Solving the Enrollment Puzzle:

Lessons Learned from Marketing & Promoting Learning

Communities

Elizabeth RosenthalGeoff Martin

+ Session Participants from CILC Member InstitutionsCILC Best Practices Symposium

04/05/2013

Workshop/Discussion

5-10 min. Introductions

10 min. The Enrollment Challenge•Kingsborough College•Truman College

40 min. 6 Interventions: Marketing & Promotions•Truman College•CILC Members

The Enrollment Challenge:

“Many of the implementation challenges stemmed from problems with

enrolling enough students in the study. For example, some of the learning

communities did not fill up and had to be canceled or combined with others.

Leaders struggled to fill the learning communities with enough students,

having overestimated the number of students who would declare a major that

was served by the learning communities, the number of students who

needed both courses in the link, or the number of students who would

volunteer to enroll in a learning community when given the choice. The

college worked tirelessly and creatively to increase enrollment by dropping

and adding learning communities, changing the links, and performing

aggressive outreach to potential study participants. But in the end, these

changes meant that the program never really reached a state of equilibrium,

with the result that some learning communities fell short of full

implementation.”

Visher, M.G., J. Teres, with P. Richman. (Nov. 2011). “Breaking new ground: An impact study of career-focused learning communities at Kingsborough Community College.” NCPR Brief. New York, NY: National Center for Post Secondary Research.

Spring 2012:

• Ambitious Pairings

•No marketing campaign

•No printed schedule

•Disconnect between Office of Instruction, Advising, and Faculty

The Enrollment Challenge: Truman College

• 51 students enrolled in 5 Learning Communities

• 10 faculty members involved

Spring 2012 (1st Semester):

• 162 students enrolled in 9 Learning Communities

• 15 faculty members involved

Fall 2012 (2nd Semester):

Spring 2013 (3rd Semester):• 158 students enrolled in 11 Learning

Communities• 17 faculty members involved

Fall 2013 (4th Semester):

• 300? students enrolled in 14 Learning Communities

• 22 faculty members involved

Interventions: Marketing & Promotions

Round Table Discussion:Truman College

CILC Member Colleges

1) Building a Presence: Posters & Flyers

TRUMAN:o “Selling” the pairings and branding the program o Explains pairings, structure, and rationale. o Poster design learning curve

CILC MEMBERS:o Website - .jpeg files; highlight 1 or 2 LCs on homepageo Orientation – gallery display with “only 8 seats left”o “Pottygram” – posters in restroom stallso Pizza Party – faculty give 30 sec. “commercials” for next semester’s LCo Napkin holders – cafeteria advertisementso Home mailings – ½ sheets

2) Consider the Courses Linked AND Consider the Time/Day:

TRUMAN:

oUse Institutional Research to predict whether students in past semesters were co-enrolled in the courses that make up the proposed pairing.oMatch peak times for your collegeoIf possible, pair courses on the same day.

CILC MEMBERS:

oSurvey Monkey – find out best times/days for LCsoAthletics Schedule (i.e. no Fridays/Monday mornings)oIAI approval is very importantoEnglish/Communications works with most courses

3) Admissions & Registration:

TRUMAN:

oBuilding an LC presence at orientation, testing, & admissionsoPlacement Test Result – Letter and flyer attached

CILC MEMBERS:

oPeak times/Testing days – faculty staffingoLetters to Students – include an LC brochureoOrientation

•Games/raffle•Faculty training on registration process•Speeding the LC line

oAdvising/Orientation – holds (“pre-enrollment LCs”)

4) Advising is Key:

TRUMAN:

oAdvising liaisons & consultationsoAdvising packets (LC info) & All-Advisor Presentations

CILC MEMBERS:

o Include LC schedule with student testimonials (half sheets) in Advising & Admissions home-mailings

o Allow for “pre-enrollment” for LCs only

5) Student Activities & Special Programs:

TRUMAN:

o“Welcome-back / stress-relief / end-of-semester” eventsoSpecial programs hold “captive audiences” for LC marketing

CILC MEMBERS:

oCertificates for LC “graduates”oEssay Contest – “why was your LC helpful/useful/beneficial?”oNext Semester “Commercials” at special eventsoChalk!

6) Classroom Visitations:

TRUMAN:

oThe best promotion is an instructor’s classroom visitoCredit-level classes fill via instructor visitations & reputation of the instructor

CILC MEMBERS:

oFaculty visitsoDirector visitsoAdvising visitsoPeer leaders for each LC

Contact Information

•Elizabeth Rosenthal:Director of Developmental EducationLearning Community Coordinatorerosenthal@ccc.edu773.907.6833

•Geoff MartinInstructor, Communications Dept.Learning Community Coordinatorgmartin55@ccc.edu773.907.4687

ADDITIONAL SLIDES

SPRING 2013: ENGLISH-BASED LCs

SPRING 2013 ENGLISH-BASED LCs

SPRING 2013 MATH-BASED LCs

SPRING 2013 SPECIALTY LCs