The Middle Management Conundrum

In my work with enrollment managers, I often hear about the frustrations associated with being part of middle management. The truth is that middle managers across many professional fields face similar struggles: a tremendous amount of responsibility without a lot of control. You are responsible for enrollment, and you carry essential knowledge about both internal and external communities. You may be the only person with one eye on each. But you aren’t the decision maker regarding staffing, programmatic priorities, or scheduling. You certainly don’t want to be in the middle of what can become a complicated landscape of personalities and priorities. 

While this conundrum is not unique, the circumstances are specific to your school. However, there is one thing that all schools can do in order to support the difficult position of being in the middle: procure great data.

The combination of both quantitative and qualitative data is powerful and clarifying. Armed with real numbers coupled with qualitative information, you have a much stronger leg to stand on when discussing feedback and recommendations with your leadership team.

You still may not be the decision maker, but when you walk into the room prepared with a well constructed portfolio of data, your chances are much better that you can influence the direction and strategy your school chooses in support of enrollment goals.

To start, consider running a demographic trend projection report for your service area to learn, in broad strokes, what the market conditions may be in the coming years. Couple this with qualitative information and you will be in a much stronger position to make your case for the strategy you want to put in place.

Admissions Tasks as Marketing Opportunities (and not just paper pushing)

Many schools call their enrollment management offices by the name “admissions”. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that title, admissions is actually a very small piece of an integrated strategic enrollment management approach. The admissions department at a hospital is a great analogy; the admissions department is where you go to fill out paperwork, jump through hoops, and, eventually, be “admitted”. This is clearly not the only function of what we call the “admission office” in schools.

As part of a strategic enrollment management program, “admissions” is defined as the actual activity that families engage in as part of the application process. While some schools enjoy deep waitlists and a very comfortable pool of potential families, the reality is that most tuition driven schools must constantly be recruitment-minded; that is to say, admissions functions must remain focused on outreach, promotion, and marketing.

When evaluating your own admissions functions, consider spots where families may hit hiccups in your process. Is it easy to schedule a visit? Are recommendation forms readily available? Is your phone system simple to navigate? Also consider how you might integrate marketing activities into admission tasks. How are you using the time when students are being evaluated to engage with parents? What follow up are you doing after a student visit? How are you interacting with recommendation writers?

An effective strategic approach to admissions functions includes an understanding of and commitment to an outstanding level of service. There is no room for anything other than personalized visit experiences, smooth transitions between levels of the enrollment funnel, and gold glove treatment of applicant families. Each distinct step in your admission process is an opportunity to more deeply engage the families in your funnel. The summer is an ideal time to reflect on each of these moments and, if needed, develop more fully your touch points with potential families.

(This post first appeared on www.iansymmonds.com)

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