Consultants, like schools, can differ in fundamental ways.  Our mission at at William M Shain Consulting is to help you achieve your institution's recruitment goals while treating constituents well, both in the marketplace and on campus.  Treating prospective families well is simply good business practice.  In addition, enrolling an appropriate student cohort is important to all members of your campus community.

We are guided by three core principles: (1) Sensitivity to your school's traditions and values.  Your marketing message, recruitment practices and admission decisions must be consistent with what your school stands for.(2) Practicality.  Our reports are crisp and action-oriented.  We do not measure the quality of our work by the frequency with which we can produce fifty-page reports with a multitude of graphs and charts.  You want to know what to do, and to be able to isolate this with ease in a report.  (3) Cost-efficiency.  As a small firm, we have a significantly lower operational overhead than the larger companies which consult with educational institutions.  As a result, our prices will always be competitive.

The services described here can be delivered independently. They benefit, however, from being pursued in combination. The needs of no two colleges or universities are identical, of course, and the specific protocol recommended will always be adapted to the particular needs of your institution. 

My experience has produced results

Macalester College At Macalester College (St. Paul, MN), applications increased 100% in my first seven years as dean and 200% during my entire 17-year tenure. The percentage of students offered first-year admission declined from 84% to 54%, thus making the college more selective.

Vanderbilt University During my eight years as dean of undergraduate admissions at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN), applications increased by 50% and the first-year student admission rate declined from 61% to 32%. Vanderbilt also achieved record student diversity during my tenure.

Bowdoin College During my two years at Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME), applications increased 12% (20% in the areas for which I served as recruitment coordinator), and enrollment of African-American and Latino students increased more than 100%. Bowdoin’s 18.5% admission rate for the class that entered in August 2008 was the lowest on record, putting the school among the nation’s most highly selective.

Assess your needs

Enrolling a class is a complex endeavor involving a wide range of office activities.  Best practice is periodically to conduct an admissions operations assessment to determine which processes are functioning well and which ones could benefit from attention.  An admissions assessment examines all office functions including: the marketing message and its dissemination, staff management and the managerial climate, data collection and its analysis and strategic application, campus visits (including interviews and tours), travel planning and assessment and more.  A detailed report then highlights improvements which will have bottom-line impact.

Market your institution more effectively

Effective recruitment protocols are based on reality. An institution must have a clear grasp of how it is perceived by its publics and how it might be perceived more accurately or more effectively. This can be learned through a combination of professionally conducted research—focus groups, phone and/or e-mail surveys, and thoughtful review of existing institutional data(ASQ, CIRP, etc.). I have extensive experience in all of these areas.

Research alone, however, cannot deliver success. The institution must also describe itself in a way that is crisp, compelling, accurate, and comfortable for the school community. I have supervised the formulation of a successful marketing message at each of the three institutions for which I have headed the admission process.

Finally, admissions publications, correspondence, and the institutional website must consistently and vividly convey the marketing message. Again, I have supervised this process at all three schools.

Streamline the admission process

Too often, admission processes are conducted according to tradition: “We’ve always done it this way.” Careful analysis of the admission decision process can improve efficiency and create time for other activities that can positively impact the bottom line. This analysis should include: 1) assessment of reader loads, with consideration of individual strengths and other managerial duties; 2) review of the reader sheet and the extent to which all aspects are useful; 3) supervision of the reading process [Are all readers completing their work in a timely manner? Are outside readers needed? If so, how many? How effective are existing outside readers?]; 4) reader training; 5) efficiency of the admission committee and decision-making process, identifying and eliminating bottlenecks; and 6) evaluation of computer support.

Admit the right students

The purpose of the admission process is to create a campus community consistent with institutional mission. The process should be reviewed in the context of institutional goals: 1) Does the process focus on academic potential as its primary goal? 2) Can the Office of Student Affairs work well with the pool of admitted students? 3) How effective is the admission process in evaluating underrepresented students? International students? Home-schooled students? Other less traditional candidates? 4) Are all admission ratings verifiable by institutional research? 5) Do the ratings evaluate the qualities that are central to the institution’s mission? 6) Does the current process have blind spots that prevent it from enrolling the most desirable entering class possible?

Improve campus visits

Admissions research shows that students who visit campus are the most motivated prospects for enrollment. It is critical that their campus visit enhances their interest, converting them to applicants and hopefully to enrollees. It is rare that an admission office subjects the campus visit to external analysis, thereby acquiring the benefit of a skilled set of “fresh eyes.” Most aspects of the campus visit protocol, however, are appropriately subject to review: 1) the process by which visits are encouraged and scheduled; 2) reception area procedures; 3) the campus tour in terms of message, route, and style of information delivery; 4) on-campus interviews; and 5) services available to visiting students.

Enhance staff management

Admission officers are a critical component of institutional recruitment and outreach. Each officer typically works with hundreds or even thousands of families in each recruitment cycle. This function is often worthy of review: 1) Is the staff size appropriate to institutional goals? 2) Is the office effectively organized to perform its myriad managerial functions? 3) Does the office maintain effective and congenial relationships with appropriate campus offices—Athletics, Academic Affairs, the Alumni Office, Student Affairs, etc.? 4) Is staff training appropriate and effective? 5) Is staff retention strong? As experienced admission officers are the backbone of an effective recruitment protocol, excessive turnover is a problem that can and must be addressed.

Consider executive coaching

Do you supervise a talented staff member you would like to see rise to the next level of achievement?  Or perhaps you have a key employee who is failing to show the managerial skills needed to execute work tasks as well as you want.  Or you may be struggling to improve your own relationship with your supervisor,  or with staff who report to you.  In each of these situations, coaching can bring remarkable results.  I work individually with clients in person or by phone through individual weekly sessions, typically lasting one hour.  My experience in coaching admissions professionals has determined that to insure the best results, the minimum commitment is for twelve sessions.  Important gains are almost always seen in that time, and even more can be achieved when coaching is continued for another three to nine months, or even longer.