Ever tried to sift through the statcan website? It can get kind of crazy, and just when you think you found something good, you need to order it and/or pay... argh. Anyway, here's one place to start poking around if you are looking to do some population planning...

http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060927/d060927a.htm

Also note; I have added a new blog to the list
http://stopfiverecords.blogspot.com (Dan Donkers; Summit Pacific)

See some of you in Ontario Friday (I leave tomorrow)...

Dayna

lou review

There were many good things on the CCUfairs west, but this wins hands down in it's category:
Best Ladies' Bathroom
...The envelope please...
and the winner is:
Calgary: First Alliance Church!

[actual photo]

Question of the Day

Okay, so for those of you that were on the western leg of the fairs, I know you're probably expecting some slightly random brainteaser that, while unusual and seemingly ridiculous, actually spurs on some great conversation and makes the day a whole lot more fun. I don't want to disappoint you, but this question is going to have a slightly different feel to it. Without any more preamble, here's my question:

As a admissions professional, our jobs require a large amount of commitment to both travel and office time. What things do you do to refresh yourself on the road? At home? How do you maintain relationships and community? What sort of things keep you alive personally so that you can be motivated professionally?

Can't wait to hear how you all weigh in on this one!

Astro-Dunn

Hey Dunn, this one's for you... and any of you other crazies that have never heard of Astroboy (my pick as Dunn's cartoon character) click above to hear the theme song... click here to find out more about "the Aaamazing Aaastro-Boooyyyyy..."

Blog Links

Quick tip for y'all... scroll down a bit and look right... there's a list of some recruiter's blogs (not neccessarily about recruitment... mostly not...). Comment here to have yours added to the list.

5 Ways to Boost January Enrolment

Happy November! It's not hard to think of Christmas and the new year here in Calgary right now, with our blanket of snow and sub-zero temperatures... it got me thinking of enrolment trends for second semester...

Did you know that many prospective students -- even mature students, don't know that they can start classes in January? If your enrolment numbers are astoundingly high right now, you may not need to make a push for January enrolment... but if you could use a boost in enrolment, here are a few ideas:

1. Promotional campaign... a "bold sign" road side announcement proclaiming January enrolment options
2. Radio ad (see if you can get it sponsored by a local business)
3. Newspaper ad (especially effective for attracting mature students/community ed/continuing ed)
4. A special brochure or small poster for your display table focusing on January enrolment
5. Christmas "gift certificates", good for the cost of a class... promote these on your parent page and/or semester-end mailout. While you're at it, throw in a free gingerbread latte card for your campus cafe...

Most of all, don't forget that just when it feels like you're getting SICK of your brand, logo, promotional campaign... others are JUST beginning to recognize it. You are immersed in it, but many don't even know you exist, or have misconceptions about how and when you offer your services (even your own students!). Tell them how it's going to be done... tell them you're doing it, and then tell them how you did it... they'll get the picture AND pass it on.

Happy Birthday Clint!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
CLINT!

You're definitely cool enough for the name "CLINT"! ;o)
Hope you have a great Birthday!

The votes are in...

The votes are in... here's the picture for next year's CCUFairs promo:


More western fairs pictures here

Blogger Alerts...

Has anyone set up Blogger Alerts? Funny enough, I set one up to find "CCUFairs" so that I can track advertising and articles etc... and it found one of Stacey's blog posts, as well as my previous blog post.

All that to say two things: 1) set up blogger alerts, they work! and 2) check out Stacey's blog... you'll find more fantastic pictures like this one (click to go to Stacey's blog):

Schoolfinder.com Profile

Christian Higher Education Canada has a pretty sweet profile within schoolfinder.com. They are one of the sponsoring organizations of the CCUFairs, so we worked out a deal for the profile on their site (click logo above).

• The institutions with the higher profiles were already paying members of schoolfinder.com
• I am unsure how they qualified "UC" as a type, but I will look into it
• These have been up since before western fairs started (sorry I didn't tell you sooner, one of those things that got lower priority with dealing with personal things over the last few weeks).

Especially check out the "program find" option... pretty cool.

What do you think? Any suggestions?

Thank you!

Ahhh, I enjoyed a latte in my new mug, & listened to some new iTunes already... the chocolate didn't survive long enough to make it into the picture, yah, it's gone. Thanks so much for your generosity! You guys are the best.

For the record, the "Question of the Day" about the song of your life helped me pick out some new iTunes... Chris Tomlin, Amanda Falk, Third Day, John Mayer... and I was surprised that nobody named "on the road again" as their life song! Maybe in Ontario...

Anyway, thanks again, I am truly honoured.

Dayna

question of the day

Stacey had everyone thinking, talking, and getting to know one another with "Question of the Day" while we were on the western leg of the fairs. One of the questions was, "If you were a cartoon character, what cartoon character would you be?" [note that this is not asking what your favourite cartoon character is, but who you would be]...

• Patty was Dora the Explorer
• Renee was SheRa... and I think a couple of others...
• Starla was Smurfette
• Dunn was AstroBoy (although not everyone knows who that is...)----->

But Ruth Scott wins... as... HERSELF! (click pic for virtual tour of ebc!)


On that note... what was the highlight of the CCUFairs for you? What would you never change about the CCUfairs?

pay it forward...

Okay all you who attended the ProD... or even just went on the western fairs... what's your number one new "action item"? What will you now do differently as a result of your training and/or experience?

I know you're out there...

Quality vs Quantity...

Dan Donkers ladies and gentlemen, Recruiter for Summit Pacific (Abbotsford) at Kelowna's Great White North Supertour concert among a few of the several hundred attendees.

