Bring on the Coffee – Enrollment Managers Aren’t Sleeping, Either
I’ve blogged previously about what’s keeping admissions and recruitment directors and financial aid directors up at night. Since these areas are part of the overall enrollment management umbrella, you can probably assume that anything on either of those lists is also contributing to agita and sleeplessness for Chief Enrollment Officers as well. However, enrollment folks face some special – and additional – pressures that may not always impact admissions or financial aid administrators. And, for many EM chiefs, it may be important that these things not filter down to other staff, as they obviously have plenty to worry about all night as it is.
However, if you’re at the top of the ladder for enrollment at your institution, or wondering why your boss (the VPEM) looks like they could use a week’s vacation right about now, read on and see what’s making folks turn on the bedside light on at 3 am rather than rolling over and catching some more zzzzzz’s…
- Pressure to find ways to get more students to complete their education (from general public, legislators, current students and parents, alumni) – national average of 60% achieving a degree in 6 years is not high enough, yet for some schools, 60% may seem like the impossible dream
- Making sure the educational experience that’s delivered matches the expectations created during the recruitment/enrollment cycle
- Facilities & classroom management – are there enough physical spaces in classes/labs for all the students who want to attend or are enrolled?
- Potential decreases in students (high school, adult, graduate) in your region or service area, coupled with budget cuts and possible tuition increases
- Trying to figure out if online or distance education makes sense for your institution – and whether you can find faculty willing and able to teach, administrators who can run the program, and the marketing dollars needed to get students’ attention
- Dealing with the costs for providing increasing services to address students’ needs (counseling, tutoring, medical, technological, social, etc.)
- Pricing pressure – costs for all aspects of higher education continue to rise, but increasing the tuition and fees may price your institution out of its core market or lead to ridicule for being out-of-touch with the economic circumstances of students and families
- Need-blind? Need-aware? Need a Valium?
- Balancing the need to drive more decisions according to data and projections, meet revenue and expenditure goals, and still not lose sight of the ‘human’ or personal aspects of the job – when all is said and done, it’s supposed to be about the students, right?
- Keeping up with the Joneses, part I- or the institution across town that just built a $40 million fitness facility, luxury apartment residence halls, and guaranteed parking for four years
- Keeping up with the Joneses, part II – every institution but yours seems to have added the latest, hottest, sexiest and most-talked about academic majors…or at least the ones that relate most closely to the newest, hottest, sexiest and most talked-about TV shows
- Dealing with an increasing need to demonstrate the efficiency and soundness of the educational process for legislators, accreditation bodies, funders (in for-profit sector), parents, the media, etc.
- Figuring out how to engage with a wide range of students via a multitude of communication platforms – especially for on-line institutions
- Three words: Board of Trustees
- Constantly need to evaluate technology advances to find ways to improve services and reduce costs
- “Gainful employment” – whether you’re with a for-profit school or not, students and families (and others) increasingly want to know the outcomes of the students who attend – how many graduated? How many found jobs or went to professional/graduate school? How much debt do students accumulate and are they able to pay it off?
- Reduced staff – positions aren’t replaced, the staff you have are forced to take furlough days
- Helicopter/Stealth Bomber/Special Forces-trained parents
- Being second-guessed – by everyone
Go ahead, pour another latte. It’s going to be a long night.
