Transfer Enrollment:
Maximize Yield, Minimize Melt
Jennifer Chadwick
Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management
February 4, 2015
Welcome
• Introductions
• Name
• Institution
What do you hope to gain from this workshop?
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Background
Began career in admissions – recruiter
17 Years ago – Georgia Southern University
Admissions Recruiter
Transfer Coordinator
Assistant Director of Admissions
Homeland Security – detour
UNG –Associate Director of Admissions
Interim Director of Admissions
Director of Admissions
Associate Vice President EM
UNG – Who Are We?
Consolidation of North Georgia College & State
University and Gainesville State College: Jan 2013
16,500 students
Four campuses:
Cumming
Dahlonega
Gainesville
Oconee
UNG – Who Are We?
UNG – Who Are We?
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University System of Georgia
Leadership institution
The Military College of Georgia
State’s sixth-largest public university
Associate to baccalaureate to doctorate
UNG
• Never missed an enrollment goal
• Positioned UNG as 3rd highest entering
freshman class average in USG
• Grew enrollment by 41% (1,861) from 4,552
in 2004 to 6,413 in 2012
• Grew enrollment by 6.6% (992) from 15,072
in 2012 to 16,064 in 2014
• Only consolidated institution to show an
enrollment increase
UNG
• UNG led enrollment growth state universities
3.9%
• 31 USG institutions, UNG achieved the 4th
largest increase in enrollment following:
Georgia Gwinnett’s 11.4%
Georgia Tech’s 7.6%
Kennesaw’s 4.4%
Percent Change in FTE
• UNG also led FTE increase of all state
universities: 4.7%
• UNG achieved the 3rd largest increase in FTE
of ALL 31 USG institutions following: Georgia
Gwinnett College with 10.8%, Georgia
Institute of Technology with 4.9.
• Of the four newly consolidated institutions,
UNG had the only increase in FTE
Headcount by Sector, 2005 -2014
2005
2009
2013
2014
10 Year % 5 Year %
Change
Change
1 Year %
Change
Research
Universities
79347
88595
97167
99391
25.3%
12.2%
2.3%
Comprehensi
ve
Universities
55895
65366
68959
70025
25.4%
7.1%
1.5%
State
Universities
52305
61581
66091
66015
26.2%
7.2%
-0.1%
UNG
10750
14453
15455
16064
49%
34%
3.9%
State and
Two-Year
Colleges
66041
86350
77252
77505
17.4%
-10.2%
.3%
University
System Total
253552
301892
309469
312936
23.4%
3.7%
1.1%
Note: State and Two-Year were consolidated by USG due to sector changes.
UNG enrollment numbers reflect NGCSU and GSC totals.
UNG – Who Are We?
Fall 2014 – 16,508 Drop/Add
Enrollment: 16,064 Census
Gender: 56% Female, 44% Male
Full-Time: 68%
Undergraduate: 15,507 (97%)
-Associate: 6,709 (43%)
-Baccalaureate: 8,798 (57%)
-Graduate: 557 (3%)
Key to Successful Enrollment
Building Relationships
Must be at the center of
everything you do!
Today’s Workshop
• Establishing enrollment goals that work for
your institution
• Identify resources to support your transfers
• Marketing and message: high touch to high
tech
• Conversion from acceptance to enrolled
• Focus student success-persistence to
graduation
To talk about transfers – need to understand
who they are…….
Transfer Facts
1/3 of all college students transfer before
earning a degree – National Student Clearinghouse Research Center
37% of students transfer second year of
college (FYE – 2nd yr retention – focus)
22% transfer later (fourth or fifth year)
43% transfer from a 4-year to a 2-year
-Noel-Levitz
Transfers: Who Are They???
“A student who has attended a college or
university and plans to continue his or her
education at a different two- or four- year
institution.”
-Poisel & Joseph, 2011
Transfers
Who are they and what are they thinking??
Why do they transfer?
Transfer by design: planned on transferring,
earn associate first, not admissible so began
at second choice, began close to home
Transfer by default: forced to transfer due to
academics, need to be closer to home,
financial constraints, “don’t fit in”
UNG Transfers
• Over 5 year period from Fall 2007 to Fall
2012: Increased new transfer enrollment by
16%
• Post consolidation, transfer enrollment
increased by 110%, include transitioning
student, 200%
What did we do to assist transfers? Rapid
growth?
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UNG Transfers
Nighthawk transition program
Not Admissible – clear pathway to you
university – lay it out step by step
Give them a plan that brings them to you
Not Admissible bacc – auto accept assoc –
not admissible for selective adm – auto
accept summer
Transfer Institute - events
Transfer Orientation
Commuter events
Non-trad events
Maximizing Yield
Establishing enrollment goals that work for your
institution (Has your institution established
enrollment goals for transfer students?)
