em consultant final report - psu

7/29/2019 EM Consultant Final Report - PSU

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Portland State University

Final Consulting Report

Stanley E. Henderson, Senior AACRAO Consultant

Monique Snowden, AACRAO Consultant

August 14, 2009


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Portland State University, Final Consulting Report, August 2009 #

Scope of Project

Review recruitment, retention, and financial aid programs

Assess and recommend effective enrollment-related technologies

Identify actions PSU can take to improve enrollment outcomes in the near

term

Outline steps PSU can take to position itself for long term success


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Visit ScheduleMay 11-12, 2009, Interview Sessions

President

Provost (by phone)

Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management

Vice President for University Relations Enrollment Management Planning Team

Colleges/Schools Representatives

AVP for Enrollment Management

IT Staff for Admissions

New Student Programs

ARR Supervisors


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Visit ScheduleMay 11-12, 2009, Interview Sessions, continued

Financial Aid Director

Graduate Studies

Undergraduate Studies

AVP for Academic and Career Services

International Programs

Extended Studies

Community College Relations

Diversity and Underrepresented Students

Budget Director


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Visit ScheduleJune 1-2, 2009, Interview Sessions

Vice President for Finance and Administration International Affairs

Marketing and Communications

Chief Information Officer and IT Staff

Undergraduate Retention Programs

Undergraduate Advising and Support Center

Honors Program Director

University Studies

Residence Life and Housing

Students

Enrollment Management Planning Team


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The Purposes of Enrollment Management

Establishing clear goals and planning efforts for the optimal enrollment

(numbers and types of students) needed to fulfill the institutional mission

Promoting students academic success by improving access, transition,persistence, and graduation

Promoting institutional success by enabling effective strategic and financial

planning


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The Purposes of Enrollment ManagementContinued

Creating a data-rich environment to inform decisions and evaluate

strategies

Improving process, organizational and financial efficiency and outcomes

Strengthening communications and collaboration among departments

across the campus to support the enrollment program

Bontrager, 2004


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What EM Is Not

A quick fix

Solely an organizational structure

An enhanced admission and marketing operation

A financial drain on the institutional budget

An administrative function separate from the academic mission of theinstitution


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STRATEGICEnrollment Management

A comprehensive process

Aimed at achieving and maintaining optimal recruitment, retention, andgraduation rates

Optimum defined in the academic context

Institution-wide process that touches every aspect of institutional functionand culture

Academics are an umbrella concept

Dolence, 1993


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Current Position of PSU

Clear articulation and recognition of enrollment goals

Increase non-resident: out-of-state and international

Increase numbers of high achieving students

Increase diversity: especially of Latino/a students

Increase retention/graduation rates

Aim for seamless community college transfer process

Acceptance of goals by campus community is not uniform

Concern about unrestricted growth vs. managed growth

What is the right size?

Perceived lack of willingness to prioritize

What level of growth is affordable?


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A Roadmap for Meeting Goals

Observations and recommendations intended to help focus PSUsenrollment management

Identification of strategic institutional priorities related to enrollment

Identification of places to invest for maximum impact on achieving goals,including reorganization to leverage existing resources AND addingresources specific to goals

Recommendations aim to align central and college/school level enrollmentactivities to maximize impact while respecting individual academic unitgoals and needs


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Enrollment Management MarketingObservations

PSU lacks an integrated and strategic enrollment management approach

to web initiatives and more specifically, content management; uses Drupal

PSU employs rudimentary market research, marketing metrics, and

marketing intelligence to guide decisions for new student recruitment and

retention

PSU does not evidence a sophisticated enrollment marketing approach,

particularly as it relates to possessing a bona fide Internet marketingstrategy and employing the most efficient and effective marketing mix


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Enrollment Management MarketingObservations, continued

There appears to be a disconnect between the marketing and ITfunctionsresulting in a lack of clarity of roles and responsibilities for theweb, specifically content management and advancing PSUs webpresence for maximum impact on recruitment and retention

