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More than 150 admissions and marketing professionals participated in an open discussion with three of the top thought leaders in higher education marketing. The following is a recap of the opinions expressed at this unique kick-off event for NACAC 2008.

Brian Niles

Declaration:  "iThink ... colleges who accept more than 50% of their applicants have to get comfortable with terms such as "competition", "customers" and "sales."  Once they realize that they are actually a business and recruiters are actually sales people, they will learn how to more effectively hire, train and execute a more efficient recruiting effort.  As we see a decline in high school graduates, colleges will be under increasing pressure to enroll every best-match student they can find."

• "Counselors" vs. "Salespeople" 
• Concern that it's more than sales because of the need to help find "right fit."
• Initial disagreement but conversation moved around to admitting the similarities
• Other titles besides Admissions Counselors?  "Recruiters," "Territory Managers," "Admissions Representatives."
• Must look at the "long-term" sale; retention as a recruitment issue
• The idea of the counselor being an "Agent" or "Agent of Relationships" -- an agent works on behalf of both parties and both parties benefit from the relationship
• Issue of price -- if price becomes more important, fit suffers
• Importance of suburban community colleges and their future role with 4-year schools
• Must reconsider the institutions value proposition and the educational experience it provides
• More and more people questioning the return on investment -- especially of traditional liberal arts programs
• "Amenities Arms Race"
• Social experiences matter very much (along with academics)
• Inefficiency of offices and reporting structures -- "We're not a pyramid, we're a barrel."  -Bob Sevier
• Students want:  1.  Education and 2. "The best 4 years of their lives."  How to differentiate and sell that?
• Tough to differentiate "English Programs" -- perhaps look to other things like what types of leadership experiences or study abroad the school offers??
• Importance of the use of current students and young alumni in recruiting -- only a few schools doing this well.
  

Bill Royall

Declaration: "I think … Every student (and their family) should be invited to visit campus whenever they first inquire."

• Reinforce the absolute importance of the campus visit
• The economy (gas prices and availability, less disposable income, etc.) is affecting the campus visit
• Creating a "visit" experience on the web -- importance of visit information online
• Suggestion that the future of admissions marketing is simple -- "It's the web." Some disagree.
• More DIALOGUE needed on the web -- most agree that their websites are still mostly a "talk at" monologue
• Talking about "Walking the Money Walk" (i.e. the walk that visitors will do from the car to the admissions visitor center and paying attention to everything they will see)
• Huge, "Cattle-call" visits not always best -- especially if you promote small class sizes and individual attention in your marketing
• "More is not always better." - Jeff Kallay
• Brian relates his favorite quote from Lewis and Clark University's Mike Sexton (who was in the room) -- "Stories not Stats.  People not Programs."
• Talk about travel, reducing travel and the paradox of schools that "can't have a fall Open House because their admissions people are on the road."
• Bill noted that the term "Open House" is silly -- it's used to describe a very loose event that doesn't require a commitment on both ends.  Change that term!
  

Bob Sevier

Declaration: iThink ... measurement, especially measuring marketing return on investment, will become expected. It is not about output. It is about outcomes."

• Need for schools to get better at figuring out what REALLY works
• The importance of admissions marketers to be "activity-agnostic," -- not do something because the office likes it or it's always been done, but find out what activities are really necessary because they work. 
• Taking a look at the growth and emerging markets like international students and adults
• Looking at the transfer student experience and how cost and other factors will cause that to be more important
• Must design a cross-functional strategy that includes other offices -- admissions will lose a little control but the school will benefit
• Are schools being deliberate in delivering their experience?  Or is it just happening? "The experience is the marketing..."
• Importance of the senior leadership team
• Will we see schools closing their doors?
  

Conversation on Yield

• So many schools have heavily discounted to "make their class" -- they can't break the cycle of high discounts and continue to recruit successfully
• 50% stealth apps...
• Again looking at growth markets (commuter, part-time, adults, transfers, etc.)
• "We all lament the 'Club-Medding' of higher ed but we look to those features to attract full-pay students
• There aren't going to be enough students to go around -- some disagree.
• The idea that there are enough students, but access to college and cost will prevent them from enrolling
• When will schools be as serious about specific goals for retention as they are for admissions?
• Yield keeps going down, melt keeps going up
• Talked about the idea of incentives for faculty and staff based on retention -- a retention bonus??
• The idea of turnover in our field, especially among senior admissions people.  May see them become consultants or "turnaround experts" at schools that continue to experience enrollment issues as demographics, the economy and other factors affect the enrollment picture. 
• The federal government will only get more involved...as evidenced by their already-high involvement in lending and the prospect of a "bailout" on the business horizon as of today...
  

What will admissions marketing be like in 5 years?

• "Schools closing doors."
• "Feds involved more."
• "How do I start to have conversations with 8th graders and their parents?"
• "Panic at institutions leading to 'unsavory' admissions practices"
• "Similar to the 80's when we saw the last downturn -- it's cyclical."
• "More proprietary institutions."
• "More conversations about where fit 'fits' when you have to discount so much."
• "A reversal from so much "E-Marketing" to a more personal approach."
• "Back to basics -- less Web 2.0"
• "I don't think things will change that much in higher ed in 5 years."
• "More business leaders will be Presidents at Higher Ed Institutions."
• "Admitting students at the end of their junior year."
• "Allowing students to develop their own programs -- I might do one year at one school, the next at another, the next in a foreign country, etc.  The school where I graduate from may merely be the last one I attended."