NAGAP Perspectives Summer 2017

VOLUME 29 NUMBER 2 SUMMER 2017

PERSPECTIVES A Newsmagazine for Graduate Enrollment Management Professionals

IN THIS ISSUE  2 From the President  4 NAGAP Member Profile: Caela Provost – How a Life Changing Experience Led to a Career in GEM  5 Working With a Partner to Achieve Your Goal: The Tactical Job Search  7 Perceived Barriers to Graduate Study 8

2017 Annual Conference

9 2017 NAGAP Award Winners 11 Notes from the Pre-Conference Institute 13 NAGAP 2017 – Recollections from Pakistan 16 Conference Session Summaries 59 Saturday Prize Winners

www.NAGAP.org

FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear Colleagues,

The Leader in Graduate Enrollment Management

I am pleased to welcome you to the summer 2017 issue of Perspectives. As I write to you this evening, it is on the heels of Harvard’s commencement, which took place earlier today. I don’t know about you but nothing makes me prouder or gives me more pleasure than being a part of a celebration that highlights the incredible strength, commitment, passion, and successes of our students. The pomp and circumstance, the inspirational speeches, the beaming faces of family and friends, the raucous cheers and spontaneous group selfies are the very best reminder of why we do the work we do. Even the torrential rain couldn’t dampen people’s spirits today and, for me, it also symbolizes the transition from spring to summer.

Speaking of summer, this issue of Perspectives is one that I continue to find incredibly valuable. As in years past, it includes numerous session summaries from the Annual Conference. Just because you couldn’t attend a particular session, or perhaps travel to Salt Lake City at all, doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from the information shared. I encourage you to take the time to read through the session summaries so that you can stay current on industry trends, best practices, and hot topics in the field of graduate enrollment management. This issue also features our award winners, includes a note from the conference committee, profiles of some individual members, and also shares a cool connection between two NAGAP members.

The 2018 NAGAP elections are right around the corner and will be here before we know it. I encourage you to start thinking now about whether you might be interested in and available to run for a leadership position in NAGAP. We will be accepting nominations for President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. You might also consider nominating a colleague who you feel has the time and ability to make a contribution. Serving NAGAP has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional career – I have developed skills, extended knowledge, and deepened networks in ways that have translated directly into success both in my work and in my career.

Though it seems we rarely have down time in our work these days, I hope that each of you is able to find time this summer to kick back, take a breath, and enjoy some relaxation and rejuvenation. Whether it’s going for a hike, jumping in the ocean, enjoying live music, or diving into a good book (or your issue of Perspectives!), remember that self-care is every bit as important as supporting our students and our institutions. I wish each of you a very happy summer and I look forward to connecting with you again in the fall. n Sincerely,

Julie Deland

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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 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.

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.

Copyright © 2017 NAGAP 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.

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

Check out the Volunteer Opportunities Page to

For more information, or to talk to someone about ways to become more involved with NAGAP,

learn more about the

you can email a member of the

committees, organizational

Leadership Cultivation & Elections

activities, and other projects to which you may volunteer your time.

The Leader in Graduate Enrollment Management

Committee.

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.

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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NAGAP MEMBER PROFILE: CAELA PROVOST — HOW A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE LED TO A CAREER IN GEM

By Marianne Gumpper, Fairfield University Caela Provost grew up in a small town in North Central Massachusetts. An accomplished musician and literary zealot, she went to Marist College on an academic scholarship and a music scholarship, majored in English, played the alto saxophone in the Marist Band, and sang in the chamber choir. Always looking for new adventures, she spent the spring semester of her junior year at the University of Limerick (UL). There, she fell in love with all things Irish and made it a goal to return as soon as possible. After graduating college, she became involved with the AmeriCorps Job Ready Program through Mount Wachusett Community College and Fitchburg State University as the volunteer manager. Working with community partners, the goal of the program was to combat unemployment and underemployment in North Central Massachusetts through outreach at the high school, college, and greater community levels. While she found it daunting to have so much responsibility in her first job out of college, she learned many valuable life skills such as adaptability, problem solving, and project management. By capitalizing on her strengths as a listener and communicator, she learned how to lead by example.

Knowing that she wanted to pursue an advanced degree in English, she felt this was her opportunity to return to Ireland.

Caela applied to several schools and decided to return to UL because they offered an accelerated and flexible master’s degree in English. During her first semester she was approached by UL’s international office to become a student ambassador. She also secured a valuable position with Education in

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Ireland, a promotional entity under the auspices of Ireland’s Department of Education and Skills. Writing blogs, being a contact for students and parents, and conducting interviews with fellow students and faculty, she gained confidence in her ability to help people accomplish what they wanted to do from an academic standpoint. With her master’s degree in hand, she returned to the US and was hired by Education in Ireland as a blogger and writing consultant, writing on a variety of topics about Ireland. At the same time, she secured a position as an assistant teacher of English and Social Studies at Chatham Day School in New Jersey.

In the spring of 2014 Caela was approached by a colleague at Education in Ireland regarding a position with University College Cork (UCC) as their North American Officer. This unique position would include recruiting for their graduate and study abroad programs.

After a rigorous selection process, her dream became a reality when she

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secured the job and went back in Ireland for orientation. In this challenging position recruiting for two very distinct audiences, she has thrived. “The position was completely new as of July 2014, so it has been amazing working to build the skeleton of the position from the ground up.” Caela is responsible for coordinating U.S. specific social media, running the UCC US Student Ambassador Program, managing the UCC International Students Blog, and traveling the U.S. attending various recruitment fairs and events in pursuit of new students and partnerships.

As the only UCC representative working full-time in the United States, this year alone she has conducted 63 visits to partner institutions with study abroad and postgraduate programs. She has the opportunity to return to Ireland once a year for updates and training at University College Cork. This year she will be staying for a month.

NAGAP has proved an invaluable resource for Caela. Since joining our organization in 2014, she has attended three annual conferences and the Summer PDI. “NAGAP gave me a point of focus during my whirlwind of a first few years in the field. With the support of my colleagues and contacts in the organization, building graduate partnerships and connections from the ground up made the quick transition from a “daunting task” to an incredibly rewarding, intellectually stimulating experience for me, and one that has shown me my capacity for adaptation, growth, and flexibility as a professional.”

In addition to NAGAP, Caela is also a member of NAFSA and the Forum on Education Abroad. n

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WORKING WITH A PARTNER TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL: THE TACTICAL JOB SEARCH

By Holly Wilbanks, Wilbanks Consulting I see it every day. A student applies for jobs, but doesn’t get interviews. The problem? Typically, the resume. Another student is interviewing for jobs, but not getting offers. The problem? Their interviewing skills. I ask each student: Did you visit career services for assistance?

Sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes it’s no. There’s a disconnect between the needs of individual students and the role that today’s career services office (CSO) can fulfill. If you ask a CSO if they’re meeting the needs of the students, many acknowledge that they don’t have the resources, expertise, or staffing power; still, they do their best.

If you ask the individual departments if the career development needs of their students are being met, there is a consistent “no” that permeates the market.

Last April, I participated in the NAGAP annual conference as an exhibitor. Each

consulting, intellectual property law, scientific communications, and more. This sudden change within the model has left schools and career services offices alike scrambling to prepare students for these very different application and interview processes. Want a job in consulting?

You’ll need a one-page resume, not a four-page CV. Oh, and make sure you have relevant transferable skills and experience on there, even though your only work experience is in a lab.

professional who visited my booth had a compelling story about their school’s triumphs and failures when it relates to student career development. The theme that resonated throughout the schools was the lack of specific, tactical job search education for today’s world.

Shortly after the conference, I connected with several of the graduate schools of biomedical sciences, as their students are particularly hungry for this training.

Cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budgets in recent years have reduced funding for training grants that once supported postdoc and young faculty opportunities. The lack of funding ultimately led the NIH to expand their definition of career paths for scientists beyond the traditional academic route, opening opportunities for grant-supported graduate students to pursue careers in biotech, life sciences

As a NAGAP conference exhibitor, I connected with Lisa Garber from the University of Michigan Pharmacology Graduate Program. That’s where the conversation started about the need for a workshop. Shortly after the conference, Lisa brought me to campus to present a LinkedIn workshop to multiple schools they partnered with as part of a longstanding, collaborative colloquium for continued on the next page

Make Purposeful Connections ®

Radius by Hobsons is an admissions and enrollment management CRM for higher education that enables your institution to engage, enroll, support and retain its most valuable asset -- students. radius.hobsons.com

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WORKING WITH A PARTNER TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL: THE TACTICAL JOB SEARCH CONTINUED students. The workshop, titled “Using LinkedIn to Network and Apply for Jobs In and Out of Science,” was used as a professional and career development curriculum component. It benefitted not only the Michigan pharmacology students, but also the visiting students from collaborative schools – covering pressing questions such as: “How do I create a LinkedIn profile that highlights the unique value of a PhD scientist?” and “How do I network with people I don’t know on LinkedIn?” The pharmacology program was strategic; they partnered internally with Kierstin Fiscus, a colleague in their Postdoc Affairs Office, to split my travel expenses. The Postdoc Affairs Office opted for a different presentation for their trainees: “Interview Illustrations: Highlight Your Value.”

Through a variety of e-mails and phone calls leading up to the workshops, I worked with both programs to understand what, if any, previous training the students experienced in each area, the feedback the programs were getting from students on each topic, and where I could help tailor the experience to their specific needs. Our open communication and information sharing was essential to the success of both workshops. For the LinkedIn presentation, the pharmacology program provided me with a registrant list and I went through each student’s LinkedIn profile prior to the workshop.

During the workshop, I used real-time

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viewing of their active (or inactive!)

LinkedIn profiles as examples of what students were doing right, and where there could be improvement. This very personal approach led to immediate, increased engagement within the workshop, and ultimately created a real-world learning experience for the students. In the “Interview Illustrations” workshop, I sometimes asked for volunteers and sometimes randomly selected students to participate in mock interviews in front of the other postdocs.

This allowed the attendees to not only practice their answers, but also to gain valuable feedback about how to adapt their answers to best highlight their value and “sell” their experience to the potential employer.

The feedback from the students and postdocs was overwhelmingly positive.

Lisa even got a fist bump from a student who couldn’t get over how helpful the experience was for her. Just as importantly, the administrators were thrilled. We worked seamlessly together and our efforts paid off. There were immediate discussions about doing additional workshops for both the graduate students and the postdocs, in the future, and both offices continue to consider when is the next best opportunity to provide these crucial learning opportunities. Most importantly, we keep in touch. They provide updates on the needs of their students, and

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I share updates on the market. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that extends beyond a single workshop.

NAGAP provides similar opportunities for vendors and schools to establish relationships where there are synergies between the needs of the GEM community and the businesses that serve them. As a new exhibitor, and as a former GEM professional who utilized NAGAP vendors, I can tell you first hand that the solutions you seek are often within the NAGAP community. You likely measure the value of your NAGAP membership by the information and resources you gain from the organization and its members. So, continue to immerse yourself in this year’s conference theme.

Explore your options: browse the list of vendors supporting NAGAP; elevate the scope of your solutions: ask questions of the vendors and other NAGAP members who have used them; and engage in your membership: share your expertise with vendors and other GEM professionals. After all, we have so few opportunities to connect as colleagues and grow; make the most of it!

Holly Wilbanks is Founder and Principal of The Wilbanks Consulting Group. She was a 2016 NAGAP exhibitor and former President of the BioGAP Chapter.

Holly was crushed to miss everyone in Salt Lake City, but she is excited to welcome her first baby in May. n

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PERCEIVED BARRIERS TO GRADUATE STUDY The following is a list of the top ten concerns we often hear from prospective students.

1. Cost. Limited awareness of employer contributions, scholarships, grants, discounts, etc.

2. Unclear about their fit with the program and the ultimate value or career outcomes 3. Time!

4. Family commitments (e.g., kids in soccer, mom is aging, husband travels for work) 5. Fear of failure. “I wasn’t a strong undergraduate student so they probably won’t admit me.”

6. Text anxiety, and not realizing that fewer and fewer programs require entrance exams 7. Loan debt is in the news and there is conflicting information – What is loan forgiveness? Who qualifies?

8. Limited understanding about how to search for programs. “Where do I find options for programs that fit my needs and likes?” How do I know if a program is of high quality?”

9. No role models or mentors in their family or workplace to encourage graduate study 10. Anxiety about online classes, based on a misconception that online courses are the only option for graduate programs, which appears to be the dominant method of learning as for-profit advertisements fill the airwaves What would you add to this list? How are the recruitment conversation and orientation sessions at your institution addressing these perceptions?

IERFcongratulates NAGAP IERF is

proud of its long-standing

association with NAGAP

Evaluating Credentials Since 1969

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2017 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

By Jaclyn Farina, Brandeis University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 2017 Annual Conference Chair On behalf of the 2017 Conference Planning Committee, we want to thank all of the attendees who helped make the 30th Annual Conference such a rewarding professional development experience. There were 750 conference attendees in Salt Lake City. We believe that this is a testament to the value that you find in being involved in NAGAP and we thank your institutions for enabling you to participate and experience all that the annual conference has to offer. Now that the conference is over, we encourage you to stay involved with NAGAP. You can get involved in your local chapter, attend either the summer or winter Professional Development Institutes, or consider volunteering for one of NAGAP’s committees. Spread the word to new colleagues and share with your office what you learned at the conference.

The Conference Planning Committee would like to thank the countless volunteers who helped make the conference a success. We would not be able to create such a rewarding experience without the help of our volunteers and you are greatly appreciated. We would also like to thank everyone who donated to our community service beneficiary organization, Salt Lake’s Fisher House. We are excited to share that, with NAGAP’s $500 match contribution, we raised a total of $3,209.

The Salt Lake Fisher House appreciates everyone’s generosity.

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The 2018 Conference Planning Committee has already started preparing for next year’s conference in New Orleans. The feedback and comments you provided in the conference evaluations will be a tremendous resource as we seek to constantly improve our event to make it the best experience possible for our attendees. Every year we strive to make the conference more rewarding and do everything we can to make the return on your investment worthwhile. We are confident that you will find next year’s conference to be another great opportunity to connect with colleagues, explore current topics in GEM, engage with our industry’s top service providers, and collect valuable takeaways to share with your office.

The call for proposals for the 2018 Annual Conference is now open. As you read through this issue of Perspectives, think about submitting a proposal to lead an education session for next year’s conference. We know that our membership has vast expertise and we want to capitalize on those strengths.

Consider presenting or facilitating a discussion on topics that would contribute to the professional or personal development of your fellow GEM colleagues.

Save the date! Mark your calendars for the 31st Annual Conference on April 11-14, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. We look forward to seeing all of you there.

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2017 NAGAP AWARD WINNERS NAGAP, the Association for Graduate Enrollment Management, would like to congratulate its 2017 award winners. These awards were presented at NAGAP’s 30th Annual Conference in Salt Lake City, UT on Thursday, April 20, 2017.

Distinguished Service Award The Distinguished Service Award is presented to an individual who has contributed exceptional service to the profession and to the association, and it represents NAGAP’s most prestigious award. The 2017 Distinguished Service Award was presented to James N. Crane.

James has worked in the field of undergraduate and graduate enrollment management at Brigham Young University (BYU) for 30 years. He joined the office of Graduate Studies as Director of Recruitment and Admission in 2000 Congratulations James! and has served as Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies since 2004.

James represents Graduate Studies, and the 86 graduate degrees offered at BYU, on the following University committees: Curriculum, Advisement, International Students, FERPA, Information Foundations Product Review Board, Controllers, Human Resources and various taskforces as assigned. He also serves as a mentor to members of the BYU Graduate Student Society as they plan and execute academic and social events designed to enhance the graduate student experience. James received the BYU Administrative Employee Recognition Award in 2009, President’s Appreciation Award in 2007 and the Multicultural Ambassador Award in 1994.

An engaged member of NAGAP since 2001, James received NAGAP’s Future Leader Award in 2007 while serving on the Membership and Marketing Committee (2006-08). He was later asked to serve on the Board of Directors as the Membership and Marketing Chair (2008-10). James joined NAGAP’s Executive Board as Vice President (2010-12), served for two terms as President (2012-16), and is enjoying his current assignment as NAGAP’s Immediate Past President (2016-18).

He has volunteered as a moderator, recorder and presenter at the annual conference, and has authored several articles for NAGAP’s Perspectives journal. James is also an active member

of CGS, WAGS, NAFSA, EAIE, AACRAO, PACRAO, and UACRAO and has enjoyed the opportunity to represent BYU and NAGAP in these associations.

James is passionate about giving back to his community and has served as Chairman of the Herriman City Arts Council since 2006. James believes that the arts create a sense of community and that it is imperative that they be embraced, celebrated and available for residents to experience either as a spectator or as an active participant.

Promotion of Excellence Award The Promotion of Excellence Award recognizes new or existing methodology (e.g., processes, policies, events, technologies) that demonstrates best practices for graduate enrollment management. The Stanford University Graduate School of Business PhD Program, led by Executive Director Dianne Le and Associate Director Katy Klemme, was selected for the 2017 Promotion of Excellence Award for their innovative Research Fellows Program.

The Stanford GSB Research Fellows Program offers a unique predoctoral educational opportunity for highpotential individuals to conduct research with top faculty, strengthen their analytical foundations, and participate in seminars to prepare them for Congratulations Katy and Dianne! rigorous doctoral work. Stanford GSB encourages applications from women and under-represented minorities, as well as from others whose backgrounds and experience would bring additional dimensions to the educational experience.

Stanford GSB’s Research Fellows Program could serve as a template for other doctoral programs seeking to increase and strengthen the credentials of diverse candidates applying to PhD programs in their disciplines. This program offers a tangible commitment to diversity and demonstrates how an integrated GEM approach can develop new enrollment pipelines of wellqualified students. continued on the next page

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2017 NAGAP AWARD WINNERS Visionary Award The Visionary Award is presented to an individual in the higher education community who has demonstrated a unique and innovative vision in the graduate enrollment management (GEM) profession, the field of higher education, and/or in NAGAP. David J. Lang, Assistant Dean of Graduate Enrollment in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo (UB), received the 2017 Visionary Award. His David J. Lang work in the largest and most diverse academic unit at UB centers on the coordination of effort across 27 academic departments and various interdisciplinary graduate programs to achieve collective enrollment goals. Lang has led the development of unique marketing and recruitment strategies to increase graduate enrollment across the College while collaborating with faculty to propose new and innovative graduate programs.

Future Leader Award The Future Leader Award is presented to an individual who has exhibited leadership qualities and an enthusiasm for the profession that distinguishes him/her as a rising leader in Congratulations Jillian!

NAGAP and in the field. Jillian Baer was the 2017 recipient. Currently serving as the Director of Graduate Recruitment for the College of Engineering at The Ohio State University, Jillian collaborated with her GEM colleagues to create the Association of Graduate and Professional Administrators (AGPA), to organize and support a community for student affairs professionals working with graduate and professional students at the university. AGPA currently has more than 160 members and will host their first day-long conference this summer focused on professional development for GEM professionals. In addition to serving as AGPA’s co-president, Jillian is working alongside STEM-oriented NAGAP members to organize a community where STEM discipline professionals can share information and best practices.

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Graduate Student Enrollment Management Research Grant The Graduate Student Enrollment Management Research Grant is designed to encourage emerging knowledge and understanding of the complexities of graduate enrollment management including all aspects of admissions and recruitment, enrollment, retention and graduation in higher education. This year, Simone Gbolo received funding for her proposal, “Developing Pipelines: Partnerships and Programing to Increase Diversity in Graduate Education,” and Catherine M. Johnson received funding for her proposal, “Identity Salience and International Students: Graduate Student Socialization in STEM Fields.”

Simone Gbolo

Honorable Mention was awarded to Sylvia Findlay for her proposal, “Reaching Out to Students from War-Torn Regions – Understanding the Challenges” and to Corina Todoran for her proposal, “Figured Worlds: A Comparative Analysis of International Doctoral Students Experiences in the U.S.”