There is visual continuity between the main landing pages of the PSUwebsite and the admissions and financial aid pages

However, there appears to be a disconnect between the marketing and

admissions functions, specifically as it relates to effective contentmanagement, media channels, and integrated marketing andcommunications (IMC)


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Enrollment Management MarketingObservations, continued

There are expressed concerns regarding the production and authenticity of

the view book; University Relations serves in an advisory role on the

committee

There are limited staff in University Relations, particularly for managing

PSUs web presence for enrollment impact


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Enrollment Management MarketingRecommendations

PSU should be more deliberate in developing its website as a strategic tool

for advancing enrollment

Strengthen PSUs holistic approach via an IMC paradigm


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Enrollment Management MarketingRecommendations, continued

Develop an integrated marketing plan that includes focused Internet

marketing and social media strategies to enhance recruitment efforts, for

example:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Google Adwords

Online education directories (OEDs)

Word-of-Mouth Marketing (see http://womma.org)

Internet Marketing Software (see http://hubspot.com )
http://womma.org/http://hubspot.com/http://hubspot.com/http://womma.org/


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Enrollment Management MarketingRecommendations, continued

Establish a strong web advisory committee that includes key marketingand communications, IT, and business unit content management staff; thiscommittee should be con-chaired by a senior University Relations staffmember and the Chief Information Officer

Establish a Web Services group in University Relations with two director-level positions: Director of Web Development and Director of WebInitiatives

Evaluate the current marketing mix in light of institutional values and keymarketing messages; for example, does current view book production anddistribution align with PSUs ecological values?


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RecruitmentObservations

PSU is engaged in continuous recruitment, not purposeful recruitment

Oregon student enrollment is not an issue, but substantial resourcesthat

could be used for targeted groupsare invested in Oregon recruiting

anyway

Admissions knows what the targets are, but is constrained to apply scarce

resources to non-productive recruitment, specifically, the Oregon

University System college tours


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RecruitmentObservations, continued

A lack of technology hampers Admissions ability to target most effectivelythe out-of-state and student of color populations that are mission critical forthe university

Staff resources are dedicated to unnecessary paper work when technologycould streamline

The pressure for out-of-state and high ability student enrollment, coupledwith limited resources for targeted recruitment in the form of Customer

Relationship Management (CRM) has led Admissions to put undueemphasis on view book production for their splashthe result may notreflect the PSU story as well as it could


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PSU serves too broad a range of students; consequently, the university isonly meetingprimarystudent needssome on campus believe too manystudents who cannot succeed are admitted; deadlines do not exist

Yield activities are limited in scope

The Honors Program is not involved in recruiting high ability students priorto orientation, resulting in a weaker honors class

College/school recruitment is not always integrated or aligned withAdmissions efforts


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The Admissions Office is not a visually pleasing venue

The casual visitor who simply walks around campus does not get the same

sense of place and pride that comes from a guided campus tour

Finding parking and finding Admissions is not intuitive

Campus buildings do not tell visitors what is in them


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RecruitmentRecommendations

Admissions should adopt a three class recruitment plan:

Identify high school freshmen/sophomores to provide college planning service

Carry these younger students into more purposeful PSU recruitment as juniors

Close the deal when they are seniors

PSU should advocate for new approaches for the OUS college tour

programs; absent an OUS college tour policy change that would free up

Admissions staff, PSUas an institutionshould identify staff in other

areas who can be cross-trained to do Oregon recruitment


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RecruitmentRecommendations, continued

PSU should focus on integrating academic unit/admission recruitment

efforts to avoid duplication and engage faculty in the process

PSU will need to make technology support for ARR an institutional priority;

ARR will need to consider reallocation of staff resources for e-recruitment

Admissions is the first step in retention; rather than change admission

standards or impose deadlines, PSU should develop targeted retention

University Relations should take responsibilityin close collaboration with

Admissionsfor view book production to ensure consistent messaging

and an integrated communication plan


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RecruitmentRecommendations, continued

