News flash: Your site is important. It needs its own staffing.

Contributed by: Terry Hamrick
Director of Interactive Services, Stein Communications

Let me state what you and I already know: The web has become the first choice for researching a wide range of topics, from the best microwave to the best college or university. Word of mouth on the Internet and web users seeking reassurance about their choices and decisions — in social media such as blogs and online communities, among others — are powerful new trends that are reshaping marketing, public relations, and the way institutions, both private and public, interact with their audiences and constituents.

From the growing pile of studies showing the importance of the web in the college search process, let’s take a quick review of results from a recent study released by The Princeton Review.

First choice for researching colleges
The 2006 National Survey of Website Usage in Undergraduate and Graduate School Search (.doc) (6,885 undergraduate surveys; 2,184 graduate) shows that undergraduate school-bound students spend 80.5 percent of their total school search and research time using the web. Graduate school-bound students spend 81.7 percent of their total search and research time on the web.

Furthermore, according to the study, school-bound students rate as their five most valuable search aids/tools (in terms of percentage reporting valuable and very valuable):

Undergraduate school-bound

• Institutional web sites, 82 percent
• Print materials, 77 percent
• The school visit, 66 percent
• Higher education research websites, 65 percent
• Guide books, 60 percent

Graduate school-bound

• Institutional web sites, 76 percent
• Graduate school admissions staff, 57 percent
• Higher education research web sites, 55 percent
• Print materials, 52 percent
• Graduate school rankings, 51 percent

With these kinds of numbers and trends in mind, the issue is no longer if the web should be considered a critical facet of institutional communications and marketing, but when, and by how much, it should be funded and staffed as an essential communications and outreach function of the college or university.

We are beyond the question of traditional channels (viewbooks, ads, PR, news releases, etc.) versus the Internet channel (and all its facets). Today, it has to be both.

Your brand face to the world
Your web site is your brand face to the world. Its visibility can be tens to hundreds of thousands of views a month, available 24/7, and its reach is potentially every computer user on the globe.

Now, you’re not going to be visited by every computer user on the globe, but the actual and potential visibility of your institution’s web site underscores the need for it to be top-of-mind in any strategy planning involving the institution’s branding, messaging, communications, and — not to be overlooked — improved customer service initiatives. Nothing has the potential to telegraph an institution’s organizational discord, inefficient processes, and lack of mission focus more quickly than its web site.

And while the web makes it easy to publish lots of content — and academic institutions certainly have no lack of content — the uncoordinated publishing of that content can be highly counterproductive. It’s important to move beyond the “because we can, we should” publish-it-on-the-web thinking of the last century. We all know how busy and information-overloaded everybody is in this century. Your site visitors are no exception. They are looking to use their time efficiently on your site. After all, they also have to check their MySpace page, answer waiting IMs, and text the gang.

You need to provide key site visitors with content and web services better focused on their specific needs and the tasks they want to accomplish online. This may entail difficult, but necessary, decisions on site audiences, approach, and focus. And it will require dedicated and continuing attention to the details.

Dedicated staff and funding
With that in mind, oversight of this critical communications channel should have dedicated staff and funding. This seems obvious, but I still encounter a surprising number of institutions where site management is unfocused and scattered, with those trying to do the job working in a vacuum of limited support from the top.

As a beginning, an institution should look at adding, or identifying from current staff, at least one full-time staff member whose duties are solely based on the communications, messaging, and content aspects of the web site. I’ll call this person the Web Content Manager — but it could be Web Editor, Web Communications Director, pick your title — with the intention that this position is oriented towards content, user experience, and site management; and is not a webmaster, developer, or other technical position. (You need the techies too.)

I see the Web Content Manager (WCM) as a bridge person who works with both the campus community and the IT side to ensure that an institution’s web experience is of the highest possible quality and on target. For example, the WCM:

• Makes sure marketing, branding, and style standards are applied site-wide.
• Ensures consistency of content and message and cheerleads content contributors across campus.
• Champions the user experience of site visitors and works with IT and administration to ensure that technical decisions and site features are always pro-site visitor.
• Works as an evangelist for web communications and technologies in institutional funding and policy decisions.

Needless to say, depending on the size of your institution and site, the WCM may be just the starting point for a more expansive and dedicated web management staff, perhaps with a mix of additional full-time, part-time/student intern, and external contract/as-needed staffing.

What happens after launch?
When an institution undergoes a web redesign project, an important (and unfortunately often inadequately addressed) question for the college or university becomes: What happens after launch?

It should be remembered that your new, attractively designed and appropriately branded pages are meant first and foremost to be found and read. The launch of a new site without an ongoing maintenance plan or staffing and budgeting in place to manage the content, navigation continuity, and design of the new site going forward will only result, in fairly short order, in a new site with the same old familiar problems.

Lack of post-launch attention is not the way to ensure the best return on your institution’s considerable investment of the time and money involved in a site redesign. Furthermore, for those thinking along the lines of a content management system “magic bullet,” the installation of a CMS will not solve issues of content relevance and maintenance. While the CMS can provide a consistently structured and accessible presentation of your site; there is, as far as I know, no CMS to date that can write, edit copy, recruit content contributors, or take attractive photos.

Plan for your web site to succeed. Dedicate the resources — both staffing and funding — to allow your web site to flourish and serve as a beneficial resource to your key constituents, particularly prospective students. They’ll appreciate your effort, and you’re sure to see positive results.

How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges — And Who Gets Left Outside the Gates, by Daniel Golden, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The Wall Street Journal
Contributed by: Ross Lenhart
Senior Vice President, Stein Communications

George applies to his state university and also to Yale. He is refused at his state university and is accepted at Yale. George’s father is a well-known Yale alumnus, and George Junior waltzes through the Eli gate to a Cole Porter tune on a warm September morn, perhaps taking a seat of a student who was more deserving.