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NOTES FROM THE 2017 PRE-CONFERENCE INSTITUTE

By Johnston King and Mellissa Williams, 2017 NAGAP PCI Fellows The NAGAP Pre-Conference Institute on Strategic Enrollment Planning focused incorporating components from undergraduate Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) into Graduate Enrollment Management (GEM) planning. Since the conference, I have incorporated three main concepts in my enrollment management planning. First, programs must collect all available internal and external data when developing a GEM plan.

Second, a GEM planning committee should use the data when identifying program Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Third, effective GEM planning requires that programs implement multiyear enrollment plans that address annual plans. I look forward to using these three components in GEM planning and sharing what I learned with colleagues.

Collecting Data Planning committees should collect data from prospective students, admitted students, current students, and alumni to review the entire student experience. GEM planners should use internal data to determine whether the admissions process was effective in recruiting new students and evaluate current student persistence and graduation rates. External data from the National Student Clearinghouse and Council of Graduate Schools can help planners survey the market and identify the program’s market value by reviewing geographical competitor, peer program, and aspirational program information. Following international, national, geographical and undergraduate enrollment trends will allow me to make data driven decisions when collaborating with program directors on predictive enrollment modeling.

Key Performance Indicators GEM planning committees should identify six to twelve Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from the data to assess the overall state of the program. The KPIs are a combination of performance indicators that are identified when reviewing the program data.

KPIs frequently overlap and performance indicators are often used in multiple KPIs. As an example, applications, admitted students, and new enrollments are program indicators that compose the enrollment KPI. Through planning committee conversations, universities and programs should use KPIs that best work for their program. Programs should use the university mission and data to drive the development and agreement on KPIs, and avoid having anecdotal stories determine KPIs. Using the university and school missions and data make it easier to explain the KPIs to the university community. GEM planners should refer to the KPIs when developing strategies with action items that will serve as the performance indicators.

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Kathryn Kendall, Mellissa Williams, Johnson King, Katherine Beczak

Multi-year Enrollment Plans Action items used to implement the GEM planning strategies should be included in an annual plan and the multiyear GEM plan. Programs should develop annual plans that align with the three to five year GEM plan. Successful enrollment planning requires that programs evaluate the previous five to ten year data and not just compare data to the previous year. I will use metrics from recruitment strategies to determine whether the recruitment events encouraged students to apply and enroll in the following start term or whether students apply and enroll at a later start term. Some recruitment strategies may show an immediate return on investment while other events may show a delayed return on investment.

I would like to thank NAGAP and Lew Sanborne from Ruffalo Noel Levitz for hosting a great Pre-Conference Institute. I look forward to implementing what I learned about GEM planning with my colleagues as we develop our GEM plans.

Johnston King Enrollment Management Coordinator Gillings School of Global Public Health University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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NOTES FROM THE 2017 PRE-CONFERENCE INSTITUTE The 2017 Pre-Conference Institute led by Dr. Lewis Sanborne, Vice President of Ruffalo Noel Levitz, provided opportunities to actively learn the strategic enrollment planning process through several working segments. This was crucial as attendees worked to create their own team of institutional leaders and develop a list of programs viable within their institution that will contribute to the growth of their enrollment planning. These segments included the following: Defining the Scope and Establishing Priorities, Creating the Organization Structures, Environmental Scanning, Marketplace Dynamics, New Program Development (and Existing Program Considerations), Strategy Ideation and Development, Prioritizing Strategic Initiatives, and Embedding the Strategic Enrollment Plan into Annual Planning.

Strategic enrollment planning has numerous, vital components in order to be completed with a trajectory toward success.

A key takeaway was to identify each key player from your institution in the planning process, and ensure they understand the significance of their role in the process. This process requires an investment from each person, and more than that of serving on another committee. The intent thereafter is to lead this group of invested individuals within the university through a strategic planning process.

As the strategic enrollment planning process is launched it is essential to identify areas of program development that have the potential for being launched, as well as identifying new avenues to grow existing programs. Many areas need to be considered in this phase, and the key members of the committee can be assets based on their individual areas of expertise and influence.

So, what programs would be beneficial to your university? What programs are offered at your competitor institutions, and is there still a need within academia and the profession to add your university to the list of those offering a program? It is likely that many of the key players will have the opinion that your university can create and offer a specific program better than a competing institution. Loyalty and pride in your institution should make you feel that way when reflecting on the academic offerings and abilities to establish successful new programs. But, with pride momentarily sidelined, the responsibility of these individuals is to review the data. Is there a need for adding a new program when you review the feasibility study?

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Data is the term used consistently in every area of enrollment, marketing, and the internal workings of the admissions process.

The days of trial and error are mostly past when institutions have a wealth of data to rely on both internally and externally. Is the data set up to work for you or is it tailored to the undergraduate admissions process? Make it work for you and much of your work will be eliminated for the research phase of your strategic enrollment planning process. The data may overrule the institutional pride and direct you away from starting the same program a competitor already offers. In contrast, Sanborne encouraged attendees to identify the unique qualities of their institutions. Perhaps the same program can be influenced in a unique way by faculty mentoring, personal attention to applicants and students, assistance with internships and job placement, as well as other areas that may provide a greater appeal to the broad applicant pool.

Once you have gained the data and the support for program growth and/or launching new programs, it is crucial to develop a marketing plan and a strategy to penetrate the market and build enrollment. Identifying and connecting with your target audience is easily done through social media, but it must be done well. Use your data to point you toward more targeted social media marketing, print advertising, and additional personalized strategies.

Finally, from the start of the process it is crucial to know that you have the financial support of the institution. Often within the world of graduate enrollment management there is a tendency for student success to be divided among the many categories established for undergraduate enrollment planning. With the proper research, challenge your institution to invest in graduate enrollment planning with the same strategy and attentiveness.

Attendees of the Pre-Conference Institute were provided the tools to create a strategic enrollment plan that will propel them for success in such a proposal and empower them to continue changing the scope of graduate enrollment management.

Mellissa Williams Director of Graduate Student Services & Engagement University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Graduate School

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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NAGAP 2017 – RECOLLECTIONS FROM PAKISTAN

By Zeeshan Rahat Kureshi, EducationUSA/The United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) I have been associated with the education sector for the past 18 years, even though this connection has not been continuous.

Soon after I completed my first master's degree, I initiated my career as a teaching assistant at, supposedly, the best business school in Pakistan. After I came back from the United States, having completed my second master’s in Information Systems from University of Texas at Arlington, I joined a budding team of educationists who were on a mission to start a new business school in the suburbs of Lahore. That was the first time I realized the hardships students belonging to remote or smaller regions faced in terms of access to quality education. Working there brought a sense of humbleness and fulfillment as it gave us an opportunity to do something for the disadvantaged community.

From developing policies to interviewing prospective students and teaching courses – we did it all.

After setting up the new business school and getting the ball rolling for them, I came back to Lahore and joined the corporate sector as by then I was itching to “prove myself”. I worked in various industries during the next several years, such as advertising, telecom and information technology, but my love for teaching never faded away. Even during my corporate years, I continued to teach in different universities in visiting faculty positions. It was in 2012 that I decided to join, for good, the education industry, as I had always aspired. I knew by then that the corporate sector was not for me. What ensued thereafter was one of the best professional experiences of my life – I joined EducationUSA (U.S. State Department Service) in its host organization, The United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP). My position in the organization was, and still is, the Principal Adviser – Test Prep.

In my current position, I am responsible for spreading awareness about U.S. higher education among students belonging to public sector universities in remote regions. My job also entails letting students know about the Fulbright Program which, in Pakistan, is the world’s biggest program of its kind. Students in the government sector institutions, especially those in far flung areas, face a number of challenges such as financial means to pay the fees, physical access to the campuses, and difficulty in English language communication. During visits to these campuses, it was observed that informing these students about U.S. higher studies was a good idea, but one thing that the students really dreaded the most (I am sure it’s the same way all over the world) was the GRE. So, around 5 years ago, our organization came up with the idea to prepare public sector students for the GRE, make them participate in mock tests, and award free GRE vouchers to the five highest scoring students from each of the participating institutions (score of at least 300 required). This initiative became an instant hit and we have seen an exponential growth in the program since then. In the past five years through this initiative we have been able to reach out to more than 33,000 students

from across Pakistan, educating them about the U.S. higher education system and preparing them for the GRE. Around 4,375 students have participated in our mock tests and more than 200 students have received free vouchers.

So why did I come to NAGAP in Salt Lake City this year? Well, since the theme of the conference was all about “measuring success”, I thought it to be a relevant platform to inform the graduate admissions professionals about our test preparation initiative in Pakistan through my presentation “Success Story from South Asia: Assisting Under-Privileged Students Prepare for U.S. Higher Studies through Outreach and Test Preparation Initiative”. I also intended to receive feedback from the enrollment professionals about other innovative steps that could be taken to help the disadvantaged students in the less developed countries.

I was a bit emotional coming to the U.S. as I was visiting for the first time in 14 years. There are two things that I will never forget about my participation in NAGAP 2017: first, Salt Lake City itself – its beauty, serenity and the welcoming atmosphere; and second, the NAGAP participants – full of grace, talent and thorough professionalism. The very first day I was lucky enough to be chosen for an award for “coming from the furthest place” and to have received it from Dave Fletcher who was a wonderful host to me. I had the opportunity to attend several informative sessions that helped broaden my horizon in the graduate enrolment field and equipped me with innovative ideas, some of which I would like to incorporate in my work. The openness with which the participants discussed different issues and came up with suggestions to solve problems was indicative of their years of experience in the field and willingness to learn new things.

The weather in Salt Lake City couldn’t have been better for the conference since flowers were in full bloom in this part of the season. The organization of the conference was perfect: the beautiful hotel, delicious food, professional staff, informative sessions and the opening/closing ceremonies – all contributed to making this event successful. Apart from the time spent in the continued on the next page

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NAGAP 2017 – RECOLLECTIONS FROM PAKISTAN CONTINUED conference, the rendezvous I had with my wife (who was accompanying me on this trip) to the Temple Square and the City Creek Center was quite interesting. The trip to the Leonardo Museum, of course, was the jewel in the crown (although I missed the comedian’s performance and I know it’s sad I did). It was also a pleasure to meet with our own EducationUSA team

from around the world and the hospitality of the city locals was simply amazing. In short, NAGAP is a remarkable platform to address the concerns of graduate enrolment professionals and I wish best of luck to the current and future volunteers to continue the great work. 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

The Leader in Graduate Enrollment Management

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Directors Cammie Baker Clancy

Empire State College

UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Katherine Beczak

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

Barry University

Summer Institute for New Graduate Enrollment Management Professionals July 20–21, 2017

Andrew Kim Memorial University of Newfoundland

Las Vegas, Nevada

Jennifer Kulbeck

Saint Mary's College of California Raymond Lutzky

New York University

Winter Institute for Advanced Graduate Enrollment Management Professionals January 18–19, 2018

Jahmaine Smith

Morgan State University

Palm Springs, California

Dean Tsantir

University of Minnesota

Publications Committee Nicquet Blake, PhD

University of Texas Health

Science Center San Antonio

Check out the

Marianne Gumpper

Fairfield University

NAGAP Online Resource Center

Mallory Maggiacomo

Marist College

Featuring a new database of Holistic Admissions resources as well as archived book reviews, GEM articles, webinars, doctoral research, and more.

Kate McConnell

Pennsylvania State Grate Valley Kittie Pain

McDaniel College Caela Provost

University College Cork

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CONFERENCE SESSION SUMMARIES Elevating Conversion: Tactics to Take Your Admitted Student Events to the Next Level Presented by Gabrielle Gannon, Long Island University Brooklyn; Meryl McDonough, Spark451 Inc.; and Andrew Rapin, Columbia University School of Social Work Reported by Jeremy Mixell, University of San Francisco A well thought-out, developed, and executed student event programming plan can have a tremendous event attendance yield. In examining a specific New York University School of Engineering admitted students event (which took place over a series of years in Beijing, China) presenters reflected on their pre-event research and planning, how the event was marketed, and their post-event analysis in order to share lessons learned and event planning recommendations.

In their analysis, the presenters compared admitted student reception attendance data from 2014, 2015, and 2016. From 2014 to 2016, attendance at the Beijing event increased by 259 students. While reflecting on how designing high touch plans to showcase the institutions bestselling points helped to dramatically increase attendance and interest in the event, the presenters made the following event marketing recommendations:

native English speakers, and/or others within the institution reach out to admitted students • Provide enough time for promotion/ marketing to allow students and others to plan accordingly • Never stop improving While a well-developed marketing plan can have positive impacts on event attendance, it’s important to consider other factors outside of the marketing sphere that warrant consideration, such as: • Admission operational practices (e.g. timing of admission evaluation and decision release) • Timing and event location (e.g. access to the location, time of day, and the date)

• The details matter • Institutional network utilization (e.g. student associations, alumni groups) In closing, the presenters emphasized the need to consistently create comprehensive, well thought-out, detail focused event plans. In the long term, increasing institutional engagement with students is dependent on adequately addressing the lessons learned from past events, and taking the time to develop new, more engaging, and improved event planning practices. Combined, these efforts will help institutions identify the needs of their individual students and the key performance indicators on which their events should be judged.

• Create a central page where event information can be marketed and is easily accessible • Engage students via email, print material, confirmation and/or auto generated emails, personal reminders, etc. making sure to promote school brand and personality throughout • Utilize social media platforms for both target and general marketing campaigns • Develop a “calling campaign” to have current students, alumni, non-

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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CONFERENCE SESSION SUMMARIES

CONTINUED

How Content Became King: Combine Your Online Content Marketing Strategy with a Keyword Guide and Watch Enrollment Increase Presented by Abu Noaman, Elliance; and Kathy Groves, William Woods University Recorded by Grace Pfisterer, University of Southern California William Woods University, like many others, has experienced its share of transitions in hiring, enrollment numbers, and management shifts. Upon seeing a decrease in enrollment, and lack of staff and faculty unity, the university decided to undergo a three year journey focused on growth and rebranding. In order to do so, William Woods coupled with Elliance, a digital marketing agency. In forming a partnership, Elliance and William Woods committed to working together to redefine the university’s brand.

In beginning this journey, a few challenges emerged in the William Woods University marketing plans: 1. Lack of cohesiveness

2. Celebrate heroes

6. Great content is social.

3. Become story-centered

7. Great content is shareable.

4. Show confidence

8. Great content mutually reinforces paid content.

5. Highlight the university as a happy place These goals served as focal points in the formation of marketing strategies that would impact rank, reputation, and visibility. In order to reach them, the creation of strong content and insights from analytics was critical. William Woods University, in order to redefine their brand, identified the following distinguishing characteristics, which typify great content: 1. Great content starts with identifying strengths.

2. No keywords 3. No rankings

2. Great content celebrates the hero’s story, not yours.

4. Declining enrollment

3. Great content is inspired by a keyword guide.

After conducting consumer research and an in-depth brand analysis, Elliance developed the following goals in the rebranding process:

4. Great content is inspired by brand and keywords.

1. Be more national

5. Great content delights.

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Utilizing these critical steps, Elliance successfully emphasized the existing strengths of William Woods University, namely its rich history of 147 years, popular Equestrian and ASL programs, and alumni retention in staff and faculty in order to differentiate the institution.

Students were showcased in the new rollout as everyday heroes. Keywords regarding programs, geography, reputation, and brand were identified and highlighted. New content was created to engage prospective students, and then seamlessly integrated across digital and traditional platforms. Organic and paid content was consistent and easily shareable. In following the outlined strategic plan, Elliance successfully increased website traffic, social media engagement, Google rankings, and brand impressions.

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Developing a Graduate Student Success Center as a Means of Recruiting, Engaging, and Retaining Graduate Students Presented by John Shaffer and Cyrus Fernandez, University of Texas at San Antonio Reported by Sara Yount Pettingill, Bellarmine University

At the University of Texas at San Antonio, graduate students were facing the following challenges: • Lack of interaction across campus • No central space to help them learn or seek help • No “in between” spaces • Lack of conducive spaces for graduate students to work • No sense of graduate student life/ community John Shaffer began addressing the graduate student issues by offering ten student grant writing and research workshops each year, in addition to offering orientation sessions. Within four years, Shaffer was able to lead an effort to add the following: • Three designated graduate study rooms

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• Large scale graduate student development and social programs

access to use the physical space, but also participate in the following services:

• Graduate Student Appreciation Week

• Academic, research, and career development workshops

• Graduate Student Career Week

• Thesis and dissertation formatting

• International graduate student development program

• Summer and fall research grant writing program

In the spring of 2015, a new dean was appointed who embraced the need for a comprehensive graduate student success center. She led the internal effort to change the organizational culture and was able to secure the funding and space necessary to make Shaffer’s dream a reality. Today, the University of Texas at San Antonio has a comprehensive graduate student success center (one of only eight in the country), housed in a new 4,000 square foot space offering a student lounge, multi-purpose room, computer lab, and large and small conference rooms. Students not only have

• International graduate student development programming

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• Spring and summer dissertation writing camps • Social and networking events Since November of 2016, 1,041 students have visited the center for services, and the grant writing program has facilitated thirty submissions securing a total $1.75 million in funding. The services offered at the center are showcased during admission events and on campus tours at all graduate levels.

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Recruitment, Retention, and Re-entry: Implementing the Veteran Student Success Model (VSSM) to Increase Graduate Schools’ Enrollment Rates Presented by Sheldon Eakins and Amanda Eakins, Idaho State University; Scherrayn Garcia, Florida International University; and Junior Garcia, SERVE Academy Reported by Ann D’Abrosca, Brown University National figures indicate that the number of students applying for admission to graduate programs has declined as much as 15% over the past several years (Goodstein, 2016). The U.S. economy hinges upon the education advancement of its citizens. It is vital for graduate schools to recruit and retain talented students. One way this can be done is to increase veteran student enrollment.

Graduate programs can increase their student enrollment and degree completion rates by implementing into their strategic enrollment plans the Veteran Student Success Model (VSSM). VSSM focuses on comprehensive strategies to identify, recruit, and retain veteran students and increase enrollment and graduation rates for graduate programs.

When veterans return home they often find themselves contemplating their next steps. Although many are afraid to return to school, they soon realize that leadership positions require an advanced degree. Veterans bring skill sets to undergraduate and graduate programs that make them amazing students. As a group, they are mature, focused, motivated, and open to seeking out any and all higher education resources available to them. Astute institutions of higher education would make the identification of strategies for veteran student success a top priority.

requirements, and offering application fee waivers and other incentives when possible. Become familiar with the correct veteran categories, distinguishing veteran characteristics, and available funding terms. Being knowledgeable will fortify trust and confidence in your institution.

Veteran Characteristics:

• Post-9/11 GI Bill (currently covers up to $20,000 per academic year plus housing and book benefits) • Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants • The Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program (Yellow Ribbon Program) • Some funding can be assigned to family members

• Non-traditional students • Most are over 25, have fulltime employment, and/or have families

• FourBlock – Veteran Career Readiness

• Reluctant to ask for help

• Veteran shadowing programs

• Recognize their own personal limitations

Support, Retention, & Re-entry

• Disciplined and team players

• Recognize individualization (civilian life) versus team mentality (military).

Veteran Categories:

• Develop audience specific courses (e.g. Boots to Books)

• Active duty • Active reserve

• Implement FourBlock Internship Program

• Disabled veterans • Inactive reserve

• Recognize unpracticed academic skills, family responsibilities, and a possible sense of alienation

• Recently separated veterans • Veteran – completed their contract

Veteran Funding • ROTC scholarships

An important factor to remember when recruiting veterans is to place the value of programs and their career benefits at the forefront. Recruiters must make every effort to understand the target veteran audience, build partnerships, and streamline the admission process for applicants.

Consider hosting an open house geared to veterans in the area, providing veterans with resources on GRE prep courses, GRE testing sites, and enrollment

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“Hakuna Matata”: Leveraging Staff Roles to Support the Student Circle of Life Presented by Megan Siehl and Michele Lersch, Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs Reported by Ryan Taughrin, University at Buffalo Home to a top-ranked Master’s of Public Administration program in the United States, Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs incorporates a staffing model where individuals are cross-trained to maximize staff capacity throughout the graduate enrollment management lifecycle.