The Honors Program can play a significant role in recruiting high abilitystudents; Admissions should collaboratively work to focus and prioritizeHonors recruitment

PSU should invest in significant cosmetic work on Admissions areas orconsider relocation to a more scenic location; public art could softenNeubergers 70s exterior

The campus needs better visitor signage on parking structures

Recruitment messages need to tell a story that puts a human face on, anda heart on, PSU


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Community College RelationsObservations, continued

Students taking degree completion courses through Extended Studies are noteligible for university services, leading to confusion and frustration

PSUs Extended Studies presence on community college campuses is a greatresource but sometimes does not mesh with Community College Relations

Extended Studies service to students in off-campus programs (transfer students) ishampered by not using Banner for certain functions

Community College Relations was deliberately placed in Advising to emphasizethe advising nature of the transfer process; however, it is somewhat one-dimensional with less concentration on the connection between recruitment andretention


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Community College RelationsRecommendations

PSU should rethink the Community College Relations structure to ensure it

functions as a bridge between recruitment and retention to reflect the

importance of the transfer population at the university

Community College Relations must be integrated into Admissions CRM

programs to ensure that the transfer pipeline is strong; advising alone will

not suffice


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Community College RelationsRecommendations, continued

PSU needs to look strategically at how Community College Relations and

Extended Studies can work more seamlessly together

Extended Studies presence on community college campuses (Salem, e.g.)

should provide an opportunity to extend the Community College Relations

Office services to students with cross-training of Extended Studies staff

Technology must be brought to bear on issues that hamper both

Community College Relations and Extended Studies


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RetentionObservations

PSUs retention and graduation rates are a high priority

Low retention rates contribute to perception of lower quality, asdemonstrated in survey results

There is much support for moving to a paradigm of student academicsuccess for the campus

The First Steps document is an excellent starting point for this shift


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RetentionObservations, continued

Some feel that after a strong first year structure for PSU students, the structure isless supportive in the second year

Some PSU students come not intending to graduate

There appear to be pockets of excellent retention activity in some of the units, butthese are not shared across the campus so there is little cross-fertilization

The University Studies program incorporates many of the best practices inretention

Extended Studies reports high success rates for their programs


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Many faculty want to improve the student experience butarent sure how

There is a sense that the campus needs to know in theadmissions process who is going to be successful

A number of people feel that PSUs lack of deadlines and theadmission of under-prepared students leads to lower retentionrates


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Students are not required to attend orientation or to see an advisor

Pre-requisites are not always enforced; departments have backed awayfrom enforcing after fielding questions, concerns

The Provost and Vice Provost for Student Affairs are ACCOUNTABLE for

retention, but no one is IN CHARGE of retention at PSU


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RetentionRecommendations

PSU should identify a Retention Czar (or Czarspotentially one

academic unit and one enrollment management leader) to shepherd

implementation of first steps and to develop a strategic retention plan; this

will require substantial involvement from across the campus and should

include a marching millions standing Retention Committee

Student Affairs with support of the academic units should consider the

creation of a Student Success Center by blending the Undergraduate

Advising and Support Center, Educational Equity Programs, and the

Career Center


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RetentionRecommendations, continued

A Student Success Center can allow PSU to focus on target groups forspecial services and enhance the services each of the areas providecurrently; such a center can provide leveraging of existing staff resourcesfor cross-training to reach more students

A Student Success Center can adopt a case management system thatwould allow more purposeful referrals among staff; tracking of service andresults could be standardized

PSU should implement an Early Warning system that alerts the Student

Success Center to the students who are not attending, notcomprehending, not doing homework, etc., and provides an opportunity topartner with academic units to reach students in time to make a difference


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PSU should engage parents in the retention process through outreach and

communicationmake them partners with the university

PSU should continue to enhance orientation; orientation and placement

testing for all new students should be required

The resources dedicated to student success and retention in the

schools/colleges are uneven; a Retention Strategic Plan should consider

developing retention templates for the units


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Rather than limit enrollment by creating or enforcingdeadlines, recognize that late admits need more intensiveretention support and target Student Success Center servicesto them

