EduMusings

At Personify Education, the Intelliworks Users Conference, back in July 2008, Luis Casas, Director of Marketing and Recruiting at FIU Business, gave a great presentation on marketing higher education programs to today’s students: “Branding and Recruiting for a Web 2.0 Generation.” In the presentation, Luis paraphrased the famous quote of Mahatma Ghandi by pointing out:

If Ghandi 1.0 said: “Wherever you are, be there.”  

Then Ghandi 2.0 would say: “Wherever THEY are, be there.”

His point is clear: successful marketing of any academic program (or any offering for that matter) in today’s world requires a shift away from the traditional “build it and they will come” mentality.  Rather, institutions need to be accessible.  They need to actively access prospective students, and establish a purposeful connection with those prospective students.

I was reminded of this concept on Friday, when the Associated Press printed the story“More Colleges Expected to Offer Online Interviews.”  The story focused on Wake Forest University, which implemented a pilot program beginning in May to offer online interviews via webcam.  Wake Forest has long been considered a technology leader among colleges and universities and the article does a good job of laying out the pros and cons of the technology and its current adoption profile.

However, what I found most interesting about Wake Forest’s approach had nothing to do with technology.  It had everything to do with people – Wake Forest has clearly figured out that it wants to establish personalized relationships with anyone who is interested in attending the institution.  And webcam interviews are just one more way to individualize the experience.        

According to David Hawkins, public policy director for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, “Looking ahead, colleges will try to pursue the kind of technology that will create a personal approach to the admission process.”

His comments are certainly something to keep in mind while planning online and email recruitment efforts: behind every click there is a face.  

Individual students have individual needs. Are you taking the time to get to know them? How can you address those needs efficiently without taxing your staff and resources?  Wake Forest’s approach is one good way of taking on this challenge.