Ensuring that recruiters, marketers, operations staff, graduate assistants, and faculty program directors all understand their roles and responsibilities, along with the larger goals of the office, allows key components of these offices to operate smoothly, regardless of the student need or time of year.

Within their Student Services Office specifically, the presenters broke down the following areas in which staff and graduate assistants are cross-trained and made aware of professional roles/ responsibilities: • Marketing/Recruitment • Admissions • Financial Aid • Conversion • Matriculation & Course Registration The presenters provided a clear example of how this cross-training works in real time. During the fall, staff fully supports their Assistant Director who takes the lead on recruitment. They ensure that additional fairs that overlap can be covered, and that students who are met as part of the recruitment strategy are followed up with in a timely fashion. Further, this “circle of life” mantra factors in spikes in applications in February, and peak times when students need additional support, such as during course registration and orientation. Their “problem-free philosophy” approach ensures that anybody in the office can answer questions, even with the main point of contact not available.

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Another important aspect of this student service approach is the training and utilization of current students, both as graduate assistants in the office and as ambassadors for the program. Graduate assistant students are critical in ensuring that marketing materials and collateral are refreshed on an annual basis and reflect the most current course topics and curriculum. Current students are relied upon to help connect recruitment staff to their alma maters, and also to do targeted outreach to faculty who recommended students that were accepted to the program. This type of close contact from students allows for a more personalized, effective approach in welcoming prospective students on campus. When arriving, these students are then able to: • Sit in on courses • Attend lunch with current student • Meet with staff to talk After highlighting this foundational information about their office, the presenters transitioned into explaining how their model allows for effective assessment of recruitment and marketing initiatives, with a focus on data-driven decision making processes. Their office

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implemented a reporting form to evaluate graduate fairs more effectively, and an in-house survey to receive feedback from students who declined their offers of admission. Such data sets are critical to understanding how to improve the admissions and student service processes.

In closing, the presenters posed three questions to the audience: • How could you apply this model to your organization?

• What strategies could you use to leverage staff roles to maximize student services?

• What types of assessments do you think would be most beneficial?

Discussion from audience members focused on the logistics of cross-training, as well as the functionality of some of the office members' work. With audience members coming from various types of institutions with different aid models, different admissions timelines, and different centralization models, presenters worked through issues and provided further context so that audience members could leave with tangible next steps to take back to their institutions.

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Measuring Success in Retention: Exploring the Influence of Networks of Support, Student Experience, and Program Culture on Doctoral Students Presented by Marlaina Kloepfer, West Chester University of Pennsylvania; Lian Lynch, North Carolina State University; Erinn Lake, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania; and Ariana Balayan, Suffolk University Reported by Nancy Crouch, University of Connecticut This session highlighted the findings of three research studies of the NAGAP Research Committee that explore retention of students in various doctoral programs: (1) Cohorts and Connections from EdD, (2) DNP Socialization and Identity Development (including Professional and Practitioner Based Doctoral Programs as DNP, DBA, PsyD), (3) DNP Qualitative Study.

• Women leave if they are not supported; the cohort wants friendly competition (peer to peer).

Presenters identified relationships and networks of support that influence retention of doctoral students in practitioner based programs, noted the doctoral student experience influenced retention in EdD and DNP programs, and identified program characteristics that helped to increase student retention.

• Host cohorts in professional settings, bring school to the students, and stress convenience.

Things to consider about retention: • Understand why people are in your program (the cohort has a huge influence). What is the structure of program (weekend class/times of meetings/access to faculty)?

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Feedback from audience questions/ answers about retention: • Peer support is important for full-time students with families

• Clearly define program formats and program requirements (DNP role still being defined PHD-DNP). Include number of hours for clinical work.

• Appoint co-chairs to diversify feedback to students

• Adults in professional setting are uncomfortable going back to student identity.

• Host parent get-togethers • Hold an orientation/breakfast to create a network from day one (invite faculty)

• What do students need?

• Encourage mentoring workshops for graduate faculty or incoming faculty

• How do we allow professional networks to be created and continued?

• Have a designated institutional point person (not faculty) so students have a specific individual to reach out to with questions and/or concerns.

• Offer information sessions at hospitals and/or bring information to prospects.

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Going forward - build research on doctoral student types: • Clinical based vs. research based • Full time vs. part time • Partnership vs. autonomy • Professional role vs. lifespan

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Rising to the Challenge: How to Successfully Manage Higher Education Staff and Operations Presented by Ujjaini Sahasrabudhe, University of Southern California; Emily Tse, International Education Research Foundation (IERF); and Shelby Cearley, Texas Tech University Reported by Melanie Steele, Ursuline College Assembling and managing your admission team can seem like a daunting and overwhelming task, but Ujjaini Sahasrabudhe from the University of Southern California, Emily Tse from International Education Research Foundation (IERF), and Shelby Cearley from Texas Tech University provided simple and effective practices to make the process seamless. First and most importantly, they emphasized the significance of having an accurate job description that covers all aspects of the job and outlines exactly what is expected.

This description lays the foundation for the hiring process and is used for yearly evaluations and managing performance later on.

Next, they recommended having an interview team composed of an odd number of people. Three to five people on the interview committee makes scheduling interviews simpler and less intimidating for the interviewee. It is suggested that committees use the same interview format for all interviewees whether it be in person, Skype, or a conference call. Assign questions ahead of time to the interviewers and include various competency-based, behavioral,

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situational, and personality type questions.

Once a hiring decision has been made and the new staff member is part of the team, there is a transition in focus to retaining the staff member. The presenters suggested three tactics to improve retention.

1. Creating greater ownership of staff roles by providing supervisory experience such as that of student workers, assigning employees as liaisons to academic units, and providing experiences as project managers.

2. Encouraging team and relationship building within the office through an annual retreat, holding birthday celebrations, and/or organizing other social events.

3. Providing professional development opportunities such as conference attendance, workshops, and webinars.

The presenters also highlighted miscellaneous hiring and training considerations. When hiring new employees, it is important to develop a

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relationship with the Human Resources Department (HR). HR professionals will assist the interview team throughout the hiring process, assist with university policies and procedures, and provide guidance with government regulations.

It is also important to establish a training schedule and protocol. Does it make sense to train people individually or as a group? Who does the training? These are just a couple of the common questions that should be addressed ahead of time.

Other considerations include whether to hire student workers or temporary employees, and the challenge of working within the “5G Workforce” (five generations together in the workforce: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z).

Lastly, the speakers presented recommendations for being great leaders and managers. The leader sets the tone in the office and is an example for others. The presenters recommended (and reminded) leaders to value their teams, model professional behavior in the office, take individual approaches when managing staff, facilitate workplace relationships, and actively manage conflict when necessary.

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How to Succeed with Inbound Marketing: Stories from Large and Small Graduate Schools Presented by Francesca Reed, Marymount University; and Tony Fraga and Zach Busekrus, Direct Development Reported by Laura Look, University of North Dakota Four case studies were presented on how to use inbound marketing at different stages of the applicant journey: awareness, consideration, and decision.

Inbound marketing focuses on using educational content to pull people toward websites; it adds context to content. This content can, and should, come in many different formats. Some formats include website pages or blog posts, eBooks or guides, checklists, statistics and reports, infographics, quizzes, videos, events, and online tools. Simply put, inbound marketing is educational content, plus a conversion strategy, plus marketing technology.

Case 1: Capturing New Leads Using Awareness-Stage Content on Social Media Marymount University was using primarily decision-stage offers through social media such as calls to request more information, webinars/webchats, and open house events. This was getting a high volume of clicks, but low conversions. Marymount University began creating awarenessstage content in the form of eBooks that gave general information about the programs they offered. Most content is general to the programs they offer, but is all branded by Marymount. They began using awareness-stage offers on social media using the new eBooks and their conversion rates began to rise while spending less. They received 3.5 times more submissions, 2.75 times more new contacts, and a 2.6 times higher visitor-tolead conversion rate.

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Case 2: Increasing Visitor-toLead Conversion on Website Pages Using Premium Content

based emails were sent. The total RSVPs increased 11% and the total attendees increased 35% over the previous year.

West Virginia University also created branded eBooks that had content both general to graduate education and more specific to their programs. Some of the eBooks included information on financing graduate school, deciding if, when, and where to go to graduate school, and a GRE study sheet. West Virginia re-designed their homepage to include these resources in an easy to find location. By offering the new content, and asking for less information upfront from visitors, they were able to increase their visitor-to-lead conversion rate by 425% and received thirteen times more new contacts. In general, people are willing to give their name and contact information sooner in exchange for something valuable.

Case 4: Using Marketing Automation to Nurture Leads, Inquiries, and Incomplete Applications to Increase Completed Applications

Case 3: Using Content Nurturing to Boost Open House Attendance Marymount University used content nurturing to create variable content promoting their open house. The first thing was to create six landing pages for the same event. These landing pages were discipline specific with information about their open house. The next step was to create content-based emails.

Marymount tracked information about program-specific website views, programspecific blog post views, and premium content downloads (eBooks/infographics).

Using these actions, twelve content-

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West Virginia University uses automatic communications during different stages of inquiry and application. The first set of communications is in response to someone completing a "request more information" form. An email is sent to the respondent with calls to action and an email is sent to the program director notifying them of the new lead so they can follow-up. The graduate school also receives notice of new leads so they can follow-up with program directors.

The second set of communications is nurturing inquiries to start an application.

Two emails are sent encouraging and reminding the inquiring individual to start the application and reminders to previously sent calls to action. The third set of communications is for those who have started, but not submitted their applications. The presenters have found that most applications are submitted within three weeks, but 74% of those who start an application do not submit within three weeks. Three reminders are sent beginning at the three week point. Only two weeks after launching this campaign, the application completion rate has doubled.

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Building a Digital Marketing Strategy for a New Niche Program Presented by Michel Frendian, Erikson Graduate School in Child Development; and Jay Kelly, Converge Consulting Reported by Sara Yount Pettingill, Bellarmine University In 2014, the Erikson Graduate School in Child Development created a new Master of Social Work program. The institution committed two years to developing the new program and hired Converge Consulting to create and launch a digital marketing strategy. The digital campaign began six months prior to the start of the program to kick off lead generation efforts in the hyper-competitive Chicago area market.

To build brand awareness, Converge recommended creating a media mix that included brand awareness, lead generation, and remarketing efforts through the following:

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° L inkedIn: serve ads based on demographic, educational, and professional background

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Gmail

now your audience. Don’t just “fill °K up” their mailbox.

reate frequency caps of no more °C than two to three messages in a 24 hour period.

Converge recommended spending 55% of the marketing budget on search efforts.

On average, the cost per lead was $150$300.

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° L anding page recommended over microsite

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° Phone call (at inquiry)

° Facebook: target specific demographics with advertisements

° Mail/print

° E-mail drip campaigns

° Text messaging

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calls from faculty and ° Phone Program Director (once application has been started or beyond)

The goal was fifteen students to start the Fall 2016 cohort and Erikson enrolled twenty-one. The partnership was a success!

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You’re Hired: Leveraging Your NAGAP Network for Career Success Presented by Keith Ramsdell, Bowling Green State University; Marcus Hanscom, Roger Williams University; Jeremiah Nelson, Wake Forest University; and Jennifer Kulbeck, Saint Mary’s College of California Reported by Caela Provost, University College Cork Famous Basketball Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Karl Malone are all exceptional athletes and individually celebrated sports heroes.

Coming from different NBA teams, these men could have easily focused solely on their own skills to successfully earn victory in the 1992 Summer Olympics…but the competitors had a different approach.

As a network of players, they leveraged their skills to not only excel on the court, but also dominate the games in Barcelona as an unstoppable unit. These players became known as, arguably, the greatest team ever assembled: the “Dream Team”.

As GEM professionals — who often wear several different hats in order to reach our institutional goals — we surely are not strangers to feeling isolated, disconnected, and overwhelmed on occasion. We become so focused on meeting deadlines, crunching numbers, and writing reports, that we subsequently overlook one of our greatest tools for

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success: our network of colleagues institutionally and nationally.

Keith Ramsdell, Marcus Hanscom, Jeremiah Nelson, and Jennifer Kulbeck reminded panel session attendees of the vitality of using our NAGAP network of national connections as a means to achieving career success. Sharing their own unique experiences as active members in the NAGAP network, the panelists detailed ways in which NAGAP serves as a means to: • Look for career transitions • Seek out answers to questions about the field • Grow one’s experience level in a variety of areas of higher education • Find exceptional professional development opportunities • Create an institutional presence at the national level As individuals, these panelists have certainly made positive impacts on the lives of the students they serve on their

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home campuses. However, rather than simply acknowledging and utilizing the strengths they know they possess to stand out at their colleges and universities, they have instead chosen to mirror the path of the “Dream Team” – networking, connecting, and communicating with colleagues from all over the nation to become leaders in the field.

As the session came to a close, Ramsdell, Hanscom, Nelson, and Kulbeck encouraged everyone to discuss how they might utilize the NAGAP network for their careers, and then invited groups to share takeaways. One remark made the perfect conclusion to discussions: “I thought this was going to be about how I would find my next job; now I’ve found out it’s about how to get involved with NAGAP…and, really, the two are one and the same.”

NAGAP is truly a dream team of GEM professionals…one that demonstrates our need to look to our colleagues, our peers, our teammates to become Olympians in our field.

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The “Secret” Scholar: Pursuing Scholarship as an Administrator Presented by Paul Marthers, State University of New York; Christina Murray, The College of Saint Rose; and Raymond Lutzky, New York University Tandon School of Engineering Reported by Stanley Kania, Marywood University Chances are, there has been at least one time during any GEM professional’s career, especially an administrator, when said professional considered pursing a higher-level graduate or research degree. Pursuing a terminal master’s or doctoral degree opens the door to many career opportunities, such as further work as an administrator or entering the professoriate. However, in the midst of it all, pursuing one’s education as a full-time working professional may appear to be a daunting and insurmountable task.

Trying to balance a professional career and family/personal obligations, while pursuing scholarly endeavors, can be quite the juggling act. The purpose of this session was to provide a narrative on personal experiences navigating the terrain of professional work while pursuing graduate education. The panelists during this session were able to provide insight from their experiences on the joys, struggles, and pitfalls about pursuing graduate programs as points for other GEM professionals to consider when seeking terminal degrees.

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Each panelist was employed as an administrator in GEM when they began pursuing their master’s or doctoral education. The types of programs the panelists were enrolled in varied from an on-campus, full-time doctoral program to an intensive 24-month doctoral cohort and an online master’s program with residency. The three panelists each initially decided to enroll in graduate programs for similar reasons: to expand their knowledge in a specific area of expertise and increase career advancement opportunities. Additionally, a synthesis of each panelist’s presentation brought about some common themes and insights about balancing scholastic undertakings while working as full-time professionals: • Be sure the program is interesting and complements your career goals.

Also, make sure faculty and advisers understand and respect your goals as these are your main reasons for pursuing such a degree.

• Working full-time and attending graduate school certainly presents its challenges. Research your program(s)

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and pick a program that is flexible to help ease some tension in taking on the burden of graduate school.

• Develop a solid support system to help you get through the tough times. Support and encouragement from family, friends, colleagues, and employers will keep you focused and motivated to persist and complete your degree.

Audience questions were centered on the professional differences and perceptions of a PhD versus an EdD, as well as the impact of a doctoral degree as a means to help elevate individuals without supervisory experience to administrative positions. The panelists said that a terminal degree allows one to gain more credibility and, if one is looking to possibly enter the professoriate, a PhD may present itself as a better credential as it is more research focused. Finally, a terminal degree will open up many administrative career opportunities, so one should not be as concerned with a lack of experience.

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Preparing Graduate Students for Broader Career Paths Presented by Jens Locher, University of British Columbia Reported by Robert D. Pearson, The University of Texas at Dallas Graduate programs are facing increasing scrutiny from reporting agencies, current students, and prospects about the career outcomes of their PhD awardees. In light of anecdotal evidence of a growing range of career paths that graduate students follow, a number of schools are beginning initiatives that address these issues. In this presentation, Jens Locher, from the University of British Columbia, presented on three recent and interrelated initiatives at the University of British Columbia: • PhD Outcome Tracking • Public Scholars Initiative • Online Alumni Profiles The first of these won NAGAP’s 2016 Visionary Award. For the PhD Outcome Tracking Initiative, the team at UBC collected data from graduates between 2005 and 2013 using two phases: 1) a survey of alumni that addressed career outcomes, career preparedness, and job satisfaction returned nearly a 56%

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response rate, and 2) internet research of alumni who had not completed the survey. The insights gained from this process are too numerous to summarize here, but in general they aligned with other existing studies of PhD career outcomes. An important component of this project involved data visualization on an interactive dashboard, which can be seen at outcomes.grad.ubc.ca.

The second was the Public Scholars Initiative, which encouraged socially engaged doctoral scholarship that exposed PhD students to broad skills and possible career paths outside academia. Scholars in this program were encouraged to partner with organizations in the public or private sector and to carry out innovative research that was of mutual interest, often in nontraditional forms such as documentaries, policy papers, or websites.

The third initiative involved supplementing quantitative data on PhD career outcomes with qualitative data such as profiles

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of alumni. At the time of the NAGAP presentation, 80 alumni from diverse areas of the university were featured on the outcomes.grad.ubc.ca website, and this number is growing rapidly. Locher’s presentation included a slide with tips for other programs who were interested in engaging in similar initiatives.

During the question-and-answer period of the presentation, Locher addressed the dynamic uses of both the career outcome data and the alumni profiles.

He explained that both have been integrated into professional development programming across the UBC campus but that prospective students have been one of the largest consumers of this information. Locher also addressed that maintaining the interactive dashboard requires some work, and that his office has not decided how frequently to reengage the process of surveying alumni and adding new alumni profiles.

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Collaborative Recruitment: Creating Recruitment Events with Multiple Universities Presented by Forrest Buck and Anthony Spatola, George Washington University; Jamie Kanki, New York University Tandon School of Engineering; Kellie McBride, State University of New York at Buffalo; and Jillian Baer, The Ohio State University Reported by Holly Bland, The University of Chicago Long common in undergraduate recruitment, strategies for creating events hosted by groups of graduate schools are less well established. For this group of engineering and applied sciences graduate enrollment professionals, connecting with colleagues over shared concerns at a NAGAP conference led to the creation of a new outreach initiative designed to enhance their recruitment of students – especially domestic students and women – in areas beyond their home markets. The presenters shared their evolving strategies during the first two years of this initiative, as well as initial evaluation of the results, lessons learned, and plans for the future.

During the pilot year, three schools participated, hosting stand-alone events in major cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle. The participating schools used their individual prospect lists to market to potential attendees, and reached out to undergraduate institutions in those areas. Events were promoted as both general guidance on graduate admissions, as well as providing information about their institutions, and were largely panel-format followed by a fair-style breakout. Food and beverages were offered at each session.

The second year saw an increase to five participating schools per event, though not each attended every event. They also orchestrated a major reorganization to link the recruiting sessions to conferences that they would already be attending.

These included the Society of Women Engineers and the National Society of Black Engineers. This shift allowed more schools to participate in the recruitment since the additional costs of participating was limited, and enabled them to promote the event to attendees at the conferences as well.

A number of specific takeaways emerged from their experiences: • Teaming up allows not just sharing of work and expenses, but valuable brand association, allowing each of you to interact with the prospects of every participating school, many of whom may be new to you.

• The collaborators also submitted joint proposals for some of the conferences, which are often looking for graduate school representatives to offer sessions on graduate study and admissions processes.

• Participating schools with existing marketing contracts or CRM capabilities leveraged these to contribute to the marketing and registration needs of the events.

Each institution took the lead on one event for planning logistics, and budget determinations were made in advance, so that work and costs were shared equally.

• Although the events may be fairly small, they provide high quality interactions with motivated, engaged students, versus what is possible at a fair or through a webinar.

