Recruiting Intelligence

The opening plenary at the AMA Higher Ed conference by Dr. Steve Robbins was spot on great. With a neuroscientific underpinning, he presented the human desire for inclusivity as a biological need we all share as part of our survival instinct. Playfully using the rivalry between Michigan State and University of Michigan, he pointed out how we make excuses for “insiders” (those in our affinity group). When they exhibit frustrating behavior, we often give them a pass. At the same time, “outsiders” are seen as annoying and exhibiting behavior typical of their group. No pass for them.   

• PIE Live North America, Boston TODAY Look for Ben on stage at the IIE Open Doors: What is the Latest Data Telling Us? session at 2:30 in Grand Ballroom A&B.
• AIRC, Seattle-Bellevue, Washington, Dec. 4-7 -- including our pre-conference global marketing workshop. A full day of Intead global intel (lunch included ; -). Details here. 
• AIEA in March and NAFSA in May, we'll be presenting our latest findings at both. Let us know if you want to connect at either of those two events.

Bookmark this: Intead’s Resource Center 
Access 800+ articles, slides decks, reports with relevant content on any topic important to enrollment management and student recruiting.  Check it out.

With 1,800 people in attendance, this year was the AMA Higher Ed’s largest conference attendance yet. And from what the AMA says, that is the largest attendance of any AMA branch conference. People from 14 countries were there. And of the 1,800 attendees, about 430+ US higher ed institutions were represented. 

Dr. Robbins’ approach to introducing and promoting the idea of inclusion to those who may be of the mind that DEI and “woke” perspectives are simply too much to handle is welcome and perhaps the necessary path forward. Since this is the AMA, we are looking at inclusion in light of human (read: consumer) behavior and the importance of understanding this human desire to be part of a group as it relates to student marketing and recruitment. Diversity results from inclusive policies and practices. 

Dr. Robbins discussed the importance of feeling valued within the tribe you join. As a consumer of education or any other product or service, there is an affinity we are aiming to acquire. That connected and valued feeling leads to student retention and marketing concepts of customer lifetime value (think continuing education and alumni engagement). 

He also talked about the opposite effect: when people do not feel welcomed or included. These feelings light up the same pain centers in our brains that physical pain (a slap or a punch) elicits when experienced. And so, when we don’t promote inclusive practices, we are pushing people away and prompting quite literally a painful experience. 

People I talked to at the conference found Dr. Robbin’s talk a welcome and eye-opening presentation. Another aspect of the conference I found valuable: AMA’s use of Topical Idea Exchanges. These gatherings were smaller groups who circled up the chairs and focused on specific topics. The two I attended (one on celebrating and leveraging milestones (think: centennial celebrations), the other on leveraging organic social channels using institutional and senior leader accounts (think: managing chancellor social accounts). Both sessions were well led and filled with smart people who shared ideas and perspective, asked great questions, and overall made networking and information gathering comfortable and valuable. Though, I did hear some mixed reviews on that format from others.

I attended a couple of sessions during the 1-day I had available at the conference. Kerry Salerno, vice president marketing and communications at Babson College and my co-presenter this week at PIE Live in Boston, talked about presenting marketing results to leadership. A great topic, as in, how do you simplify all the marketing information and results in a meaningful way that prompts wise decisions from the top? The short answer: simplify.  

What I most valued in Kerry’s presentation was her candor about how, over the past 6+ years in the position at Babson, she has made a concerted effort to train and adapt her marketing team to embrace a data informed culture. That work is hard and laborious. Having run a marketing agency for more than 30 years now, when I consider all the elements of running a business, the hardest part is always choosing and developing the talent around me to achieve the goals. How do you accommodate all of the personal, professional, and financial goals for each person and align that with company goals?  

It’s a lot. Always. 

Which brings us back to the idea of inclusivity. Who is part of the tribe? How do you help them feel valued? How do you maintain that feeling despite the challenges that your team, your administration, your students will inevitably face over time? Are you taking the time to figure this very difficult stuff out? How strong is your team’s affinity for each other and the work? Read on... 

We recently talked with students past and present from Vietnam to Bangladesh and heard encouraging stories.

• A professor hand-delivered a recommendation during the early phase of the pandemic.
• A class specifically designed around a student’s pursuits.
• A helpful phone call to a trusted member of the international student services team when tragedy struck.

Stories that embody the kind of student-first experience we all imagine we provide to our students. It’s the kind of experience we certainly all tell the world of prospective students (and parents) that we will deliver.

The reality, unfortunately, is often quite different. Blame branding or the bottom line (lack of resources), but the undeniable truth is that competing priorities often win out over the well-founded ideal of student-first. 

Today’s post is not a how-to on making your website user-friendly. Today we put a spotlight on the policies and actions that put students first. We’re looking at what is undermining your institutional integrity and how you can address it. And trust us, students are well aware of how well your institution delivers on the promise of student-first. And they tell stories. So, yes, this post is enrollment marketing-focused.

When you delight, they gush with positive word-of-mouth support. And when you fail, they tell that story too.

