A NEW STRUCTURE?
Reorganizing Enrollment Management to Achieve
Institutional Goals through Focus and Efficiency
Dr. Brent A. Gage, Associate Provost
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
SEM Session: 681
 Session Description:
Restructuring can be a challenging task, but if done
correctly can create efficiencies and increase
productivity which result in positive outcomes.
This session will discuss strategies to compare current
institutional goals with organizational structures in
place in a effort to align resources toward measurable
outcomes.
 Topics will include: staffing, organizational reporting,
operational efficiency and the development of metrics to
measure progress toward goals.
Session Outline
 Why are you the way you are?
 Staffing
 Organizational reporting
 What are your primary goals?
 Grow, control, manage or reduce enrollment
 Increase retention and graduation rate
 Operational efficiency and cost savings
 High Levels of Customer Service
 Transformation of Mission
 How do you develop metrics to measure progress
 The process of on-going decision making
Exercise
 Take out a piece of paper
 Write down the two most important goals of your role and
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how you are measured.
In your office, unit, area, etc., how many staff do you have
whose sole purpose is to achieve the goals you have written
above?
How many staff do you have that have a function in your
office, but it is outside of the primary goals?
List the reasons for using resources to accomplish things that
are not helping you to achieve your primary goals.
How can these functions be done differently and more
efficiently to help you redirect efforts?
Assessment vs. Show and Tell
 My approach to this session is not to tell you a story
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about UAB…
What are some methods of assessing your
organization?
Where is there duplication of service or function?
How can resources be aligned with goals, strategies
and priorities?
Are staff members in positions that match their
strengths and expertise?
How can you improve the level of service and support
for your students?
Assessing your organization
 Primary Goals:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Increase the number of
incoming freshmen
Enroll more Alabama
Community College
Students
Develop an international
recruitment plan
Provide students with a
higher level of customer
service
Increase the rate of student
retention and graduation
•Existing Structure:
1. Undergraduate
Admissions had multiple
roles
2. No one was in charge
3. Active international
recruitment has not
occurred in over 10 years
4. The “Blazer Shuffle” was
in full effect
5. Students were dependent
on advisors or other staff
for guidance.
Assessing your organization
 What functions or services have “found” their way into your
operation over time?
 Management of an off-site museum
 Coordinated support services for New Horizons
 Hosting English Conversation Classes for the Community
 Managing duplicate records in the Student Information System
 Hosting the annual Parents Club cook-out during Homecoming
 Providing housing and linens for visiting scholars
 Providing data to anyone at anytime without established
priorities
 Coordinating student organization advisement
 Managing a pre-payment plan that serves 8 students
Assessing your organization
 Critical elements of the process of assessment
 It is NOT about the people in the roles
 It cannot be done well in a piecemeal fashion
 For every negative there should be a positive
 What makes the most sense to the students and
campus community
 When given multiple responsibilities, which will be
done at a high level
 Eliminate silos through trust and communication
 Put people in position to be successful through clearly
articulated goals that play to their strengths
Avoiding Duplication
 Duplication leads to waste and inefficiency
 Five staff members in five separate offices responsible for
scanning and indexing documents
 Transfer recruitment efforts relied on another unit for
information on course articulation
 English conversation courses were being offered by ELCI,
Graduate School and the Master’s Program in ESL
 Both the Registrar and Academic Programs and Policies
Office had processed for reviewing catalog content
 Nine different staff members planned off-campus
receptions or events in the same year
 Several forms required signature approval from up to four
different offices
Aligning with Goals
 GOAL: Increase the Number of incoming freshmen
So how do you achieve that goal?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Remove processing from Admissions and create Enrollment
Management Operations
Create a Transfer Center that combines all Transfer Functions
Created New Student Programs to manage campus visits,
event planning and orientation
Create a full-time position to leverage the full functionality of
the CRM to provide analytics to drive decision making
Remove responsibility for readmission, transient and nondegree students to Operations.
Aligning with Goals
 GOAL: Increase the Number of incoming freshmen
So how do you achieve that goal?
Centralize all communications in Enrollment Management to
one operations to ensure brand and message consistency.
7. Eliminate admissions staff members responsibility during
Summer Orientation
8. Review 3rd party expenditures and re-direct funding to
resources that would generate inquiries
9. Manage web-sites centrally with evolving content based on
the point in the cycle.
10. Through savings, added three additional recruitment staff
6.