• To estimate attendance at a planned event, schools should examine their combined number of prospects in the area, and use typical reply rates and any knowledge you have of your market locally. A realistic baseline would be about five percent.

The presenters noted that their future goals included stronger tracking of student outcomes, expansion to international markets, and identifying new school partners.

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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Persona Marketing Master Class: A Blueprint to Accelerated Graduate Recruitment Presented by Jonas Seider and Dov Hirsh, ProspectCloud; and Mark Forsyth, University of North Carolina Reported by Elsa Evans, University of San Francisco For-profit higher education institutions spend close to 20% of tuition revenue on marketing, compared with 2% at nonprofit institutions. Given this budgetary discrepancy, non-profit institutions must market to and recruit a specific population rather than trying to outspend for-profits or draw a wide audience. To this end, developing personas for your programs will enable you to be more strategic in your targeting.

Factors to Consider Communication: Speak with current students, alumni, admitted students and students that have declined to enroll as well as prospective students to learn what appeals to them.

Review institutional digital footprint for the most accessed content, engaging posts and identify your audience. Schools can also look at trends in graduate school seekers forums.

Motivation: Why do students want to attend grad school and why now? What are their professional goals, life goals, family dynamic? Consider the pain points in reaching their goals.

Biographic/Demographic: Professional background (roles, titles, experience level, employer); changing careers or

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advancing; previous university, major, GPA; age range, family situation, location and salary range.

Preferences: How do they like to communicate? What social media outlets do they use? Where do they consume information and news?

Start with online content (blogs, social media, digital ads) for awareness marketing using targeted list (paid/ organic). Once they know the brand, you can dive in to marketing the program via email/retargeting.

Then develop emails – build message and menu (depending on persona):

Closing the Strategy Gap Companies like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google have changed the way consumers expect to have experiences online. Immediate gratification and the simplicity of the user experience are the new standards.

1. Am I promotion-ready? (Mid-career how to evaluate your career) Or should I get a fresh start? (Career changers - when is the right time for grad school?)

Social networks have power and influence. Today’s prospects are cautious – they expect schools to know something about them before they will consider engaging with your content… and it has to be relevant to them.

2. What do I need to learn? (How accounting skills can really help you) 3. Is this going to pay off? (The ROI of your program and vs other similar degree) 4. What is this ___ all about? (Invite to webinar)

How to translate this into a strategy: • Start with student persona development.

Start with the temptation of why they might want a change. Then talk about the discipline, then the payoff of the degree, then the program. Continue to follow up with emails, landing pages, social, etc. If a person takes an action, follow up with them in a personal way.

• Curate the audience – not just demographics. Target specific individuals that meet criteria, not all of the local area.

• Omni-channel marketing – digital, social, email, direct mail

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UNC’s MAC program

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When Does the Sentence End? Examining the Role and Implications of Criminal Background Information in Graduate Admissions Evaluation Presented by Laura DiMarcantonio and Christine Morales, Rutgers University Reported by Vincent James, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The presenters came to the Rutgers University School of Social Work when the need was felt to move the application review process from the office of student affairs to a more centralized admissions-focused operation. As they were evaluating and streamlining the application review process, they noticed that all applicants were required to complete a confidential disclosure document, which included questions related to prior arrests, expungements, military disciplinary action, and convictions. The presenters had concerns about the intrusiveness of the document and the social justice issues it raised.

However, many faculty and administrators felt the document was extremely important in the review process because of the fieldwork requirements of the program as well as the licensure and accreditation requirements. What they wanted to do in this session is to share the results of their research as to how criminal justice information is used, how relevant it is, as well as where the school has come in asking for this information.

One of the main reasons many schools require the criminal justice questions is for safety. However, research shows that people who either had no prior criminal record or are not affiliated with the campus community commit most campus crimes. Not surprisingly, attrition in applications increases when these questions are asked. Research also shows that people who collect the data may not be properly trained to use or handle the data. Also how is this data stored?

Who is seeing this information? From a social work perspective, research shows that education prevents recidivism and increases public safety.

specific questions being asked on their applications. Survey questions included: 1. Do you ask about felonies after the age of 18?

2. Do you ask for felonies and misdemeanors?

3. Do you ask for felonies only?

4. Did you not ask at all?

Student ambassadors were also asked to complete a survey to determine the questions they were asked during the application process. Their survey demonstrated that about two-thirds of schools ask some sort of felony misdemeanor questions.

The presentation concluded with the presenters sharing the current landscape of their institution with respect to the confidential disclosure documents and considering criminal background in evaluating graduate applicants. Several converging events helped bolstered their case to ask these questions in a different way, including the fact that SUNY and NYU were no longer asking the felony question on their application

and the greater notoriety of the Rutgers Moutainview Program. They were able to make the case to the dean and key faculty who influenced admissions requirements and policies. Beginning with the 2017 application cycle, they now ask only about felony and misdemeanor convictions and no longer use the confidential disclosure document. They also implemented a secondary review committee for applicants with felony convictions. The committee members included Directors of the Field Education Program and the MSW program, as well as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Finally, they provided recommendations when asking these questions, which included: • Inquire about convictions, not arrests • Avoid overly broad requests about criminal history – include time limits • Clearly define what information should not be included • Consult with your school’s legal office

Since the research on this topic is limited, the presenters conducted a short survey of peer institutions to determine the

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Strategic International GEM: Tailoring Outreach by Institutions and Programs Presented by Raymond Lutzky, New York University Tandon School of Engineering; Pia Wood, University of Tennessee-Knoxville; Mike Finnell, American International Recruitment Council (AIRC); and David Di Maria, Montana State University Reported by Kate McConnell, Pennsylvania State University Great Valley In this dynamic session a panel of international recruitment experts and a representative from the American International Recruitment Council (AIRC) discussed how GEM professionals can strategize and implement tailored approaches to institutional and programmatic outreach for international recruitment. The panel discussion focused on the use of international commissioned recruiters/agencies for specific degree programs, leveraging international recruitment fairs for certain kinds of outreach, promoting dual degrees, and digital/social media outreach in international contexts.

The discussion began with a look at international student enrollment and growth trends through 2025. The United States continues to be the top host country followed by the United Kingdom. Data from Open Doors 2016 “Fast Facts” identified the top five countries sending students to the U.S. as China, India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Canada.

Interest is highest in STEM programs followed by business programs.

The panel agreed U.S. institutions continue to maintain a strong reputation for academic excellence, a capacity to admit more students, and diverse programs of study. Yet there are factors which threaten to affect the growth seen in the past five years— such as rising tuition and costs, competition from other countries who are developing their own institutions of higher education, the current political climate, changes with U.S. visa regulations, and possible immigration reform.

Value Stream Mapping was the recommended tool for this process.

international students do not have a computer or tablet and they access information on their phone.

• Promotion: utilize digital, paper, and social media channels.

The panel also recommended the following resources and stressed the benefit of each:

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Recruitment Fairs/Expos: program specific events generate targeted inquiries, get you in front of prospects, and build in-country program awareness and in-country relationships with agents.

• Education USA Annual Conference: August in Washington DC

Intensive English Program: offer one as part of the admission process.

• Agents: contract with an agent within a targeted country.

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American International Recruitment Council (AIRC) Annual Conference: December

Dual/Joint Degree Programs: consider developing a partnership with a university to develop master’s programs—4+1, 3+2, 3+1 or joint Ph.D. programs.

Application Process: analyze your current process, look to improve the business process, creating value to the applicant while minimizing waste and increasing time to decision.

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WES (World Education Services) workshops

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Overseas Association for College Admissions Counseling (OACAC) Conference

The panel collectively stressed the need to tailor your recruitment portfolio to your institution and evaluate it closely. Make sure to look at all the strategies being used, determine the effectiveness of each, and construct a recruitment portfolio that works best for your institution.

Panelists outlined focus areas and strategic recruitment recommendations: •

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Launching a Graduate Student Professional Development Program to Improve Recruitment, Retention, and Connections to Industry Business Leaders Presented by Christopher Connor, State University of New York at Buffalo Reported by Bonny Clark, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga As with all universities and colleges across the United States, student retention and graduation rates are a primary goal for faculty and staff. The College of Engineering at SUNY Buffalo wanted to assess students within their department to see why there seemed to be a glitch in student engagement – students registering for events and not showing up, scheduling issues with events, and students developing hard skills but needing developed soft skills as well.

The first step in addressing this problem was to develop and distribute a satisfaction survey to incoming Engineering students. The following results were gleaned from the survey: • Student Services didn’t keep pace with growth • Cultural assimilation • Challenges across cultures • Student engagement; mismatched to graduate student needs, too focused on undergraduate students This presented the question of how can we assess and address student issues

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to initiate change within the College of Engineering and improve student retention as well as increase connections to industry leaders within the community.

The survey results led to a grass roots movement initiating the following:

• Programming Partners – it takes a village working together: Graduate School, Career Services, Library, Alumni Association

• Strengthen relationships with government relation offices, student development, and donors

• Create a 360 Certificate of Professional Development to help develop student’s soft skills

• Create an advisory council/board • Strategically schedule campus events to avoid conflicts in schedules • Specify purpose for events • Develop an orientation for all programs • Alumni leverage their networks and connections to help develop a broader base for industry connections • Exclusive events for graduate students, specifically a Career Perspectives and Networking Conference • Career Connector Network with videos on-line to address expertise that is not readily available

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• Utilize Alumni and Executives as instructors

• Linkage of 360 Certificate competencies to holistic admissions In order to improve retention, engagement and graduation rates, careful attention must be dedicated to each of the following areas: • Development/donor relationships • An advisory board that includes graduate students • Foundational support advocacy (size of institution, culture, etc.)

• Evaluation of “politics”/competing interests • Faculty “buy-in”

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Mind the Gap Between Marketing and Enrollment Presented by Steve Davis, Velocify, Inc; and Marcelo Parravicini, Sparkroom Reported by Dana Mordecai, University of North Texas The presenters identified five gaps in marketing the graduate enrollment process and discussed ways to gain better visibility into key enrollment performance metrics.

95% of enrollments happen with those first 6 calls and after that you are just wasting resources. According to Velocify, five emails is the sweet spot for enrollment performance.

The first gap is marketing and enrollment misalignment. Communications breakdowns between admissions departments where the various stakeholders fail to recognize the intensity of the competition and the responses from prospects. To be successful, all partners in the enrollment process must synchronize their efforts and strengthen fragmented channels. This requires multi-channel, proactive support that is key in reaching prospects where they consume their content.

c) M ake every call and email count – GEM personnel must be intelligent when reaching out to these students by knowing key aspects of their inquiry by using CRM/marketing automation data like web pages visited and clickthroughs. The study included online institutions with undergraduate and graduate programs.

The second gap is miscalculating prospect attention limits. There are three ways to get ahead of the curve: a) F irst responder’s advantage – research

by Sparkroom demonstrated that students expect a response within 24 hours (especially with a phone call), and that 70% of students yield to that school. b) Persist, but don’t annoy – data also indicated that six phone calls over 21 days is the optimal contact strategy.

Analysis of the same study shows that

The third gap is a failure to meet prospective students’ expectations.

Automated emails and text messages for prospect engagement is critical to utilizing limited resources. However, GEM professionals should always ensure that team members engage with prospects about their specific needs before communicating with them. In addition, members should leverage the prospect journey to build trust. Velocify also indicated that having a follow up system to review previous conversations will help move them forward in the enrollment process.

Eliminate blind spots through integrating data and re-igniting aged leads using lead scoring, which will identify and remove defects in the data to minimize variability. The presenters warned the audience not to rely on last-click attribution to maintain the marketing plan.

Finally, the application is not the end game. Keeping the engagement strong from start to finish will help with enrollment performance. Specifically, the gap between the application and start date is critical as this is often when we hear the phrase “I’m sure the other department will tell them.”

In summary, there are ways to plug the gaps between marketing and enrollment: • Integrate and synchronize enrollment management team • Understand and track key drivers of enrollment success • Implement data-driven decision making for continuous improvement • Evaluate performance and progress AND react with changes • Avoid marketing initiatives that fail to drive desired value • Begin student engagement early and continue through to graduation

Institutional oversight is the fourth gap that many in GEM regularly experience.

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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Beyond the Academic: Examining the Types of University-Wide Student Support Services Graduate Students Use on a College Campus Presented by Ah Ra Cho, University of North Texas, 2016 NAGAP Research Grant Recipient Reported by Jeremy Mixell, University of San Francisco Ah Ra Cho examined the range of university-wide student support services available to graduate students on her campus. In particular, Cho’s research examined how graduate student engagement in campus-wide student support services impacted student success and retention. To do this, the researchers examined the aggregate number of on-campus student ID card swipes and concluded that, while there was no direct correlation between the number of swipes and the students’ GPA, engagement in these campus-wide activities did impact student retention. Cho’s research supports efforts underway on many college campuses to expand university-wide support services for graduate students.

In her literature review, Cho found that often, GEM professionals assume that graduate students cared little about participating in non-academic activities.

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Further, the perception was that the successes at the undergraduate level equated to success at the graduate level, and that other campus groups were already supporting graduate students.

In examining campus-wide swipe data however, Cho found that while campus involvement was significantly lower for graduate than for undergraduates students, almost 50% of all graduate students participated in at least one campus-wide activity. The primary location of campus-wide participation was at the recreation/fitness center.

With a closer examination of the campus recreation/fitness center using Scholossberg’s Theory of Marginality and Mattering, Cho concluded that use of this facility represented an attempt by the student to create a sense of belonging.

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greater numbers, the unique demands on graduate students in particular (financial pressures, personal concerns, curricular requirements, relationships with faculty) all create a climate ripe for additional and creative graduate level support and affinity building initiatives. As campuswide use of the recreation/fitness center is high among both graduate and undergraduate students, Cho suggested that one method for targeting graduate students in particular was to have the campus recreation/fitness center partner with other campus groups, thereby increasing graduate student exposure to a wider array of support services. To better target graduate student populations and thus have a positive impact on student retention, Cho suggested developing a greater understanding of student demographics in order to better target these unique populations.

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Graduate Enrollment Marketing for the Non-Marketer: Back to Basics & Marketing Tips That WORK! Presented by Melanie Steele, Ursuline College; and Jennifer Lonchar, Carnegie Communications Reported by Carin Algava, Brown University Whose job is it to market? The presenters emphatically began the session by declaring that it is everyone’s job to market their programs and/or graduate school.

The learning objectives for the session included: • Identify marketing channels best utilized by your program/school and the allotted budget.

• Design and execute a marketing plan utilizing the channels.

• Evaluate and identify successes and failures in order to overcome them for future plans.

The presenters reinforced the importance of knowing the target audience and budget, being mindful of your enrollment cycle, defining your marketing and recruitment channels, and following a

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plan. Then it’s time to do a deep dive into digital strategies that work. However, not all digital campaigns are the same. Good digital campaigns are custom designed for you based on your goals, budget, and audience.

Jennifer Lonchar provided six key tips on how to connect with prospects in the new digital landscape: 1. Be found. Connect with early-stage researchers through upper funnel keywords. Bite the bullet and bid on branded terms.

2. Stay in front of an audience that has shown interest. Retargeting is a gentle reminder to bring past visitors back to your site and gives you that second chance.

3. Use your lists to expand your reach online.

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4. Consider your users’ mobile experience. If your website is not mobile-friendly, create responsive landing pages.

5. Get social. It will build brand equity and generate leads.

6. NSAMCWADLP: Never Start A Marketing Campaign Without A Dedicated Landing Page. Make it easy for people! If your visitors need to think and work in order to find the thing you promised them, they will not convert.

At Ursuline College, Melanie Steele demonstrated how these strategies work in a one-person office with a marketing team of two. Finally, during the Q&A, digital campaigns were compared to a car and how all the parts must work together. Campaigns depend on the organizations’ needs and budget.

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Navigating Uncharted Territory: Measuring Success of Travel Initiatives to Track ROI Presented by Ariana Balayan, Suffolk University Reported by Elsa Evans, University of San Francisco There is no universal metric for evaluating the success of recruiting at graduate fairs. Do you consider a fair successful based on the number of inquiry cards, applications, or students who enroll?

Develop your travel plan for recruitment based on your overall strategic plan.

Tracking return on investment (ROI) is important for travel initiatives, factors to consider are: • Is it the best use of resources, • what are the costs (registration, travel expenses, time out of the office), and

Ask the following: • Did attendees think it was worthwhile?

• What was the quality of prospective students?

• How engaged were they? Did they know about the school or program?

• Was the fair easy to find and set up?

• should it be a consideration of an overall recruitment strategy?

• Was the turn-out worth the time, cost, and effort?

Whether you track in a CRM or on a spreadsheet, you can look at last year’s recruitment costs (registration, travel, meals) to start and develop an analysis.

Even if a fair has a poor ROI, there may be special considerations to contemplate for the future, such as:

Recruiter Feedback Form Create a recruiter feedback form in your CRM. If you do not have a CRM, you can do the process on a spreadsheet or with Google forms. The recruiter fills out the form within 3 days of the fair, which is connected to the event. The form should include the name of the fair, inquiry numbers, total people who stopped by, number of brochures brought/used, top three programs of interest, and it should include open ended questions about the event for feedback/comments.

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• Overall trip potential–other fairs in the area • The school has generated applicants in the past–a feeder school • Presence is key because of competition from other schools • Geographic proximity to your target market • Possibility of virtual events in the future If a fair has high ROI rating but all other factors are negative, then do not attend.

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Next Steps and Recommendations • Question the status quo • Scrutinize your current process • Determine a point person in your office • Develop a system – ideally one that the whole team/university uses • Evaluate the efficacy of the system • Constantly analyze and make sure it is still working • Analyze the system, the process, and the data collection • Tweak and repeat

Lessons Learned There are many considerations when deciding on travel opportunities. Keep in mind the challenges to tracking – juniors, gap-year, non-traditional, etc. An inquiry may not indicate a grad fair as a first source, but do you still include them in your ROI data for that event? Track year-over-year data in your funnel to measure results. Re-apply the ROI formula as inquiries convert to applicants, and admitted students enroll. Evaluate your process and results at the end of the cycle.

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Where Did They Go? Using Student Clearinghouse Data to Find Your Declines and Your Real Peer Institutions Presented by Laura Chavez Hardy and Emily Easton, University of Chicago Reported by Sara Yount Pettingill, Bellarmine University NAGAP members need data to assist in decision making.

Laura Chavez Hardy and Emily Easton from the University of Chicago shared how they use data from the National Student Clearinghouse to inform decision making. Why is this data set important? It provides the following: • Accurate information on your institution’s “real peers” • Applicant based trend analysis (where did students actually enroll) • Recruitment decision making support at no additional cost This database tracks 98% of registered students. However, the limitations are: • Only U.S. institutions participate • Not every institution participates (ex. Notre Dame & Columbia) • Individuals can opt out The presenters recommended starting work on the project in the summer by identifying your institutional/program goals

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and preparing the list of applicants to check. Once drop/ add has passed for the fall semester, send the data set to your institutional contact (typically Institutional Research, Registrar or Undergraduate Admission) and have them upload the list to the National Student Clearinghouse. It only takes 7-10 days to get the completed data back. At that point, you can begin your analysis and create the relevant reports.

Recommended sample questions: • Where did those admitted to your institution, who did not enroll, attend?

• If denied, where did they attend?

These two questions will help you and your colleagues identify your competitor schools. If location, cost, delivery method, or program offerings are identified as issues, you can plan for future enrollment cycles.

There is a guide available on the Clearinghouse website providing detailed instructions. Review that document before beginning the process.

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Data Informed Decision Making: From Definition to Effective Data Usage Presented by Amanda Ostreko, University of Kansas; and Keith Ramsdell, Bowling Green State University Reported by Brendon Troy, New York University The presenters made the case for collecting and using “good data” and discussed examples of successful datainformed decisions at two institutions with different goals, histories, and realities.

In doing so, they acknowledged the uniqueness of each school’s situation – generally on a continuum from very little access to data to an extremely sophisticated data gathering system.

