Solving the Enrollment Puzzle: Lessons Learned from Marketing & Promoting Learning Communities

1. Solving the Enrollment Puzzle: Lessons Learned from Marketing & Promoting Learning Communities Elizabeth Rosenthal Geoff Martin+ Session Participants from CILC Member Institutions CILC Best Practices Symposium 04/05/2013

2. 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

3. 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.

4. The Enrollment Challenge: Truman College • Spring 2012: • Ambitious Pairings • No marketing campaign • No printed schedule • Disconnect between Office of Instruction, Advising, and Faculty

5. Spring 2012 (1st Semester): • 51 students enrolled in 5 Learning Communities • 10 faculty members involved Fall 2012 (2nd Semester): • 162 students enrolled in 9 Learning Communities • 15 faculty members involved 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

6. Interventions: Marketing & Promotions Round Table Discussion: Truman CollegeCILC Member Colleges

7. Building a Presence: Posters & Flyers • TRUMAN: • “Selling” the pairings and branding the program • Explains pairings, structure, and rationale. • Poster design learning curve • CILC MEMBERS: • Website - .jpeg files; highlight 1 or 2 LCs on homepage • Orientation – gallery display with “only 8 seats left” • “Pottygram” – posters in restroom stalls • Pizza Party – faculty give 30 sec. “commercials” for next semester’s LC • Napkin holders – cafeteria advertisements • Home mailings – ½ sheets

8. 2) Consider the Courses Linked AND Consider the Time/Day: • TRUMAN: • Use Institutional Research to predict whether students in past semesters were co-enrolled in the courses that make up the proposed pairing. • Match peak times for your college • If possible, pair courses on the same day. • CILC MEMBERS: • Survey Monkey – find out best times/days for LCs • Athletics Schedule (i.e. no Fridays/Monday mornings) • IAI approval is very important • English/Communications works with most courses

9. 3) Admissions & Registration: • TRUMAN: • Building an LC presence at orientation, testing, & admissions • Placement Test Result – Letter and flyer attached • CILC MEMBERS: • Peak times/Testing days – faculty staffing • Letters to Students – include an LC brochure • Orientation • Games/raffle • Faculty training on registration process • Speeding the LC line • Advising/Orientation – holds (“pre-enrollment LCs”)

10. 4) Advising is Key: • TRUMAN: • Advising liaisons & consultations • Advising packets (LC info) & All-Advisor Presentations • CILC MEMBERS: • Include LC schedule with student testimonials (half sheets) in Advising & Admissions home-mailings • Allow for “pre-enrollment” for LCs only

11. 5) Student Activities & Special Programs: • TRUMAN: • “Welcome-back / stress-relief / end-of-semester” events • Special programs hold “captive audiences” for LC marketing • CILC MEMBERS: • Certificates for LC “graduates” • Essay Contest – “why was your LC helpful/useful/beneficial?” • Next Semester “Commercials” at special events • Chalk!

12. 6) Classroom Visitations: • TRUMAN: • The best promotion is an instructor’s classroom visit • Credit-level classes fill via instructor visitations & reputation of the instructor • CILC MEMBERS: • Faculty visits • Director visits • Advising visits • Peer leaders for each LC

13. Contact Information • Elizabeth Rosenthal: • Director of Developmental EducationLearning Community Coordinator • erosenthal@ccc.edu • 773.907.6833 • Geoff Martin • Instructor, Communications Dept. • Learning Community Coordinator • gmartin55@ccc.edu • 773.907.4687

14. ADDITIONAL SLIDES

15. SPRING 2013: ENGLISH-BASED LCs

16. SPRING 2013 ENGLISH-BASED LCs

17. SPRING 2013 MATH-BASED LCs

18. SPRING 2013 SPECIALTY LCs