Aligning with Goals
 GOAL: Enroll More Community College Students
So how do you achieve that goal?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Create a Transfer Center that combines all Transfer Functions
Develop joint admission programs with area community
colleges
Centralized articulation services through the Transfer Center
Assigned transfer recruitment staff and select advisors to
maintain an office presence at area community colleges
Automate course articulation through work flow system
Through savings, added two additional transfer recruitment
staff
Aligning with Goals
 GOAL: Develop and International Recruitment Plan
So how do you achieve that goal?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Partner with Student Life to manage the advisement of
International Student Support Organizations
Worked with Housing to provide short-term housing options for
students
Combined administrative support position and facility manager
position
Worked with the Graduate Program in ELS to provide
conversational English courses
Turned management of the off-campus museum over to campus
facilities
Through savings, added an Associate Director of International
Recruitment with a strong background in recruitment
Aligning with Goals
 GOAL: Improve the level of student customer service
So how do you achieve that goal?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Created a One-Stop for student services located centrally in the
Student Center
Reduced the number of service points to direct students to the OneStop
Transitioned paper forms and processes to on-line resources that
students could access 24X7
Worked in a collaborative fashion to have staff from key areas assist
in the One-Stop during peak periods
Had One-Stop Counselors set up at move-in to assist with student
questions
Developed goal of responding to all messages within 24 hours
Aligning with Goals
 GOAL: Increase Retention and Graduation
So how do you achieve that goal?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Made the Registrar whole by combining two units
Invested in a fully functioning degree audit system and on-line
catalog
Created an entirely on-line early alert system that is user friendly
and connects alerts to advisors
Communications director developed messages for students deemed
at risk based on multiple indicators
Developed a standardized class schedule
Provided academic schools and departments lists of enrolled
students who were close to graduation within the 6-year window
New Opportunities
 GOAL: Increase Enrollment
What do you discover along the way?
 Recruiting Veterans and their dependents Military Bases
 Those currently serving and those returning from active duty
 All military reserve components
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National Guard
Reserve Units, all branches
Military Hospitals
VA Resource Centers and Hospitals
 On-Line Offerings
 Develop a high level of service and a Veteran friendly campus
environment
 Number of enrolled students receiving Veteran’s benefits increase
by over 100 in fall 2012
New Opportunities
 GOAL: Increase Enrollment
What do you discover along the way?
 Development of a Social Media team
 Specialized app that only allows admitted UAB students to join the
facebook community
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Introduced in January 2011
1,702 - admitted students joined the community
12,482 - student posts and 937 – questions asked
1,825 – student conversations
Monitored by 27 current UAB students
 Campaign Specific landing sites within facebook
 Active Twitter monitoring and posting
 Student portal with information relative to processes and content based
on interests
How can you assess your campus?
 Large Scale Assessment
 UAB had gone through a true transformation
 A full scale restructuring was required
 Review of best practices
 Internal assessment by a small leadership team
 External assessment by an outside consultant
 Support of the administration
 A comprehensive written plan and rationale document
 Small Scale Assessment
 How can you follow the same process?
 Best practice does not depend on scope of the assessment
Measuring Outcomes
 The new allocation of resources should have clear
measures:
 Prospect pool development
 Inquiry conversion
 Scope of travel
 Savings through data driven decision making
 “Admissionizing” the Financial Aid Process
 Turnaround time in processing
 Development of priorities based on importance of outcome
 Changing the conversation within the Enrollment
Management leadership team
 What impact will this have on __________?
Guiding Principles
Doing the same thing and expecting different results…
 In order to facilitate change you must do the following:
Make leadership and key constituents aware of the current
structure
2. Validate common understanding of key goals
3. Create a vision of how an the goals could ideally be achieved
4. Compare the current mode of operation with the vision that you
have shared
5. Provide process measures that will be in place after changes are
made
6. Create a high level of buy in and support
1.
1.
-Teach leadership across campus the key talking
changes being made.
points that support the
International Strategy
 Actively recruit undergraduate and graduate
students.
 Promote English language training and
conditional admission opportunities.
 Develop key markets based upon:
 Governmentally sponsored scholarships
 National placement programs
 Capacity for market growth
 Leveraging key contacts that exist at UAB
 12% increase in new international students in 2012
Change is hard.
 Change involves people and is never easy
 Work to find landing spots for displaced staff when possible
 Collaborate and negotiate with colleagues to manage displaced
functions
 Prepare for snipers
 Once the changes have been made present your vision for the
future to anyone who will listen
 Provide progress updates
 Find avenues to demonstrate the outcomes of the change
 Link goal achievement to new structure
 Champion new staff and functions that were created as a result
of change
 Don’t fall in love with an idea, but give them time to work
Questions…
Contact information:
Brent A. Gage, Ph.D.
Associate Provost for Enrollment Management
University of Alabama at Birmingham
bgage@uab.edu