Community College at at Crossroads:

Community College at a Crossroads

Staying True While Serving New Audiences1

Im Bruce Peoples of Peoples Marketing Insights , and Id like to introduce to you Patty Brown, the Director of Marketing & Communications at Chattanooga StateCommunity College.

Today we are going to talk about a Community College at a crossroads staying true while serving new audiences

1Founded 1965 Rooted in its technical school heritageTechnical Certificates, GEDs, Associate DegreesFrom Diesel Mechanics to Nursing to pre-EducationDominates its trading area13,000 students

2

Chattanooga State Community College [Patty] For those of you who may be thinking of Chatooga, Chattahoochee, or similarly-named places.: Chattanooga, TN, is halfway between Atlanta to the south, and Nashville to the north. It sits on the border of TN and GA , and Chattanooga State Community College serves the greater Chattanooga/North GA area.Students that live in GA, in counties that border TN, are allowed to pay in-state tuition.

Chatt State, as it is often referred to, was originally a technical school with a mission of training students for technical fields. The school offers one-year technical certificates, GEDs, and several 2-year Associate Degrees. It has a strong presence in the Chattanooga area, with over 13,000 students among a population of 350,000 that equates to a penetration rate of almost 4% of the local population attending the school. It also partners with the private sector: for example, with companies like Volkswagen well talk more about that later.2community college means ...Open admissionsServing diverse audiencesHigh School gradsAdults Business communityAffordableConvenientAccreditedState funded

3

The community in community college means the school is a resource to many different constituencies. - Open admissions means the school accepts just about anyone, regardless of educational ability.- High School grads come in two sizes:- Those who attend for 1-2 years and earn a certificate or Associate Degree, that prepares them for a job or a career in a specific field.- And, those who see Chatt State as a stepping stone to a 4-year degree or university. They may not be ready for a university; they might needremedial or developmental learning; or dont have the financial means; or they are simply trying to figure out what they want to do in life.The school serves adults 18-35 looking to improve themselves or their careersAnd as I mentioned with Volkswagen, the school partners with local businesses who sometimes are global corporationsThe school is affordable: tuition is much lower than UT-Chattanooga or the University of Tennessee, or private colleges; the majority of the student body receives financial aid.The school is convenient: Nearly all students commute back and forth to their classesChatt State is accredited by the same accrediting organization that accredits all major universities in the Southeast And, The school receives most of its funding from the state; 3The Situation4

4Tremendous growth5Chatt State has seen tremendous growth in enrollments in recent years, from 8,500 in 2005 to 13,000 today. This growth has been driven by factors beyond the schools control, such as a changing economy;and by factors under the schools control, such as the addition of new programs and new areas of study.5growth Driven by...Weak economy Adults retooling, seeking new skillsFamilies looking for more affordable path to college degreeStrong programs and new partnerships Volkswagen AcademyNursing and Allied HealthTwo Plus Two

E-learning6

BA degreeThe growth in enrollments has been driven by several factors.The weak economy has increased enrollment. As more adults lost their jobs, they sought new skills or a new degree to improve theirchances in the job market.Similarly, families with college-bound children, whose parents may have lost a job, were now looking for the most affordable college option available and that would be a community college.

In 2008 Volkswagen announced it was going to build a new manufacturing plant in the Chattanooga area a billion dollar investment creating 2,000 new jobs.They chose Chatt State to develop and run Volkswagen Academy, to train all of their new workers.This partnership raised awareness of the school and has had a positive halo effect on the schools image. In a crumbling economy, Chatt State was offering signs of optimism, opportunities, and jobs.

A strong Health Sciences program - which includes nursing, radiology, and dental hygiene - has seen increases in enrollments, as that is one sector of the economy that has proven recession-resilient. To support this growth, the school invested in a new, $4million Allied Health instruction building.

Chatt State has developed several innovative programs. These include the 2 Plus 2 program, a partnership between Chatt State and TN Tech, where students can earn a a bachelors degree in Elementary Education on the Chatt State campus.

Lastly, enrollment in the schools online classes has also generated growth. E-learning now offers over 500 courses, 150 unique to Chatt State.

6State Changes Funding FORMULAPre-2010: Funding based on number enrolledStrategy: Attract more studentsOpen front door7

Chatt state receives $40million each year from the State of TN to run its operations.That number is based on the number of students enrolled on the 14th day of the first semester.This formula influenced the strategy of maximizing the number of students enrolled, and not too much concern for number who dropped out.The funding formula did not encourage strong incentives to keep students enrolled or retain them - to graduate. 7State Changes Funding FORMULA2010 and beyond: Funding based on number who graduateStrategy: Attract, retain, and graduate more students

8

Now: the State will pay the school on the number of students who graduate. In a given year, Chatt State may start with XXXX students and end with XXXX a lossof x,xxx students. That equates to a significant loss in funding under the new formula. So new strategies are needed to address this, but before wedevelop a new strategy to address this, we need to know: why do students drop out?

