Category: Article Archives

Bill Firman Dean of Admission Wesley College In February 2008 Wesley College purchased 100,000 names of high school juniors who had taken the SAT. These students were sent a ?personalized URL card? [PURL]. This? ard was a slightly larger-than-postcard- sized, high-gloss photo of a cell phone with a? ersonalized message on the screen saying, ?Hi, [first name]! You have 1 message, from? Wesley College?. On the reverse were instructions for going to their own personalized Wesley web site: firstname.lastname.@wesley.com. From that site, students were provided with links to 15 different points of interest on the Wesley web site [financial aid, […]

David Ruderman Vice President of Education Marketing Greenwood & Hall You are thinking about expanding your degree programs online? Or,? you are thinking of starting online degree programs. The research has been completed showing an opportunity in the marketplace due to economic times or to meet unmet demand. Back-end systems are in place for delivery of instruction. The enrollment management and marketing teams have been tasked to develop marketing plans and related back-end systems to generate and follow-up on leads. Basically the same process that would be employed for the introduction of any new program at your institution, right? Possibly […]

John W. Dysart President The Dysart Group, Inc. Mary Hendry, the Vice President for Enrollment at Roosevelt University in Chicago,was featured in an article in this publication one year ago and I have had the pleasure of working with her the last two cycles. With the support of the President, Dr. Charles Middleton, and the Board of Trustees, Mary managed the implementation of a new recruitment model last year that resulted in a 70% increase in new freshmen, a 38% increase in new transfer students and the largest number of full-time undergraduate students in the history of the University. This […]

John W. Dysart President The Dysart Group, Inc. Dr. William Johnston came to Wesley College in Dover, Deleware, after a successful term as President at Iowa Wesleyan College, where he posted the largest number of freshmen enrollments in at least thirty years, despite demographic and economic impediments. I had consulted with Dr. Johnston at Iowa Wesleyan College and he contacted me to assist in growing the enrollment at Wesley while taking steps to improve academic quality. Dr. Johnston began his tenure during a time of exceptional economic barriers. The recession, credit crunch, drop in the stock market, corporate bankruptcies and […]

John W. Dysart President The Dysart Group, Inc. Dr. Gary Streit sought to make a difference when he recently began his Presidency at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. He took on an institution with a distinct mission, an excellent location, broad and high quality academic programs and a long history of educating students in a Christian tradition. He tapped an experienced administrator from his previous institution, Brock Schroeder, to oversee a change in recruitment and financial aid and secured the counsel of The Dysart Group, Inc. to assist with the research and analysis necessary to propose and implement a new […]

John W. Dysart President The Dysart Group, Inc. Dr. Jack Calareso has never been afraid of a challenge. He has a record of literally transforming colleges and universities by growing enrollment, expanding academic and co-curricular offerings, growing physical plants and improving academic quality. I had provided enrollment management consultation services to Dr. Calareso at his two previous schools were he was able to reposition and succesfully market them for new economic realities and changing demographics. I looked forward to a collaboration to take another college to the next level. As the new President at Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts, […]

John W. Dysart President The Dysart Group, Inc. While many colleges and universities have experienced enrollment declines as competition for students increases and the economy sours. Dr. Carol Seavor of Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke, Virginia has overseen unprecedented growth. I began working with Dr. Seavor toward the end of 2003. An enrollment audit was conducted to examine practices and procedures with an eye toward recommending strategies that would enable academic program expansion, net revenue increases and enrollment growth. A new pricing model was introduced that doubled the charge for tuition in a single cycle. The financial aid […]

John W. Dysart President The Dysart Group, Inc. As the first female President in the history of Ferrum College in Ferrum, Virginia, Dr. Jennifer Braaten has presided over a period of unprecedented growth. The number of admission applications has increased significantly while new student enrollments have grown. When Dr. Braaten started at Ferrum in 2002, the College enrolled approximately 925 students. The College will pass the 1,400 mark for total enrollment this year, which means total enrollment has grown more than 50% during her tenure! Passing this milestone during one of the most difficult economic periods in decades is and […]

Michael A. Kapin, Ph.D. Researcher Managing recruitment efforts in a private or proprietary college or university has always been a challenge. In today’s uncertain economic climate, it is critical that every qualified student be given the opportunity to lear n the attributes of your school in order to make matriculation a reality. The mortgage crisis, corporate bankruptcies, factory and company closings, the scarcity of credit, stock market declines, layoffs and rising unemployment have created an environment where the benefits of post-secondary education are more difficult to explain and the costs are a much more determining consideration for students and their […]

Dr. Douglas Spadaro President David Waggoner Vice President Premier Communications Evaluating the Search Utilizing personal URLs (PURLs) greatly facilitates the response process. As noted in part two of this article, keying a personal URL (PURL) into a browser opens a website that contains information about your institution. The website also includes an Information Request Contact Form which the card recipient can use to express interest in your institution. Basic information in the form – name, address, city, state and zip – is typically pre-populated. This is both a customer service (it saves the prospective student the need to key in […]