pointing out a unique feature of our programs. We work one-on-one with them to get their applications completed or their enrollment deposits secured. We sit with them and talk about their career goals and help them decide on courses. We talk to them about juggling life, work, and school. We review their academic progress evaluations and change the training program to better meet their needs. We talk to them about postgraduation career paths. We change our offerings based on the limitations or opportunities our degrees offer. We set them up with information about ways to pay back their student loans. We point them to additional training, personal enrichment, and ways to continue to use the campus as a resource as alumni. We ask them to give back to the institution that helped them develop as a professional…

“ Research tells us that graduate student support throughout the student lifecycle is an important part of success. But what happens when that lifecycle ends abruptly…not because of attrition, but because of death?”

From these many roles, we reap the rewards of being part of our students’ professional journeys, and often develop relationships with them. In some cases, we come to consider graduates of our programs friends and future work colleagues. In other cases, we remember them fondly as individuals who have helped us grow as professionals,

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allowing us to take great pride and joy in our work. In institutions—both large and small—the relationships we develop with students are built upon being a member of their support team, from recruitment through alumni relations.

Research tells us that graduate student support throughout the student lifecycle is an important part of success. But what happens when that lifecycle ends abruptly…not because of attrition, but because of death?

When a student dies, we might be the ones finding the application personal statement for the family, faculty, and peers. When a student dies we might be the ones changing the address in the system so the grieving family does not receive any more bills. When a student dies, we may be the ones writing the official announcement and calling our colleagues with the news. When a student dies, we might be the ones un-enrolling the student for the following semester, and removing their name from the roster. When a student dies, we may be the ones updating their status in our accreditation portal to “reason student left program” as “deceased.”

When a student dies, we may be the ones speaking to family members and consoling classmates. When a student dies, we may need to know if family members are responsible for federal loans. When a student dies, we may be the ones asking for a copy of the death certificate for Registrar. When a student dies, we may be the ones helping to arrange a campus memorial service…

When a student dies, we may be doing all of this while grieving ourselves.

Death is not a subject people like to talk about, and the grief of others is not something many know how to handle (Balk, 2001). This is no different on campuses than at home and in communities. A 1991 study on how colleges and universities managed student death showed that there

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“This article is meant to be a resource for graduate enrollment management staff and faculty who have lost a student, or those with a colleague who has lost a student. It is not meant to be all-inclusive, but rather a starting point for conversations about a topic that often is avoided, and of which little training or preparation is available for graduate enrollment management professionals, faculty, or administrators.” was little training available for staff and faculty members, and that most schools did not have written policies of operation (Wren). Still, searches for research on the subject come up shockingly short. There are studies on helping K-12 students and teachers cope with the loss of a student. There are some on dealing with the suicide of a college student, or a violent crime on campus. There are articles on training nurses and medical students how to cope with death. There are articles and handbook chapters that talk about “death protocols,” “death response teams,” and “crisis management” for administrators, offering practical advice on getting through the tasks after a student dies. And, yet, the latest full text resource that could be found on how to help faculty and staff members on a campus respond to and cope with the loss of a student was a text from 1985.

This topic is, for me, personal. If you’re reading this it may be personal to you too—either now or in the future. Often topics in higher education that skirt the line between professional and personal continued on the next page

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LOSING A STUDENT responses are not discussed. This article is meant to be a resource for graduate enrollment management staff and faculty who have lost a student, or those with a colleague who has lost a student.

It is not meant to be all-inclusive, but rather a starting point for conversations about a topic that often is avoided, and of which little training or preparation is available for graduate enrollment management professionals, faculty, or administrators. I will first go through how I came to this topic and then go through some ways to proactively plan for the loss of a student, in order to prepare staff and faculty to respond with empathy and understanding to all parties while also efficiently moving through necessary responses as professionals.

It was November of 2009 when I got a call from the brother of one of my students. I was the contact person in the clinical psychology program where she had spent the last three years of her life as a full-time doctoral student. She had been battling cancer for a few years, taking a semester off at one point, and she had just come back that September to restart classes. After he told me she had passed away, I took down his contact information, and I hung up the phone. I sat there for a while, and I had no idea what to do. I was 27. I had experienced death before, but I had never dealt with the death of a student. I knew this student—she was my age. I eventually got up from my desk and walked down the hall to where our new director was teaching a class. I knocked and motioned

“Indeed, what we learned about them and the extent of their influence among their classmates, clients, peers on clinical placement, and own family members made the loss that much greater to our community.”

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CONTINUED deal with it as individuals, as a group, as administrators, as role models, as a part of a larger campus community.

for her to come out into the hallway. I told her the news. My director went back to teaching her class and I went back to my office. I called the Dean’s Office.

I felt responsible for sharing this young woman’s passing, and knew doing so was of great importance, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of complete and complicated sadness. Who else should I call? Did her classmates know? Did we, as a program, attend the funeral? Where was she with her dissertation? Who do we ask about awarding her degree for the family? The list of questions went on and on.

It would be 8 years later that I would get a similar call. Actually, I got two calls in that year. We lost one student to a tragic apartment fire in June. The student was just about to begin internship—the last part of her short journey with us, but also of a longer journey filled with perseverance, struggle, and poise. She was also my age. Four months later, the long-time chair of the psychology department suffered a sudden heart attack and passed away. Just one month later another student died from a sudden and unexplainable virus that he spent two weeks in the hospital trying to fight. Both were almost set to launch their professional careers.

“In addition, the loss of a student happens within a larger context.

What struck me the most about these experiences, was how ill prepared we (the program faculty and staff) all were.

We, as a group, had been through so many life experiences of our own: marriage, divorce, cancer, becoming parents, becoming grandparents, children’s college acceptances, new homes, the death of parents and siblings. We had helped our students through losing a parent, a grandparent, a child. We offered support through natural disasters, major medical issues, cancer, family leave, and more. But when our own students died, even in a clinical psychology doctoral program—where we train would-be psychologists on coping behavior, grief, and trauma—we were all unprepared to

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In some ways, these three students’ stories were very different. In other ways, they were not. One was the result of a long-term medical issue, while two were sudden and unexpected. Two were well known among the faculty and staff, while one was not. One had a local community at home that offered a plethora of support to the family and peers, the other two were not local.

One student was a sort of an enigma, the other an in-between-cohorts student, and the other drove most of us crazy with aloofness. All were dedicated to the field and really good at what they did. All knew exactly what they wanted to do when they left us…but all left before they could accomplish those goals. All had left an impression on the faculty, staff, and their peers while they were alive. Indeed, what we learned about them and the extent of their influence among their classmates, clients, peers on clinical placement, and own family members made the loss that much greater to our community.

It happens within this public sphere of the graduate program.

It happens in an environment that, by definition, is filled with promise (Balk, 1993).”

The Loss When you are a staff or faculty member, losing a student can have this sort of ambiguous nature. We were part of the student’s life, but not. We knew the student well, but not. We spent the last parts of their lives with them, but only continued on the next page

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LOSING A STUDENT this one piece of it. We are, in many ways, ancillary to their lives. Even if their graduate experience is a huge part of the few years they spend in it, we are supporting members of that important part that they play in their own education. We are a stop-point on the larger journey their lives are supposed to take. Thus, when a student dies, the experience of grieving the loss of that student can be encumbered by feeling that we do not have the “right to grieve” (Attig, 2004).

In addition, the loss of a student happens within a larger context. It happens within this public sphere of the graduate program. It happens in an environment that, by definition, is filled with promise (Balk, 1993).

Whether our graduate students are just out of their undergraduate programs or returning non-traditional students, the loss of a student is not anticipated (Battle, Greer, Ortiz-Hernandez & Todd, 2013). Faculty, staff, and students who may not have ever connected over a personal issue are confronted with this very personal response to the death in this very public space. However, dealing with a death of a student or classmate changes the nature of that space, even if only momentarily as the program grieves the loss. The campus environment may be an atmosphere that is not naturally conducive to supporting members through personal loss because of the explicit and implicit norms of the program (Battle et al, 2013; Bento, 1994). When a student dies, those who knew the student may have had a different connection to that student, and so their response to the death

“The lifecycle of our other students continues, as does that of the program. Skipping over the process of shared and individual grief may rupture those continuing lifecycles as well.”

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CONTINUED differs as well. These responses are, of course, also determined by individual personality and beliefs about death and not just about the nature of the work environment in which they occur.

This difference may lead some to shy away from others who are obviously grieving the loss more intensely or simply differently (Balk, 2001).

It is important to keep these contexts in mind when planning for and responding to a loss of a student. We might be prompted by the pressure of mounting deadlines and the campus timeline to move on from the loss and encourage others to do so as well, without processing the loss for ourselves or our colleagues (Battle et al, 2013). While no program can shelter itself from the possibility of losing a student to death, measures can be taken to prepare faculty and staff for the possibility, and to plan for both professional interventions and personal responses from these groups. Indeed, as higher education scholars note, it is in the interest of retention, graduation, and long-term alumni support to prepare for this possibility, which each campus will inevitably face (Callahan & Fox, 2008).

The lifecycle of our other students continues, as does that of the program.

Skipping over the process of shared and individual grief may rupture those continuing lifecycles as well.

People Most staff members in graduate programs got here accidently—no one goes into college knowing that they want to go into Graduate Enrollment Management. Thus, the preparation for such a career can be very varied amongst staff members. Providing staff training in “crisis management” or “death protocols” must include the human component as well as the practical procedural parts. In developing these trainings and proactively thinking through responses, we must acknowledge that people grieve differently and will have different

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needs and responses to the death (Attig, 2004).