8Chatt State at a crossroads: growth Must be targeted Growth must be targeted to specific segments, not just overall.Dr. Jim Catanzaro, President, October, 2010.9

We met with the President and one of the things he pointed out was, Growth must be targeted to specific segments, not just overall.

9Crossroads Need answers before moving on10Tremendous growthSome programs at capacityNursing, health-relatedNew programs workingNew funding formula: retention

Who?

How?

What?

Why?

The strategic challenges defined the questions

The President put in plain language the questions that needed to be answered in order to develop new growth strategies.Who are our students now? How are they different from 10 years ago?How do students decide what school to attend? What are they looking for? Why do they go where they go?What do they hope to gain from school?What do they think of Chatt State? Its programs? Its reputation?What should we be saying to them? What are the reasons for dropping out (retention)?In brief, we need to more fully understand our constituents wants, needs, and expectations; and perceptions of the school, before we can develop new strategies to evolve from an Attract and Enroll model to an Attract and Retain model. 10The Research Approach11

Bruce to read11objectivesAssess overall awareness, attitudes and perceptions among constituent groups about Chattanooga State Explore the decision-making processExplore the strengths and weaknesses of its communicationsAdvertisingWebsite

Learn about the e-learning program Dig into the root causes of retention12

Bruce to readPatty developed some clear research objectives including:Assess overall awareness, attitudes and perceptions among constituent groups about Chattanooga State Explore the decision-making process: what do prospective students think about when deciding where to go? what are their criteria?Explore the strengths and weaknesses of its communicationsThe school has been running the Ask Joe Advertising campaign for over a decade. What do students really think about it? Does it resonate?WebsiteLearn about the e-learning program: what makes it attractive to the school is, you can add capacity without a significant increase in cost Dig into the root causes of retention

12GraduatesOnline ProspectsHigh SchoolCounselorsCurrent StudentsOnline CurrentOnline Drop-outsProspects:HSAdultsWe identified all constituencies1313One of the fascinating elements of this study is discovering the many constituent groups that Chatt State serves. Patty and her team identified many groups from whom we wanted to hear. Prospective students are still the primary target audience and fall into three subgroups:High School students, who themselves fall into two groups:Those who want to get in and out in 2 years or less, and get a jobThose who are using Chatt State as an stepping stone onto a 4-year degree, for example, at UT Chattanooga or UT Knoxville. Adults, 18-35, some of whom have been out in the work force, often are married with children, and have full-or part time jobs.We also wanted to get feedback from all phases of the school process, so that led to talking to:Current students, who have gone through the decision-making process and can provide insights on the transition from expectations to realityGraduates, who have the advantage of hindsight, and can talk about how well Chatt State prepared them for the working worldWe also wanted to include counselors. From a marketing research perspective, they are the gatekeepers who have a strong influence on where their students go to college; sort of like Doctors are in pharma marketing.

In the online world, we wanted to talk to current students, prospective students, and those who dropped out, as online learning has a higher drop out rate thantraditional classroom learning.GraduatesOnline ProspectsHigh SchoolCounselorsCurrent StudentsOnline Drop-outsCurrentOnline

Prospects:HSAdultsWE organized Them into Related Groups1414We then kind of re-organized the various groups to provide some structure to our ultimate choices of methodology. In the middle column we have the continuum of students from prospects to graduates;on the left we have counselors who influence prospective high schoolers and recently influenced current studentsand on the right we have online studentsGraduatesOnline ProspectsHigh SchoolCounselorsCurrent StudentsOnline Drop-outsCurrentOnline

Prospects:HSAdultsWe Selected a methodology to Match the groups 15Focus GroupsOnline Bulletin Board1-on-1s15We then brainstormed on what methodologies would work best for this diverse group of people.We chose focus groups for prospective and current students, graduates, and counselors for their advantages of creativity, interactivity, and efficiencyWe chose to conduct online bulletin boards for prospective online students, and current online students, because this is their medium , they are Comfortable with it; and we thought they would find it interesting. It was also of course more convenient for them to attend

We chose 1-on-1 interviews for students that dropped out of online classes. We borrowed from one of my partners experience researching credit card dropouts they are more likely to open up individually than in a group of ten peopleThe Qualitative Informedthe Quantitative16QUALQUANT

D-GuideQuestionnaireWe recommended a Qual - Quant approach.We used the Qual to refine our understanding of the issues, see if any NEW ideas would arise, and to develop the survey (Quant)We needed the Quant in order to ensure the insights were actionable. I must thank my Quant partners, Bill Denk and Ben Tolchinsky from MMR Research they were a big part of this project.Ultimately the Discussion Guide I created for the Qualitative became the questions and flow for the survey.The survey consisted of over 1,100 online interviews among similar constituent groups.