Rather than eliminate conditional admission, consider bridgeprograms, academic coaching, obtaining FERPA waivers toshare at-risk performance reports with parents

Consider purposeful First Generation programming


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DiversityObservations

There is a strong desire to grow Latino/a enrollment; population growth in

Oregon, especially in Portland, should support that

PSU has never had a campus-wide diversity recruitment plan, although

Admissions does have a diversity recruitment plan

Scholarship resources for students of color have eroded


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DiversityObservations, continued

The Educational Equity Program has concentrated on support

for scholarship students, although a new staff position will

work with other underrepresented groups besides those on

scholarships

The placement of Educational Equity Programs,

organizationally and visibly, can be problematic in that

students of color are unsure as to where they should go forsupport


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DiversityRecommendations

Using a Student Success Center paradigm, PSU should provide more

intrusive support to all underrepresented groups

Targeted groups can be monitored by a leveraged Student Success

Center staff with early warning tools, signed contracts for academic

support, case management type referrals for career guidance, counseling

support, etc.

Enrollment Management should lead the development of a campus-wideDiversity Strategic Plan to provide a roadmap for the recruitment and

retention goals set forth by the university


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DiversityRecommendations, continued

Everybody is responsible for recruitment of underrepresented students;moving to a Student Success Center concept that has a clear mission totarget services will enlarge the staffing available for underrepresentedstudents

With appropriate Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools,underrepresented groups (and other targeted students) can be madeaware of support services without having to wonder where to go to findhelp

Aligning the Multicultural Center, Native American Center, and WomensResource Center with EEPS could leverage support for retention andacademic success as well as improve visibility for all under-representedstudents


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Financial Aid and ScholarshipsObservations

PSUs Financial Aid Office reports to FADM, not to Student Affairs andEnrollment Management; the genesis of this lay in the need for strongfinancial controls several years ago when Financial Aid was not being heldaccountable

In an enrollment management environment, Financial Aid is a majorcomponent of both recruitment and retention; if it reports to another VP,the institution must ensure that collaboration is rock solid andcommunication is seamless

The bulk of PSU scholarship resources are in the form of tuition remissiondollars, which are spread over a wide range of units


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Financial Aid and ScholarshipsObservations, continued

Scholarship awards from tuition remission appear to be made in the units

operationally rather than strategically; individual units decide how to award

money given to them on the basis of their unit priorities rather than under

an institutional strategic scholarship plan

There are no data on the impact of tuition remission

There is concern that scholarships are awarded late in some units, thereby

causing adjustment in financial aid awards


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Financial Aid and ScholarshipsRecommendations

PSU as an institution should look at what organizational structure will best

position enrollment management with respect to financial aid; reporting

lines, communication, institutionalized collaboration, and how best to

combine financial controls with student service should be considered

PSU should consider pulling all tuition remission dollars from the units to

develop an institutional strategic scholarship plan

The Strategic Scholarship Plan should also catalognot controlall unitscholarships with respect to how they might be best applied to impact

enrollment


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Financial Aid and ScholarshipsRecommendations, continued

All scholarships, central and unit based, should be awarded by the

Financial Aid Office; units should have a deadline by which their

scholarship awards must be communicated to Financial Aid

Deadlines for scholarship awards should be set institutionally so thatFinancial Aid packages do not have to be adjusted

The PSU scholarship process should be designed to minimize

applications; the admission application should provide the information fornew student awards while a simple, common on-line application should

suffice for continuing students


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TechnologyObservations

PSU does not demonstrate a strategic approach to acquiring, augmenting,

and maintaining IT resources

The Chief Information Officer is not well-positioned to effectively address

IT support capacity concerns

Current IT governance structures are neither meeting institutional nor

departmental needsonly addressing mandatory and required

maintenancenot strategic


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TechnologyObservations, continued