Higher education at the graduate level is about providing a higher level of training to those specializing in a skill or knowledge set. It is about enhancing and diversifying people’s knowledge and skills in order to enhance the skill set of the workforce. Thus, it follows that we value the diversity of experience that everyone—ourselves, our colleagues, and our students bring to our campuses.

When a student dies, there are many layers to one’s response that involve their own comfort with death, their working and personal relationships with their co-workers, their spiritual beliefs, their own life experiences, and more variables.

We must keep this in mind when we preplan for the loss of a student.

“When a student dies, there are many layers to one’s response that involve their own comfort with death, their working and personal relationships with their co-workers, their spiritual beliefs, their own life experiences, and more variables.

We must keep this in mind when we pre-plan for the loss of a student.”

Procedures: The Practical Things to Sort Out, and Questions to Ask There is a complex process of combining returning to work and the loss of a student (Bento, 1994). When a graduate student dies, program staff may be grieving while administrators who are more distanced from the loss may want (and need) to process the loss formally—with paperwork, announcements, and other practical procedures. Scholars have called these continued on the next page

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LOSING A STUDENT “death protocols,” “death response teams,” and “crisis coordination.”

These are the tasks that must get done regardless of the processing of grief for faculty, staff, and students. These formal responses must be coordinated with care and compassion (Cusick, 2008), taking into account the many variables that exist.

“While the university may want to process the paperwork and make the official announcement to the campus community, it is important to take into consideration the family’s timeline, as well as the program’s timeline.”

Timelines There are a myriad of stakeholders when a student dies. There is the student’s family, the program faculty and staff, the program’s students, and the college/university. There may also be external placement sites (internships, externships, research assistantships, etc.). Those involved with students are likely a much larger group than first meets the eye (LaGrand, 1985; Rickgarn, 1987). Indeed, including graduate enrollment management staff and faculty in this group may not be intuitive for many campuses.

While the university may want to process the paperwork and make the official announcement to the campus community, it is important to take into consideration the family’s timeline, as well as the program’s timeline.

CONTINUED in touch with about the student’s file?

If a family member calls the university to tell them that the student has died, when is it appropriate for the university to request formal notice (e.g., death certificate) be submitted? Is the family more comfortable talking to members of the campus community who knew the student or those who did not? Who is the contact person in the family for arranging a campus memorial service? Who in the program has the information? Have they already been in touch with the family? When is the appropriate time to begin the discussion about planned memorials?

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It is also important for universities to decide to whom the announcement will be sent. In some cases it may be possible to only send the announcement to those within the academic unit, to certain faculty and staff, or to the whole campus or university community. In any case, thought should be given not only to who was connected to the student, but who else in the university community acts as a support network for faculty, staff, and students. Letting the wider university community know will allow them to respond not only to the loss, but to their colleagues who may be grieving.

External Placements: If graduate students are on externship, internship, or a research assistantship, their site may need to be contacted with the news. That site may be large or small and include other cohort members, students, and staff. These members should be considered for both the initial announcement and any memorial services or other remembrance activities.

The timelines of these various people associated with the student should be considered when developing a planned response. Determining what the best timing of support of others will be in that particular network as well as our immediate colleagues and ourselves is an important piece of processing the loss.

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News about a student’s death can spread quickly (Callahan & Fox, 2008).

It is important for both the program and the college/university to be prepared. Once it has been confirmed that sending out an announcement is approved by the family, it must be determined who will write the announcement. This may be a cathartic task for the person chosen to write the announcement. Program faculty and staff may be able to pull additional information about the student from their work in the program, relationship with peers, or other connections in order to make the announcement personalized to the appropriate level (as deemed by the culture of the program and the student’s own connections).

Program: Do all members of the student’s cohort know? Is the program culture such that hearing the news through a campus-wide email blast is appropriate? If the student was in a mental health program and saw clients from the campus community, has someone contacted them ahead of the campus-wide announcement? How far along in the program was the student?

When communicating the news, will the program also communicate any grief support? Is it during a semester, between semesters, during finals—and what might we need to consider as a result? How will support be offered?

Family: Do all members of the family know? Has the family approved the university sending out the announcement? Does the university need information from the family in order to write the announcement? Who in the family can the university staff be

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Necessary Paperwork The death of a student will require paperwork to be submitted to process degrees, stop loans and bills, and handle other formalities. However, when a student dies the program and campus still go on—there are tasks to be completed, phone calls to be answered, and things to be processed. Proactively deciding who the understudies of each program are is key to a seamless transition between giving a program time and resources to grieve and process the death of a student. If continued on the next page

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LOSING A STUDENT a program is under a Dean’s Office, it may be appropriate for the person(s) with the most knowledge about the program to temporarily take on the tasks of the faculty, staff, and administrative team of that program.

When our student died in an accident, the program was in almost constant dialogue about program changes with the administration. Multiple offices had been involved in the discussions.

But when the appeals for responses to memos went on without pause, we had to request that we be allowed to take time to focus on our program response to the student’s death. Being able to communicate that to members of our Dean’s Office was important and reassuring for the administrative staff of the program. Universities should prepare for the possibility that faculty and staff will need time not only to respond to and support our students, but to grieve themselves (Servaty-Seib & Taub, 2008).

Each campus and each program is different. Universities must consider these differences when developing a planned response. Callahan and Fox recommended having a campus coordinator (from the Dean’s Office, Dean of Students, or Student Affairs Office) to handle all of the activities related to a student’s death (2008). They provide an extensive checklist that includes at least the following (and provide a longer, useful example in their article): 1. Identification of those students who were closest to the deceased (for example, significant others, members of student organizations in which the deceased was active, residence hall friends and RAs, and so on). These groups will generally identify themselves quickly, either formally or informally.

2. Activation of a crisis response team or counseling center staff (or both) to meet with affected student groups, faculty, and family members, as appropriate.

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CONTINUED 3. A notification list of all offices that maintain any form of student records: registrar, financial aid, student health, parking, career services, food services, housing, campus post office, student accounts, student conduct, library, legal counsel, and all relevant others.

4. A notification list of offices that need to remove the deceased’s name from files or systems such as computing accounts, voicemail systems, alumni affairs, academic departments (for example, the student’s major), and so on.

5. Formal sympathy notification to the family; this is often done by the college president, although sometimes by a designee.

6. Contact information for helping family or students who wish to have a memorial service.

7. Determination of how or if the whole campus community will be informed of the death via a mass email, campus newspaper posting, and so on.

8. Determination if external audiences need to be notified (for example, the board of trustees) based on the circumstances of the student’s death.

(Callahan & Fox, 2008, p 89, 91).

Callahan & Fox continue with additional activities to be considered within the first 24–48 hours, including considerations for memorials, legacy and honorary or posthumous degree options, and more. These checklists are important to consider when developing planned responses. It is also important for administrators developing those strategies to consider the staff and faculty piece. They make an important note about adapting advice from other college and universities to best suit the particular cultures of the academic programs and environments affected by the loss.

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Planned Interventions Research shows that enacting some sort of planned interventions is useful for responding to the loss of a student.

Taking the time to think through preplanning considerations is important to developing a useful response (Streufert, 2004). These take many different forms.

“Research shows that enacting some sort of planned interventions is useful for responding to the loss of a student. Taking the time to think through pre-planning considerations is important to developing a useful response (Streufert, 2004).”

Support/Processing Groups: Organizing a forum wherein faculty and staff can talk with one another in a safe space about the loss may be a way for them to process the loss. Running a group for student peers may be something that happens on a campus, but adding the additional support for faculty and staff may be important.

Organizers should consider whether or not the environment and culture of the program is one wherein staff and faculty would feel comfortable in a group with students, or if they need a separate space to process the loss. Faculty and staff who typically play support roles for students in their everyday positions may have a tendency to focus on supporting other students rather than their own processing of the event. Facilitators are available to help with the support/ process group development and delivery.

Resource & Referral Services: Campuses will have a student counseling center where students can speak to professionals. However, faculty and staff continued on the next page

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LOSING A STUDENT may not be comfortable utilizing these services on campus. Contacting local mental health agencies may be a useful way to find outside resources for your faculty and staff. If you are housed in a human services field graduate program, it may come naturally to think of mental health as an important part of the ability for faculty and staff to function properly in their roles. However, there are many fields within which that is not the case and stigma still exists. It is important for universities to proactively think through the differences and needs given the variation of academic cultures that exist.

Prompting faculty and staff in disciplines outside of human services to engage with their grief and take the time they need to is important.

Peer Resources: When we lost the second student in our program, we were able to reach out to the cohort of students who lost their classmate in 2009 for support. We asked them if they would be willing to be resources for our students struggling with the loss. In some ways this logistically took the strain off of faculty and staff to be the sole program support for them. In another way though, these alumni were able to speak from a perspective that we simply could not. Being a peer in a close-knit graduate program is different from being the staff or faculty member to a group of students. When our third student died suddenly of a virus, the cohort who had just lost their own classmate five months earlier reached out to support their upperclassmen going through the same type of loss.

“Different disciplines may be more apt to have peer support than others, and we must remember that connecting students to one another in meaningful ways helps support their personal growth and professional development.”

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CONTINUED staff positions, sort of this bookend person for the families of our students.

At the beginning of programs, we answer questions about financial aid and loans and deposit dates. It is mostly formalities.

