Episode 29: The Future of Higher Ed Admissions Management: An Interview with Higher Education Leader Mary Beth Marks

Covid aside, some of the most pressing enrollment concerns in higher education include:

• Student mobility patterns

• Outdated business models

• Inability to integrate new technology

Mary Beth Marks is Vice President for Admissions and Enrollment Services at New Orleans University. She is also a leading voice in higher education enrollment, which is why the CEO at N2N Services, Kiran Kodithala, interviewed her in a recent podcast. They discussed her thoughts on the future of higher education admissions management, especially since Covid fast-tracked the use of technology as a workaround solution in most educational institutions.

Read the article based on the interview, or listen to this episode of the Illuminate Higher Education podcast.

Leading trends for admissions from a student or a parent perspective

Students and parents should look for universities that treat the student as a whole. For example, at the University of New Orleans, a student is not a test score. There’s so much more that wraps up into what a student truly is and what kind of success they have in college. And while test scores have a purpose, they don't necessarily predict how successful a student will be in a college or university. 

Covid made us question this age-old process, and we started asking if we really need test scores to tell us whether students should be admitted—and if so, whether they’d be successful. 

Reassessing how higher ed does things

Higher ed, in some respects, has been a little slow to adopt some of the newer technology practices. One of the pandemic’s positive outcomes was that we needed to pivot immediately, and figure out how to deliver courses to students in a meaningful way. We also needed to connect with prospective students. We learned how important parents are in that decision and throughout the communications process. 

In terms of technology, higher ed will need to relook at some of their processes, including the admissions process. Following the pandemic, students have adjusted to the quick fixes many educational facilities adopted, and they’re expecting the same technology in the future. 

For instance, virtual tours were nice to have but now they are a must-have. Communicating with parents was nice, but now it's a must-have. 

We spend a lot of time planning open houses and Admitted Student events, but when we put those online, the attendance rate to these and Next Step events skyrocketed. Things that we traditionally thought we had to do are no longer true. 

Instead, we will need to look for ways to improve the tech we use, for things like virtual tours and connecting with parents.

The virtual approach is going to be important and necessary. Things like Zoom meetings (or similar) are going to become a very important part of an admissions counselor’s toolbox. 

First gen parents will also want ways they can support their student children, so virtual events where they can join on their own terms makes it so much more accessible for them. 

Higher education facilities will also need to become more accessible for students, and we’ll need to consider the student as a whole, together with their parents. 

We need to look at recruiting beyond the student. We don’t want to only recruit one individual, but also a younger brother or sister, a cousin or other family member, even as an adult learner. 

Technology in higher education enrollments

One way of gaining new students is personalization and applying behavioral technology to the enrollment process. The recruiting experience should speak to the unique needs of students.  For example, we need to consider the fact that they constantly use mobile phones and computers to do everything. Higher education needs to tap into that, and the ways that parents and students do things in their daily lives.

Using technology to streamline the admissions process will have profound benefits for students,  their parents, and staff.

Data analytics provide advanced algorithms so that universities and colleges are able to predict which students are likely to enroll, giving staff more time to focus their energy on those students.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software makes it easy for admissions officials to find, reach, and track potential applicants. 

Automation enables institutions to track metrics for more effective campaigns, such as how many recipients open mass emails. Integrations between software give more time to staff to complete other more important tasks.

Finally, it has become critical for higher ed to build a social media presence with chatbots to reach potential students and parents.

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This episode is brought to you by N2N’s Illuminate App, The iPaaS for Higher Education.

About N2N Services

Founded in 2010, N2N is committed to serving educational institutions and helping them figure out how to serve their students, faculty, and staff using the most innovative technologies and solutions available in the marketplace. Over the last decade, N2N has served over 300 academic institutions and enabled their student success journeys.

N2N Services Inc. is a leader in enterprise application integration and strategic advisory services for higher education, At N2N, we are committed to providing the highest quality solutions and collaboratively building student-centric solutions.

Learn more at https://illuminateapp.com/web/higher-education.

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