Report of the Task Force on Enrollment Planning

Working Group on Outreach (Recruitment)

Introduction

The members of the Working Group learned a great deal about our university’s current efforts to attract qualified students during the course of our study. Included in the knowledge gained was that it is important to refer to these efforts as outreach, instead of recruitment. The former is a more encompassing term with a more positive connotation. What is more, we learned that it is a more acceptable term for funders, which is important when preparing grant applications. Accordingly, we have substituted the term “outreach” for recruitment throughout our report.

Overall Strengths

UTB/TSC is a community university that endeavors to create educational products that serve the needs of its stakeholders in the community. We have many hard-working people that are engaged in a variety of outreach efforts to market these programs and promote the university. We also have numerous creative programs with outstanding faculty. There are a number of grants that address different aspects of outreach. Most recently, UTB/TSC has launched a comprehensive image campaign to more aggressively market the university in its service area.

Long-Term Plan for Outreach

If UTB/TSC is going to accomplish its goal of doubling enrollment over the next 10 years, it must begin an aggressive long-term community-wide outreach with three strategic goals: increase our presence and respect in the broader community, including surrounding school districts; target students in elementary, middle school and high school; and improve outreach networking and collaboration efforts between UTB/TSC administration and faculty. Each goal is followed by an explanation.

1. Increase presence and improve image respect in the broader community, including surrounding school districts.

UTB/TSC should leverage its beautiful campus by hosting regular lectures, workshops, conferences, and artistic events for community members on campus so that the community will become familiar with the campus and will see the university as a friendly and accessible place. Events should welcome all community members, not just the well-to-do, well-connected or well-educated. For example, during the Fall 2001 semester, the College of Education co-sponsored a conference with BISD Special Services at UTB/TSC for parents of children with disabilities which was attended by 150 parents and 85 children. Parents felt welcomed by the university and also seemed to enjoy and appreciate the event, which included lunch, entertainment and campus tours.

2. Target Elementary, Middle School and High School Students and Their Counselors.

A concerted effort must be made to bring in elementary and middle school students so they can become familiar with our campus. Bringing these students to campus each semester for educational field trips would make them aware of our campus, and, hopefully, make them comfortable here. These field trips could include tours, lunch with faculty and administrators, musical events, and other activities that would make students familiar with the university and that would be educational. High school students who have been familiar with UTB/TSC since elementary school are much more likely to see the university in a positive light and choose it for their college. The K-16 Initiative is a valuable resource to achieve this goal and should be supported.

Creating and maintaining relationships with counselors from local high schools must be a priority for the university. The university must work very hard to remediate any damage that exists to its image or reputation with key school district personnel, especially counselors. A process to regularly disseminate information about UTB/TSC must be put in place and maintained. If school counselors believe in the quality of our university, and fully understand what we have to offer their high school students, they will direct their students in our direction. We should remember that both our goals and the school districts’ goals are similar. By working together we can greatly improve the education of the members of our community.

3. Improve networking and collaboration among UTB/TSC administration, staff and faculty regarding outreach efforts.

There was significant discussion in the preparation of this report about the role of faculty in outreach activities. When faculty engage in teaching excellence in the classroom they are in fact involved with outreach (i.e., the recruitment of future students) because students will spread the word about the quality education they are getting at UTB/TSC. Faculty, already overloaded with work burdens, probably should not be asked to add outreach commitments to their workloads. What must be set in place is a coordinated and collaborative outreach effort among administrators, outreach personnel and faculty. With open lines of communication and free flow of information, administrators can act as liaisons for faculty in disseminating information and making connections with potential UTB/TSC students.

The attention of the Outreach Committee focused on the following problems and recommendations which are grouped under four major headings: Outreach Infrastructure; Connecting with the Community; Nontraditional and Out-Of-District Students; and Strategic State Revenue Targets. The Committee believes that if these areas are addressed and the recommendations implemented the aforementioned goals can be achieved.

I. OUTREACH INFRASTRUCTURE

Background: Current resources allocated to outreach are woefully inadequate to reach the projected enrollment goals of 20,000 to 30,000 students. Our fact-finding indicates that we have the same number of financial aid advisors and counselors that we did in 1984. Since 80% of our students qualify for financial aid, this staff shortage presents a major roadblock. Analysis of information received from UTB/TSC undergraduate academic departments and programs showing where money was expended for outreach purposes during the 2000-01 AY raises the following red flags:

· Of the 15 academic areas responding, 83% of the funds spent for outreach during the 2000-01 Academic Year came from two programs: Fine Arts & the School of Health Sciences. (Note that Health Sciences has a waiting list to be admitted to their program).

· Six of the 15 programs spent $0 during AY 2000-01 on outreach.