But they also want to know that their loved one is in good hands. When a student dies, it usually is the family who contacts us. It is more formalities— documents, billing, getting the contact information for classmates, letting their clinical placement site know. For me, the gravity of the loss does not hit me until I come across a name in the student list, in the annual accreditation documentation, in the ten years’ worth of “noncompleter” data for the website. That first student is still on that dataset. The other two will be for ten more years. It was the physical act of taking their names off of the mailboxes in our building—that’s the moment when it hit for me. Every single time. And each time I thought, if this is this hard for me, I cannot imagine what their family is going through.

Different disciplines may be more apt to have peer support than others, and we must remember that connecting students to one another in meaningful ways helps support their personal growth and professional development.

Check-Ins: One of the biggest takeaways was that the students wanted more support in terms of faculty checking in on how they were handling the loss. Some faculty and staff found it helpful to check in with one another to offer an open ear—whether in conversation, by phone, or by email.

One might not always know what to say in response to another’s grief, but a few key things to keep in mind include: • actively listen to the other person • listen and validate by simply acknowledging how hard the process can be • simply be there for the other person • do not talk in platitudes, as they can minimize what the person is feeling • respect your own needs—be honest with yourself about how much support you can give another person without burning out (Baddeley, 2010)

“Knowing that losing a student is a possibility and having

Because people respond differently to loss, members of the same program may need short-term or long-term support. It is important to listen to the members of your campus community.

Some may not know what they need.

Some may be very good at articulating what it is they need. Regardless of how one thinks others should react, loss is a very personal event. Most graduatelevel training points to an idea that life is full of complexities—with that in mind, be open to the possibility that the loss of a student may have an effect on many people, in different ways, for different reasons.

a plan that balances the reality of graduate enrollment management responsibilities with the reality of staff and faculty members’ grief is important. After all, higher education is, at its core, a human services field.”

Those moments are the ones that need to be acknowledged and given time.

Grief is a process—an unplanned and normal process (Servaty-Seib & Taub, 2008). Everyone needs time to process a loss of life and sometimes it takes many more moments. Mourning needs to be balanced with the reality of

Conclusion: The Aftermath After the funeral for the last student who passed away, I tried to sort out what had happened. I wrote to the faculty and posted on our program page. I wrote that I was, like others in these supporting

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LOSING A STUDENT moving on, with the many other students in need of our continued help, with the new application pool who could not (and should not) be introduced to our programs by way of a story about how we came together as a community after the death of a student.

Losing a student is never easy. And from my own perspective, it does not get any easier with another loss. It doesn't get easier when surrounded by the “how are you feeling?” academics of clinical psychology. It just is. Knowing that losing a student is a possibility and having a plan that balances the reality of graduate enrollment management responsibilities with the reality of staff and faculty members’ grief is important.

After all, higher education is, at its core, a human services field. n

References & Suggested Reading Attig, T. (2004). Disenfranchised grief revisited: Discounting hope and love.

OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 49(3), 197-215.

Baddeley, J. (2010). Speaking of grief: Tips for grievers, friends and family on talking about loss, Psychology Today, 2010.

Balk, D. E. (2001). College student bereavement, scholarship, and the university: A call for university engagement. Death Studies, 25, 67–84.

Balk, D. E., Tyson-Rawson, K., & CollettiWetzel, J. (1993). Social support as an intervention with bereaved college students. Death Studies, 17, 427-450.

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CONTINUED Battle, C. Y., Greer, J. A., Ortiz-Hernandez, S., & Todd, D. M. (2013). Developing and implementing a bereavement support program for college students.

Death Studies, 37, 362-382.

Bento, R. F. (1994). When the show must go on—Disenfranchised grief in organizations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 9, 35-44.

Callahan, C. C. M., & Fox, E. K. (2008).

Student death protocols: A practitioner's perspective. New Directions for Student Services, 2008(121), 87-95.

Crafts, R. (1985). Student affairs response to student death. In E. Zinner (Ed.), New Directions for Student Services: Coping with death on campus (pp. 29–38).

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Cusick, A. (2008). University Student Death Response Plans Using a Structural Management Approach Provide Effective Coordinated Institutional Action. Death Studies, 32(6), 550-587.

Gilbert, K. R. (1996). We’ve had the same loss, why don’t we have the same grief?

Loss differential grief in families. Death Studies, 20, 269-283.

Halberg, L. J. (1986). Death of a college student: Response by student services professionals on one campus. Journal of Counseling & Development, 64(411–41): 2 Hurd, H. (2001). Training for tragedy.

Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 17(26), 24.

LaBarge, Denise. (2013). An Analysis of How Teachers are Responding When Grief Goes to College. Saint Louis University, Dissertation.

LaGrand, L. E. (1985). College student loss and response. New Directions for Student Services, 31, 15-28.

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Rickgarn, R. L. (1987). The death response team: Responding to the forgotten grievers. Journal of Counseling & Development, 66(4), 197-199.

Rickgarn, R. L. V. (1996). “The need for postvention on college campuses: A rational and case study findings”. In Handbook of adolescent death and bereavement, Edited by: Corr, C. A. and Balk, D. E. 273–292. New York: Springer Publishing Company.

Robson, P., & Walter, T. (2012).

Hierarchies of loss: A critique of disenfranchised grief. Omega, 66(2), 97-119.

Scott, J. E., Fukuyama, M. A., Dunkel, N. W. and Griffin, W. D. (1992). The trauma response team: Preparing staff to respond to student death. NASPA Journal, 29(3): 230–237.

Servaty-Seib, H. L., & Taub, D. J. (2008).

Training faculty members and resident assistants to respond to bereaved students. New Directions for Student Services, 121, 51-62.

Streufert, B.J. (2004). Death on campuses: Common postvention strategies in higher education. Death Studies, 28(2), 151-172.

Wrenn, R.L. (1991). College management of student death: A survey. Death Studies, 15(4), 395-402.

Zinner, E.S. (1985a). New directions in student services: Coping with death on campus. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc. Zinner, E. S. (1985b). Group survivorship: A model and case study application New directions for student services: Coping with death on campus, Edited by: Zinner, E. S. 51–68. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc.

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BECOMING A FUTURE MENTOR

By Kittie Pain, McDaniel College One of the inaugural mentees of the NAGAP Mentor Program, Erica Silbiger, lends her perspective on being both a mentee and now a mentor.

When Erica first got involved as a mentee a number of years ago, she was at a school of social work at an Ivy League school in New York working as an assistant director of admissions. For the past year she has been serving as Director of Admissions at Metropolitan College of New York. She credits the relationship with her mentor, Jeremiah Nelson, for helping her to navigate new opportunities and expanding her role to learn new skills. Skills such as management and negotiation helped her leverage her knowledge in GEM

She built a support system by networking at NAGAP conferences through the encouragement of Jeremiah. From that support network, Erica wants “to now be that person who can support someone else to make that next step in their career or help connect to the appropriate network.”

It doesn’t end there for Ms. Silbiger.

From this current experience, she says she hopes to give her mentee the confidence in her professional decisions and empower her to seek opportunities that will help her grow. Erica also feels she is gaining from this pairing by learning how to make conversations with her mentee as productive as possible.

“When I saw the call for Mentors and Mentees in 2016 I knew I wanted to pay it forward. Not even just for the guidance my mentor gave me, but all of the guidance I have received over the years in general. I have such an incredible support system with people always looking out for me that I wouldn’t be where I am without them.”

The launch of the 2018–2019 class of NAGAP mentors will begin at the Annual Conference in April, and applications will be accepted through July 15, 2018.

More information and links to the applications to become a mentor or a mentee can be found on the mentor program page of the NAGAP website: nagap.org/mentor-program n

when applying for a new position.

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DIFFERENTIATING AND ATTRACTING MISSION-FIT CANDIDATES

By Patricia Hohlbein, EdD, Ohio Dominican University, and Katherine Ruger, EdD, Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine Making connections between institutional missions and candidates for admission has long been touted as an important component of graduate enrollment management. Institutions are often measured in their peer aspirant groups by acceptance rate, a volume-based metric, which does not factor in the volume of applicants that are not appropriate for the institution but still must be evaluated and issued an admissions decision. Valuable institutional resources are used in evaluating and communicating with these candidates who do not meet basic admission criteria. It is known that volume is not necessarily an indicator of an institution’s selectiveness or high academic standards, in and of itself, yet it remains a benchmark for measuring success in this area. What ought to be measured is the volume of qualified, mission-oriented candidates who apply.

Particularly because, from those base calculations of applicants, subsequent metrics are calculated on admission and matriculation rates.

The intention of this article is to begin to shift traditional graduate admissions processes into effective, mission-focused, admissions strategy. With experience working in two distinct institutions, Patricia Hohlbein and Katherine Ruger provide perspectives on strategies to

“It is known that volume is not necessarily an indicator of an institution’s selectiveness or high academic standards, in and of itself, yet it remains a benchmark for measuring success in this area.

What ought to be measured is the volume of qualified, missionoriented candidates who apply.”

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differentiate and attract mission-oriented candidates. In their discussions about graduate enrollment management they found that, despite the differences between their respective industries in business school and medical school, they have identified common best practices for shifting the admissions focus from application volume to candidate fit volume.

Perspectives from a Private Graduate Institution— Business School At the private graduate institution for which Hohlbein served as Graduate Admissions Director, applicant volume was a benchmark of success, and a selective acceptance rate of 11% put the institution in a strong position from a statistical standpoint. However, something was missing in some of the candidates they were admitting. After evaluating their existing admissions process and considering the mission of the institution, Hohlbein's team identified several changes to consider. They discovered that the institutional resources necessary to manage their high volume application process were significant, comprised of costs from extensive recruitment efforts, application review processes and interviews, and personalized student on-boarding strategies.

