Academic Quality Improvement Program - Mission-Driven Assessment of Student Markets and College Programs Action Project
September 14, 2004
AQIP Action Project Update
• Describe the past year's accomplishments and current status of this Action Project.
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The College conducted market research to evaluate the effectiveness of the 2003-2004 marketing campaign, "Be Yourself at Augsburg ... and Leave Completely Changed," also known as the "Before and After" campaign. The goal of the effort was to increase general visibility; results were somewhat ambivalent due to a higher-than-expected visibility index before the campaign was underway. Some of the data suggest that relative to other institutions, Augsburg made gains in market awareness. The measurements were taken at two different times of the year, August and April, which may have affected the results (e.g. colleges are more top-of-mind for the general public in August than in April.)
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Augsburg's VP for Enrollment and members of his staff observed two focus group studies of college-bound high school students in the Twin Cities area conducted in Winter 2004. The focus groups revealed college costs are a major concern for students and their parents. Some parents indicated that they perceived a private college education as unaffordable for an average family. Students and parents also expressed frustration and confusion about the financial aid application process. In response to this, the college is designing a new marketing campaign emphasizing affordability and value in our educational programs, as well as a consultative approach to college decision-making and financial aid.
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New Weekend College enrollments were below projections in Fall 2004, causing concern among administrators since the college relies significantly on Weekend College revenue. Robust enrollment in the traditional day program and increasing graduate enrollments contributed to a successful year for the college financially in spite of losses in adult undergraduate market share. Nevertheless, a team of faculty and staff was convened to study Augsburg's adult undergraduate market position, analyze reasons for declining enrollments and recommend changes. Proposals are being considered to improve convenience and services, programming and pricing.
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A study of Weekend College pricing and enrollments showed an inverse correlation: as prices have increased, enrollments have declined. We now find ourselves in the position of price leader in the Twin Cities adult undergraduate market and must consider how that has affected the value proposition for prospective students. Further study is needed.
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We have analyzed our position in the traditional undergraduate market with regard to price; decisions related to tuition discounting and pricing for full time students in the day program are being made based on that analysis.
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As part of our assessment of adult market potential, the College contracted with an external consultant to evaluate the market in the Twin Cities area for a graduate program in health care management, or an MBA program offering an emphasis on health care administration. Results indicated greater market potential for a general MBA program, even for nurses and others working in the health care sector. The College's business department had long advocated for an MBA program at Augsburg, and preparations were made to create a distinctive Augsburg MBA curriculum emphasizing business ethics. Marketing messages were developed around the concept of an MBA program offering personal attention to students. Two cohorts of 22 students each matriculated in Fall 2004, with plans to enroll four to five additional cohorts by Fall 2005.
• Describe how the institution involved people in work on this Action Project.
Marketing plans are being developed as a team effort involving key staff in PR and Communications, the VP for Enrollment and his staff, financial aid and admissions staff, and external consultants. The group meeting to analyze the college's competition in the adult market includes the Provost, VP for Enrollment and Marketing, the Associate Dean for Adult Programs, the Executive Director of Enrollment Management, the Director of Rochester Programs, Director of Weekend and Graduate Recruiting, faculty in business and education, and a member of the recruiting staff. The Marketing Committee of the Board of Regents has been briefed regularly and is responsible for overseeing expenditures for general visibility. The MBA program was developed by the College's business faculty. Staff representing each academic program have developed marketing plans as part of the Institutional Marketing Committee and will be updating those plans this fall.
• Describe your planned next steps for this Action Project.
Next steps include:
• Implementing recommendations of the adult market group, such as streamlining the intake advising and assessment process, considering off-site or online learning offerings, adding services such as automatic textbook shipping, and studying adult market pricing.
• Developing creative rendering for various media of the affordability/value concept. We will also host events aimed at explaining college costs and financial aid to prospective students and families, particularly first generation college students and students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
• Writing new marketing plans for the day program, Weekend College, and each graduate program, as well as individual marketing plans for each academic program.
• Evaluating the procedures by which advertising and media decisions are made.
• Evaluating feedback from students who enrolled in Augsburg's first online-only courses offered Summer 2004 to help determine the extent to which the College should develop online learning opportunities.
• Investigating potential off-campus locations for classroom learning.
• Conducting the Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory, Adult Priorities Inventory with currently enrolled students, and the Faculty/Staff Priorities Inventory. We hope that results of these studies will help us allocate resources where they are most likely to affect recruitment and retention.
• Implementing the Admitted Student Questionnaire (a College Board instrument) to survey admitted students and develop a more sophisticated analysis of our market position for both traditional and adult students.
• Describe any "effective practice(s)" that resulted from your work on this Action Project .
• The development of the MBA program is a good example of collaboration between the academic division of the college and the enrollment/marketing division. In order to achieve our goals for this Action Project, we will need to nurture that collaboration.
• Analysis of student service needs resulted in process improvements that reduced the financial aid awarding cycle from 3-4 weeks to 24 hours for most applicants.
• Production of a guide to education choices for working adults, available for download from the web.
• What challenges, if any, are you still facing in regards to this Action Project?
It is still a challenge to ensure that new program ideas are tested in terms of mission and fit with Augsburg as well as market and revenue potential. The College is committed to keeping quality high even as it considers competitive measures that would decrease time to completion. We must also consider the impact of new programs on our core programs so that support and service to the traditional undergraduates does not erode. Another challenge is to measure accurately the effectiveness of the College's marketing efforts and return on investment.
• If you would like to discuss the possibility of AQIP providing you help to stimulate progress on this action project, explain your need(s) here and tell us who to contact and when.
We do not require assistance at this time, but welcome the opportunity to share best practices with colleagues at other institutions.
• Who can see this?
Anyone