· Twelve of the 15 spent less than $1,000 on outreach during 00-01.

· Only $23,000 was reported spent by all 15 departments/programs during 00-01 on community outreach.

· The majority of departments use M & O allocations rather than having budgeted resources for outreach.

Although UTB/TSC has many on-going outreach efforts (see Appendix A), they are ad-hoc with little or no cross-communication and collaboration, resulting in unproductive duplication of effort. There is no “point person” that directs and coordinates university outreach, a deficiency that results in numerous problems for the students. Another concern is that potential students are notified very late (June) rather than April as to acceptance for admission and financial aid. Many other universities notify in April so that students make their plans before they hear from UTB/TSC. There is no communication between the university and high school students in Cameron County unless those students initiate the process.

A. PROBLEM: Insufficient Resources for Effective Outreach

RECOMMENDATIONS

· Create a Master Plan that gives schools/departments resources to complement the university’s outreach efforts.

· Include, as part of the Master Plan, departmental and school growth goals and plans of action so that resources may be allocated appropriately.

· Hire additional personnel to provide outreach infrastructure support, including more financial aid personnel.

· Add another step in grant reviews to determine if money for outreach activities would be appropriate to add in grant applications.

B. PROBLEM: No Central Outreach Center or Director

RECOMMENDATIONS

· Create an Outreach Center for all outreach programs to be housed together .

· Create a Director of Outreach position with adequate support staff, space, and equipment.

· Create an Assistant Director of Outreach for Marketing position.

· Create at least two “professional” Mobile Outreach Teams comprised of staff who are well trained and well paid. Each team should consist of representatives from Financial Aid, Admissions, Testing, and Academic Advising. Each team should have at least one laptop PC with wireless internet access and one cell phone. The team should practice customer service. The teams should also track all the students it contacts and follow up with those students that have enrolled to be certain that they are provided with information on acceptance and financial aid.

· Create a web-based university-wide calendar for outreach coordination with all schools, and colleges and their departments.

II. CONNECTING WITH THE COMMUNITY

Background: There appears to be a major disconnect between UTB/TSC and the people and communities it serves. For example, statistics of the 2001 graduating class of Cameron County provided by GEARUP show the following percentages that attend UTB/TSC:

School District	Percentage of Graduating Seniors that Attend UTB/TSC as Freshmen
BISD	35%
San Benito	10%
Port Isabel	5%
Rio Hondo	5%
Harlingen	2%

The university must build bridges to the approximately 43,000 students in surrounding districts and their parents. The Office of News and Information is responsible for communicating UTB/TSC’s message to prospective students and the community but it has insufficient resources to market the institution effectively. For example, Ms. Pilar Acevedo, BISD Student Assistance For Furthering Education (SAFE) counselor, informed us that parents of BISD juniors and seniors are essentially unaware of UTB/TSC admissions procedures, academic programs, financial aid and scholarships. The problem is compounded by misinformation in the public schools on costs, etc. As an example, Alma Garcia, Director of GearUp, discovered that several BISD principals thought it costs $30,000 a year to attend UTB/TSC!

A. PROBLEM: Lack of Parental Awareness

RECOMMENDATIONS

· Hold an annual “Scorpion Night” for parents, hosted by the President. It might include raffles for scholarships as an incentive to attend.

· Invite parents along with their senior students on scheduled visits to UTB/TSC.

· Create a Parent Tool Kit that includes all relevant information about UTB/TSC.

· Use automated telemarketing phone software to remind parents and students about outreach events.

· Send replica Endowment dollars to parents of students who qualify for Endowment scholarships.

· Use alumni and UTB/TSC student organizations to volunteer at parent/student events.

· Host college awareness week with high school students and their parents.

· Host college awareness week with middle school students and their parents.

B. PROBLEM: Weak Long-Term Relationships with Students

RECOMMENDATIONS

· Host elementary school field trips each semester—campus tours, lunch with faculty and administrators, musical events, etc. (perhaps include them this year in the homecoming events).

· Work closely with GEARUP and other grants.

· Support the K-16 Initiative

· Target community organizations—Boys and Girls Clubs, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, etc.

C. PROBLEM: Lack of High School Counselor Awareness

RECOMMENDATIONS

· Hold an all-day workshop each semester for high school counselors, hosted by the President, to orient counselors on university admissions, financial aid, scholarships and degree programs.

· Provide regular updates to counselors via email.

· Create and distribute CD’s and videos of programs to aid counselors.

D. PROBLEM: Few Educational “Partners” in the Community.

RECOMMENDATIONS

· Create learning partnerships with community institutions such as HEB, Target, The Brownsville Herald, and Chase Bank so that UTB/TSC can “co-brand” with them.