Second, it was imperative that all candidates experienced a professional environment when engaging with Hohlbein’s institution, regardless of the outcome of their admissions decision.

Treating all candidates with dignity and respect is important, and directly reflects the values of the institution and its people.

Third, the mission-oriented priorities of the institution and the candidate were not purposefully integrated into the candidate review and admissions decision process. Many times this led to admitted candidates who were strong

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academically, but not necessarily a good match with the institution.

Finally, each candidate’s experience during the transition from admitted applicant to matriculated student is extremely important. Providing topnotch experiences during this stage can significantly influence the student’s perception of the institution. Students are choosing to intertwine their reputations with ours, and that requires that institutions demonstrate superior service, consistently. In this context, holding networking events for incoming students to meet faculty and current students has proven very effective in making connections beyond the classroom and building affinity for the institution as well.

“In collaboration with the college’s communications staff, Ruger's team developed marketing materials and messaging focused on the mission of the institution, which was service-focused in nature. They used the new mission-focused materials during recruitment events, targeted at individuals and groups who seemed highly likely to be aligned with the mission.”

Perspectives from a Public Institution—Medical School At the public institution for which Ruger serves as Assistant Dean of Admissions, the case is similar to Hohlbein’s. The medical school industry emphasizes the importance of volume of applicants.

With a boastful acceptance rate of continued on the next page

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DIFFERENTIATING AND ATTRACTING 8%, the institution is acknowledged as highly selective. Despite the selectivity, Ruger's team worked to reframe their efforts in order to ensure their applicant pool was highly qualified, but also mission-oriented.

In order to do so, they focused on a strategic marketing adjustment.

In collaboration with the college’s communications staff, Ruger's team developed marketing materials and messaging focused on the mission of the institution, which was service-focused in nature. They used the new missionfocused materials during recruitment events, targeted at individuals and

CONTINUED that the admissions committee deemed necessary to achieve the mission.

groups who seemed highly likely to be aligned with the mission. They also shared the mission-focused messaging during personalized pre-application advising appointments, where admissions counselors would initiate a dialogue with prospective applicants to identify a fit with the mission and how the institution may be a good fit for achieving their desired outcomes.

Thematic informational webinars were offered to prospective applicants, highlighting aspects of the mission. The application review rubric and interview processes were then designed to evaluate attributes and characteristics

Overall, Hohlbein’s and Ruger’s newly conceived admission strategies have resulted in more efficiently identified, qualified, mission-oriented candidates.

This reframe in focus from quantity to quality may outweigh the perceived benefits of a high-volume applicant pool, and actually accelerate the advancement of our institutional missions. This strategic adjustment not only serves the purpose of our existence, but enhances the credibility and attractiveness of the training we respectively offer. n

Unlocking the Promise of International Education • Timely educational assessment reports • Superior customer service • Expert training If the report comes from ECE, you know you can trust it.

Contact Jack Nelson at jnelson@ece.org or 414.604.5327 for more information.

Educational Credential Evaluators

ECE.org

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MEETING THE NEEDS OF INTERNATIONAL DOCTORAL STUDENTS ACROSS DISCIPLINES

By Corina Todoran, North Dakota State University, NAGAP 2017 Graduate Student Research Grant Honorable Mention As an international doctoral student in the United States, my interest in studying international doctoral students’ experiences in U.S. academic and cultural settings has evolved in the past years. My personal journey has cultivated my interest in studying issues related to international doctoral students’ experiences, and I contend that research on this topic reveals substantial findings about how various groups in higher education can help students who deal with multiple layers of cultural novelty during their studies.

To me, studying international students’ experiences in the U.S. is not only dissertation work, but has also become part of my social responsibility. Aiming at first to only describe international students’ attempts to navigate the U.S. education system, this dissertation study now takes a more complex stance; its goal is to inform stakeholders in education about these students’ experiences and to outline ways to address students’ needs.

This article aims to share some preliminary findings from this dissertation study focused on the experiences of international doctoral students in the U.S. and the relationships they develop with their faculty, colleagues and peers.

Data was collected from 25 international doctoral students from a Midwestern public university who participated in individual face-to-face interviews and focus groups. This article presents significant findings that will enhance Graduate Enrollment Management

“The current political climate has made it imperative for universities to create an equitable and healthy academic environment in which all students have the opportunity to succeed.”

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Professionals' understanding of the challenges faced by international doctoral students across disciplines. A discussion will follow on how university stakeholders can meet the needs of international doctoral students and assist them in the successful completion of their degrees.

Contextual Background In a time when international student enrollment has become an important feature for higher education sustainability in the U.S., stakeholders in education have the responsibility to create an equitable environment in which all students thrive. International students comprise a significant portion of the U.S. higher education. The Open Doors Report released in 2017 by the Institute of International Education indicates that 1,078,822 international students studied at U.S. colleges and universities in 2016/2017, and 124,705 of these students were pursuing doctoral degrees. The report also indicates that in 2016/17 international students enrolling for the first time at a U.S. institution declined by 3%. Hence, it is paramount for GEM professionals to meet the expectations of international graduate students. NAGAP, The Association for Graduate Enrollment Management, has supported the idea of connecting recruitment and admissions with the overall student experience (Choudaha & Hu, 2017), thus it is important to study and discuss the experiences and needs of international graduate students. Their presence on U.S. campuses should not be undervalued, as they “enrich the academic dialog, expand perspectives of their American classmates, contribute to research and teaching while here, and to ongoing academic collaboration after graduating” (IIE White Paper, 2017, p. 3).

They also bring financial contributions to U.S. universities and communities.

Nonetheless, as Rose-Redwood and Rose-Redwood (2017) stated, “the

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international student community is currently living in a precarious world of insecurity in which international students are increasingly becoming the targets of violence and discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, and national origin” (pp. II). The current political climate has made it imperative for universities to create an equitable and healthy academic environment in which all students have the opportunity to succeed.

Findings This article presents preliminary findings concerning the needs of international doctoral students and university resources that enhance their academic experiences.

These findings are part of a larger study of international doctoral students’ journeys in the U.S. and the relationships they develop with their faculty, advisors and peers. Data was collected from 25 international doctoral students from 15 different countries, from fields such as STEM, Social Sciences, and Humanities.

Each participant was assigned a pseudonym that is used in this study when discussing the findings.

The findings emerged from a discussion regarding international student needs and the kinds of support these students receive from the university, and are categorized into several themes: health insurance issues, university support received during the 2017 travel ban, the need for more knowledgeable faculty and staff regarding immigration regulations, opportunities to share their culture with American people, and important resources that enhance their experiences.

Health Insurance Issues Health insurance was one of the major concerns students discussed in the interviews and focus groups. Due to changes at the federal level, a couple continued on the next page

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MEETING THE NEEDS of years ago the university increased the price for mandatory health insurance plans for international students. That situation was intensely debated over the past years, as students have struggled to pay their health insurance.

The university has managed to lower the premiums beginning in fall 2017.

However, if international students do not pay their premiums in a timely manner, their enrollment is cancelled.

Participants in this study mentioned they wished the university would contribute to their mandatory health insurance plan, particularly because the majority of them are hired as graduate teaching or research assistants.

Mumu argued that health insurance is one of the main challenges that she faced as an international doctoral student: Even though we have health insurance, most of the time I don’t think it’s very effective.

I mean student health services is good, but we don’t get the medicines here cheap like I can get in my country, it’s really expensive here, that’s another challenge.

In one of the focus groups, all participants agreed that health insurance was one of their main concerns. Catherine shared that due to this inconvenience, some international students might be “forced to go and have illegal work, because a lot of international students send money back home to their families, and they depend on that money.”

The 2017 Travel Ban and University Support The 2017 U.S. political decisions have had complex implications for international students in this country.

Data collected for this dissertation study also included conversations about how the travel ban first initiated on January 27, 2017 and revised on March 6, 2017 has affected the international

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CONTINUED student population. Participants in this study described an uncertain and stressful climate generated by these executive orders regarding immigration regulations. Nonetheless, students mentioned they appreciated the support they received from the university. Several students stated that university faculty and staff were concerned about this issue and contacted international students to make sure they were informed about these regulations.

The International Student and Study Abroad Services and the Graduate School showed their support throughout those uncertain times. Sadib recalled that he was abroad when the travel ban was initiated in January, and he received a personal email from one of the Deans, advising him to “come back, [whether or not] you are getting a flight tomorrow, just come back”. Students also remembered that the university had a march in support of international students and faculty on campus, and also had a webpage from the international office providing updates about these issues.

The recent political climate has added a factor of stress not only related to international students’ current status, but also with possible impact on their job prospects after graduation. Hence, international doctoral students might prefer to look for a doctoral degree in a different country, due to the unpredictable U.S. immigration policies.

One of the participants disclosed that a couple of her international friends have decided to relocate to Canada in order to continue their academic degrees.

Knowing More about Immigration Regulations Several participants in this study discussed the need for more faculty and staff to be knowledgeable regarding fundamental immigration regulations.

Students mentioned they wished their faculty and other staff members (beyond the international office) would have basic knowledge about what it means to be an international student from an immigration compliance perspective.

Mary commented on this topic:

While discussing the U.S. universities’ plans to increase the number of international graduate student enrollment in a time of political tensions regarding immigration policies, Shyam shared that:

I think that a lot of instructors don’t understand what it means to be an international student, they don’t know the forms and the immigration status, “go to class, do your stuff” like that’s it.

