"I decided in favor of Big Rapids because it was sufficiently far away from colleges, normal schools, business colleges and academies to eliminate to a very large extent competition. From a business standpoint this was a foolish notion. It didn't occur to me that a man who wanted to sell shoes would refuse to locate on a South Sea island and that a man who wanted to sell fans would refuse to locate in Greenland. I failed to ask the pertinent question, 'Why isn't there a private school within a radius of fifty miles from Big Rapids?' It took me five years to answer this question."
- Woodbridge N. Ferris, founder of Ferris State University
The polite term for Big Rapids, Michigan is "rural." Not to be confused with "Grand Rapids," which is 50 miles south, Big Rapids is a former logging community of 12,000 that considers Ferris State University its biggest attraction, followed by fishing and tubing on the Muskegon River.
It might be a great place to raise a family. But Big Rapids is not an easy sell to incoming college students, especially those concerned about climate or nightlife. So it's not surprising that when Craig Westman arrived at Ferris State in 1998, admissions were down about 3,000 from an earlier peak above 12,000.
Westman is now Associate Dean for Enrollment, and he's seen enrollment grow from 9,468 to 11,822, even as the university raised its admissions requirement from a 2.0 to a 2.75 GPA. The average GPA among applicants is 3.14 today, while the average ACT composite score has increased from 18.5 in 1999 to 20.8. Freshman applications doubled from 5,899 in 1999 to 11,995 in 2004. And Ferris State achieved these improvements while its budget was being cut.
A focus on electronic marketing was key to the school's admissions turnaround. But it took serious persuasion to convince senior administrators to spend more than $110,000 on recruitment software from Hobsons.
Nevertheless, payback came quickly. In addition to the enrollment boost, Westman estimates that by keeping most admissions communications online, Ferris State saved $240,000 last year in postage and printing costs.
The "lunatic" succeeds
Even founder W. N. Ferris recognized that Big Rapids was not an easy sell. He wrote in his autobiography that he was "generally regarded as a lunatic" when he founded Big Rapids Industrial School, as it was known in 1884, in such a remote area.
But Ferris, a former governor and U.S. Senator, persevered. Now, 121 years later, Ferris State is succeeding, known for providing a practical, career-oriented education with a choice of more than 170 degrees.
In addition to majors such as nursing and business, Ferris State offers specialties that are available at few other universities. It houses the state's leading pharmacy school, and offers majors such as professional golf course management; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); welding engineering; optometry, and stenography.
Westman and Ronnie Higgs, who now serves as Dean of Enrollment Services, came to Ferris State from larger schools, where electronic recruitment was already working. Westman came from the University of Florida and Higgs joined a few months later from the University of Georgia. Both say they were motivated by the challenge of attracting students to Ferris State.
Unleashing the power of software
"There was nothing electronic when we got here," Higgs recalls. "It was the old view book approach. The strategy was to hope for applications, and if they came in, great."
"Nothing electronic" is a slight exaggeration. Ferris State began accepting online applications in 1995. Recognizing the savings in time and money, Ferris State allowed students to apply online with no fees. Westman tracked the results and quickly recognized that not only were online applications increasing significantly from year to year, but they generally attracted a higher caliber of student.
Higgs says, "We also recognized that those in the 13- to 24-year-old age group were the most tech savvy. They were spending 16 hours a week online - more time than they spent watching TV or listening to the radio." Westman adds that online applications "allowed us to move to 24/7 admissions. We found that as many as 40 percent of applications come in after 10 p.m."
Portals
As a next step, Westman and Higgs registered Ferris State with various college portals, including AnyCollege.net, MyCollegeOptions.com, Peterson's, Princeton Review and CollegeView from Hobsons.
Each of the portals provided Ferris State with leads, but CollegeView was the most effective of the group, according to Westman, and also provided the best tracking information. By paying for inclusion on CollegeView, Ferris State boosted traffic to its web site and applications increased. CollegeView produces about 5,000 prospects a year for the university.
Initially, Ferris State responded to the leads by sending mass e-mails to prospects, Westman recalls. But those e-mails were too impersonal and, as a result, were not very effective. In addition, he says, "we wanted more push and pull, instead of just push."
Web cards
"Pull" was created with a view book in CD-ROM format, which Westman describes as a "view book on steroids." The CD-ROM evolved into a web card, which is a convenient handout. It also costs less - about 50 cents, apiece, compared with $1.50 for a CD-ROM, or $2.50 plus postage for a view book. Recruiters pass out web cards at college fairs. They've even been stitched into the school's printed view book.
If you're wondering why it's called a web card, here's the answer. A prospect who inserts the business-card sized web card in a disk drive is shown a brief video, then brought to a registration page. Take a few minutes to register, and the software automatically sets up a VIP web page, based on the prospect's interests. The resulting dynamic web page is "a Ferris experience," according to Westman. Each prospect begins to feel like Ferris State knows him or her personally.
Registered "VIPs" have ongoing access to web information based on their specified areas of interest, which might include a sport or a chosen major. They also receive e-mails relevant to their interest.
Recruitment software
Ferris State's experience with CollegeView led to the selection of Hobsons' EMT Connect as its prospecting software with ongoing, personalized communications. Ferris State purchased the entire EMT Connect suite, including EMT Impress, EMT Engage, EMT Answer, EMT Apply and EMT Survey.
Using filters, EMT Impress can target any group for virtually any purpose. Send thank-yous to prospects for applying. Announce open houses and other events. Invite prospects to create a VIP page, or send financial aid information, even a birthday greeting. Send an invitation to apply online, an acceptance e-mail or an orientation sign-up. Missing application information and approaching deadlines can trigger e-mail as well.