16Key Findings17

Now lets share with you some of the key findings17Personification exerciseIf Chatt State were a retail chain, it would be most like _________18

As I was preparing a discussion guide for my first group with high school students, my goals were toCome up with some fun exercises that these younger people could relate to, and that we would understand, tooGenerate the feedback we neededRealizing most go shopping or have hung out at the mall, I came up with this retail chain analogy(see slide)Can anyone guess what chain most students compared Chatt State to? [Walmart]

Other chains mentioned include Target, Sears (some good brands Craftsman vs Nursing); , JCPenney, Ross for Less; DSW; Dollar General ; Publix Golden Corral: can have a little or a lot depending on your wantsBurger King: Can customize and have it your way

Walmart does not necessarily have predominantly negative connotations; actually, it has many good brand equities as we shall see ...18

Chatt State Delivers on What Matters

19We found out that Chatt State delivers on what matters to students considering a 2-year schoolIts affordableOffers a variety of majorsIs conveniently locatedOffers small classesIs easy to get admitted toIs accreditedand credits earned are transferable to other TN state colleges and universitiesAll of these are the must haves for a community college19Chatt State has many positive brand equitiesJobs and careersHands-on learningFaculty:CaresReal world experienceMentorsGood reputation in the communityNetworking

20

During our inquiries we discovered that Chatt State has many more positives like those mentioned on the prior page than negatives. These include: It prepares one well for a job and/or a careerIt has many faculty who care about individuals, who have real world experiencewho act as Mentors to young people who need themThe school has a Good reputation in the communityNetworking

20Brand Chatt State has some liabilitiesThe 13th GradeCrowded Parking Lenient admissionsToo easy classesFaculty Registration, Financial Aid not working Low statusAdvisor program

21

Like many prominent brands, we learned Chatt State has what we would call opportunities for improvement and these include:just another grade after the 12th grade of high schoolCrowded Parking Lenient admissionseasy to get into can be a good thing and a not-so-good thingclasses that are not challenging enoughAlways a few Faculty that are not highly regaredRegistration, Financial Aid not working Low statusAdvisor program is not working for many students

21LowAwarenessGrowthPotentialHealth (Nursing)Business;SciencesAwareness of programs with growth potential was low22HighHighWhen asked when you think of Chatt State, what programs do you think of?, nursing, health-related, and technical fields had high awareness.But some of the programs that have been identified for growth AND that have capacity, such as Business and Sciences, had low awareness. Yet the ones with high awareness are full and at capacityWhile the ones with low awareness have growth potential AND capacity The long-term goal will be to increase awareness of those programs with growth potential (click animation to move circle)

22The advertising campaign was approaching wearoutHigh awareness Cheesy, not realConfusion around the Ask Joe phraseAds with call-to-action work

23

The Ask Joe advertising campaign was known by just about everyone we spoke to, and liked by many, but not liked by many, too.It was often described as cheesy , not real lookingNot everyone understood the phrase ask joeOther schools campaigns were seen to be more related to their needs:Life story: attend school, graduate, and get a job/career

23The website scored high marksWell-receivedProspective students want the facts - quicklyChallenge: lots of infoOpportunities to improve e-mail functionalitySome helpful features had low awareness

24

Well received: Well-organized, attractive home page Practical, useful

24research confirms barriers to retention:Life gets in the way.Work FamilyFinancial issuesCourse work overload

25

Sometimes research does confirm what we already assumed, and that is the case with the causes of students dropping classes or dropping outWork and jobs:Too many (eats up free time)Too few (not enough $funding)

25THERE ARE many Resources to help retain students...Caring, helpful, engaged professorsStudy resources:Reading labMath labTutoringAdvisors26... BUT THEY HAVE LOW UTILIZATION

We discovered and confirmed that there are many resources to help students including:Reading labMath labTutoringAdvisors

But they are not fully utilized ...26E-learning driven by convenience and flexibilityConvenience and flexibility drive online enrollment

Organized self-starters more likely to succeed

Certain subjects better-suited for online

E-learning would benefit from a stand alone, consumer-focused website

27

Convenience and flexibility: students seek out online to fit in with their school, work, and life schedulesTaking courses online enables many to work 40 hours per week: they can study during free time.If a course is required for a major and when it is offered it conflicts with work or family schedules, online is often the only means to take that course.Students most likely to succeed are well-organized self-startersCertain subjects are not well suited to online, such as Anatomy or those requiring study groups

The e-learning program would benefit from a webpage dedicated to the marketing and explaining of the e-learning programs. It currently is a functional log-in page for students already enrolled in e-learning.