And if they did, that might help. …it would be nice if they would be informed. A lot of my instructors they don’t know what it means, I just bring to my advisor stuff to sign and she does, and she doesn’t have to do it with other people, you know…

There aren’t many American students in STEM fields. This is why we are all here, at least in STEM fields, they kind of need us. That is the truth. So, I would be very interested to see what that means truly, how does it translate on the ground, what challenges that entails.

We already have a set of challenges, the existing system needs improvement. Will things change with changes in the political scenario? Are they still going to get more international students? Is that going to affect them in any way? It seems to

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be a very bold plan, it’s all on paper. I am curious to see how that translates to the quality of experience that we have as international doctoral students.

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MEETING THE NEEDS for information, because her program handbook does not address all her concerns as an international student.

“My department kicks me to the grad school, grad school kicks me back to my department, then they say that I should check with the international office. I was just running in this triangle.”

CONTINUED a powerful statement when sharing her thoughts on cultural identity: I think all the time we are trying to make international students get familiar with American culture. Sometimes I am thinking maybe it’s not bad to have all American students and faculty and show them our culture.

I had a very funny question from one of my students—“do we have any camel in our house?”, that was very funny.

Maybe explain and introduce our culture to American faculty and students; maybe that would be somewhat easier for us to socialize with them. There is some kind of misunderstanding in American people at least for my home country. All of them think that we are so dangerous and maybe we are terrorists, I don’t know, but I would like to show them that is not true. That’s something that may be true from a political view, but it’s not true about all people from my home country. I think we should explain our culture and different countries to American faculty and students.

After discussing their needs and challenges, participants in this study were asked about the resources they found on campus that enhance their experiences as international doctoral students. The majority of the students outlined the importance and utility of the graduate center for writers, the counseling center, the international student services office, the library, the research infrastructure, access to technology and internet, and the wellness and student health center.

They also mentioned services such as professional development workshops, support for improving English proficiency, and social and cultural events that help them build relationships.

William, one of the students who came to the U.S. with his wife, who was pregnant, talked about the support they received as future parents:

When talking about the positive aspects of her experience in the U.S. as an international doctoral student, Mumu shared that “some of the positive things are international office and these communities, these kinds of organizations and then whatever socials they have.”

However, students discussed that there is a need for departments to advertise these cultural events and encourage students, faculty, and staff to participate. Another student, Sun, stated that these events should be held in different departments and “provide friendly environments for students to meet.” Sun also suggested that if American peers attend these events, international students will have the opportunity to improve their English language skills.

When prompted to share their thoughts about the idea of implementing an international doctoral student support group where international doctoral students would have a chance to network, engage in conversations, share their culture, and also invite American students and faculty for different workshops and events, participants indicated they would be glad to be part of it. White mentioned that international students need to take the initiative. “As international students I feel that it’s also our responsibility to make this place a better place for future students.”

Sean mentioned that in his program there are not many international students, but he was lucky to get useful information from another international student. “I am lucky because I have a senior international student in our program so I can ask him about something, but if I didn’t have that kind of person in my department, it’s quite difficult to handle that.”

While some students shared concerns that their advisors do not have basic knowledge about immigration regulations regarding their international advisees, other students, such as Dacky, whose advisors are international faculty, mentioned they received the appropriate guidance. “My advisor is international too, but now he’s an American citizen, so he knows how it needs to be done.”

Sharing their Culture International doctoral students who participated in this study expressed their need to be understood as individuals, and not be judged or discriminated against because they come from certain regions of the world. Several students mentioned they would like to share their culture not only with other international students, but also with more domestic students, faculty, and staff. Even though there are many student organizations on campus, particularly for international students, a small number of U.S. citizens attend their cultural events. On this topic, Catherine argued that “there is International Night, but how many Americans do we see there? There are more people going to football games”.

Students shared some instances of discrimination and situations that made them feel uncomfortable. Rose made

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Resources Enhancing Student Experience

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For example, there’s a program which will help expectant mothers to get some resource and food from the government.

We have vouchers that are like food checks every month to pick up some food for the baby and the mother.

Nonetheless, students discussed the need to be informed about all the continued on the next page

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MEETING THE NEEDS available resources. Tiger said, “We would like to do more but we don’t know what’s happening, we don’t know all resources.” White also argued that there is a need for invitations coming from departments, so that students would be aware of event opportunities.

“Never your advisor tells you there are these events, never, because they don’t know it. There are so many services on campus but departments and advisors don’t know about these.”

Discussion Sustaining and increasing international graduate student enrollment implies meeting these students’ needs and supporting their success. These findings show that international doctoral students across disciplines are facing various challenges and, in order to enhance their experiences, stakeholders in education should strive to understand and find ways to address these challenges. As international students are attempting to adapt to the U.S. academic system, universities should also be willing to adjust their support

CONTINUED strategies for these students and aim to address their needs.

The structure of university programs, departments, colleges and graduate schools can sometimes make it difficult for international students to navigate their studies. The complexity of these students’ experiences is augmented by various immigration regulations; the offices of international programs and their international advisors are the only ones providing student support in regard to immigration compliance.

International students’ doctoral advisors are not always knowledgeable of these regulations and that can make it harder for students to plan their studies and careers after graduation.

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across disciplines are facing various challenges and, in order to enhance their experiences, stakeholders in education should strive to understand and find ways

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References Choudaha, R., & Hu, D. (2017). 12 strategies for building a capacity for international graduate student career success. NAGAP Perspectives.

Institute of International Education (2017). Open doors 2017: Report on international educational exchange.

Retrieved from https://www.iie.org/en/ Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors/ Data/International-Students Institute of International Education. (2017).

White paper: Advising international students in an age of anxiety: U.S. campus responses to the needs and concerns of current and prospective students from the MENA region and beyond. Retrieved from https://www.iie. org/Research-and-Insights/Publications/ Advising-Students-in-an-Age-of-Anxiety Rose-Redwood, C.A., & Rose-Redwood, R. (2017). Rethinking the politics of the international student experience in the age of Trump. Journal of International Students (7)3, I-IX. doi: 10.5281/ zenodo.569939

This article offers several suggestions:

to address these challenges.”

international doctoral students

It is paramount that universities show interest in getting to know their student population. The current political climate in the U.S. might have damaging long-term implications for higher education institutions and international graduate student recruitment. Therefore, universities should continue to support their international students who are faced with numerous challenges. n

Hence, how can GEM professionals and stakeholders in education contribute to creating an equitable environment for all students? How can they address international graduate students’ needs?

• Admission professionals might interview current international students and discuss their needs in order to make sure those issues are addressed in the recruitment process.

• Organize training sessions for faculty advisors, committee chairs, and other staff members regarding fundamental immigration regulations for international students, in order to ensure these students will not feel confused when receiving guidance.

• Encourage the development and sustainability of international and domestic student support groups.

“These findings show that

• Organize events for students to share their culture and invite American faculty, staff, and students attend those events.

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NEW ORLEANS 2018 NAGAP CONFERENCE

By Naronda Wright, Georgia Southern University The Conference Planning Committee hopes that you are all planning to join us this April for the annual member’s conference in New Orleans at the beautiful Hyatt Regency-New Orleans.

We received a record number of proposals this year from our colleagues and vendor companies, and we are excited about the quality of sessions being offered at the upcoming conference.

As a committee we find it rewarding to see our colleagues’ willingness to share experiences, lessons learned, and best practices with fellow NAGAP members.

The quality of proposals continues to increase from year to year and we are very pleased. This year might be the perfect time for you to switch it up and attend

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sessions that are not familiar, branch out and see what other professionals are doing at their institutions.

We encourage you to take advantage of your NAGAP membership and participate in the annual conference to gain knowledge, tips, and pathways to improve in our field, as well as build relationships that you are able to lean on when looking for new ideas or be a resource to our colleagues.

You can look forward to engaging speakers, programming designed to help you grow in your field, numerous networking opportunities, and entertainment. Like us, perhaps this is the only time of year you get to see friends and old colleagues or alumni

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from your alma mater. By all means, take advantage! There are times, however, when we can get so caught up with getting in touch with our old friends, that we miss opportunities to meet new ones. Set aside at least one meal to sit at a table with total strangers.

The Conference Planning Committee working hard to ensure that you have a memorable experience at the annual conference in New Orleans, the “Crescent City.” New Orleans is a great place to host our annual conference and, even though we recently hosted our conference here, we are working hard to make this experience unique and different.

We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans! n

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WORKING WITH A PARTNER TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL: IMPROVING DIGITAL MARKETING

By Jaime Oleksik, Carnegie Dartlet, and Kittie Pain, McDaniel College One of the biggest challenges in Graduate Enrollment Management (GEM) is that graduate students come in many different shapes and sizes. As a GEM professional, you could have an MBA program that enrolls recent graduates with a median age of 24 while also offering an accelerated nursing program geared toward career changers in their late 30s and early 40s.

Managing such vastly different programs requires us to be experts in many different markets. To top it off, Google estimates that we check our phones 150 times per day for a total of 177 minutes—which means each session, on average, is just over one minute.

That is not a lot of time to inform your audience, build a rapport, and get them to convert on your website.