Data is defined by Merriam Webster as “facts about something that can be used in calculating, reasoning, or planning.”

However, simply gathering facts is not enough – data must be both “good” and “used well”. To quote Harvard Business Review, “good data won’t guarantee good decisions.”

What dimensions of data make them “good”? They must be: • Relevant and useful

• Program coordinators Note: “Year-to-date or point-in-time” data can be dangerous to use in comparison to previous years’ less-clean and lessreliable data–be sure to carefully notate and contextualize it for your colleagues.

What data should you collect, and when?

• Admissions facts (funnel data inquiries, applicants, enrollees, etc., and the “conversion rates” from one stage to the next) • Demographic data for students in your databases (age, gender, academic history, residency) • Collect and record as soon and as broadly as you can without compromising accuracy Where to go for data?

• Internal sources

• Simple and focused

o CRM and/or application system

• Consistent and transparent

o Institutional Research, Registrar, Career Services, Program Reports

• Impartial and ethical • Collectively qualitative and quantitative Why is data, especially good data, important? Good data:

o Admitted or Enrolled Student Surveys • External sources o CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment & Degrees

• Determines common behaviors • Improves relevancy

o CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey

• Builds predictive models • Allows you to “act accordingly, plan strategically” • Earns credibility

o Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Who is likely to be interested in your data?

o Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)

• Senior administrators

o Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT)

• Graduate enrollment managers

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o National Student Clearinghouse o Academic Impressions reports, e.g. “Graduate Enrollment and Gender: A Changing Landscape” o Educational Testing Services (ETS) o Market surveys (e.g., CGS, Keypath, Stamats) Amanda Ostreko shared what she and her team have been able to accomplish at University of Kansas using good data.

They are sadly too numerous to cite fully here, but they included: o Developing and publishing detailed program profiles with faculty buy-in o Increasing application fees

o Using NSC data to improve holistic admissions and URM admissions o Improving post-comprehensive exam policy (a major victory for students and faculty) Common take-aways from her experiences included: • Persuasiveness of good data (especially to faculty) • Focusing on “the win” (added value) when making the case • Gathering supporting data from diverse sources, including collecting original data (e.g., graduate students doing online research)

o O*NET (U.S. Department of Labor)

• Institutional researchers

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o Occupational Employment Statistics (OES)

o Integrated Postsecondary Educational System (IPEDS)

• Communications and marketing offices

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o American Community Survey (Census Bureau)

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With a Little Help from Your Friends: Working with EducationUSA for Graduate School Recruitment & Admissions Presented by Marybeth Gruenewald, Educational Credential Evaluators; Bahar Deniz Turkaslan, Kirsten Niederhauser, Bianca Marcionila Macena, and Nancy Keteku, EducationUSA Reported by Andrea Yen, University of Texas at Arlington EducationUSA is a State Department sponsored program that provides guidance to international students about studying in the United States. This is accomplished through advising centers around the world and can assist students with applications to any institution in the U.S. EducationUSA programming is free to students and only requires nominal fees for occasional events. They have over 500 advisors in 400 centers across 177 countries. Annually they meet with nearly 4 million contacts. Some services they provide to students include: • Outreach to local institutions

institutions' risk in travel and guide you as the experts in that country and with their students.

as well. Services they can provide to institutions include: • Guidance on countries and higher education systems around the world - accreditation, degrees, standards, grading systems, and verification of translations • Credential evaluation • Student mobility analysis - by country, region, professional or academic field, or funding status If you are considering recruitment in a specific country, an advisor can assist with:

• Advising on the application process

• Organizing info sessions in person or virtually

• Access to library and online resources

• Connecting with potential partner universities

• Test prep and testing centers

• Setting up travel - when is ideal, avoiding cultural holidays, local events, and festivals

• English language programs • Webinars with institutions • Visa guidance • Pre-departure orientations Advisors at these centers are a great resource to admission professionals

The advisor from Saudi Arabia explained there are many cultural considerations before visiting the country to recruit in person. They are still the third leading sending country. However, virtual events and connecting with students through social media may be more beneficial to universities.

If you are interested in connecting with an advisor from EducationUSA and learning how they can help with your recruitment and admissions efforts you can connect online at educationusa.state.gov. They have mailing lists, and you can follow them on social media and find a list of fairs for each country.

• Understanding terms and language difference that may affect communication with prospective students

• Fairs

The advisor from Brazil shared an example from her center. Fairs in Brazil are about equally split between undergraduate and graduate students.

She is seeing more mobility of students to complete graduate degrees in the U.S., especially those who have received scholarships for doctoral study. Many of the students who attend these fairs are economically able to study abroad.

Overall, by working with EducationUSA an institution can feel more confident in a student’s ability to succeed in the application efforts. They can reduce the

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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Understand, Establish, and Execute YOUR Graduate Student Services Strategy Presented by Josh Lafave, State University of New York at Potsdam; and Kathy Dilks, Sacred Heart University Reported by Andrew Lail, University of Northern Colorado The goals of graduate offices around the country are focused on both student recruitment and student retention. The services offered at each university should be dedicated to, in some aspect, a portion of this process. The presenters began by outlining their concept of the Tetralogy of Student Services, a fourstage lifecycle that demonstrates the different focal points of the graduate student process. While all four stages are crucial in the life cycle of a student, this group decided to focus primarily on the “on-boarding” stage of the cycle. How do we get students excited about our university? How do we encourage them to invest in us?

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A simple quote from one of the presenters sums up an aspect of student retention captures this challenge: “Students need to begin to identify with your university as a whole, not just their individual department or program.” The concept of institutional branding and support is an intrinsic part of the overall goal of reducing “melt” with graduate populations. Through hands-on engagement and utilizing other offices around campus, both presenters believe an inclusive model of student services is the best approach. From sponsoring one to two programs a week to utilizing faculty members in programming advertisements, these presenters were

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able to convey their belief that “there is student life in grad school”.

An inclusive, campus wide commitment to retention is key to working with this population; but how do we know what works? Data, data, data. The presenters stressed the need for constant assessment–specifically surveys of the graduate population. By understanding the student experience before, during, and after their time at the university, we can see and understand what students really need.

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Standing Naked in Front of the Other: Race, Language, and Graduate Writing Presented by Noro Andriamanalina, University of Minnesota, The Graduate School Reported by Caela Provost, University College Cork American writer and spokeswoman for the disenfranchised “caged birds” of humanity, Maya Angelou, once remarked, “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.”

In the often intransigent and resolute world of academia, it can prove a difficult task for students to discover and share their own unique voices while adapting to the current academe scheme. This is especially true for students of varying racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds, who frequently struggle to keep their culture, history, and lifeexperiences from being silenced by the notoriously unforgiving red grading pen.

different racial and ethnic backgrounds, Andriamanalina provides workshops, retreats, consultations, and writing groups to help create a system of support for the students she serves.

While building the program, a few key research points have been discovered in relation to how students of frequently marginalized populations have been changed by their academic climates.

1. Doctoral students of color experience uneasiness about reconciling expectations for their disciplines versus the expectations of their personal lives and communities.

2. Students encounter racialized instruction concerning research, language use, thesis topics, and writing.

While it may be encouraging to note the resilience of these students, surely we shouldn’t demand that they rely solely on their own intellectual pliability to succeed.

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• build systems of support for student writers from diverse cultural, racial, and financial backgrounds; • recognize the intersection of race, identity, and writing;

Noro Andriamanalina of University of Minnesota, The Graduate School, has become an advocate and ally for several students for whom the daunting task of succeeding as scholars in this fixed collegiate system has become one of fear, worry, and embarrassment. Through the University of Minnesota Community of Scholars Program, created in the fall of 2013 to serve graduate students of

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What, then, are our calls to action as educators to ensure our students of all backgrounds are poised for success at our institutions? We must pledge to:

3. Scholars of color become resilient and strategic when it comes to navigating the realm of higher education.

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• respect and validate the unique writing voices of all students; and • provide constructive, substantive feedback to faculty who are willing to see differing perspectives.

In her 1969 autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou states, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” As supporters of higher education, it is our responsibility to ensure that no student is forced to endure the agony of an untold story. It is through programs like Noro Andriamanalina’s Community of Scholars Program, that we can inspire and encourage all students to find joy and excitement, not distress and trepidation, at the prospect of putting pen to paper.

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Admissions and Beyond: Support of Sponsored Students from Countries in Political and Economic Turmoil Presented by Laura Kinard, Clemson University; Bryce Loo, World Education Services (WES); and Wesley Milner, University of Evansville Reported by Naomi Porper, Brandeis University Refugees and students in crisis face unique challenges in pursuing higher education in the U.S. One of the major obstacles is the difficulty of obtaining official credentials. Presenters described the sources of challenges faced by many such applicants, including the need to flee suddenly, as well as the limitations faced by the credential-issuing institutions in conflict areas. As a result, refugees and displaced persons are often employed below their levels of qualification in host countries. Presenters underscored the benefits to host institutions, and society, of recognizing such applicants’ qualifications in pursuit of higher education.

With this context in mind, presenters stressed the importance having policies in place to assist such students through the admissions process and to evaluate their credentials in the absence of the usual documents, advising that institutions avoid an “all or nothing” approach.

Institutions ought to consider what policies are already in place or could be put into place to support those without official documentation, and areas where they can be flexible or make exceptions.

Other considerations included assessing institutional risk and determining who should qualify for alternative processes.

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Presenters emphasized that all institutions can do something, and recommended several steps for those seeking to develop an institutional policy: • Determine when an alternative method is needed.

• Gather information and available evidence. Consider additional support documentation including diplomas, certificates of completion, student identification cards, and testimonials, as well as published class, examination, or graduation lists.

• Develop a portfolio of evidence to help assess the applicant’s claims.

Consider whether documentation provided corresponds with the realities of the education system in the country. Conduct further background research and refer to sample documents as needed.

• Identify when examinations, interviews, reviews of sample work and special projects, or other skills assessments could be used to supplement incomplete materials.

The session also examined the importance of engaging university stakeholders in supporting refugee and displaced students once enrolled and through

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graduation. Presenters acknowledged the additional work needed at all levels to get such students to campus and support them through matriculation, while stressing the benefits to institutions that invest in such efforts. Presenters advocated that it is not only the right thing to do, but such efforts also positively influence an institution’s perception and reputation among students and the broader community.

Presenters highlighted important resources likely already available on most campuses that can be leveraged to support refugee and displaced students, including a counseling center, writing center, modified dining options, religious worship spaces, and student groups. They also discussed the need for community outreach and support to educate the broader campus community and address any misperceptions.

In closing, presenters encouraged audience members to review the processes in place at their institutions to support of refugee and displaced students from admission through matriculation, as well as to continue the conversation with campus stakeholders to elevate this issue among institutional priorities.

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Using Online Monitoring to Understand the Current Climate and Inform Graduate Marketing and Recruitment Strategy Presented by Alex Watson, Net Natives Reported by Ian Wright, World Education Services (WES) GEM professionals must make good use of the data available to them from the growing variety of online platforms, tools, and services. The insights gained at three critical junctures (before, during and after an online or social media campaign) provide data to inform real-time adjustments as well as strategic planning for follow-up marketing and recruitment activities.

Net Natives, an education-specialist digital marketing agency, presented research showing a 17% year-over-year decline in international “study in the USA” search volume in the United States. Key feeder markets such as India (-26.45%), Saudi Arabia (-20.74%), China (-8.54%), South Korea (-5.99%), and Canada (-5.33%) were all down compared to competitor destinations like the UK, Australia and Canada. The average increase in search traffic for these three destinations was greatest for India (+34.93%) and South Korea (+21.59%), while China (+4.1%) showed the lowest increase among the five countries.

• EduRank.net is Net Native’s measurement of digital activity performance across all institutions

This decline in interest is further offset by increased negative chatter online about studying in the U.S., as well as 15% growth in interest in leaving the U.S. to study elsewhere, raising the question: how do U.S. institutions respond to these threats to graduate international enrollment?

There are several free tracking and measurement tools available to GEM professionals to assess their own program and institutional positioning online (and perhaps take a peek at the competition as well): • Google AdWords Keyword Planner can be useful in exploring and assessing demand in new markets • Google’s Trend Monitor shows how popular specific keywords or subjects are over a period of time, which can be a good measure of your “brand”

Recommendations for the development of good practices in this area begin with clarifying the motivation behind the metrics: using these data-driven insights to both inform departmental decision-making and to advocate for changes and areas for improvement from senior management.

Users can track multiple touchpoints in one or a series of campaigns for greater insights over the course of time, going beyond "clicks" and "first impressions" to instead focus on conversions and the quality of applications. These in turn may help determine why applicants aren’t converting or identify which online platforms are of higher quality (or return on investment) for an institution or department.

• SimilarWeb.com provides market intelligence solutions to understand and track “any” market

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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The New Field of Dreams — Debunking the Myth: “If You Build It They Will Come” Presented by Kittie Pain, McDaniel College; and Kate McConnell, Pennsylvania State University Great Valley Reported by Caela Provost, University College Cork Most of us have heard of the Iowa corn farmer who, after hearing a mysterious voice say the immortal cinematic words, “If you build it, he will come,” builds a baseball diamond that becomes the playing ground for the 1919 Chicago White Sox. Ray Kinsella’s story (told in the 1989 film “Field of Dreams”) is one of hope, magic, and redemption, and continues to be one of the most beloved sports movies of all time.

While Ray Kinsella’s reconciliation with his father on the otherworldly field he created became a reality in the film, applying the same “if-then” idea to the creation of programs in the realm of higher education doesn’t yield the same outcome. If we know this to be the case, why is the myth “more programs will lead to more students” still accepted? How can we combat and transform this mindset?

Kittie Pain and Kate McConnell set out to do just that: identify the myth, dispute the myth, and give attendees a blueprint

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for collaborative, research-led program planning to take the myth’s place. The presentation focused on the construction of institutionally appropriate feasibility plans for any newly proposed graduate programs–plans that require institutions to draft organized proposals and identify stakeholders in the form of steering committees and working committees.

Steering committees take responsibility for market research (program relevance, market needs and demands, risk, trends, competition, financial liability, etc.) and proposal evaluations, while the working committees focus on the implementation processes via collaboration between members from faculty departments, financial services, admissions, career development, enrollment, and curriculum development. Through careful research, diligent analyses, and continual communication, the committees then come together to determine the potential for institutional success with any proposed program.

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Moreover, the presentation stressed the importance of GEM professionals championing such methods and strategies when dealing with future programs. As individuals who understand the vitality of empirical evidence and quantifiable trends in the graduate market, it is left to us to ask the difficult questions, diplomatically state concerns, and be unafraid to share our knowledge of strategic planning.

So how do we debunk the myth “if you build it they will come” at our own institutions? Through collaboration.

Through research. Through the creation of feasibility plans. Through careful evaluation. Through market analysis.

Through the establishment of stakeholders.

Through the identification of student needs. Through the leveraging of our abilities as qualified GEM professionals.

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Measuring Success: Programs That Have Enhanced Diversity and Student Engagement at a Small Graduate School Presented by Kristen Sterba, University of Arkansas for Medical Science Reported by Elsa Evans, University of San Francisco With a small staff in a small metro area the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Graduate School supports six academic units with PhD and MD programs. They have four programs that play key roles in engaging students and enhancing diversity in their programs.

Initiative for Maximizing Student Development Funded by the NIH, the goal of this initiative is to increase number of underrepresented students in biomedical science. The program covers student salary and tuition for the first two years of the PhD. UAMS holds a transition program for students in the summer prior to their first year. In July, they arrive before the other students, participate in a research rotation, and take a course focused on professional development, time management, and other professional skills they will need in a doctoral program. Because they arrive on campus early, they have more confidence when the fall term begins.

Graduate School Programming The graduate student association plans and hosts a symposium each year with a budget from the Graduate School. They also host “pizza Fridays” with the Deans and other social events. Since there is no formal teaching experience on campus, the solution was to create Grad Student Teachers of Central Arkansas, which gives students teaching experience in the region.

They host a Research Induction Ceremony for doctoral students once they pass qualifiers. This has encouraged students to get their qualifiers done early so they can be in the ceremony with their peers and encourages timely program progression.

Families fly in for the ceremony and the Dean highlights stories about student experiences.

Career and Professional Development • Hosts the Grad School Teachers of Central Arkansas seminars

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• Hosts a career day for biomedical science for students and alumni each fall that also acts as a recruitment event for undergraduate students on campus; it includes a breakfast, then 6-7 different sessions on career development, lunch, a panel discussion, and a campus tour led by graduate students.

Undergraduate Summer Research Program To increase underrepresented groups, UAMS has a funded summer research session through NHLBI. This provides students biomedical research experience, a lecture series on leadership, communication, and graduate student opportunities.

Tips for How to Get Started

UAMS Graduate School:

During the program they provide the students with tutoring, peer mentoring, training on how to build an electronic portfolio, a seminar series, and social activities. This community support helps students graduate with a higher retention rate than students not in the program.

UAMS evaluates this program each year, surveying students after the first summer experience, after the first year, and after the second year of graduate studies.

• Promotes awards and publications with recognition – through receptions, plaques, lists on websites, and publication posters

• Assess need through focus groups and surveys • Look at peer institutions

• Provides paper and a template for business cards

• Find faculty and staff interested in helping with your initiatives

• Offers student wellness center seminars on mindfulness and stress management

• Find ways to reuse content • Create space for students to gather when not in class that includes items such as a refrigerator, pool table, couches, etc.

• Provides a Scientific Communication and Ethics course for students

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Shortcuts to Student Recruitment and Enrollment Success: Tips, Tools, and Proven Results Presented by Julie Shurts and Ayo Strange, Educational Testing Service; and P. Andrew Sleeth, North Carolina State University Reported by Brenda Revard, Baker University

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The GRE Search Service is a helpful tool in recruiting graduate students. “A Snapshot of the individuals who took the GRE General Test,” a test taker profile, most recently published in January 2017 reveals that 584,677 prospective students took the GRE from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. Performance and volume information is also available through this publication. The GRE Search Service can be utilized by accessing the test taker data. Recruiters can place orders based on 30+ search criteria through a userfriendly interface and single entry point.

Benefits to using the GRE and TOEFL Search Services include:

• Track lead counts by month

• Targeted marketing to students’ interest in particular fields of study

• Get your IT department to work with you

• Campaigns based on undergraduate majors or intended graduate studies

Final technology recommendations for successful recruitment:

• Targeted campaigns based on geographic regions to promote open houses or student fairs

When recruiting international students the TOEFL Search Service is a valuable tool in reaching students with the English skills necessary to succeed in graduate programs. Recruiters can search the TOEFL database of nearly one million prospective students. Twenty-six search criteria include country of origin, field of study, and TOEFL score.

Tips for implementing GRE and TOEFL Searches to get the best results:

• Build your own database using Filemaker Pro software rather than purchasing a pre-made product. The more data you handle, the greater the chances for mistakes. Therefore, the simpler the system the better.

Andrew Sleeth offered to send a clone example of his Filemaker Pro database.

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• Outreach to prospective students in distant markets • Campaigns to enhance diversity

• Develop a search order strategy using the criteria that are important to you • Segment searches, for example by program or cohort

• Check monthly counts each month

• Use Mozilla’s Thunderbird email program to customize your emails for two or more recipients with no limits.

Personalize communication as well as include attachments. Mail merging is also a feature.

• Define test date range

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Exploring Opportunities to Engage Graduate Students Post-Admission to Elevate the Student Experience and Enrollment: Measured Success Presented by Jennifer Webb and Francesca Reed, Marymount University Recorded by Laura Look, University of North Dakota Marymount University understands that enrollment management efforts must continue after the admission letter is sent. Marymount uses multi-channel communication and engagement from admit through enrollment. After admission, the enrollment services team keeps students engaged through mailings, phone calls, thank you notes, social media, and orientation. These various communications are the combined efforts of graduate admissions, faculty and advisors, housing, graduate ambassadors, alumni, and academic departments.

the summer in June and August with smaller events for spring admits. The enrollment services team worked to get all program directors on board with a central graduate orientation. It is important to keep everyone engaged during orientation, so the schedule includes sessions specific to students and specific to their families in addition to the general sessions. It is also important to try to serve all student populations from full time students to full time employees.