27E-learnings growth potential is among current studentsCurrent students highly satisfied with online classes

Non-Chatt State online students not really interested in Chatt State

28

Many rated their course highly, giving it a 5 (on a scale of 5 being very good)Many would recommend, to others, the course they took.

One of the questions we sought to answer was: can Chatt States online programs be marketed to the whole TN/GA/AL/NC region?We found out that Non-Chatt State online students those at University of Phoenix, for example tend to be looking for a Bachelors degree, or programs of study that Chatt State does not offer, or do notconsider Chatt State to be in their consideration set of potential schools. So going after these types of students to increase enrollment is not likely to bear much fruit. 28Whats Next?29

Patty to speak29insights driving a new planning process30Some of the insights we generated were incorporated into a revised Strategic Plan, which is now supported by the schools marketing plan and a budget. The insights are not just going to sit on the shelf.

30insights driving a new strategic planPromote programs with low awareness, capacity, and potential for growthEngineering TechnologySciences2 Plus 2 program: Center for Education & Human Services

31

For example, we will promote specific programs with growth potential, such as Engineering Technology, which has created a partnership with Wacker (Vokker) Polysilicon, a company like Volkswagen thatIs building a plant in the area to manufacture silicon for solar panels. Chatt State will train students in process technology, process controls, plant operations, instrumentation, and related subjects. We will also promote our Sciences programs, and our 2 Plus 2 Program, where students can ultimately earn a bachelors degree in partnership with TN Tech.31The Ask Joe campaign gets new messagesAsk Joe messages to communicate many positive brand equities, such as:Real life success stories of graduates AffordabilityDistinguished faculty Hands-on learning, small classesAccreditation

32

The Ask Joe campaign will now focus on the many positive brand equities that participants talked about, including .....Real life success stories of graduates AffordabilityDistinguished faculty Hands-on learning, small classesAccreditation

32Ask Joe messages tailored to specific audiences33High School 2 Yrs.and get a job

High School Prepare for Bachelors Degree

High School 2 Yrs.and get a job

The Ask Joe ads will have different messages depending on the audience we are targeting.For example, if we target high school students focused on getting in and out in 2 years, we might showcase like Susanne Copeland who graduated and became an operating room nurse.If we target high school students whose goal is a 4-year degree, we might talk about someone like Ariana Busbee, who transferred to a 4-year college Other examples might include: if we promote chemistry, we will highlight some distinguished faculty members.If we promote Math, we might talk about our accreditation.

33Communications will utilize more diverse mediaExplore new media Social mediaPublic relations: free media

34

The Ask Joe campaign was primarily billboard based campaign, highly appropriate given the geography of the school and its target audience.In the focus groups we asked students, what would be the best way to reach you? And the answers were all over the board, from traditional media such as radio to a wide array of websites. However, todays students rely on many different media sources for their information, especially the internet including social media. The long term goal is for Chatt State to develop a pro-active internet marketing campaign that reflects this new media reality. 34Student retention requires new approachesNew strategies:Increase awareness of resourcesImprove effectiveness of resourcesBlue sky:Identify at-risk students early onDevelop new resources for at-risk students

35

With the change in funding from the state and its emphasis on retention, we have only just started to address this issue.Some things we can do, such as increase awareness of the resources already in place reading lab, math lab, etc.; and work to make them more effective; and work on improving those resources.Other strategies we would LIKE to do, but it will take time to develop the appropriate tactics, might include:Identifying at-risk students early on perhaps through some type of statistical analysis of test scores and other data would facilitate steering them to appropriate resources. And last, we will explore what NEW resources can we create to help keep students in school?35Through the Crossroads with a new approach36OldNewLittle data

Broad target and messages

Enrollment

Nursing, Health Related

Data

Targeted messages

Retention

Sciences, Engineering

BRUCE to read: So going forward, Chatt State hopes to evolve the way the college approaches developing its strategies.To somewhat oversimplify the old way, we might say it relied more on intuition and gut feelings than data; Communicated somewhat broad messages to broad audiences;Focused on enrollment;and the school was primarily known for a few programs such as those in the health field, like Nursing.

Going forward, the goal is to be more data driven; develop targeted messages for specific audiences; and focus more on graduation and retention;And promote more of the schools brand equities and lesser-know programs with the capacity to grow. 36Thank You3737