Over the past 17 years, Kittie Pain, Director of Graduate Enrollment Management at McDaniel College, has become familiar with these challenges and the changing landscape of GEM. She started at McDaniel in October 2016 and within a month was faced with the prospect of finding a new vendor for digital marketing. The company the College had been using (we’ll call it ABC Company) was local to the Baltimore area, well known for big-name marketing campaigns, not versed at all in the intricacies of higher education, and was four months into a six-month campaign already. The results were negative in terms of traction, and the number of applications had yet to increase. It was obvious that a

“With over 30 years of highereducation experience in reaching many different student audiences, combined with our innovative approach to digital marketing, the partnership was a great fit.”

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change had to be made. Kittie, who knew Carnegie Dartlet well through our partnership with NAGAP and, quite honestly, has become a good friend of Carnegie, approached us with these challenges. With over 30 years of higher-education experience in reaching many different student audiences, combined with our innovative approach to digital marketing, the partnership was a great fit. It didn’t hurt that I personally grew up a few miles from McDaniel (then Western Maryland College) and knew that market incredibly well!

prospects’ attention in that crucial micro-moment. This was a project that was frequently pushed off in the past but something McDaniel and Carnegie agreed was pivotal for the campaign to be successful. Carnegie ran a site audit and determined which pieces to tackle now and what to tackle later. One of the larger projects was developing dynamic site content that was both relevant and up to date with accurate program information. This new content has helped McDaniel with other marketing pieces as well, in an effort to provide a consistent experience for prospects.

“To get started, we talked through

According to Kittie, “We saw dramatic improvements in our search results and website engagement after Carnegie’s work on SEO and content was implemented.”

what ABC Company had been doing for McDaniel College, and we came up with a strategy to

Goal: Increase Facebook Presence and Engagement

help address McDaniel’s three main goals: enhance their website content, increase their social media presence and engagement, and increase their overall presence in our priority market.”

To get started, we talked through what ABC Company had been doing for McDaniel College, and we came up with a strategy to help address McDaniel’s three main goals: enhance their website content, increase their social media presence and engagement, and increase their overall presence in our priority market.

Goal: Enhance Website Content McDaniel’s first goal, which surely sounds familiar to all of Kittie’s GEM colleagues: the website. More specifically, working to enhance the user experience on the website and build out captivating content to grab

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Forty-three percent of mobile users between the ages of 25–34 say they spend over three hours a day on social media. It was obvious that McDaniel’s audience was present on Facebook, so we settled on a series of ads including sponsored posts, lead generation ads, and retargeting ads for six priority programs. Over the months that followed, Carnegie monitored the campaign and sent reports showing activity. McDaniel saw growth in their Facebook presence immediately. From July 4, 2016, through January 30, 2017, under ABC Company, they had been stagnant with page views, barely climbing out of double digits until December 1, 2016. Even then, they barely climbed above zero most days.

The contract between McDaniel College and Carnegie was signed in March 2017 and went live at the beginning of May. Traffic to Facebook and the college website increased within days, continued on the next page

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WORKING WITH A PARTNER providing them with more leads and ultimately more applications.

According to Kittie, “At the height of advertising with ABC Company, we went from 258 Facebook followers to 266 (a 3.1% increase). Between May and December 2017, the height of advertising with Carnegie, we went from 322 Facebook followers to 469 (a 45% increase).” Though McDaniel elected to end the Facebook ads in December, Kittie reported that this gave her a solid foundation on which to build, including an audience to send out holiday greetings and other timely content pieces.

Goal: Gain More of a Presence in Priority Markets Throughout this entire process, McDaniel College wanted to be very conscious of budget since they were starting this project in the middle of the fiscal year. Because of this, we were very intentional in targeting their priority markets. We focused heavily on specific counties in Maryland where they have seen the most success over the years. This enabled us to manage costs effectively, but we were also able to gear their messaging to a local audience.

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The one strategy where we did not limit our geography was retargeting, which allows us to serve display advertising to those who visit McDaniel’s website. Our thought behind this was if a prospect is interested in their programs, we certainly want to stay in front of them with their message, regardless of where they are.

This tactic gave us insight into other markets within New Jersey and New York that could be targeted in the future.

“We recommended they pursue more A/B testing in the Facebook platform to see what targeting parameters perform best and which messaging resonates with different audiences.”

Next Steps Moving into 2018, McDaniel College is looking to launch a few new programs, so we’ve already had some conversations on how to best reach these new audiences. We recommended

they pursue more A/B testing in the Facebook platform to see what targeting parameters perform best and which messaging resonates with different audiences. They are also looking to broaden their market, so they decided to add in the Graduate Colleges & Universities Platform (GC&U), which gets their brand in front of prospects at all four-year colleges and universities.

We expect that this will help with organic site traffic and brand recognition as McDaniel diversifies their market.

While the tactics we are pursuing are continuing to prove their value, we both agree that the real beauty of this partnership is the collaboration that happens between the McDaniel and Carnegie team. Whether it be campaign performance, changes happening on campus, or simply new ideas, the continuous flow of information has armed us both to be able to navigate the constantly changing landscape of GEM. We are looking forward to seeing what 2018 has to bring both for McDaniel College and GEM as a whole! n

DID YOU KNOW… • NAGAP is a resource for Holistic Admissions reference material.

• Over 1,500 GEM professionals consider NAGAP their professional “family”.

• The NAGAP annual conference brings together nearly 1,000 individuals from colleges and universities across the country and internationally.

• Specialized networking opportunities are a hallmark of every NAGAP event.

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REACHING OUT TO STUDENTS FROM WAR-TORN REGIONS

By Sylvia Findlay, Illinois State University, NAGAP 2017 Graduate Student Research Grant Honorable Mention

The Refugee Crisis Higher education in the United States is undoubtedly facing challenging circumstances owing to the increasing global conflicts. Although this has been a long-time occurrence, the issue has been brought to the forefront by the Syrian refugee crisis. According to UNHCR, 2015 recorded 52.6 million refugees and internally displaced persons compared to 46.7 million in 2014. Syrian refugees totaled around 5 million, while Yemen faced a dramatic escalation in conflict in March 2015 with 2.5 million people internally displaced.

Similarly, South Sudan recorded 1.8 million IDPs, Democratic Republic of Congo reported 1.6 million, Afghanistan reported 1.2 million, and Pakistan and Somalia reported 1.1 million IDPs each.

With basic amenities such as accommodation, food, and healthcare gaining importance, education has fallen behind. With so many children displaced in these war-torn regions, access to primary and secondary education is riddled with major hurdles. Attending a

university is considered a luxury for these refugee/displaced students. With several of them displaced and entering other countries as refugees, higher education leaders are gathering to understand the issues faced by the displaced students and how to provide them the muchneeded access to graduate education.

Why does access to higher education for refugees matter?

Watenpaugh and Fricke (2013) authored three reports in collaboration with Institute of International Education on refugee access to higher education in Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. They posited that financial challenges seem to be the common obstacle among refugees from different countries. Affording a high tuition fee, living and travel costs would pose challenges to these displaced students. In addition, the research conducted by Watenpaugh and Fricke (2013) projects the significance of global academic institutions intervening to enroll the refugee students in graduate studies by highlighting the anger and frustration of Syrian young people. They

Figure 1 Increasing Global Conflicts

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Post-conflict recovery of war-torn regions lies in the hands of tertiary educated people. Rebuilding the economy, resources, social life, and community can be achieved through educating the refugee population by providing them access to graduate education.

Removing these refugee students from radicalizing agenda channeling their anger and frustration towards recovery and reconstruction is attainable through a rich educational environment. Hence supporting this refugee and displaced student population really matters, not only as a humanitarian effort but a step towards, peace, security, and to save the lost generations.

Current Efforts This concern for the enrollment of refugees in higher education has led the United Nations High Commission for refugees to include higher education as a key priority of the 2012–2016 education plan. Acknowledging the crisis, several initiatives have been taken on a global scale to accommodate students by sponsoring scholarships and financial aid. The World University Service of Canada (WUSC), IIE Syria Consortium for Higher Education in Crisis, EU Madad Fund, Kiron University, DAAD Germany, Al Fakhoora Program, Scholars at Risk, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, University of York, and some Canadian Universities such as The University of Alberta and Western University in Ontario have all extended financial support to the displaced students from war-torn regions such as Syria, Iraq, and others.

U.S. universities have not been actively engaged in reaching out to displaced students and refugees so far. Sporadic announcements of activities in certain

Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/06/refugees-globalpeace-index/396122/ (UNCHR via IEP)

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point out that only 2% of the Syrian university-age population has enrolled in Turkish universities.

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REACHING OUT TO STUDENTS universities to enhance the campus life for refugees can be seen. According to the Lisbon Convention, 1997, Section 7, displaced people without documentation should be given a fair assessment of their qualifications. Both Canada and the U.S. are signatories of the Lisbon Convention.

Hence, U.S. universities could lend a helping hand to the refugee students and provide them with the much-needed access to graduate education.

professionals and their perspectives on reaching out to students from wartorn regions is important. In addition, recommendations on improving the outreach would benefit institutions, higher education leaders, and policymakers in devising workable solutions.

“In this context, understanding

Decentralized Recruitment

the challenges faced by graduate enrollment professionals and their perspectives on reaching out to students from war-torn regions is important. In addition, recommendations on improving the outreach would benefit institutions, higher education leaders, and policymakers in devising workable solutions.”

In-depth interviews with enrollment management professionals in a public institution, private university and community college in Illinois highlighted several key challenges.

Institutions focus on undergraduate recruitment while graduate recruitment is undertaken by the faculty in departments. Decentralization is further compounded by other issues such as lack of marketing materials, resources, dedicated personnel and lack of knowledge on graduate recruitment.