Academic program information can be well explained by e-mail. Meanwhile Ferris State prospects receive 10 to 15 communications per year, because, Westman says, "The more we remind them, the more students we get." Often featured in each e-mail is the school mascot, Brutus the bulldog.
Created with Flash animation, Ferris State e-mails are co-developed by Hobsons, Ferris State design students and a staffer in the testing office. Product Director Brian Mikesell estimates that Ferris State buys eight times more e-mails than most Hobsons clients.
When Ferris State purchases names from ACT and the College Board, each is loaded into Hobsons EMT and sent his or her own dynamic web page. Whenever possible, Ferris State captures parent e-mail addresses and sends them regular e-mails that mirror the e-mails their children receive.
The electronic view book
View books and catalogs are considered by many to be expensive, impersonal and mostly irrelevant. Often, only a page or two pertains directly to a prospect's interests. To address this issue, Ferris State separated its view book into 25 separate sections called "Bulldog Beginnings." Each focuses on a specific student interest. Each prospect and his or her parents receive only that information which pertains directly to expressed interests.
The electronic newsletter
Dog Bites provides a third "point of engagement." It's a weekly electronic newsletter, which is purchased from and sent by Hobsons 20 weeks to 70,000 prospects. Each newsletter is just three to five paragraphs long with information about campus living vs. commuting, financial aid and other topics of general interest.
"We track down to the engagement level," Mikesell says. "At the end of 20 weeks we know how many people read it, and how many jumped forward to read upcoming newsletters in response to a teaser." Each e-letter gives prospects the option to click through to apply, log on to their VIP page or ask a question.
"We don't need to worry about those who are fully engaged, who read eight to 12 weeks of newsletters," Mikesell says. "And we're not going to get to those who opt out at week one. We work on the middle level. Those who have a 40-to-60 percent probability of attending are the ones you want to spend your marketing dollars on. That's what Craig does and that's why the numbers at Ferris State have gone up."
Automated answers
To complement the steady outbound communications stream, prospective students produce a steady volume of questions, primarily submitted via the university's web site.
Hobsons' EMT Answer module automatically responds to most inquiries. One Ferris State staffer used to answer 100 to 150 e-mails a day. Today, only the complex and the very personal questions are answered individually. EMT Answer sent 19,113 responses from August 2003 through June 2004. EMT Answer improves with age. Questions that are not already part of the system can be archived for future use.
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Two governors
Woodbridge Nathan Ferris, founder of Ferris State University, was both an educator and a politician. Born in Spencer, N.Y., he served as principal and superintendent of various schools in Illinois from 1874 to 1884 before settling in Big Rapids, Michigan. He served as president of Big Rapids Institute, renamed Ferris Institute in 1885, until his death in 1928.
Active in Democratic party politics, he served as Michigan's governor from 1913 to 1916, earning the title "Good Gray Governor." He was the first Democratic senator from his district since 1863, serving from 1923 until his death.
He wasn't the only Governor at Ferris State. The other was his bulldog, Governor, who was adopted as the school mascot. |
Integration
Given the many points of contact, integration is of great importance. "When a student signs up for a VIP page, applies online or takes any other action," Westman says, "everything is integrated into a single database. Integration leverages the information."
Campus tours
As the school's admissions operation became more high tech, it also became more high touch. The ultimate goal of electronic recruitment, according to Westman, is to get prospects not only to apply, but to tour the campus. Once toured, a prospect's chances of attending increase.
Ferris State offers 18 to 22 visitation days between September and May. In past years, some 300 prospects might visit, of whom 11 percent enrolled. Now the school attracts 2,500 to 3,000 visitors, and 76 percent of them enroll.
E-mails prepare visitors in advance. "What used to be a very impersonal day is now a very personal day," Westman says. "Once we became able to get prospects to visit the campus, faculty and staff became involved. They see how their involvement can influence the student's decision. Since enrolling students are admitted directly into a major,each college is also helping itself."
The built-in plan
Ferris State and Hobsons have worked so closely together during the past few years, according to Mikesell, that the next version of EMT Connect will include a targeted marketing plan based on Westman's work. "Craig has taken the lead on it," says Mikesell. "When we were redesigning Connect, he sent us an Excel spreadsheet outlining 10 to 15 tracks he uses to personalize his communications. He targets students who would be the first generation at the school, kids who would be close to home, parents, high-ability students, athletes. There are 10 to15 touch points in each track. He has this matrix of messages and he color-codes them as the school year proceeds. Using Excel is inefficient. He inspired us to include what he's doing inside our product."
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One student's perspective
During the winter of Noah Angele's senior year in high school, he got nervous. Needing financial aid for college, his 24 ACT score was a point short of the level needed for a scholarship, so he e-mailed Ferris State for advice.
A quick response advised him to retake the ACT test. He did and earned himself a scholarship worth about $14,000.
Scholarship aside, Angele believes Ferris State was a good choice. "I love it here," he says. In fact, he likes the school so well, he regularly discusses campus life with prospective students during campus visitation days. |
Connectivity
Meanwhile, Higgs appreciates the ease with which information can be transferred from EMT Connect to the school's student information system. A 20-year-old SCT system is being upgraded to an SCT Banner system at Ferris State. Because EMT Connect and Banner reside on an Oracle 9i database, data can be easily exported.
While the Banner upgrade will consumer much of the school's resources for now, Westman and Higgs don't expect to ease up their recruitment efforts. Westman is concerned that competitors on other campuses will catch on and try to lure students away from Ferris State. But he adds that, "higher education moves slowly."
As proof, he says that Ferris State's principal competitors are still marketing by mail with view books and catalogs. The longer that practice continues, the more Ferris State's enrollment is likely to increase.