Orientation events begin after lunch and go into the evening so that most new students can attend at least one session.

Marymount also uses their new student orientation as a yield event. Two orientation sessions are held over

Once orientation is complete and the semester has started, it is still important to engage students to feel connected to

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the university. Marymount continues to offer new student events, webinars, and a speaker series. These continued events are offered through the graduate student council, workshops offered by career services, and social and networking hours.

Throughout all of these events, it is important to use multi-channel communications, including different departments across campus and to continue regular points of engagement.

Through surveys, it is also important to get feedback from the new students and use this information to drive future event content and schedules.

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Taking a System and Making it Your Own: How Grad Schools Can Leverage Undergrad Techniques in Slate Presented by Laura Chavez Hardy, University of Chicago; Youlim Yai, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Kristin Chalberg, St. Catherine University; and Ronald Martin, Loyola University-Chicago Reported by Holly Bland, University of Chicago With over 500 schools now using Slate, GEM professionals have found the differences between undergraduate and graduate admissions present both challenges and opportunities. This panel, representing institutions which adopted Slate differently, highlighted some of these issues and tips for newer users.

Slate has evolved over the years, reflected in the fact that many early implementers have multiple instances – e.g., one for each school – while newer users have a single sub-divided instance, or one each for graduate and undergraduate use. Slate is not a static product, so it is important to stay current on new features.

Centralized institutions’ challenges include the large number of users, who require varying permissions, and the need for folder and naming conventions within each tool (Query, Deliver, etc.) to keep everything well-organized.

Decentralization requires coordination to configure instances compatibly, if they feed to the same institutional systems.

Most schools have established regular meetings for super-users to discuss issues and best practices.

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Panelists varied in the technical support available on their campuses. Central IT is usually involved for data feeds between systems, but admissions staff handle the day-to-day management of Slate. There was consensus that intensive support from Technolutions is the exception, and having someone in-house with knowledge of HTML, coding ability, and other technical skills is valuable.

Some tools are optimized for undergraduate use, such as “Populations” for outreach campaigns, which is easy to base on class year, but not a clear fit for the timelines of graduate prospects. Final transcript recording for admitted graduate students, who may need to submit them for all post-secondary work, is also harder than the typical need for a single high school document. Some solutions, such as creating populations based on program of interest, are more successful, while some require a high level of manual intervention.

Status portal functionality, and the ability to offer admissions and aid or loan information in a single place, has been embraced more swiftly by colleges.

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easier to use on the back end, this is an area where we can improve. Texting can be useful on event days for students who have opted in, and webinar functionality is ideal for both recruiting events and post-admission use.

Tips from the panelists for new Slate implementers: • Assign one person to become an expert in each module, and lead the team on that item.

• Document everything – how your instance is set up and what your process is, and why. It makes training new staff easier and creates institutional memory.

• Do not try to use all the bells and whistles all at once. Prioritize creation of templates, which will give you consistency and simplify later tasks.

• Decide whether you need historical data in Slate, or if you can start by only importing your prospect information. A new CRM is an opportunity to create an optimized process that works for you.

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Impactful Service: How to Elevate Your Approach and Reach New Heights of Success Presented by Brett DiMarzo, School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Simmons College Reported by Michele Getter Taylor, Texas Southern University Prospective and matriculating students want to have a positive experience from the admission process to graduation and along the way as they go through the matriculation process. In order to achieve success in delivering impactful service the approach needs to be elevated so everyone can reach new heights. It will take studying the trends in consumer behavior and identifying the gaps in the level of service being provided.

After recognizing the need to maximize services and minimize challenges, the use of benchmark data can encourage other campus partners to support the vision to serve students well at every stage of engagement with the institution. Impacting customer service may require a change in the current status in order to identify opportunities to create service goals and enhance the atmosphere by developing communications with all departments (faculty, staff, and students).

service approach by improving the atmosphere. Effective communications will depend on the quality and quantity of appropriate staff members who have clear and concise responsibilities, and proper training. Everyone should maintain consistency in response to messages with correct and accurate information.

It is important that all departments communicating with students check with each other about what is told to students, especially regarding the expectation of response time.

Staff members must be motivated to serve and help elevate the customer

Identifying opportunities for additional engagement by including more touch points from key personnel (dean, department chairperson) throughout the stages from the recruitment and visitation programs, campus visits, admissions, student activities and special events. Collaboration is the key to the new engagement and expanding the connections on campus and in the market. Research all communication lines to students as you gather feedback from

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all departments and areas in order to identify gaps in communications and service. A more student-centered service culture requires establishing common goals and prioritizing objectives.

It was found that a change in the service culture, collaboration, and clear communications with all areas resulted in a model of impactful service that elevated the approach used and helped to reach new heights of success. Prospects with complete applications have increased in all programs, attendance at student events increased, along with the following: • A positive experience • A decrease in the “MELT” This is still a work in progress and will continue to be. Remember new heights of success can be achieved by elevating your approach to delivering service that goes above and beyond.

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No Man is an Island — It Takes a Village to Get Good Data Presented by Gregory Tipps, University of Tennessee Knoxville Reported by Ann D’Abrosca, Brown University

Sources of Data are:

Leveraging Technology

• Applications • Inquiry forms

Admission areas that are important for leveraging technology are:

• Evaluating systems

• Recruitment activities

• Test score providers

• On-line applications

• Recommendations

• Evaluation systems

• SIS (Student Information System)

• Work-flow and decision processing

• Ensure understanding of the data provided

• Internal & External reporting

• Data reporting

Strategies for Collaboration

• Provide the basis for making informed decisions and/or recommendations

Do not assume that people receiving the information know what it means or that they even know what data they exactly want. It is important that your IT department understands how you want to receive data. Develop and publish a living document of common data definitions. Ask questions, communicate and make changes as needed. It is not always clear who’s doing better in admission. Context is key along with a complete picture of the number of applications, completed applications, offers of admission, declined offers of admission and finally number of matriculated students. As GEM professionals, we need to understand our own data and be able to explain to others what it means. Communication is key. Remember there are no stupid questions. Things change over time and sometimes so do the data requirements.

Conclusions and Recommendations

What is involved in data-driven decisions?

How does an organization effectively and efficiently collect data, and afterwards how do they appropriately utilize data for desired outcomes? The following are suggested steps to these questions: • Have the necessary information in a usable, friendly format

Data – Consumers and Sources At the onset it is important to set “ground rules.” Different people need/ want different data. Sometimes all the data requested may not be available but in reality not everyone needs all the data requested. It is important to keep in mind that graduate data does not follow the same set of rules as undergraduate parameters. The following is an abbreviated list of data consumer stakeholders: • Campus and System Administration • Graduate School Administration • Colleges/Academic Departments • State/Federal Agencies • Campus Reporting Groups/IR

Obtaining and disseminating good data is a collaborative effort among departments, colleges and the Graduate School. It is essential for future recruitment strategies, evaluation of applications, ESL tracking, data reporting internally and externally, and finally in the awarding of fellowships. Recommendations can be summed up in the final points of the presentation: • Communications and context are key issues • Do not make assumptions • Different people may need the same data in different formats • Do not be afraid to ask questions

• Surveys • Applicants/Potential Applicants

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Competencies vs. Constituencies: Exploring the Lenses of Admission Criteria Presented by Joshua LaFave, State University of New York at Potsdam; Christopher Conner, State University of New York at Buffalo; and Kees Kouwenaar, EAIE Partner, Mastermind Project.

Reported by Rebekah Wagenbach, Newman University The Mastermind Project in Europe has developed guiding principles of holistic admission criteria beyond those driven by college rankings, test scores, and accrediting agencies, which are used by many U.S. master’s programs and take into account the skills and competencies that the candidates must possess prior to enrolling in a particular master’s degree program. This effort has American institutions starting to ask the question “What are we looking for?” versus “What are we looking at?”

Constituencies A constituency is a group of people who have a say in how something works. The constituencies discussed in the session are media agencies that report rankings, accrediting bodies, and testing agencies.

The information these agencies provide is used to determine admission into graduate programs around the country.

Criticisms of using the criteria based on information from these agencies include: 1. Well-known institutions are always higher ranked. A 4.0 GPA from

a well-publicized school tends to mean more than a 4.0 GPA from an unknown one.

2. The results used in media rankings such as U.S. News and World Report and The Times Higher Education are often not reproducible when the methodologies are repeated.

3. Rankings only take into account a few things when many things are important.

4. People who have been away from education do not score as well on the GMAT or GRE as those coming right out of a bachelor’s program even though they have more work experience. These tests do not measure all the competencies needed to be successful in every program.

5. “Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.”

6. Accrediting bodies can create negative filters which do not always have the best interest of the students and stakeholders in mind, and can limit access to education for certain minority and socio-economic groups.

Holistic admission criteria can improve access to education and promote diversity in graduate programs. Institutions need to look at learning incomes as well as learning outcomes. This means taking into consideration what the student needs to know before they start the program and what employers need the student to know when they finish the program. Mastermind Europe takes learning incomes and puts them into a student profile and suggests publishing that profile on the institution’s website. This lets prospective students know what learning incomes the program is looking for and allows the prospect to provide proof such as reference letters and essays to show they meet the criteria.

This allows the institution and program to ensure they have accepted the students who are the best fit for their program.

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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Secret Shopping: Graduate Admissions Presented by David Cotter and Suzanne Sharp, Liaison International Reported by Nancy Crouch, University of Connecticut The session began with a discussion of what happens to an inquiry at individual schools. The path of the inquiry varied with size of institution, location in country, private vs. public, and centralized vs. non-centralized structures. Presenters then provided results of 2016 and 2017 audits showing how the NAGAP membership schools respond to inquiries.

The Inquiry Response Project conducted by the Liaison Research Team submitted inquiry forms to 209 graduate programs across the U.S. and tracked the time, method, and type of responses for three weeks.

Results: 2017 compared to 2016 • In 2017 – More inquiry forms were found than a year earlier, but fewer were located on the home page • In 2017 – 55% thanked the inquirer after clicking “submit”

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• More schools are responding – In 2017 66% sent an email, in 2016 58% sent a response • Schools responded faster – 58% responded within 24 hours in 2017 vs 45% in 2016 • Responses are getting more personalized, 45% in 2017, up from 14% in 2016 • There was a slight decrease in the number of schools sending print. 17% of NAGAP schools sent print but 5 out of 7 of the print materials sent had nothing to do with the program of interest requested.

• In 2017 – 95% had no phone reply to the inquiry • In 2017 – 15% provided a microsite purl (personalized url), up from 6% in 2016

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If you ask for information on your inquiry form, use it. For example, if you ask for an address, then send something to the inquirer. Personalize your view book with the prospect's name or prepopulate it for the individual based on information provided. Also know where your request information forms live and what responses are triggered.

The key to reaching today’s students is to be immediate, relevant, and automated.

Twenty-five to fifty percent of sales go to the first responder. Immediate contact with prospective students is pivotal in helping them start a path toward enrollment. An applicant is seven times more likely to convert if they have a reply within one hour. The goal should be to reach the right individual with the right information at the right time. Secret shop on your own process and your competition.

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Recruiting International Master’s-Level Students: Research and Good Practices Presented by Paul Schulmann, World Education Service; Aaron Clevenger, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Shelby Cearley, Texas Tech University; and Raymond Lutzky, New York University Tandon School of Engineering Reported by Kate McConnell, Pennsylvania State University Great Valley Though their presentation followed lunch, this group of international recruitment experts kept the audience engaged not only with valuable research and data but with insight into the decision making processes of prospective international graduate students across the world and how institutions can leverage this information to improve their outreach and recruitment efforts.

Research shared by Paul Schulmann from WES highlighted the 52% growth rate in international master’s student recruitment from 2011 through 2016 as well as the current enrollment decline, which began in fall 2017. The WES study included students from four major geographic areas – China, India, Latin America, and Sub Saharan Africa. There were clear preference differences between these groups; Schulmann stressed how understanding these preferences can better inform a school’s marketing, outreach, and recruitment strategy.

The prospective graduate international students surveyed all tended to focus their school search on four institutional attributes: career prospects (48%), reputation (30%), cost (15%), and location (7%).

Chinese students focus on school reputation; cost is less of a concern and they tend to prefer private universities.

Indian students expect a strong return on their investment and tend to prefer

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• Recruiters: hire recruiters located in targeted countries.

public universities. For Latin American students, often their peers influence their understanding of a school’s reputation and a majority of these students prefer large institutions located in big cities.

Lastly, for Sub-Saharan Africa cost is a critical factor; they focus on tuition, scholarships, length of the program, and cost of living. This group, like Indian students, tend to apply to public institutions.

• Agents: consider working with highly reputable agents.

• ELS: leverage the ELS recruiting network.

• Test Lists: purchase lists of high scoring students to improve your applicant pool.

• Lead Generation: hire companies experienced in international recruitment.

The presentation continued with a look at how three very different schools approached international recruitment.

Each presenter gave an overview of their institution and their top recruitment strategies. Strategic recommendations included: • Brand Awareness: make sure to leverage your brand to drive interest.

• Historical Data: use old and current application trends to identify target markets.

• Global Conditions: be mindful of political, geographic, and economic factors.

• Geographic Regions: determine where your programs have relevancy.

• Application Process: tighten up the process to expedite admission decisions.

• Travel: make strategic decisions about travel mix—when and where.

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• Social Media and Digital Marketing: utilize geo-fencing strategies, employ current international students to target their countries through social media, utilize Google Adwords, Facebook ads, and LinkedIn. • Campus Departments: explore partnering opportunities.

• Website, Collateral Material, Webinars: include benefit-feature statements, highlight program differences, reputation, and postgraduation career opportunities.

The presenters were comprehensive and the material shared generated many questions and valuable discussion. Given recent Presidential Executive Orders, the presentation provided attendees with recommendations and strategies to use as they continue to navigate the uncertain waters of international recruitment.

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CH-CH-CH-Changes in Graduate Admissions: Stories of Change in Higher Education Presented by Brian Niles, TargetX; Credence Baker and Elizabeth Dunn, Tarleton State University Reported by Marcus Hanscom, Roger Williams University Brian Niles, no stranger to NAGAP after presenting for more than 20 years as part of the conference, introduced the afternoon’s panel discussion with a brief history of graduate admission practices since 1993. He cited four trending themes to categorize the changes he’s observed: Technology. While email was the initial breakthrough marketing technology for reaching graduate students during the 1990s, Niles said our approach evolved to the web, social media, and now to mobile. However, he was quick to note that, “…research shows email is still king,” but we all need to use email more effectively and optimize our messaging.

He asked the audience, “How do we provide one-to-one attention in a virtual world?” He stressed that it is critical to optimize and vary our channels and media, provide quick and ready access to information, engage students in realtime as much as possible, and leverage social search and social reviews.

Institutional Structure. Graduate admission operations have gradually moved to more centralized and coordinated efforts, Niles observed.

Faculty and staff roles have become more intertwined and greater synergies have been established between undergraduate and graduate processes and staffs. To further develop the field, Niles noticed a greater degree of professionalism in enrollment management, particularly as the lines between admissions and enrollment management become increasingly blurred. He cited a growth in enrollment management-oriented graduate degree offerings with a stronger career focus on admissions and enrollment.

Competition. The number of competitors in the higher education space has grown exponentially, but perhaps none have

had such a dramatic impact on our industry as for-profit institutions. These new for-profit competitors have exposed new delivery methods and leveraged the latest technologies, but have also ignited a national conversation on the value of a graduate degree.

Consumer Behavior. Niles said consumer decision-making has altered the admissions world dramatically as he noted changes in expectations, use of technology, and co-purchasing habits. “[Prospective students’] expectations of response time have moved from days to hours,” he said. Students expect easy access to information on mobile devices and want responses in real-time. “Students will judge you on your website.” Niles also observed that parents, grandparents, spouses, and other influencers are increasingly helping prospective graduate students make their decisions on graduate school.

Tarleton State University The Tarleton State University College of Graduate Studies recently implemented the TargetX platform. Members of the staff joined Niles to discuss how they have leveraged a variety of new strategies and technologies to grow enrollment at Tarleton, a public university with campuses in Stephenville and Fort Worth, TX, and a member of the Texas A&M University System.

Dr. Credence Baker is the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor of Educational Technology at Tarleton. She joined the Tarleton faculty in 2009 and has worked in administration in the College of Graduate Studies for three years after leading a successful academic program.

Tarleton currently has 26 master’s degree programs and one doctoral program with

a staff of eight people working in the College of Graduate Studies. They have experienced steady growth in enrollments, allowing for an expansion of what Dr. Baker referred to as a “bare bones staff” just three years ago. “The administration recognized we needed more funding in graduate studies,” she said. To help support staff expansion and “aggressive growth targets,” the University leveraged a $20 tuition differential to directly support the administrative operations of the College of Graduate Studies. In short time, the College was able to add a graduate recruiter, repurpose student employees, and realign the responsibilities of a critical member of the graduate admissions team, Elizabeth Dunn.

Dunn was first introduced to the College of Graduate Studies in 2014 while pursuing her MBA at Tarleton. She said her experiences there were invaluable. “[Working in graduate admissions] provided me insights into how our activities were impacting real people,” Dunn commented. “Everything I sent out I also received.”

Institutionally, Tarleton faced a critical juncture several years ago as they looked toward graduate programs to provide new and sustainable revenue streams.

Dr. Baker remarked on their approach to growth: “We focused our energy on programs that wanted to grow and had the capacity to grow. We started with the low-hanging fruit.” Tarleton President Dr. F. Dominic Dottavio had recently outlined a vision for the University to become the “premier student-focused institution in Texas.” Dr. Baker said that drove the work of the College of Graduate Studies and its outreach to students, which Dunn spearheaded with electronic campaigns.

“We needed to keep in mind that student-focused mission,” Dunn said.

Even small changes to office messaging continued on the next page

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CH-CH-CH-Changes in Graduate Admissions: Stories of Change in Higher Education (cont.) like changing the email sender from an office generic email address to a person changed their level of service and results.

Until last year, the College of Graduate Studies lacked a communication strategy and an effective mechanism for managing communications. They have since implemented TargetX to support the process and created a 45-day custom inquiry plan, a “started but not applied” plan, and plans for stop-out students and students who have been accepted, but not yet enrolled. Dunn noted that the communication process with students was previously manual, but by adding a new CRM and automation, the College had created more efficiencies and better touchpoints with students. “Students just needed a nudge,” she said. Dr. Baker added, “We haven’t had the technology to automate these processes. We wanted to get it right.”

In addition to implementing the new CRM, Tarleton expanded its graduate outreach efforts to include webinars, new recruiting events on and off campus, alumni engagement plans, and corporate partnerships. Dunn further deployed new strategies on social media, developed a Wordpress blog highlighting alumni,

faculty, and students, and created a weekly newsletter about graduate studies.

To increase engagement, she crosspromoted all content across Tarleton’s various media and social platforms.

Drawing on her educational technology background, Dr. Baker helped the Tarleton graduate office innovate even further by creating a free “mini” online course to engage prospective students.

The one-week course is open to any prospective graduate student and gives students an eye into “…what it’s like to be a student,” Dr. Baker said, covering topics like time management and graduate school expectations.

The graduate staff also added a series of events in addition to open houses and information sessions including workshops on financial awareness and other student issues. Tarleton has experienced success with these because, “Students are attending more than one event,” Dunn said.

As the TargetX platform was implemented campus-wide at Tarleton, Dr. Baker said they learned that a steering committee was necessary and that everyone involved “needs patience.”

She cited challenges with partnering

across offices and identifying which programs to focus on. The steering committee allowed Tarleton to focus on a strategic implementation, integrating specific modules in different offices at varying times to suit enrollment cycles and needs. To keep graduate studies in the forefront during the CRM installation, Dunn suggested, “You need to stand your ground.” Niles noted that Tarleton was fortunate to have a university strategic plan that focused on growing graduate enrollment.