This issue encompasses all international graduate student recruitment. One Director of the Graduate School at a public institution feels strongly that “the graduate school should spearhead graduate recruitment and this responsibility should not be given to departments.”

What is Missing?

Policy and Logistics

The need to educate university qualified refugee and displaced students exists.

However, scholarly literature on assessing the student experiences in gaining access to higher education is very limited (Amirali & Bakken, 2015).

Only a few organizations such as IIE and UNHCR are involved in assessing the challenges faced by these students.

Even more rare is research pertaining to the challenges facing administrators in admitting students into graduate studies from these war-torn regions.

Few to no published papers exist on the perspectives of graduate enrollment professionals reaching out to these refugee students from war-torn regions.

The primary concern in recruiting refugee or displaced students is access.

How to contact these students? How to communicate? Where to find them?

Although internet and social media are available, there is no guarantee that these students have access to the internet (Amirali & Bakken, 2015). Even mailing the documents is challenging. Usually the students reach out to university staff or faculty first. It is rarely the other way around. Students from war-torn regions such as Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and so on have applied to the universities themselves. One student from Iran mentioned, “I searched for schools in Illinois, applied and got admitted.

Several of my friends are still in Iran.

Some of them do not even know that universities accept students.”

In this context, understanding the challenges faced by graduate enrollment

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Another student from Syria said, “I have not seen any U.S. university coming over to recruit students. There are no materials nor brochures to learn about the courses. I contacted an agent who applied for me.”

Such instances bring out the recruitment deficit in our institutions. Several students are still unaware of the possibilities of life-changing higher education experiences. Graduate enrollment professionals feel overwhelmed by the current international student recruitment so that spending time and resources on reaching out to war-torn regions often takes a back seat. Spending resources on recruiting refugee and displaced students becomes a business decision.

The administrators are pressured to choose between the high return on investment rather than social justice.

“Should I spend on 1 or 2 students from war-torn regions or on 10–20 students from other regions? I have to choose wisely as enrollment numbers are important” —Director of Marketing and Recruitment “This more of a policy issue and less of a resource issue” —Director of International Admissions “Recruiting students from war-torn regions is not in my job responsibility.

It has to come from the University President” —Director, International Studies and Programs.

Such policy and leadership concerns act as barriers to providing access to deserving students from war-torn regions. It takes strong leadership to set institutional priorities and policies that favor refugee student recruitment.

It is evident the leadership is key in empowering enrollment professionals in reaching out to refugee students.

Safety Another concern that most administrators voice is that they do not continued on the next page

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REACHING OUT TO STUDENTS feel safe to travel to war-torn regions or even neighboring countries to recruit displaced students. With political instability and constantly changing conditions, female administrators may feel even more insecure to travel.

Visa/Immigration The challenges of immigration are rightly summed up by the Dean of the Graduate School who points out how the changes in immigration laws have affected international student recruitment.

“Admitting students is not a challenge.

We are flexible and accept copies of the required documents when originals are unavailable. We will then contact the schools to verify the documents.

The real challenge is the visa. With the new immigration policies in the U.S. even recruiting international students from India and China has become a challenge, let alone war-torn regions.”

Recommendations In a complex and dynamic political landscape, it becomes challenging for graduate enrollment professionals to reach out to regions away from their comfort zone. Hence, the following recommendations are given to help improve outreach and recruitment.

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torn regions. They could also be utilized in reaching out to these regions.

Leadership and Culture Although enrollment professionals are willing to reach out, the institutional, state and federal policies render it challenging to offer refugee students access to higher education. They work under immense pressure to increase the enrollment numbers while equity, diversity, and social justice suffer. The culture of viewing students as a commodity must change.

Rightly put by an Assistant Director, International Studies, “Recruitment is not the right word to help war-zone students.”

Moving away from business decisions and reaching out to deserving students who are suffering can help bring change not only to them but to their families and communities. We need leaders who are bold, compassionate, and strive for social justice. Transformational leadership that can change the scene and open doors is the need of the hour. n

References

Partner with non-governmental agencies (NGOs) to build a bridge between refugee and displaced students and the universities. This minimizes the logistic and safety concerns. NGOs can act as matchmakers similar to the agencies working in other countries.

For-profit agencies such as INTO offer enrollment management partnerships with universities but do not cover war-

Amirali, S., & Bakken, J.P. (2015).

Trends and challenges of recruiting and retaining international graduate students: An internal perspective.

Journal of Education Research, 9(4), 425-433.

Council of Graduate Schools and Educational Testing Service. (2010). The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the United States. Report from the Commission on the Future of Graduate Education in the United States. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

Creswell, J. (2007). Research Design: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. SAGE. Thousand Oaks. USA.

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Deane, S. (2016). Syria’s Lost Generation: Refugee Education Provision and Societal Security in an Ongoing Conflict Emergency. IDS Bulletin, 47(3).

Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y., Eds. (2011).

Handbook of Qualitative Research, 4th Ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Hossler, D., & Bean, J.B. (1990). The Strategic Management of College Enrollments. San Francisco, Cal: JosseyBass Publishers.

IPPR (2013) An Avalanche is Coming: Higher Education and the Revolution Ahead, https://www. ippr.org/research/publications/ an-avalanche-is-coming-highereducation-and-the-revolution-ahead (accessed 21 December 2016) Maxwell, J. A. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mezirow, J. (1989). Transformation theory and social action: A response to Collard and Law. Adult Education Quarterly, 39, 169-175.

UNESCO (2015) Education for All Global Monitoring Report, Policy Report, June UNHCR (2015) November–December 2015 Monthly Educational Sectional Dashboard http://data.unhcr.org/ syrianrefugees/regional.php (accessed 21 December 2016) UNICEF (2015a) Education Under Fire, https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ syria_92554.html (accessed 21 December 2016) United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, 2012a.

Watenpaugh, Keith David and Fricke, Adrienne L. (2013) Unaccounted and Unacknowledged: Syria's Refugee University Students and Academics in Jordan, A Joint Project by UC Davis Human Rights Initiative and the Institute of International Education.

Yin, R. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods. Fourth Edition.

SAGE Publications. California.

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DOCUMENTATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS

By Melissa Ganiere, Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE) Worldwide displacement is maintaining its increase as countries in conflict continue to collide. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 60 million people are currently displaced by dissension and political strife. They report that “one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. If this were the population of a country, it would be the world's 24th biggest.” (2015) There is a tsunami of information surrounding the refugee situation, and coverage of the crisis seems unending, yet limited scientific or empirical research exists. How are universities and institutions handling the enrollment influx resulting from this global phenomenon?

Are U.S. institutions even affected by the crisis? And if so, what should they do?

Terminology The first step is to understand the difference between a legally defined refugee and an economic migrant or any other category of immigrant. There is a difference, both in definition and perception, between a legally defined refugee and one fleeing economic hardship. As University World News states, “They are perceived more as political victims (which fuels sympathy in the receiving countries) than as economic refugees.” There are strict criteria to qualify for the legal status of a refugee or asylum seeker, including proof of imminent danger.

“ Worldwide displacement is maintaining its increase as countries in conflict continue to collide. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 60 million people are currently displaced by dissension and political strife.”

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“How are universities and institutions handling the enrollment influx resulting from this global phenomenon? Are U.S. institutions even affected by the crisis? And if so, what should they do?”

Refugee vs. Asylee: • Refugee: living outside the U.S.; apply for legal status outside U.S. via an embassy (i.e., trying to get here) • Asylee: already located in the U.S., or arriving at a port of entry without proper paperwork or clearance; apply for legal status within the U.S. (i.e., trying to stay here) • Both: must be able to prove persecution and risk of life; must apply for humanitarian relief with the U.S. government; strict processing requirements The next concern is assessing the availability of documents. Again, this necessitates some clear definitions.

Undocumented vs. Unverifiable Documents: • Undocumented students are those who are not legally residing in the U.S. The term refers to the lack of visas and/or government documents such as a passport or social security card.

• Unverifiable documents (UVD) refers exclusively to educational records or credentials and not the legal status of residence. In order to be classified as a refugee, one will have a specific type of visa and be required to apply for a green card within one year living in the U.S. Unverifiable vs. Unavailable Documents: This may help in categorizing the situation, but both terms can qualify for using the best practices outlined below.

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• Unverifiable documents will include documents that are questionable but the issuing institutions cannot be contacted for reasons of safety or political crises.

This would be considered lack of access to documents that exist.

• Unavailable documents refers to documents that were destroyed and are no longer accessible. Many refugees arrive with absolutely no paper records of schooling.

In addition, education that was completed but never formally recorded would fall into this category.

One thing to note about a student’s official refugee status is that their Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) allows them to apply as a domestic student, and grants them access to federal student loans. Therefore, they may not always be applying for admission through the international office, and it may be more difficult to identify them.

For most refugees, the priority when they arrive in a new country is that of basic survival. They need to learn the language, find employment, and secure housing. Education isn’t considered or defined as a “basic” need. It’s peripheral to employment, which provides the other basic needs of food, shelter and stability. Refugee resettlement agencies confirm that the primary concern upon arrival is employment. It may not be until years later, when refugees are acclimated and integrated into society, that they begin to pursue education or continue the path they started in their home country.

European vs. American Resettlement How we deal with refugees in the U.S. and Canada looks different from how countries in the EU are responding, for a few reasons: continued on the next page

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DOCUMENTATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS 1. Autonomy of the institutions in the U.S. vs. government-run education in the EU 2. Legal status of refugees and ability to work/go to school 3. Proximity and location to the countries in crisis Following the Lisbon Recognition Convention in 1997, many European countries began developing policies on the recognition of qualifications held by refugees, and the obstacles they face pertaining to documentation access.