To offer deep perspective on this topic, in addition to our own experience, we tapped a few colleagues who know more than a thing or two about fostering the student-first mindset:

• David Hautanen, Vice President for Enrollment Management at St. Mary's College of Maryland
• Jessica Sandberg, Dean of International Enrollment Management at Duke Kunshan University
• Jewell Green Winn, Senior International Officer of International Affairs at Tennessee State University (and newly appointed chair of AIEA)
• Brad Farnsworth, Principal of Fox Hollow Advisory and former Vice President at the American Council for Education (ACE)

They each had great perspective on the subject. We are so appreciative of their time and the insights shared. You, our readers, are the beneficiaries of their wisdom.  

Read on to learn concrete actions you can take now to help ensure your enrollment program is student-first. Is this post a good one to share with your leadership? Uhm, yes.

As I wrote from the MSY airport lounge, #AIEA2022 had just wrapped. At that time, in the previous 24 hours, Russia had launched a military attack on Ukraine, some of our colleagues tested positive for Covid at the AIEA conference, and Boston (my destination) was expecting a foot of snow the next day. Oh, and my Boston flight was unceremoniously canceled with no flights available to get me to Boston for another 3 days. Life as we know it continues with turbulent distress, ambiguity, and elements of normalcy.

With these realities in mind, I offer focused reflections on the ideas that struck me most during the conference and a few ideas on how they might add value to your work. As always, we don’t want to get all esoteric here. It’s about actionable steps for internationalization and diverse student experiences that take us all forward, together, with vision.

Enrollment management is complex. The tools available to help us can be confusing. Read to the end of this post for some very tangible advice from 4 international students who spoke at the conference.

More learning ahead

We hope you will be joining us at NAFSA 2022 in Denver this Spring. We will be sharing 3 forward-thinking presentations and a poster session. We are honored to co-present with colleagues from Benedict College, San Diego State University, Clark University, Northeastern University, CIEE, ICEF, and GNET. More details on those in future posts.

More immediately, read on for reflections and action items from AIEA 2022...

Wrapping up 2021 was no easy feat. We’ve seen student enrollment numbers fall, rise, and flatten with the evolving worldwide pandemic that is COVID-19. More than a few in our field are burned out and trying hard to muster the energy to figure out how to bring their students the best experience possible.

We’re right there with you, wherever you are. Time to turn our focus to what we’ve learned from our recent experiences. Settle in for a Q4 wrap up of the info that can help you shape your 2022-23 plans. From strategy to tactics like chatbots and student recruitment platforms we know all of this will be up your ally.

You are welcome here.

DEI efforts to address inclusion.

These are big concepts that deserve big discussions on campuses everywhere. Discussions with senior leaders setting policies and developing programs to make everyone on campus feel involved and connected.

And to make all that happen, that feeling of being welcome and included, will rely on some of the small things that often are met with eye rolls. Yet, these small things are really important to this whole inclusion effort.

You know that inside joke and the trendy celebrity stuff you are not on top of? The conversation that just kind of left you like roadkill as it blew right by? Maybe silly. Perhaps kind of uncomfortable. Happens to all of us. And it happens to your new students frequently. Domestic, yes. International, all the time.

If you think small talk is meaningless, think again.

In our work for a large, highly ranked Midwestern institution, we were talking with Pham (not his real name). He traveled from Vietnam for his US studies. A natural networker, smart, interested in business, he chose to major in Business Management Information Systems and Finance. With that degree, it is no wonder he was snapped up by Deloitte where he currently works as a Senior Consultant in Tax Management.

To hear Pham tell it, connecting to the US community with small talk was critical to his success. He came to understand this during his studies as he tried to connect with the other international students and with his American peers. He found he was struggling to make friends.

Read on for Pham's perspective and our tips for getting these really important conversations started. It is all about personal and student success. 

When Vice President Harris said, “Your nation is SO proud of you,” to a group of 20 Frederick Douglass Global Fellows, you could not have found more inspired university students anywhere. Absolutely anywhere. Their eyes said it all.

International education speaks deeply to all of us. And yet it remains inaccessible to so many. What we know is that roughly 6% of US students participating in study abroad are Black. How to make this privilege and opportunity available to many, many more?

Intead’s international team has been deeply honored to work alongside our colleagues at CIEE on an inspired and inspiring project – a concerted effort to bring the opportunity of international education, experiential education, to more BIPOC students. In just a few months, we’ve watched this effort draw pledges from dozens of university presidents who have matched CIEE’s scholarship funding to allow more students to experience the power of international education.

As the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship barrels forward with applications for 2022 now open, we bring you this bottle of inspiration — a 5 minute film featuring the perspectives and experiences of the 2021 cohort. This will lift your spirits and get you thinking.

To hear Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, president of Benedict College tell it, this program offers a lot and demands just as much back from the students who participate. Frederick Douglass Global Fellows and Scholars have a responsibility to share what they’ve learned as they become leaders in their chosen fields. To be, as one Frederick Douglass Global Fellow put it, “the first of many.”

We are gratified to see university presidents not just encouraging, but taking real action — signing up to catalyze their DEI initiatives in a valuable and visible way through this program. Will your institution be next? 

Read on to watch the film and hear from these future change-makers.