Demystifying Admission

Coming back from an insightful chat with Ellen shined some light onto the dark side of the student recruitment process, namely the admission proceedure.
This proceedure is roughly divided in three steps to make this complex process comprehensible. I give you only the simple version to illustrate rather then explain.

In the first step our youngsters have to sign up in studielink. No, not the New Zealand version of it but this site from the dutch government. Once registered an XML file with all the information is send to the UM SAP/SLM system where it is processed. The applicant gets an confirmation email and depending on the university/program he or she is interested in studying recieves the corresponding login information.
In this first step of the process there are roughly 2,4 times more people registered than actually end up enrolling at UM. This is a huge number and also the first point of contact between the customers and us. Much information is available such as email, location, telephone number and the names of other universities/programes applicants registered for.

In the second step the registered applicants have recieved the login information to gain access to their profile in MY UM and ELEUM. This is where they upload additional documents, pay their tuition fees and add information relevant to the admission process. With the admission process starting in october there is enough time for applicant to upload all information one might think. But it is this process that takes long and causes for much dissatisfaction and ultimately lost customers. And while this one is the big barrier for dutch applicants, interested parties from other countries fail already in step one. The problem is according to Ellen communication.

The third step progresses in steps and differs for Master and Bachelor students and also for the "TunnelingMasters" (= Applicants for a Master program who did their Bachelor at the school). It is roughly a kind of ball game between Admission Officers and applicants. One can visualize it best when thinking about the status bar of your linkedIn profile. But the process is done manualy. While the workflow is straight forward the major obstacles for a successful application are manyfold. The workflow itself needs to be adopted on a yearly basis depending on new legislation. Technical problems occure due to the novelty (2008) of the SAP/SLM system as well as the need for staff to get aquainted with it. And students are lazy and don't fill out all the forms in time.
Overall the SCC (student service centre) checks if the registration is correct. The faculties themselves make sure that applicants fill out all necessary forms and pay the tuition fees. The ranking and selection is also the faculties job. At the end of this process the youngsters end up as enrolled students by June.

This is just an rough overview of the complex proceedure which is called admission. From the perspective of the schools "student recruitment activities" it is apperant that a proactive, personalized effort to increase the applicants' loyalty begins somewhere between step 2 and 3. In step one, after the studilink registration, youngsters can contact the Buddies & Buttons assistents for help. But this is a centraly organized activity and not proactive. It's kind of a helpline customers can call if they have problems with their dishwasher or Ipod.

Both agreed to look for a possibility to make the first contact, the moment when the XML file from studylink is in,  more exicting. Aiming to increase the dudes loyalty and leting them know that we care about him/her studying at SBE instead of Rotterdam it is necessary to be not too pushy. I don't know if this word exists but you know what I mean. There are many ways to engage with youngsters on this level. Getting their attention in innovative ways is the key. But waiting and hoping that they decide for Maastricht is not the right strategy. In particular for those niche master programs it would be a competitative advantage to engage in this early stage with our clients.