An inventory of campus IT assets evidences duplication, overlap, and

competing technologiesthere appears to be a culture of enabling silo

and black box IT acquisition that often requires broader and critical

institutional support

Decisions concerning IT acquisitions are not necessarily informed by those

who have a comprehensive understanding of technology integration,

compatibility, portability, and inter-operability

There appears to be misalignment of perceived and actual staff

capabilities in regards to maximizing the return on technology investments


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TechnologyObservations, continued

Unit functional-technical staff have been traditionally hired without seekingadvisement from OITresults in low assurance that functional-technicalstaff understand and follow best IT practices

Current IT assets, involving significant resource investments (financial,human, and time), are underutilized and underdevelopede.g., Banner,DARS, and uPortal

PSU is managing perceivably fragmented communications as opposed to

developing technology-supported integrated communication plans forprospective and current studentsrecruitment and retention contact andalerts


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TechnologyRecommendations

In support of a strategic enrollment management plan, current operational

and tacticaluses of technology should be augmented by strategic

acquisition, development, maintenance, and leveraging of IT assets

(people, data, information, business intelligence, applications, and

infrastructure)


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TechnologyRecommendations, continued

Develop and raise the awareness of value-centric IT to support enrollmentgoals and objectives

Engage the IT staff as partners in meeting PSUs enrollment goals. TheIT organizations role in and responsibility to deliver value toward theachievement and support of enrollment goals and objectives should be

made explicit Executive leadership should set the strategic direction of IT by

establishing a steering committee to determine and maintain campus ITpriorities and monitor progress; the chief enrollment and informationofficers should co-chair this committee

Restructure the administrative priorities committee (APC) as anoperations committee. Functional unit leaders should collaborativelyidentify integrated requirements to maximize value, optimize resources,and mitigate risks


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Develop and raise the awareness of value-centric IT to support enrollment

goals and objectives (continued)

Identify how IT can deliver more value by enabling new enrollment

processes, leveraging current enrollment processes to obtain greater

efficiencies and effectiveness, and ensuring that the universitys

enrollment management efforts yield desirable and more significant

outcomes as a directand indirectresult of IT initiatives and resources

Place particular attention on web-based solutions (e.g., portal) and an

optimal infrastructure to advance an integrated look and feel. Star andBowker emphasize that infrastructure simultaneously represents work

and effortlessly supports it, making possible collective accomplishment


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Manage IT as a strategic asset

Standardize processes and technologies wherever appropriate

Develop a plan for keeping technologies up-to-date, taking into

consideration that there are different methods of delivery and support

available (e.g., outsourcing, insourcing, hosted solutions, remote

support). Explore alternativesBe innovative!

Involve functional, technical, and financial specialists to determine thedesirable and best terms in contract negotiation of IT licenses and

maintenanceleverage PSU buying power via economy of scale


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Manage IT as a strategic asset (continued)

Align procurement practices and the distribution of IT investments to

support strategic objectives

Enlist the assistance of PSUs human resource leadership to conduct a

staffing analysis (including skills, leveling, and salaries), placing

particular focus on strengthening and acquiring web and data positions


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Manage IT as a strategic asset (continued)

IT acquisition/initiatives should:

1. Align strategically with the universitys enrollment goals

2. Deliver and support value-centric services and information

3. Facilitate resource optimization

4. Minimize/mitigate risk factors

5. Enhance performance capacity


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Define IT enrollment-based goals

Define IT goals based in terms of meeting the enrollment requirements

for information and services

View IT resources from an enrollment-centric point of view; PSU should

aim to establish and align the IT and strategic enrollment management

plans

Establish accessible methods and transparent metrics that reveal theimpact and contribution of IT investments toward value creationfrom an

enrollment management perspective


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Define IT enrollment-based goals (continued)

Focus on the end of technologyoutcomesand the available and

desired meansinputs and resources

Institutionalize the partnership, shared responsibility, and decision-

making collaborative between institutional enrollment management and

IT leadership

Encourage a discourse of mutuality to enhance cooperation,collaboration, and coordination, each of which is considered paramount

to achieving organizational effectiveness and efficiency gains


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Leveraging data toward competitive advantage