Dr. Baker said that over the past few years, graduate applications are up 150% at Tarleton, due in part to the CRM, new recruitment initiatives, and the use of a fee waiver. She expressed that kind of growth will be hard to maintain over the long term: “Grow, grow, grow is not sustainable.” She said Tarleton is focused on prioritizing smart growth with specific programs.

Niles wrapped up the session by challenging attendees to consider their thinking regarding CRMs and new technology: “We talk a lot about technology, but instead need to talk about how we provide better service as admissions professionals.”

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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Holistic Graduate Admissions: Moving from Cut-Offs to Screen-Ins Presented by Janice Austin and Danette Gomez Beane, Virginia Tech Graduate School Reported by Adam Seid, University of Virginia School of Nursing At Virginia Tech (VT), the graduate admissions team looks to a holistic process allowing reviewers to paint a broader portrait of applicants while answering the important question of what each can bring to the table from all aspects of their identities. Holistic admissions may include a variety of admission assessment measures such as portfolio review, communication skills, personality inventories, grit and determination, and other non-cognitive indicators.

Janice Austin and Danette Gomez Beane of the VT Graduate School shared their institutional emphasis on holistic admissions and ways in which holistic admission can be used as a process to screen in students as opposed to a cut-off mechanism. In other words, the process of reviewing applicants with a holistic rubric creates an inclusive exercise that allows for a stronger candidate pool. As we all know, a stronger, more diverse pool of graduate candidates yields a class that embodies student qualities aligned with institutional values. These values were brought to the fore by a new President

and Provost who mandated new initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion; therefore, the dean of graduate admission was supportive of these measures.

Two ways in which VT embraces a holistic approach to graduate application review are through a screen-in process and by including a holistic component to the recommendation form. To “screen in” to the pool, applicants were compared to various benchmarks, and once they were screened in, they were “safe” in the review pool. For example, if GPA was the first criterion, all folks with a 3.5 and above advanced. Then, the remaining pool would be compared to, for example, GRE, and so on. Additionally, VT built a proprietary system for accepting recommendations that factored in traits important to the holistic review. In part, each recommender is asked to assess a series of characteristics on a Likert scale.

Subsequently, recommenders are asked to choose which two of those traits most exemplify the applicant. In this way, all facets of the application can include holistic measures.

After implementing holistic review tactics at VT, assessment data showed positive news – departments were willing to adapt their processes and implement new ones in an attempt to improve their applicant pool, thus yielding more diverse and inclusive classes. VT discontinued decisions based solely on GPA and/ or GRE scores, which now allows for more holistic criteria to be designated; each criterion can be initially evaluated independently over the others. This screen-in process, which was the brainchild of the dean, has been shared more broadly with appropriate university offices through multiple channels, including email communication from the dean, a video module on YouTube, and a campus “Road Show.”

This holistic admissions shift at VT has been a positive one for staff and faculty involved in the process. For those of us that work closely with faculty on a regular basis, we certainly understand the magnitude of this resonating comment from a faculty member at VT: “Thank you for quantifying the qualitative!”

2016-2018 NAGAP Governing Board members (L-R): Dean Tsantir, Andrew Kim, Dana VanMeerhaeghe, James Crane, Renanda Wood Dear, Jennifer Kulbeck, Julie Deland, Teisha Johnson, Katherine Beczak, Jeremiah Nelson, Dave Fletcher, Cammie Baker Clancy, Raymond Lutzky

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Staff Development and Strategic Planning: How to Develop Your Staff Through Implementing Your Strategic Plan Presented by Barbara Selmo, Lesley University; and Julie Wilson, Institute for the Future of Learning Reported by Chanelle Vessey, The Ohio State University This special interest forum focused on how managers can use their strategic goals to make better-informed decisions about staff development. Dr. Barbara Selmo and Julie Wilson provided tools and facilitated discussion to help the audience determine what they knew about their team’s existing skills and how they aligned with their strategic goals, as well as discover what development opportunities exist to bridge competency gaps within the team and on an individual level.

Participants used a worksheet to identify both team and individual skills needed to successfully carry out each of their specified goals. The audience was then tasked with assessing their strengths and challenges and exploring the risks they face as managers in not providing targeted staff development opportunities.

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During the session, the presenters opened the discussion to the participants to share their goals, thoughts, and experiences pertaining to professional development.

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Some of the helpful tools mentioned in the discussion were Gallup StrengthsFinder, Zenger-Folkman assessments, and John Kotter’s model for change management.

Additional materials provided to participants included a list of questions inspired by Gallup to assess how individual strengths contribute to the team dynamic and additional questions derived from Gallup’s Q12 Meta-Analysis to evaluate employee engagement and how it affects organizational performance.

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How to Make a Quilt: Patching Together No-Cost/Low-Cost Technology Solutions for Institutions without a CRM Presented by Jamie Grenon, Boston College Reported by Brandy Wood, Indiana University Institutional budgets often do not allow for a robust CRM system and schools find themselves navigating the world of recruitment and admissions haphazardly.

Trying to meet increasing demands for ROI, improving yield, and making data driven decisions: What is a school to do?

The Lynch School of Education at Boston College has created a work-around for these woes by utilizing several free to low-cost technology services. As an institution, Boston College utilizes Google Analytics (and other Google services), Qualtrics, Embark (admissions software), and FolderWave. The school itself then pulls together additional software systems to create an alternative solution that has increased efficiency and effectiveness.

MailChimp is used as the communicator with prospects and students because the software is easy-to-use, low-cost, and can interact with a number of other software solutions. By incorporating the services of Zapier, web-based applications such as MailChimp, Facebook, Twitter, Eventbrite, and Marketing Links, can be connected easily and workflow can be added to automate the import of prospects, assign tasks to staff for follow-up, communicate with prospects when an event activity (sign-up, submission of a form, etc.) is completed, and even communicate admissions decisions and receipt of deposits.

The process takes time for development and testing, and schools are urged to

consider institutional software available.

Additionally, schools should account for staff time, salary, and turnover. The integration of systems using automation (via services like Zapier or IFTTT) also requires a technical skillset and documentation. However, in the end, for less than $1,500 a year, the Lynch School of Education has a system that works for them and their needs.

The use of these systems is ultimately meant to lessen the time spent doing repetitive tasks and automate some of the recruitment and admissions process to allow staff to focus on building better relationships with prospects while improving both yield and programming.

Innovation Leadership: New Skills for a New Kind of Leadership Presented by Jeremiah Nelson, Wake Forest University Reported by Tara Hobson-Prater, Indiana University In this session Jeremiah Nelson challenged our interpretations of “leadership” to encourage a dynamic and interactive discussion of the traditional approaches to leadership and the importance of innovative leadership as a means to create a culture that focuses on collective creativity.

We (GEM professionals) are scouts for our institutions! Being creative and flexible in regards to the approaches to our work is essential. Yet, this is something many struggle with, whether because of personal discomfort when fleeing from traditional leadership approaches or because of institutional road blocks and culture that limits change. Innovation and creativity have opaque and unclear definitions; thus, an innovative leadership approach facilitates much different relationships. Innovative leadership utilizes openness, problem solving, evaluation, and encouragement from every person

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at the table (and even those who are not there). In the academic environment, this can be particularly different because we work in a space with very strong and set values.

Jeremiah encouraged us to think about approaching GEM as a group process, where we work with an interplay of ideas and interactions among those with diverse expertise, experience, and points of view to focus on our end-user—the students and faculty we work with. By developing trusting and safe relationships, communication can flow across traditional organizational structures, which facilitates an involvement in strategy development and program implementation that allows all individuals to go beyond “normal limits” into a new, innovative and contributive space.

Our approach to understanding and judging genius and creativity impacts how

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we give ourselves credit. In looking at the context of your programs, and giving opportunities for people to harness their creativity, big and small, we will draw out the individual creativity of our teams and leverage them for a single work of innovation. It also fosters collaboration, and by doing so, the group as a unit amplifies the talents of each individual member.

Be collaborative in inquiry, pay attention to your environment and people, and work hard to personalize as much as possible so your rapport invites ideas and people into the work. Set a clear vision and be serious about goals, have fun with your people and your work, and remember that being adaptive to change by fostering creativity can set your programs and initiatives apart from your competition.

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Program Capacity: Laser Focus Recruitment on Programs that Matter Presented by Tracy Collum, Idaho State University Reported by Megan Murray, Georgia Southern University I think it is safe to say that we, graduate enrollment management professionals, have all been faced with the demand to increase total enrollment. However, we need to do our research and evaluation to see in which specific programs we can actually increase enrollment. In this session, Dr. Collum addressed the importance of targeting your efforts where there is actually room to grow.

Starting with virtually no data and though it was difficult to get responses from the necessary individuals at first, with the assistance of the Provost Office, Collum’s team was able to collect valuable data.

This data allowed them to target their recruitment and marketing efforts directly

• Utilizing the marketing office

on the programs that they knew could actually sustain higher enrollment. They also explored specific reasons these programs were not meeting capacity and where in the admissions funnel the potential students were getting lost. From that point they were able to develop a targeted communication and marketing plan. Some of Dr. Collum’s tips for being successful are:

• Tips from your undergraduate office that can be transferred to your graduate population

• Having institutional support and creating central funding for graduate recruitment • Adequate training for faculty on student recruitment and assistance from marketing

Dr. Collum presented a great road map to developing a productive and feasible plan when you are starting with almost no support or data. In conclusion, you have to use your data, create a network of support throughout campus, and have a “laser focus” on the program or programs that can actually help grow your enrollment.

SATURDAY PRIZE WINNERS

Jinghua Nie

Jinghua Nie from Memorial University of Newfoundland won a one-year NAGAP membership.

Krystal Trama from Mercy College won a complimentary annual conference registration.

“It was my first time to attend NAGAP conference, definitely an exceptional learning experience! As I am working in a Canadian university, the conference has brought me a new perspective on GEM. I also very much enjoyed the interactions with inspiring speakers and attendees.”

“Winning a free registration to attend next year’s conference allows me another opportunity to connect with colleagues within graduate admissions. The information and ideas shared are invaluable.“

Krystal Trama

Dana Messinger from The New School won two hotel nights for the 2018 conference in New Orleans.

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“I’m thrilled to have won the two hotel nights for next year’s NAGAP conference! This will be my third year attending - I always walk away with a handful of new ideas to implement and new admissions friends to connect with and bounce ideas off of. I’m looking forward to learning something new and eating lots of gumbo next April!”

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Daoquan Li from Gridology Education and Technology, Inc. won airfare to NAGAP’s 2018 conference in New Orleans.

“I appreciate that NAGAP provides a great networking opportunity for higher ed entrepreneurs to get to know potential clients. Thanks to the prize, our cost for next year will be lower, but our confidence to serve this community has soared. We can’t wait to see everybody in New Orleans next year!”

Daoquan Li

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Graduate Yield Events: Getting from 'Maybe' to 'Heck, Yeah!'

Presented by Robert Longwell-Grice, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Katie Ruetz, Marquette University; Laura Chavez Hardy, University of Chicago; Nyree Mcdonald, University of Notre Dame; and Dustin Cornwell, University Missouri-Kansas City Reported by Elsa Evans, University of San Francisco This group of speakers discussed the various ways their institutions work with applicants and admitted students to increase yield.

Marquette University hosts one graduate admitted student day per year. It is catered to students who have made a decision to attend. Admitted students are invited to campus for a day of presentations, Q&A with current graduate students, a resource fair and a session with their program. They also invite “Visit Milwaukee” to speak and get people excited about the city. They evaluate the event by sending out a survey the next day to participants. The planning committee talks through challenges and what to try differently next time.

At the University of Chicago, they utilize both off-campus and web-based yield events, to meet admitted students where they are. Their approach is to see where their students are coming from and if they have alumni or faculty traveling to that area that can host or help with events.

They also hold yield events at their remote

campuses. They host a mid-summer event to prevent summer melt at a stylish venue in a convenient location. Choosing a bar allows them to set a spending limit for food and drinks and it allows people to stay beyond the event time. If alumni help, they share their success with alumni relations – they may be willing to help host next time or share their story in alumni news.

The University of Notre Dame has found that by taking a more proactive approach at their interview day, they have increased yield and received responses to offers more quickly. Students are invited for a two-day event on campus, where they have short interviews and do a five minute research presentation. This allows them to learn more about faculty and also allows faculty to understand their research interests. Prospective students pick their advisor that day and have a chance to network with future colleagues/ peers. The faculty drive the event, but graduate students and staff assist. The Graduate School gets an hour to do their presentation, including a presentation by

a grant writer, to talk about how to secure funding.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City recommends "selling" your city and sharing stories about the livability of the area. They highlighted local features – sports teams, museums, libraries, climate, cost of living – and shared distinctive features of the program: special internships, less expensive/faster/better/ more flexible. Some of the low budget yield events they have held include: class visits and current student lunch, invitations to campus events, a dedicated admitted student website (give resources and information), emails/Facebook/web content, and local admitted students who can help sell the location and pair up with out of towners to help engage. They have also used some high budget yield events such as full day/weekend visits (pay for flight and hotel), receptions with alumni, faculty, and corporate contacts, gifts (school sweatshirt, book about city), and tours of the city. Overall, the recommendation is to show the positives, make it unique.

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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360° View on Transnational Education Presented by Emily Tse, International Education Research Foundation; George Kacenga, University of Colorado-Denver; and Jean Oh, University of Utah Reported by Deirdre S. Baker, Wayne State University Transnational Education (TNE) dates back to the University of London in 1958 and, according to UNESCO, occurs when the learner is in one country and the awarding institution is in another; otherwise known as cross-border or borderless education. The most popular TNE programs are business, computing and engineering.

In a TNE agreement, the “host” country benefits by meeting increased demand for higher education opportunities.

For the host it is a way to attract more students, increase revenue, and provide professional development opportunities for instructors. The most common TNE host countries are Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China. The “sending” country is able to broaden its visibility, educational offerings, curriculum innovation, and research collaboration. The U.K., Australia and the U.S. are the most common sending countries. For the student, TNE offers enhanced employability and an enriched learning experience at less cost, while allowing the student to maintain a familiar lifestyle. In 2012, TNE programs generated £496 million in revenue for the U.K. The number of TNE students in the U.K. has grown from 196,750 in 2008 to 663,915 in 2015.

In addition to the sending/host institution TNE format, there can also be models consisting of: • Home/sending/provider institutions

The most common mode of TNE delivery is distance or on-line instruction, but blended and face-to face learning modes also exist.

Types of Institutions •

International Branch Campus Established overseas, education hubs often benefit from education free zones.

• Joint-Degree One degree program jointly taught by 2 institutions.

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Dual Degree Same as joint-degree but each institution awards its own degree certificate.

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Consortium Multiple institutions offer program, but student chooses where to study and can study at more than one institution.

The campus opened in March 2012 in South Korea. The university wanted to expand the campus globally, provide a world-class teaching and learning experience, attract highly qualified faculty (drawn to teaching and research opportunities), and open a gateway for recruitment. The new location started with 12 students but, over 6 semesters, grew to 345 students.

The first step was to identify partners (Korean government, institutional partners, and campus leaders). The second step involved addressing four challenge areas: 1. Stakeholders (Utah, Korea, and involved peer institutions) 2. Policies and Procedures (finance, communication, and institutional issues)

• Franchising Awarding institution authorizes partner institution to deliver part or all of its program.

• Twinning Same as franchising but the student usually studies latter part of the program at awarding institution.

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TNE Example: University of Utah-Asia Campus

3. Program Evaluation (governmental, institutional, and departmental) 4. Compliance (internal, operational, and external factors surrounding the agreement) Lastly, for recruitment and marketing effectiveness, TNE program design should include data tracking mechanisms at the onset.

Degree Validation Partner institution teaches its own program, but it does not award the degree.

• Coordinating institutions • Flying faculty

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International Applicant Communication in a "Modified Centralized" Admissions Model Presented by Megan Wright, University of Houston Reported by Hannah Han, University of Southern California Over the last two years, the University of Houston Graduate School (UHGS) transitioned from a fully decentralized model to a modified centralized model.

The purpose of the session was to discuss the transition and share challenges, share solutions, provide a sample workflow, and share learning points.

In evaluating their decentralized model, there were key elements in their international admission process that needed improvement: consistency in transcript evaluations and faster processing time.

Transcript evaluations were initially performed by the academic departments and the Office of Undergraduate Admission. This created inconsistency due to differing evaluation policies. Performing transcript evaluations in-house at UHGS in the modified centralized model eliminated this inconsistency by allowing uniformity over how each transcript/degree is evaluated. It also gave UHGS more control and the ability to speed up the processing time.

Despite these positive attributes from moving to a "modified centralized" model, there were some challenges that UHGS continued to face:

• Clear communication on necessary documents prior to travel was not in place. Admission was being offered without sufficient verification documents. This resulted in students arriving on campus and having to spend additional time collecting documents that could have been retrieved prior to admission.

• Transcript verification was performed in-person after students arrived on campus. Students were expected to stand in long lines with their official transcripts in hand. The verification process was slow and inefficient.

In response to these challenges, UHGS implemented several strategies for better communication and overall applicant satisfaction: • Electronic Submission: Applicants upload copies of their official transcripts directly onto their application. Once a student is admitted, an automated email is sent out requesting that the official transcript be directly sent from the institution for verification. Evaluating

• Waiting for paper transcripts was time consuming.

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uploaded transcripts helped speed up the processing time by not having to wait for paper transcripts to arrive.

Uploaded transcripts are made visible across departments so there is transparency in the evaluation process.

• Automated Workflow: Analyst uses standard templates with customized text fields to email applicants any time during the review process for required documentation. Emails are personalized and tracked.

• Admission Communication: Upon acceptance, the applicant is directed to information about requirements for enrollment.

• Central Graduate Office Oversight: The Central Graduate Office oversees admission letters that explicitly state what additional materials need to be submitted prior to enrollment.

In closing, the presenter shared some learning points: 1) Individualization and automation can be balanced, 2) Applicants are generally happy to provide additional documents requested, and 3) Requesting more documents upfront rather than waiting for the applicant's arrival on campus promotes a faster and smoother enrollment process.

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Challenges of Retention in One-Year Graduate Programs: Creating a Culture of Support Presented by Tod Clapp and Heather Hall, Colorado State University Reported by Tammie Dedmon-Mason, University of Southern California The presenters’ purpose for this session was to describe the unique challenges faced by one year master’s students and provide a successful model for creating a supportive network. The session covered the benefits of a one-year master’s program, challenges encountered executing the program, and strategies for creating a community of support for students.

Institutions and students mutually benefit from the shorter time commitment of the one-year master’s program model. The condensed length of time to degree may reduce the tuition burden on students, which in turn may make the program more appealing to prospective students.

The shorter program model may also contribute to a shorter decision-making timeframe from a prospective student’s first inquiry to their application, and to matriculation if admitted. New master’s programs launched with a one-year model may see better success in their initial recruitment efforts, even if a program launch takes place within a few months of the start date for the first expected cohort.

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One of the challenges of the one-year master’s program model is that the condensed time frame is demanding on students, and as a result, most students are full-time and have limited external commitments. These students may rely more on scholarships, tuition remissions, paid internships, and financial aid, if they are unable to work while enrolled in the program. Another challenge is the limited period for the student to adjust to graduate student life and to the demands of the curriculum. As soon as they learn their way around campus, they are preparing to graduate. This also limits their opportunity for networking – across cohorts and with faculty.

Colorado State University implemented three extra-curricular solutions that may serve as a success model for creating a community of support that has a positive impact on program participation and retention.

