A Primer for New Graduate Admissions Professionals

Presented By:

Sarah Petrakos, Assistant Dean, Admission and Recruitment, Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science

Kathy Dilks, Director of Graduate Admissions, Sacred Heart University

Introductions

• Who we are and what we do

• Your Turn!– Name/Job Title/Institution– # Years in Admission– Are you a Centralized or Decentralized Admissions Office?

Overview

– Graduate School Fairs– Marketing Collateral– Campus Visits– Social Networking– Operation and Communication Plans– Communications– Politics– Professional Development

“The more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know;

The less you know, the more you think you know.”

-David T. Freeman

A Quote To Consider

Graduate School Fairs

• College Fairs – Are they Worth It?– Maximizing their effectiveness– Identifying the best ones to attend– Evaluating a fair’s success

Simmons GSLIS Travel Report 2011

Name of Event:

Date/ Location/Time of Event:

Would you recommend that we do this event again?

Approximate number of prospective students you spoke with and their area of interest:

Name/department/contact information for anyone else you met with:

Was the amount of materials/number of give-aways sufficient?

What did you bring and approximately how many of each?

Were any of our competitors at the fair? (please list school and names of representatives if possible)

Any comments/recommendations for next year:

Name of Representative Who Attended:

Marketing Collateral

• Collateral Pieces– Traditional Travel Pieces– Outside Designers vs. In-House Expertise– Making a Case For Change

Campus Visits

• Open Houses/Information Sessions

• Informational Interviews

• Tours

• Class Visits and Meetings with Faculty

Social Networking

• Social Networking – Opportunity for low-cost marketing– FB, Blogs, Twitter, Zinch, Foursquare, etc.– Aim for “genuineness” – Consistency– Google Analytics

Operation and Communication Plans

• Operations Plan – Internal Audience

• Marketing/Communication Plan–External Audience

Communications

• Email Blast Companies– TargetX, Constant Contact

• Enrollment Management Systems (EMS)– Hobsons, Intelliworks, etc

• Pros and Cons

• Keeping Website Current and Interesting

“Politics”• Admit to mistakes

• Work Email

• Positive Attitude

• Questioning Higher Ups

• Using Caution in Meetings

• “Bread and Butter”

Professional Development

• Moving Up the Ladder

• Different Kinds of Bosses

• Stay Current

• Networking and Professional Associations – NAGAP, NEGAP, AACRAO, GAPSEMC, Specialty Conferences

(GMAC, etc)

• Continuing to Add to Your Expertise

Questions?

Contact Information

Sarah PetrakosAssistant Dean, Admission and Recruitment

Simmons College GSLISsarah.petrakos@simmons.edu

617-521-2801

Kathy DilksDirector of Graduate Admissions

Sacred Heart UniversityDilksK@sacredheart.edu

203-396-8259