One of the basic tenets of strategic enrollment management is

accountability, that is, tracking the outcome of specific recruitment and

retention initiatives to determine their impact on enrollment

PSU needs to establish a strong culture of accountability via enhanced

institutional research to track the effectiveness of enrollment initiatives

Expand the APC by including data-centric staff (e.g., database architects,database administrators, data power users, data end-users, data

analysts) who can address specific data management issues that

facilitate or hinder efficient and effective reporting


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Data mining and business intelligence

Data mining is the use of automated data analysis techniques to uncover

previously undetectedrelationships among data items. Data mining

often involves the analysis of data stored in a data warehouse

Business intelligence technologies use data that have been stored in a

data warehouse, software applications are able to use these data to

report past business information as well aspredict future business

informationincluding trends, threats, opportunities, and patterns


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Ensure that accountability measures are part of every recruitment andretention program

PSU should identify targeted audiences (e.g., executive, senior, and

operational staff) for various reports, and determine desired formats anddelivery methods:

Detailed data reports

Summary reports

Trend reports

Performance reportse.g., balanced scorecards, dashboards

On-demand and interactive analyticsdrill down, filter, and sortfunctionalities

T h l


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Types ofAnalytics/Reporting

Optimization

Predictive Modeling

Forecasting/ExtrapolationStatistical Analysis

Alerts

Query/Drill Down

Ad Hoc Reports

Standard Reports

Focus

Whats the best that can happen?

What will happen next?

What if these trends continue?Why is this happening?

What actions are needed?

What exactly is the problem?

How many, who, how often, where?

What happened?

Source: Davenport and Harris, 2007



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Model TechnologyLeveraging a CRM Solution

Integrate Hobsons CRM with Bannertightly or loosely coupled

Integrate with portaluser authentication (access) and authorization(content)

Implement a real-time and batch integration of and data sharing betweenthe CRM system and other technology solutions; solutions which utilizeOBDC compliant databases


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Model TechnologyLeveraging a CRM Solution, continued

Provide on-demand analytics

Support enrollment pipeline from lead management to graduation

Provide business intelligenceon-demand reporting and embedded

analytics that support: planning, budgeting, multi-dimensional marketsegmentation, event and campaign management/assessment

Provide real-time enrollment trends (i.e., historical and comparativeanalytics)

Provide interactive dashboardrole-based and personalized


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Establish a central repository of multi-channel communications and

contacts

Utilize communication management that enables the creation and

execution of customized communication plansthe integration of multi-

dimensional market segmentation and communication management

Implement the distribution and tracking of time- and event-triggered

electronic and paper communicationsdistribution authorization control

and real-time monitoring of electronic communication delivery and receipt


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Establish a central repository of multi-channel communications and

contacts (continued)

Configure contact management and contact networking features enable

the tracking of contacts and capturing of relationships between

contactsintegration of multi-dimensional market segmentation and

contact management


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Employ web-based interactive capabilities:

Instant messaging

Scheduled/monitored chats

Call scripting based on client data

Capturing channel and campaign responses to web forms and surveys


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Maximize team collaboration and productivity capabilities

Support decentralized, but highly coordinated functions (e.g., admissions,

merit-based scholarships, need-based financial aid, and housing):

function-based

Support decentralized, but highly coordinated activities (e.g., prospect

recruitment, scholarship/financial aid awarding, and student retention):

role-based


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Maximize team collaboration and productivity capabilities (continued)

Provide calendaring and task management capabilities

Scheduling activities and tasks across functions

Activities and tasks across functions

Bi-directional synchronization with local email file

Viewing group member calendars

Drilling-down on appointments, activity, and task details

Market interaction analytics


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Thank you!

Stanley E. Henderson, Senior AACRAO Consultant

Monique Snowden, AACRAO Consultant

consulting.aacrao.org

em consultant final report - psu

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