Download Leading Higher Education Towards Inclusive

Public Relations and Marketing
Strategies for Higher Education
Diversity Initiatives
4440 PGA Boulevard, #600, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 33410
561-472-8479, 561-472-8401 (fax), www.nadohe.org
Leading Higher Education Towards Inclusive Excellence
Webinar Logistics
Moderator: Dr. Juan Sanchez Munoz
Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Community Engagement
Associate Vice Provost, Faculty and Undergraduate Academic Affairs
•
•
•
•
•
•
Welcome and Instructions
Dr. Roger L. Worthington
Q&A
Dr. Whitney Stewart Harris & Linda Kohl
Q&A
Closing
NADOHE Professional
Development
Themes of future NADOHE webinars:
•
•
•
Marketing and Communications
Budget and Development
Diversity Assessment
NADOHE Professional
Development
• Future projects:
•Professional Expert Speakers Bureau
•Marketing Campaigns
•Annual Report Preparation
•Resource development and reporting
•Formation of Professional Standards for CDO’s
•CDO Development Institute
Roger L. Worthington, PhD
Assistant Deputy Chancellor & Chief Diversity Officer
Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative
University of Missouri
Marketing Your Diversity
Initiative
Presentation Prepared by
Roger L. Worthington, Ph.D
Assistant Deputy Chancellor &
Chief Diversity Officer
Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative
Rebecca A. Calvin
Marketing Specialist
Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative
University of Missouri
Basic principles of marketing for
diversity in higher education
What it is
A process of image
building
Identify your
products &
services
Identify your
consumers &
their needs
Connect your
consumers to
your
products
Everything that shapes the perception the
consumer has of your organization
University of Missouri
Why it is important
Competition
Increase
Presence
Accountability
University of Missouri
What you should know
before you begin
Mission and Vision
Available Resources
Products and Services
University of Missouri
Strategic areas of focus
Outreach:
prospective
students, faculty &
Staff
In House:
campus environment
Internal bureaucracy:
administrators,
curators, government
University of Missouri
Develop your plan for each
strategic area
Identify & learn about your target audience & their perceptions
Learn about your competition
Define your goals
Develop an appropriate strategy
Implement and promote
University of Missouri
Branding your institution’s
diversity efforts
What it is
The package
University of Missouri
University of Missouri
Why it is important
Competition
Branding
Accountability
University of Missouri
Strategic areas of branding
Message
Purpose
Audience
Image
Promise
University of Missouri
University of Missouri
Strategies for achieving
diversity objectives through
marketing techniques
Conduct a products and services
assessment
Title
Lead
Description
Target
Audience
Priority Scale
Strengths
Challenges
Opportunities
Steps for
improvement
Estimated cost
University of Missouri
University of Missouri
Develop a semester guide to
general communications activities
Title
Purpose
Audience
Frequency
Media
Avenues
Materials
Event Dates
Promotional
Dates
Budget
University of Missouri
University of Missouri
Reach and Engage Underrepresented Students
through Public Relations and Marketing
Strategies
Diversity Strategies Webinar Series
http://www.innovativeeducators.org/webinars_s/57.htm
Introductions
Dr. Whitney Stewart Harris
Executive Director, Diversity and Multiculturalism
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Linda Kohl
Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
About the system
• 32 institutions
• 54 campuses
• 47 communities
System profile
•
•
•
•
7 state universities
5 community colleges
6 technical colleges
14 combined technical and community colleges
• 424,000 students per year
• 33,500 graduates per year
Students of color
Total number students of color:
40,723*
Students of color: 16.2%
American Indian: 1.5%
Hispanic or Latino: 2.0%
Asian: 4.4%
African American: 8.3%
(*Annual unduplicated headcount enrollment
in credit courses.)
Underrepresented students
• Students of color
• Students from low-income families
• ESL students
• First-generation college goers
Challenges
• Need to increase overall educational attainment
of adults
• Projected population growth is among people of
color
• Lower participation and completion rates for
students of color and of males
• Need to increase participation and completion
of first generation college-goers and low income
Strategic Response
“The Board of Trustees recognizes that
recruiting and retaining college students in
groups traditionally underrepresented in higher
education is critical to the state’s economic
future.”
Research on the underrepresented
•
•
•
•
•
•
Review existing recruitment and retention plans
Review current spending
Evaluate customer service
Focus group of campus staff
Focus groups of underrepresented students
Use results to assist colleges and universities
Student focus groups – middle schools
• 14 focus groups with middle school students
from target audiences
– 10 Twin Cities
– 2 Duluth
– 2 Willmar
Participants: African Americans, recent African
immigrants, Hmong, Hispanic/Latino and American
Indian. For each group, focus groups of girls and
boys.
Student focus groups – high schools
• 2 focus groups of students
– Seniors from suburban high school
– 9th to 12th grade English Language Learners
from rural high school
• Interviews with three high school counselors
Objectives
Middle school groups:
• Assess awareness and impressions of college
• Determine what would motivate them to consider
college
• Find out how they want to receive information
about college
• Get reactions to description of college
High school groups:
• Hear views about college
• Review existing recruitment materials
Selected conclusions – middle school
• Students are interested in college but do not
have a good idea of what college is
• Parents are powerful motivators for all groups
• Ideas about their future are limited or unrealistic
• Concerns exist about financing, possibility of
failure
• Internet is more useful for information about
college than YouTube, My Space
• Personal connection and experience are the
best ways to get information
Reactions to 2001 materials
• Clothing styles outdated
• Wanted brighter colors
• Wanted to see what college
would be like
• Information about earning
potential
• More information about
financial aid, grants
Questions?
Brochure
•
•
•
•
Photo shoot
New design
Brighter colors
Rewrite to address
concerns
Translation
• State population
statistics
• Student body
statistics
• Welcoming
environment
Translation design issues
Poster
• All 9 languages on
one poster
• Distribute (English)
brochure and posters
by mail to counselors
• Provide online order
form for brochures in
all languages
Advertising campaign
• Bus exteriors on targeted routes
• Bus shelter ads in targeted neighborhoods
• Bus and transit ads, interior
• Newspaper ads
Other strategies
• New coordinated Web site:
yesyoucan.mnscu.edu
• Secret shopper exercise
• Internal campaign rollout
• News release
• Toll-free phone number
• Dedicated e-mail address
• State Fair booth
Results
• Between 2005 and 2009, students of color grew
from 30,000 to 40,700, or 36%
• Students of color now make up 16.2 % of
students, up from 13.3% in 2005
• Total system headcount increase: 8.3%
• Underrepresented students increased sharply,
going from 44.4% in 2008 to 49.2% in 2009
• Huge demand for brochures in all 9 languages.
– 82,500 brochures, 10,000 posters printed
– After 11 months, 86% had been distributed
– Now in second printing
• Used as instructional tools in middle schools
• Fifty-four ads were placed in publications with a
combined readership of 330,000
• Bus and transit ads generated 39.9 million
impressions
Activity
• Identify the underrepresented groups that are
the focus of your institutions recruitment efforts
• Research best strategies to reach these groups
– Focus groups
– Demographic information
• Develop a plan an implement it
• Measure results
Questions?
Contact information:
Whitney Stewart Harris
[email protected]
(651) 296-5313
Linda Kohl
[email protected]
(651) 296-9595
www.yesyoucan.mnscu.edu
www.mnscu.edu
Comments & Questions
4440 PGA Boulevard, #600, Palm Beach
Gardens, FL, 33410
561-472-8479, 561-472-8401 (fax),
www.nadohe.org