2. Facilitated social gatherings at local venues and a campus tour as part of orientation 3. Created a grant-funded “MS Pro Workshop Series” to foster retention by creating culture of support. They conducted a needs assessment with current students and alumni to see what they wanted to know and needed. As a result of the needs assessment, a series of workshops were created on the following topics: • Technology tools for success: A session focused on how to effectively use technology • Professional school admission application guidance • Networking dinner with clinicians • Service learning gap-year • Alumni dinner

1. Created a designated shared space for students in the program that consisted of a student lounge with computer access

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Engaging Current Students in Recruitment Through a Student Ambassador Program Presented by Amanda Clark and Tina Samms, A.T. Still University Reported by Laura Look, University of North Dakota Admissions offices handle many different responsibilities and duties and we need to find ways to lighten the load. Current students can be one of our best resources; they come to our universities for a reason and they are excited to talk about it and their experiences. A.T. Still University uses student ambassadors on both of their campuses to help with recruitment and admission focused activities. Their current students help answer questions via email, lead campus tours to visitors, and help staff interview days and group visits to the campus.

How do you start and grow an ambassador program?

• The first step is to build interest in current students. Hold a booth at a resource fair or hold informational meetings. If you have current ambassadors, the interest should start before the student is even admitted because they have interacted with an ambassador and want to do the same.

• Have an application process and hold interviews to ensure that you are hiring ambassadors who will interact well with prospective students and applicants.

• Develop and require training for all ambassadors. The training is your quality assurance that all ambassadors will create the same experience for prospects and applicants.

• Hold regular meetings for additional training or professional development, announce upcoming events/activities, and discuss any issues that arise.

How does A.T. Still keep their student ambassadors active in the program?

• Each activity has a point value assigned and ambassadors need to volunteer for events and earn a certain number of points each semester to stay active.

• There is monthly recognition for achievers and there is a goal to earn a fleece jacket with the school logo.

• There is an end of year party for all active ambassadors and a graduation banquet for the ambassadors who are graduating and have earned a certain level of points. Graduates are awarded with a certificate and a monetary gift.

When developing an ambassador program for your institution, you should consider your needs. What types of events/activities do you need help with and how many ambassadors would you require? Who will manage the program?

You will need someone to schedule and hold meetings, announce opportunities, manage a tracking/point system, and develop and hold training sessions. You will also want to measure success of your program by surveying applicants who have interacted with ambassadors and get feedback from the ambassadors and your colleagues who work with them.

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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What Keeps You Up at Night?

Presented by Marcus Hanscom, Roger Williams University; Cammie Baker Clancy, Empire State College; Teisha Johnson, Illinois College of Optometry; and Keith E. Ramsdell, Bowling Green State University Reported by Debby Jackson, Brigham Young University • Time management

This session focused on concerns with things that “keep us up at night.” Cammie opened the session with the item that is currently keeping her up at night: the implementation of a new CRM system and a new student ERP and online application system by central graduate admissions. She called them the “Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse”:

• Faculty who do not respond to emails and do not listen to staff recommendations

• Implementation of a banner application system

The discussion mentioned ways to involve faculty more in the process and get them on board with recruitment and admission in graduate programs. Some of the suggestions included:

• New HR system • New CRM The discussion centered around the need for people who are “downstream” in the process being given the opportunity to be involved in the implementation of new systems because what is done at a university level influences graduate admissions at the department level.

Suggestions for resolving this issue included: • Make sure they know of the expertise we have • Emphasize the repercussions of us not being at the table • Use strength in numbers to get people together and express the needs collectively • Build a network and reach out to other graduate program on campus for feedback • Get together as a council to share what is working and what is not • Find people that can be key influencers The second concern that “keeps us up at night” was that of faculty who do not support administrative staff in graduate programs. Issues included:

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• The need to diffuse resentment and discouragement among staff members

• Faculty who are more concerned with their own interests than those of the department • Faculty who have never dealt with recruiting

The discussion centered around the failure of some university administrators to respond to the needs of departments in hiring and training staff and the need for departments to maintain good relationships with staff members.

Suggestions included: • Have more effective communication with staff members

• Save emails and recommendations to show to the decision makers so they can see your efforts

• Cross train people on what you do

• Expose the faculty to what you do to further the graduate programs in your university

• Make sure that everyone is in the loop

• Find faculty who can champion your causes and build relationships with them • Use these faculty as champions and ask how you can leverage the relationships to get what you want • When recruiting for new programs, connect with the faculty who created the program and do it with them until you understand it. Shadow them until you “learn the lingo.”

• Use students to ask the questions that will drive the changes that are needed. Use student dialogues to influence faculty.

• Give small gifts to staff members to show appreciation

The last issue that was briefly discussed was that of students who decline admission to universities for one reason or another. Suggestions included: • Create surveys for students asking them why they are not coming to graduate programs • Create workshops for faculty to train them in recruitment techniques • When implementing a new program, make sure students are aware of the career outlooks • Programs must be driven by the value to students • Consider raising scholarships for students - be concerned about the amount of debt they will incur

The third concern discussed was staffing and how to hire and manage more effective staff. Issues included:

• Do exit surveys for students

• Administrators who were slow to hire staff • The value of effective communication

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The Multi-Modality Approach: A Single New Student Orientation for Online, On-Campus, and Hybrid Students Presented by Jay Stefanelli, Rutgers University Reported by Laura Peer, Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis The objective of this session was to offer participants a practical approach to integrating an online population into an on-campus event.

Your Vision and Goals The main purpose for the multi-modality new student orientation is to bring students together—because they will be in classes together—from the beginning, regardless of the platform. In addition, these orientations are offered on weeknights, and usually run about two hours, to accommodate different types of students’ schedules.

Integrating orientation platforms can serve several purposes including building community; increasing efficiency, and giving students and faculty more options.

For example, one year, all three student leaders were studying abroad in different locales, and each participated and led sessions via Adobe Connect.

Benefits for online students:

engagement and participation (informal options in which participants can raise hands, applaud, laugh) • GoToMeeting: Cheap and easy to use • Some others: WebEx, MegaMeeting, ReadyTalk, GoToWebinar, Collaborate, Zoom, Skype for Business Hardware: • Wired internet connection • Laptops, projector, screen • Cameras: Cam and microphone, Logitech C920 HD 1080p ($70) • Tripod: VELBEN EF-41 ($30) • Microphone: Revolabs xTAG Wireless Microphone System. ($250-300) • Personal mic, not for groups: Samson UB1 USB Boundary Mic ($100) • Omni-Directional, good for groups.

Have a voice (Empowerment)

• Presenter Remote (“clicker”): Soly Tech Wireless USB Presentation Remote ($8)

Feel connected (Community)

Technical support:

Feel like their own room (Experience)

Benefits for campus students: Establish expectations for a multimodality learning experience early (Understanding) For success, you must ensure that needs of students, faculty, and staff are being met.

For example, all three groups can learn about the parking policies.

Identify Technology and Support Needs Software:

• IT Department: Advisors for best practices, purchasers, set-up/ breakdown • Current Students: Welcome wagon, check-in/registration, online student liaison to monitor chat room feature and ensure online participants’ questions are answered • Staff: Set-up, check-in/registration, floaters, prize patrol, online student liaison

Orientation Does Not End After the Event At Rutgers, they require a zero-credit Orientation Part 2. It’s an asynchronous follow-up to Orientation. Its purpose is to introduce students the eCollege platform, and to show them what to expect.

Evaluate Your Effectiveness To evaluate the effectiveness and success of your orientation, getting feedback is essential. This can be done via an online survey.

• Survey: Online-specific streaming questions (5 point Likert scale) • Asynchronous Orientation Part 2 questions (5 point Likert) Make it Fun! The following are Jay’s suggestions – Sug-Jay-stions – to enhance the orientation experience.

1. Establish ONE community from the start 2. Use a wired internet connection 3. Use student moderators/liaisons 4. Have introduction exercise (games, prizes) 5. Create interactive opportunities (polls) 6. Repeat questions asked to both populations 7. Respond quickly with immediate positive reinforcement 8. Make eye contact 9. Embrace speaking to the “void” 10. Perform a “technology dress rehearsal”

• Adobe Connect: Records audio and video and allows for audience

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Exploring Best Practice in Time-to-Decision Processes Presented by Alice Camuti, Tennessee Tech University; and Yvonne Kilpatrick, University of Tennessee Reported by Vincent James, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health This session covered the frustration applicants experience waiting for the admission decisions on their applications by sharing the results of a survey they sent to NAGAP members (1 per school) and provided suggestions for improvement.

Some of the experiences applicants reported included: • Misleading notification deadlines • Notifications sent to applicants in ‘waves’ • No interim communication • Rejection notifications sent at a different time than acceptance notifications The presenters reminded us that the definition of graduate enrollment management (GEM) includes admissions as part of the student experience and that all aspects of the student experience should be as stress free as possible.

Survey results included (N =179):

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• 43% incorporate waitlists as an “interim” admissions decision

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R eporting data to leadership and departments – identifying what the delays are in the departments and work on solutions

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stablishing automatic processes E – building tools in the CRM to support the program review process, make information accessible, and automate tasks

• 70% are able to identify if an application is incomplete • Over 100 schools use personal emails, checklists, or auto emails to encourage applicants to complete their applications. Over half the schools send emails from a central office (with no personal contact).

The session concluded with a graphic from a white paper, "Integrated Interdependence: The Emergence of Graduate Enrollment Management" (Connor, C., LaFave, J., Balayan, A., 2015) on how schools could develop their own graduate enrollment management strategy, which would:

• They believe 61% of applicants, but 55% of staff, were satisfied with the application decision time. However, 40% of the schools saw a decrease from fall 2015 to fall 2016 in the amount of time for applicants to receive a decision; 11% saw an increase.

• The popular current strategies schools are using to improve for fall 2017 include:

• Create a competitive advantage • Develop buy-in from stakeholders

o Improving communication to applicants

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• Set the stage for continuous improvement

• Adopt customer service perspective

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Getting Faculty on Board with Online Evaluations: Successfully Collaborating with Faculty to Transition and Then Engage New Functionality Presented by Rebecca Conner, Radford University Reported by Caela Provost, University College Cork Radford University is no stranger to change. The university was founded in 1910 by the Virginia General Assembly as The State Normal and Industrial School for Women, transitioned to a State Teachers College in 1924, merged with Virginia Polytechnic Institute for a short time from 1943-1964, and finally evolved to its contemporary state with the admission of male undergraduate students in 1972. Radford University’s ability to adapt to the needs of the times and of its students is certainly admirable.

Boasting numerous other excellent institutional achievements and advances from 1972 to the present, it is no surprise that this university serves as an exceptional example of faculty and administrative collaboration in the online admissions evaluations process.

Using AdMIT academic software programming, Rebecca Conner and Radford University’s College of Graduate Studies and Research (CGSR) have successfully made the transition from paper applications to a secure, transparent, timely, and communicationfriendly online system. After recognizing several issues with the paper application scheme, including but not limited to an insufficient use of resources, haphazard timelines, ineffective communication, and security concerns, the office decided to shift “cold-turkey” to an entirely digital system.

While this quick change could have proved to be problematic from a relations standpoint between the CGSR and the faculty at Radford, Conner used the transition period to engage and communicate with faculty to ensure a smooth conversion. By providing a

timeline for the new system, running beta tests before the official launch, holding program specific configuration meetings, emphasizing the ease of the system features, and encouraging feedback from all parties, the CGSR office and the Radford faculty found ways to successfully collaborate and communicate to create one streamlined, protected, efficient process of admissions.

The Radford University’s College of Graduate Studies and Research made the wise decision to make communication, teamwork, transparency, and the management of expectations priorities at the beginning of the “paper to online” shift. It was this commitment to cooperation that made all the difference in their ability to successfully engage with faculty, thus ensuring an efficacious admissions transition.

Beginning with the End in Mind: How Career Informs Admissions Presented by Anna Kilby and Allison Binkley, University of North Carolina Reported by Lisa Davis, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Most students pursue higher education with a career goal in mind. Students want to know what options they have after they finish their degree. Relaying this information to a prospective student during the admission process can increase the chances that the student will attend your institution. Involving the career office in the recruitment process can assist students in finding out more about the growing markets within their field since the career office has a pulse on job

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market demand, shifts in hiring, trends in interest areas and networks of employers.

Involving the career office also allows recruitment professionals to discuss hiring trends and what employers are looking for. This provides prospective students with information on what they can expect once they complete the degree. This strategy is more outcome-focused and provides students with the information they need to make an informed decision about pursuing their chosen degree.

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The presenters provided detailed information on the recruitment model that they currently use within their program.

They use a collaborative model that includes input and involvement from career services, alumni, marketing, and admissions, and allows them to have more comprehensive and informed recruiting strategies. In their office, admissions and careers work in tandem to recruit students on a track for career success.

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Beyond Your Bachelor’s: Evaluating Your Campus Culture to Enhance Undergraduate Recruitment Efforts for Your Graduate Programs Presented by Ryan Taughrin and Danielle Lewis, State University of New York at Buffalo Reported by Naomi Hansen, University of North Dakota When considering traditional graduate recruitment efforts, we often take for granted the captive, prospective applicant pool audiences at our own institutions.

This educational session focused on sharing very detailed, tangible recruitment strategies that may aid others across different institutions in developing their strategic plan. The presenters urged graduate staff to consider some of these strategies for their own campuses and recruitment of undergraduate students.

Key Questions

the campus community. Find mutually beneficial opportunities with as many departments on campus as possible.

to change perceptions of graduate school when necessary. Consider what prospective student perceptions of graduate school look like (class size and faculty interaction).

Strategies Implemented • Institutional policy changes

Finding Campus Partners

• Changing perceptions of combined degree programs

• Who and where can you make in-roads?

• Educating about graduate education

• What is your “low hanging fruit”?

• What events are you doing already?

• How can you combine the event with something else?

• Application fee waivers

• What makes our campus unique in retaining or recruitment of bachelor’s students?

• What are the “things” your graduate students do before applying?

• In what type of environment does your graduate admissions office operate?

Understand what the culture looks like within different departments and work

Build strong relationships with campus partners, raise awareness of available graduate programs and ask yourself: Who have you worked with on campus that supports you? What kinds of students do these staff/faculty members work with that you do not have access to?

What are some things you are not doing now that would be easy to facilitate or implement? Keep in mind that many people on campus may not know who you are or what you do, so educate

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• What challenges does this pose?

Focus Areas • Faculty perceptions of graduate work • Student perceptions of graduate work • Administrative siloing and competition

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• Found partners – Undergraduate Advising, Career Services, Undergraduate Research, TRIO/EOP Programs

• How long do you think this will take?

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• Digital marketing, which promotes bridges to programs • Open-door programs Consider institutional policy changes; work with the Graduate School to shape policies to make it easier for students to apply. Target messaging (emails, posters, and table toppers) specifically to your current undergraduate student population.

Offer presentations to special populations or special groups focused on how to prepare for and apply to graduate school.

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Successfully Integrating New Members into Your Team Presented by Beth Pierpont, West Virginia University School of Law; and John Glatz, DePaul University College of Computing & Digital Media Reported by Marcus Hanscom, Roger Williams University Now former colleagues at DePaul University’s College of Computing & Digital Media, Beth Pierpont and John Glatz teamed up to discuss best practices for hiring right and successfully integrating new hires with your staff. The topic clearly had interest; a surprisingly alert room of people peppered Beth and John with questions and comments for nearly half of the Saturday morning session.

As hiring managers, Beth and John addressed the challenges of team transition. “The more turnover you have, the more chaos you have in your office,” Beth said. “You play a role in that transition and integrating those members into your team.”

John remarked that as he strives to be a good manager and encourage growth among staff, he knows that means losing strong employees and having to successfully integrate new team members.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” he said.

Beth started the discussion from the first stage of hiring right: the interview. She acknowledged that every institution has different staff structures, but what is most important is to hire people that not only work well within the hiring staff, but also those “who can work integratively with other associated units like student services.”

John echoed Beth’s sentiments because his structures at DePaul are designed to provide students a seamless experience.

In order to hire appropriately to maintain that process, John suggested that the full hiring staff be involved with interviewing the candidate including group and individual interviews with all related staff. He also sends a written prompt to candidates with a series of questions for

which they are asked to provide written or oral responses.

candidates who accept the job by doing the following:

John stressed the importance of transparency with candidates about the job, team culture, and expectations. “We believe it’s important to show them who we are as a team,” John said. “Ensuring fit is critical.”

• Give support before the candidate asks.

Beth’s interview process at WVU was similar, but she mentioned that a crossfunctional hiring team was integral to their hiring process. She stressed involving key administrators and engaging candidates in a full-day interview with a scheduled presentation to faculty and staff.

After Beth’s own interview at WVU, she said the full-day process helped her feel comfortable with the new staff. “I felt like I knew these people,” she said. She underscored the importance of having interviewees meet with everyone they will be working with on the staff and across other units during the interview process.

Beth and John both discussed the need to effectively manage the expectations of candidates, before and after the interview.

“You need to manage that first impression” as the employer, Beth said. “You need to find fit for both sides.” She suggested that the hiring committee help prepare faculty and staff who may engage with a candidate at a presentation or forum and encourage them to come prepared with questions. At both DePaul and WVU, they utilize interview feedback forms.

“Those first impressions are so critical,” John said. “They’re important on both sides.”

Beth said once the offer is made, it’s important for campuses to support the

• Make the candidate feel valued.

• Provide an immersion experience to help the candidate feel comfortable with the job, campus, and staff.

• Communicate regularly and often throughout the process from initial hiring to the first day on the job.

She said in addition to engaging the candidate, it’s important to keep Human Resources and the hiring manager on the same page.

John discussed the importance of the onboarding process as new candidates need to feel comfortable and welcome when first starting the job. He suggested creating a daily schedule for the candidate for the first one to two weeks and organizing even granular details like setting up office space, providing decorations, and setting up new technology.

To help your new hire feel even more comfortable, John suggested “…managing work and social opportunities for the first two weeks.” Social outings could include lunches off campus with staff or other key individuals on campus, or even happy hours.

“Encourage the team to help support the new hire,” Beth added. She said even suggesting the best places for the new employee to have lunch is a nice gesture to help with the first few weeks of getting comfortable.

John said it is equally as important to manage your current staff as new team continued on the next page

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Successfully Integrating New Members Into Your Team (cont.)

1. Talk to current team members about the new employee and what to expect.

members assimilate to the office culture.

Managing internal expectations and behavior is important as new hires get a sense for their fit within the office and staff.

the delicate balance of keeping new hires and existing team members positive throughout the hiring and onboarding process.

“Change is the one constant,” Beth remarked. “Being a manager is all about change management. I have a whole team I have to keep happy.” She cited

To prevent culture shock with the internal team, Beth and John offered the following advice:

2. Have a plan for day one.

3. Involve everyone in integrating the new employee.

4. Solicit regular feedback.

Pause: Mindfulness & Your Personal Productivity System Presented by Bernadette Valentino-Morrison, Fordham University Reported by Katherine Beczak, Rochester Institute of Technology In life and work 95% of people’s actions are unconscious and many find themselves on autopilot – moving through the motions of life without paying attention to their present feelings and emotions. This presentation focused on strategies to remain awake and aware in present moments in the office, and also provided small meditations that attendees could take away to increase mindfulness in everyday life. These strategies were intended to assist attendees in becoming more efficient employees and compassionate colleagues, because, as Tony Robbins says, “where focus goes, energy flows.”

Practicing mindfulness is incredibly valuable because it can increase one’s ability to stick with a difficult task, improve listening skills and decision making abilities, and allow for more compassionate interactions with others.

This practice transfers directly to others in the ability to be compassionate with students, applicants, and co-workers.

Additionally, mindfulness can open up room for creativity and allow space for calm and thoughtful responses to stressful situations. During the presentation attendees were able to practice small mindfulness meditations that focused on grounding and setting intentions, and also

reviewed hand positions that can help change energy flows in the body.

In summary, the presenter recommended customizing one’s own practice to the needs of a particular situation or life moment. Bernadette powerfully said that “tension is who we think we should be but relaxation is who we are.” Practicing mindfulness and small meditations throughout the day can help bring a sense of calm and reflection to work to increase productivity and inspire more meaningful interactions in the workplace.

Handouts and presentation slide decks from the NAGAP 2017 Annual Conference, including the keynote addresses and most sessions, are available on the NAGAP website: https://www.nagap.org/2017-annual-conference-handouts

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