• Transfer enrollment goals/enrollment funnel
• Benchmarks for meeting these goals
• Proactive and reactive
• Take risks when necessary
• Tell me about your enrollment goals,
tracking, recruitment tactics??
Transfer Enrollment Funnel
Transfer Enrollment Funnel
Recruiting Transfers
• Transfers tend to be overlooked: marketing
and recruitment
• Transfer are no longer a “bonus”-focused
• Intensifying competition; look beyond
traditional methods
• Puzzling: How do we recruit them?
• Where do we find them??
Recruiting Transfers
• Intentional Recruitment; stop waiting for
them to come to you
• Satellite campuses and online offerings can
be a big draw: What is your draw? Are you
using it? Marketing it?
• Cost of attendance, financial aid available,
time to degree completion and career
advancement
Recruiting Transfers
• “Keeping in mind that these students don’t
follow one single path to the application
process and often aren’t exposed to key
messaging received by high school students,
your website may be their first contact with
your university to determine whether you
are transfer friendly.” –Higher Education Marketing
• Do you have a transfer section on your
website? Are you transfer friendly?
Recruiting Transfers
• Are you transfer friendly?
• How easy is it to transfer to your institution?
• Challenges?
Recruiting Transfers
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Transfer College Fairs 
Transfer Search Lists 
Transfer graduates from your feeders 
“Eagles on the Road”  Visitation to decision
Transfer visitation tours/days – mini open
house 
• Transfer sessions at open house 
• Transfer equivalency sessions 
Recruiting Transfers
• Recruit your transfers back to you  - if they
didn’t return to you – UNG comm plan
• Stop Outs – Still active students who haven’t
registered in one or more semesters – Do not
leave these students out of your comm plan
• Drop Outs – stopped out of USG institution
and now live in your region
• Multi-campus or multi-degree levels –
associate to bacc – recruit YOUR students or
someone else will
Communication
Marketing and message: high touch
• Meaningful, purposeful communication – key
• What do transfer students need to know?
• Do not use your general/freshmen comm
plan?
• ALL should evoke emotion and an action to
be taken by the student
• All should include direction and next steps
Communication
• Think outside of the box
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiCbfSXoftI
&index=1&list=PL5E4992FF777A9EA8
Communication
• Which courses transfer? – Go beyond
• These courses transfer – here’s how they fit
into our core – based on your major, you
have “X” number of courses to graduation
• Create a clear pathway
• Communicate options: early morning classes,
evening classes, online, credit for testing
• Cost? Childcare? Housing? Employment?
Tutoring? Anticipated graduation?
Communication
Marketing and message: high tech
• Never abandon “in hand” marketing
materials for all high tech – major mistake
• Viewbooks, transfer guide, scholarships
• High tech – “Smart” communication plan
• Group Mail Pro – Old method – content
• DemandEngine – email conversation plan
• Conversation flow emails that respond to
student actions
• Track and assess effectiveness
Communication
Marketing and message: high tech
• Social media – FB, Twitter, YouTube,
Instagram, texting, texting, texting
• Dates and deadlines email – allows students
to sync dates to their calendars
• You send reminders but reminders are set on
their calendars too
• Call center – transfers calling transfers
• Anxious – quick turnaround time
Communication
Time to decision
Assess how long from application to decision
Do you know?
• Application to completion
• Completion to decision
• Decision to confirmation/enrollment
Where can you make adjustments?
Monitor your yield/improvement
Matriculation
Conversion from acceptance to enrolled
• You’ve accepted 400 transfers – YAY!
• NO – not YAY!! They haven’t enrolled
• They SWIRL!!
• Communication from acceptance to
confirmation to matriculation is just as
important as initial communication
• Do your universities communicate with
transfer accepts? How? Effective?
Matriculation
Do your universities communicate
with transfers after accepts?
How?
Effective?
Resources to Support
Identify resources to support your transfers
• Connect them with a person – advisor,
professor, staff – but connect them
• Transfer welcome center/event – resources
• After they transfer, they are YOUR student
– refrain from forever referring to them as
transfers
• Comm Plan – focus on tutoring services,
clubs, organizations, athletics
Reverse Transfer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZn4mKzsLY
• Fosters and strengthens institutional
relationships (Reverse transfer
agreements)
• Increases retention rate
• Boosts degree completion rate which directly
effects performance based funding model
Persistence to Graduation
Tools
Nighthawk registration
Ad Astra Study- Phases – Planning
Degree Audit