This event, and events like YC (by the way YC07 dates are May 25-27), maybe even Missionsfest; Out in Ontario and east I imagine it is things like Kingdom Bound or events at Canada's Wonderland... raises the question... should you put your eggs in the quality basket, or the quantity basket? The illustration lending itself quite nicely to my answer... don't put all your eggs in one basket!

Sometimes students don't know that they want more information from you yet until they come across you at events that are not intentionally "higher education" focused.

Thoughts?

Friday's Cry-->

^ Melanie, Tim & Andrea prepare for the rush...

3 Secrets of a Secret Shopper

Yes, I confess... I am a mystery shopper in my other life. I LOVE the process of evaluation. Sometimes it feels like a "curse" because I just can't turn it off. Rather than think of myself as being critical, I prefer to think of myself as a problem solver... it's a fine line sometimes, and as my twin sister quoted on her blog recently, "Attitudes are contagious, do you want people to catch yours?"

Anyway, here are some thoughts that I have transfered to the recruitment world from my experiences as a secret shopper:

1. Be the Client :: the most important aspect of being a secret shopper is to put yourself in the shoes of an actual customer of the actual product or service. How often do you put yourself in the shoes of your prospective students? How often do you see what they see, hear what they hear, live what they live? Do you know what their experiences are like when they participate in a campus tour, an overnight res visit, a class preview?
   
2. Be Observant :: in mystery shopping, the evaluation of the environment is as important as the evaluation of the personelle. You may be the best recruiter, and have the best staff, and the best profs... but how's the student lounge looking these days? What's the carpet in the elevator like? How are the washrooms doing? Improvement in these areas can affect prospective students' decisions to attend your institution, and existing students' decisions to stay.
   
3. Report on it :: the best part of mystery shopping is the shopping... but you don't get paid until you report on it. Lack of written evaluation is the number one weakness that I see in recruitment departments nation wide. Start now to effectively evaluate each recruitment endeavour you do, and you (or your future replacement) will be thankful next year at this time... how much material did you go through? Was it worth the time? effort? cost? Did you get an evaluation from the host (if appropriate, ie a ministry team recruitment event)?
   

Feeling "critical" lately? Try to think of yourself as a problem solver... you may find yourself wanting others to catch your contagious attitude...

Why This Blog is a Good Thing

I've noticed this blog has been pretty silent the last few weeks. I wanted to tell you why I blog here in hopes that it will encourage you my fellow recruiters to post some comments here and maybe even join the humble writing team and share your thoughts and experiences.

1. We can learn from each other - Many of us have been around the Christian Higher Ed industry for quite some time. Each one of us have had individual success' and failures as we've traveled and shared the stories of our schools. If we begin to come together and post what we've learned works and what doesn't I truly believe we can become more effective in what we do.

2. We can share resources - There are resources out there that can make our lives easier. Has anyone tried Hotwire yet? I never knew it existed before someone put me on to it. I've learned several very handy marketing techniques from some of Dayna's posts. There are always articles and things we find in our travels that would be great to post and share. Again all this is done so that we can be more effective in what we do.

3. It's a great place to talk and let off steam - Some of you out there may work with a team. Some of you especially in smaller schools may not. There were many years that I was the only one out there for my school. I think I really would have loved an on-line community with the potential that this has. Especially I would have loved a place to share road stories and let off some steam once in a while. How many of you even if you work on a team are in a similar place?

So there's a few thoughts on a Friday night. I really hope this thing grows into the potential that I see it can reach. Tell me what you think of what I wrote here. Share your stories, your concerns. I know you're out there...

Ask and You Shall Find

I was thinking today about how often the recruiting job is like detective work. I find this applies especially to any dealings we have with prospective students these days. How many conversations have we had with students where we've had to ask the right questions to draw out a response and get them to think seriously whether they are interested in our schools.

There's a ton of reasons for this I know but I find a lot of students are reluctant to commit until the last possible moment these days. How many applications do we all see come in June, July and even August? Students have been fed so much information from their guidance counselors and their peers in their grade 12 year that it almost seems like some freeze up when they are asked to make a decision as to where they want to continue their education.

We need to realize that when we don't get a clear commitment from prospective students we sometimes need to put on our detective hat and start asking them questions to steer them in the right direction and get them to come to a decision. Here's a few ideas that I throw out to students who are caught in the decision loop.

1. What are they good at? What classes did they enjoy in high school?

2. What are they passionate about? This especially applies for students who are interested in studying something outside of normal academics they'd cover in High School.

3. What are their goals? Where would they like to see themselves in 5 years? 10 years?

4. Set a date to make a decision. Get the student to set a date where they have to make a decision. Sometimes committing to that can make the difference.

5. Get them to write things down. Sometimes when they are on paper they can become real.

6. Make sure they're talking. If they haven't talked about things enough with their parents, pastor, teacher, etc. Make sure they do. Getting the opinions of trusted ones can be encouraging and helps a student realize they're not alone.

New Template Coming Soon

So, I just started using Firefox as a browser, and realized that my template does not have cross-browser compatibility. For those of you currently using Firefox... check it out in IE for a look at all the coolness before the airplanes disappear before your very eyes. Does anybody out there know of a good, free, cross compatible blog template site?

New University in BC?

Anyone heard of the World Trade University? Apparently they're raising quite a stir due to the fact that they are calling themselves a University...

"B.C’s reputation for high-quality post-secondary education is at stake if the WTU is allowed to call itself a university without going through an approval process and meeting minimum standards required of all other private institutions, says Robert Clift, executive director of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of B.C."

This raises some of the conversations that we have had as private institutions in different provinces, with different factors contributing to the reasons we are (or are not) called University, University College, College, etc.

Do you think it puts the reputation of a high quality education at stake? Do you think that being prevented from having "University" in your name limits the opportunity to get a good reputation?

DC