The United States’ response may seem inadequate in comparison.

One of the reasons for this lack of response is due to the autonomy of higher education institutions in the U.S. Unlike abroad, there isn’t one governmental entity that grants access, or a singular body that oversees all aspects of the educational system in the country. Each institution is given the freedom to develop their own rules and governing policies.

In the U.S., whatever decision an evaluation agency or university makes is only advisory. The student is free to solicit another company for a new evaluation report, or to apply to a different university in hope of an alternative outcome. In comparison, in countries where education is centralized, such as the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education’s (NOKUT) process in Norway, the decision of such agencies is legally binding.

“They are not arriving at our borders in waves, like our European counterparts. If refugee students are applying to U.S. institutions, they likely have already completed an intense and lengthy vetting process.”

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Finally, refugees resettled in the U.S. are domestic students and have the right to work, unlike in some European countries where their legal status does not allow them to be employed or go to school. However, the proximity to crisis makes the U.S. an unlikely and arduous possibility for many fleeing refugees.

They are not arriving at our borders in waves, like our European counterparts.

If refugee students are applying to U.S. institutions, they likely have already completed an intense and lengthy vetting process.

thread is financial challenge. However, this is an area where few solutions have been proposed. Refugee students living in the U.S. have access to federal student aid, yet even if they receive federal aid, they could still lack the necessary income for living expenses.

Regarding the best practices proposed in this paper, the question still arises as to where certain funding will be found. Across the industry, demand for scholarships is far exceeding supply.

“Essentially, the main issues

Challenges

surrounding refugee education

Students from countries in crisis deal with interrupted studies at either the secondary or post-secondary level. Betts and Collier indicate that the average length of exile for a refugee overseas is approximately 17 years. The ability to work or relocate is generally prohibited, causing their education and overall sense of living to be put on hold. They claim that the struggle of the refugee is “not only a humanitarian challenge but also a development opportunity.” (2015)

pertain to students who did not have access to formal education, or those who did but struggle to prove it with proper documentation.”

Educational Opportunities An additional concern is the lack of access, thereby creating an undereducated population. It is estimated that less than one percent of refugees have access to higher education globally, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This number doesn’t take into consideration education that has been interrupted at the secondary level. In those cases, students may have formal education in a non-traditional setting (i.e. undocumented training in a refugee camp school).

The obstacles they may face are: 1. Lack of access to formal education 2. Education that is offered in refugee camps and not internationally recognized 3. Limited access to documents that prove education completed at recognized institutions Essentially, the main issues surrounding refugee education pertain to students who did not have access to formal education, or those who did but struggle to prove it with proper documentation.

According to Will Heilpern, "One big barrier for displaced people is that they cannot enroll in normal universities because they do not have access to the proper paperwork. Another barrier is high fees.” (2015)

Language Barriers Language proficiency is another barrier that is often mentioned. Many of the refugees have limited English proficiency, which impedes their ability to enroll in classes and continue their education.

This may, however, provide a solution to vetting previous credentials. If students

Funding The obstacles that refugees face vary somewhat by country, though a common

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DOCUMENTATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS are preliminarily enrolled into non-credit English as a Second Language (ESL) courses, it could serve two purposes: to increase the students’ English skills while simultaneously assessing their prior classroom exposure.

Documentation A lack of academic documentation may be one of the biggest challenges for refugees and asylum seekers.

You can’t verify the authenticity of a document if it doesn’t exist. This leaves universities and credential evaluation agencies stumbling to create exceptions to steadfast policies. They must first determine if an unverifiable or unavailable credential was actually earned, and if so, what its equivalence would be in the U.S. In these situations, further research needs to be done to confirm educational experience.

“An additional concern is the lack of access, thereby creating an under-educated population.”

Current Global Procedures As mentioned previously, many countries in Europe have clearly defined procedures for working with refugees who lack educational documents. For instance, the Council of Europe Working Party on Refugee Qualifications released the “Guidelines for the Recognition of Refugees’ Qualifications” in 1999, and World University Service developed the “Good Practice Guide on the Integration of Refugees in the European Union,” also in 1999. Many agencies in Europe currently offer background papers as a solution to non-verifiable documents, but there are slight differences to how they are developed: • NOKUT (Norwegian ENIC‑NARIC): UVD procedure (recognition for persons without verifiable documentation) is standardized. It involves a complex

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and in-depth interview that is extremely expensive and time consuming (would be cost prohibitive to universities in the U.S.); recently developed the European Qualification Passport for Refugees, which does not guarantee admission or employment.

• Dutch EP-NUFFIC: Indication of educational level via a form filled out by the student and signed; majority of form is open-ended questions (as a step to access the student’s experience and knowledge of the educational system); offers either standard credential evaluation or “indication of educational level” as an alternative to unverifiable or unavailable documents.

• CIEP (French ENIC-NARIC): Background paper with overview of the purported qualifications; special financial measures for refugees; alternative paths for credential recognition.

• CIMEA (Italian ENIC-NARIC): Provides a background report on the institution, admission requirements, length of program, etc., for purported education; issued free of charge to refugees; drafting national guidelines for dealing with insufficient documentation.

• Danish Agency for Higher Education: Fact Sheets for countries in crisis • UK & Swedish ENIC-NARIC: Background paper or educational portfolio One of the main criticisms of these procedures is the cost (the NOKUT process ranges from 4,000 to 5,000 euros; however, this is absorbed by the government and not paid for by the refugee). Additionally, a lack of data exists on how the reports are received by higher education institutions and employers.

Possible Best Practices Upon review of the policies and best practices of various institutions in the U.S., it was determined that few, if any, procedures exist to assist students whose documents are either inaccessible or unverifiable. The option for these

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“ We understand that schools need to adhere to specific standards while simultaneously trying to balance the needs and concerns of their students.”

students is to end their educational endeavors or to start over from the beginning.

Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE) developed the following recommendations when encountering this situation. We understand that schools need to adhere to specific standards while simultaneously trying to balance the needs and concerns of their students.

The receiving institution must ultimately make the final decision about what type of documentation will be acceptable.

However, it is possible to demonstrate flexibility without sacrificing credibility.

Our top five guidelines for dealing with unusual situations are: 1. Know your university/ institution What are the standardized requirements, and when are you allowed to make exceptions? Start by reviewing your current policy on documentation requirements. Does an exception already exist for cases where documents are missing or not accessible? If not, consider creating an appeal process.

This may differ between undergraduate and graduate admission policies and procedures, and may require support from the provost, chief academic officer, registrar or faculty members.

2. Trust, but verify When applying an alternative process, the reason for the exception to standard processes should be verified.

• If the student claims to be a refugee, require proof of status continued on the next page

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DOCUMENTATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS • If the school is closed, confirm it no longer exists Keep in mind that just because there is a crisis situation occurring, it does not automatically mean that every school is shut down. Often times students may attempt to use lack of knowledge as a way to circumvent standard policies or procedures. They may try to take advantage of a highly publicized event such as political turmoil and apply that to the educational sector. This is why it is vital to have reliable sources and contacts on the ground.

3. Be willing to work with alternative documents The standard documents may not be accessible or available. This might mean they are not in the student’s possession, or they may no longer exist. Digital documentation can be another solution.

If students have access to online databases, they may not need hard copies of their documents.

Some options for alternate documents would be: • Online verification sites or digital documents • Alumni or graduation databases • Verification letters from the institution— if this is not accessible or the institution does not respond, research to see if a designated “custodian of records” exists

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• Using photocopies when original documents delivered in sealed envelopes stamped by the issuing institution are the standard requirement

The most important aspect of dealing with document dilemmas during times of chaos is to be consistent in the application of your policies. Research current situations and circumstances to gain insight on each case and how this may impact the process. And always remember that there is a person and a story behind every student. n

There may be resources that can assist you in determining if alternate documents are acceptable, such as: • Colleagues within the field • EducationUSA advisors • Forums such as the ECE Message Board • Organizations like TAICEP

References

4. Maintain records Thoroughly document the case and any exceptions to your policy. Include justification statements and cite evidence and communication. Make the records accessible to your co-workers.

This will help when you have a similar situation in the future. We also recommend sharing with your colleagues how you handle situations. In times of crisis, circumstances change quickly and information can be limited.

5. Other possible solutions • Granting students provisional admission, based on their performance in an ESL course • Placement testing to determine the scope and breadth of previous knowledge

Betts, A., & Collier, P. (2015). Help Refugees Help Themselves. Foreign Affairs, (November/December 2015).

Retrieved from https://www.foreignaffairs. com/articles/levant/2015-10-20/helprefugees-help-themselves De Witt, H., & Altbach, P. (2015, September 18). The Syrian refugee crisis—What can universities do? University World News.

Retrieved from http://www. universityworldnews.com/article. php?story=20150918113842639 Heilpern, W. (2015, November 06).

Kiron University: Open only for refugees. Retrieved from http:// www.cnn.com/2015/11/06/europe/ kiron-university-refugees/index. html?utm_content=bufferde59c&utm_ medium=social&utm_source=twitter. com&utm_campaign=buffer United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2015, June 18). Worldwide displacement hits all-time high as war and persecution increase. Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/558193896.html

DID YOU KNOW… • There are many pathways to involvement in NAGAP—from committee work to volunteer shifts at the conference.

• Webinars offer quick updates on industry issues and best practices.

• Relationships with NAGAP colleagues can enhance your career opportunities.

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