· Ask The Brownsville Herald to create a “Professor (or Student) of the Week” much like it does for BISD.

· Disseminate educational information to churches in the community.

E. PROBLEM: Poor Community Image and Lack of Marketing

RECOMMENDATIONS

· Use new two-year image campaign to launch ongoing marketing strategies.

· Take advantage of free airtime on radio and television.

· Use BISD internal channel to run outreach information before and after school.

· Include community members in events that showcase the quality of faculty and work being done—lectures, workshops, conferences, and artistic entertainment.

· Encourage schools and colleges to provide outreach services to the community, such as the current special education workshops (Education) and the tax preparation assistance (Business).

· Prepare a list of faculty experts on topics of interest to the community and school districts.

· Encourage successful alumnae to interact with the community in partnership with the university.

· Use streamers for advertising on CNN-type channels.

· Provide useful institutional information such as phone numbers and events calendars in appropriate university publications.

· Design at least one criteria related to outreach on the Dean’s Appraisal Evaluation.

F. PROBLEM: Lack Of Scholarships and Awareness of Their Availability

RECOMMENDATIONS

· Create a relationship between donors and recipients so that donors can visualize the good that their money is accomplishing.

· Emphasize the importance of alumni and community help for scholarships—even relatively small ones of $500 to $1000 would help deserving students.

III. NONTRADITIONAL AND OUT-OF-DISTRICT STUDENTS

Background: UTB/TSC serves a diverse bi-national community consisting primarily of commuter students who work full or part-time jobs. Family is very important to students and family obligations may conflict with the ability to attend traditional classes, so creative class scheduling may be necessary. Also nontraditional students such as parents with GEDs and high school diplomas represent an untapped market for both technical and academic programs.

Although outreach to Mexico is minimal, evidence indicates UTB/TSC has a positive image in Matamoros. Having a degree from an English speaking institution is considered desirable for numerous business and government jobs in Mexico. The demand is high but there is no coordinated effort for reaching out to this market segment (The Language Institute being one exception). Also, the university should leverage its technology and distance education programs to reach larger and more nontraditional working students.

A. PROBLEM: Lack of Outreach to Nontraditional USA Students

RECOMMENDATIONS

· Emphasize web based and distance education courses to target those who want an education but can’t attend classes at UTB/TSC (see Appendix B).

· Partner with nearby schools (i.e., Longoria and Porter) to have after school and evening enrichment programs—art, music, sports, advanced science and math projects, etc. for students of parents who want to attend classes on campus. This might be funded through grants; (e.g., teachers, student teachers, student mentors, community mentors).

· Capitalize on parental involvement and encourage parents to enhance their own lives and set a good example for children by returning to college.

· Encourage all technical programs to be certified by outside agencies to improve image and provide incentives for enrollment.

B. PROBLEM: Lack of Outreach to Mexico

RECOMMENDATIONS

· Market our programs more aggressively in Matamoros by targeting high schools, maquiladoras, CANACINTRA, and Expos.

· Seek partnership agreements with schools and businesses in Mexico.

· Put increased emphasis on bilingual programs and certification.

· Market courses and programs in the interior of Mexico leading to both undergraduate and graduate degrees using web-based technology and distance education.

· Market courses offered in Spanish both in Mexico and in USA (the committee is not aware of university courses in the Lower Rio Grande Valley being offered in Spanish).

C. PROBLEM: Lack of Housing for Non-Local Students

RECOMMENDATION

Provide on-campus housing to increase opportunities for out-of-district and international students.

IV. Strategic Use of Differential Reimbursement Rates

Background: Most of the university revenue comes from the State based on revenue formulas/enrollment during counting years. While increasing enrollment leads to increased revenue, the reimbursement rate for graduate level courses is at least three times higher than that for most undergraduate courses. Therefore, if we are able to increase enrollment in graduate courses for the next counting year, May 2002 through Spring 2003, the university should have significantly more resources.

PROBLEM: LOW GRADUATE ENROLLMENT

RECOMMENDATION

Target UTB/TSC students graduating from our four year programs, alumni, Mexican Nationals (local), interior Mexican Nationals via the WEB and distance education courses, and students who previously attended but stopped out along the way (see Appendix C) and encourage them to pursue a graduate degree.

Report of the Working Group on

RECRUITMENT

Members

Introduction

1. Increase presence and improve image respect in the broader community, including surrounding school districts.

3. Improve networking and collaboration among UTB/TSC administration, staff and faculty regarding outreach efforts.

III. NONTRADITIONAL AND OUT-OF-DISTRICT STUDENTS

IV. Strategic Use of Differential Reimbursement Rates