According to Daniel Golden, this scenario is repeated time and time again on the American university horizon — especially in the admissions offices of our elite and prestigious colleges and universities. This scenario is what The Price of Admission is all about. This book is a great read for those connected in any way with college admissions. Golden raises many questions that we have all known to have been there but, like a sore on our body, we refrain from scratching it because the end result could be somewhat unhealthy. Sometimes it’s hard to get out of our comfort zones and confront those questions that are right in front of our eyes. But these are questions that never go away — by their presence year in and year out, we adopt those ways of thinking without thinking at all. It’s just easier for us that way, and they lie there persistently right under the rug in front of our desks. Golden wakes us up from this sleep walk and causes us to think. This in itself makes this book worthwhile.

It’s all about privilege, and it is about the ongoing recipe of the admission office mixing privilege together with affirmative action together with what is just plain fair into a bowl to be mightily stirred at the right temperature to satisfy appetites, and thus making everybody happy in the hungry halls of ivy. Oftentimes, according to Daniel Golden, the cooks overplay the privilege part of the mixture to the detriment of the other two ingredients, creating something less than a healthy diet for the future of our American society and for the American university conscience.

This book is not boring, and it is not filled with statistics to make a point. Golden is a storyteller and uses real world examples. At times it reads like a novel. Each chapter covers how privilege sneaks into the world of college admissions in a variety of ways. Just to name a privileged few:

Political Privilege: President Terry Sanford of Duke often calls Dr. Jean Scott, Dean of Admission, into his chambers to discuss the admission of the less qualified sons and daughters of the politically important in the great State of North Carolina since President Sanford is the former governor. Dr. Scott marks each request and graciously and courageously holds her ground, and then exits Duke, with its political privilege, for less pressured territory. She is now the President of Marietta College after holding other subsequent prestigious positions in college admissions.

Legacy Privilege: Notre Dame requires that somewhere between 20 or 25 percent of all freshman classes be legacy students, thus denying places to other students who might be more qualified who do not have a leprechaun tied tightly around their necks.

The Privilege of Wealth: Senator Bill Frist contributes $20 million to his alma mater, Princeton University, and just by coincidence his son applies and is accepted to Princeton within 12 months of the contribution. There is strong evidence that there are those in his son’s senior class at St. Albans who were more qualified academically and were denied acceptance to Princeton. Senator Frist is on record as opposing affirmative action, except maybe as it affects his own family.

Faculty Privilege: Golden brings up something which is not often discussed — that of lowering the gates for sons and daughters of employed faculty members who are often receiving a tuition remission, in addition to the affirmative nod in the selection process.

These are just a few of “the privileges” cited in The Price of Admission. Race and gender privilege are also covered. The book is filled with fascinating examples of the ways in which our system of selection to our colleges and universities is cloaked with fallacy right before our very eyes. I am sure that there are those who will challenge Golden on the grounds that such privileges birth solid, strong, and financially solvent college and university communities. I am certain Golden would answer, “But at what price?” Golden not only strums the strings of our guilty conscience regarding privilege and the college admission process, but he takes it one step more and cites those purists who perform the process of selection in a privilege and wealth blind way. His two examples are Berea and Caltech. His whole point is that American education must act in a way that is filled with integrity. This in itself has to be part of the educational process — to teach our young people from the get go that their own selection to attend their college or university has been based on fairness and equality. What better lesson could a student learn approaching higher education? Golden made me feel that there has to be a sense of social and moral responsibility about the process itself — devoid of “privilege.”

Speaking of privilege, I had the privilege of a short conversation with Daniel Golden after his session at the most recent NACAC Convention in Pittsburgh. He is personable and likeable. Not particularly a crusader type, but an individual truly concerned about the future of American higher education. I encouraged him to look into another matter “under our rug” — that of the obvious lowering of the academic gates for those who are physically (but not perhaps mentally) privileged in order to fill our athletic college and university coffers. With a grin, Daniel Golden winked and said that perhaps he would.

Contributed by: Meg Gwaltney, Web Content Manager,
and Caitee Bloss, Web Production Assistant, Stein Communications

In previous issues of the Scoop, we’ve explored podcasting in higher education by admission offices and academic departments. While podcasts are most often created either for classes or as a recruitment tool, an increasing number of schools are expanding their student audience and including their university alumni.

The third in our series in podcasting in higher education, this article covers podcasting both with alumni and for alumni. We’ve shared several examples of alumni podcasts, in hopes of sparking ideas for your own institution so that you may better serve your alumni while also giving them additional outlets to contribute to their alma mater.

Podcasts designed for alumni:

While alumni and parent podcasting are often one and the same, several university alumni associations have created their own alumni-specific podcasts. They usually aim to keep alumni informed about campus news, recent research, higher education issues, and life-long learning.

Utah Valley State College publishes an alumni magazine, the Sequel. In conjunction with their magazine, they supplement each issue with audio and video podcasts. The audio podcasts contain readings of articles and other writing from each episode, while the vodcasts include interviews and “bonus coverage” of the articles.

The Alumni Association at the University of Michigan maintains a podcast, True Blue Podsquad. They record speeches, lectures, and interviews that provide “educational content on-demand and on-the-go.” In addition to lectures on career success and entrepreneurship, many of their episodes address common issues in parenting and post-graduate life such as adoption, child tantrums, learning difficulties, and self-esteem.

While less concerned with parenting and family life, Winston-Salem State University does specifically target alumni. Their WSSU Alumni Podcast helps alumni stay up-to-date and connected with the university through campus news and student spotlights.

Podcasts with alumni contributions:

In several university podcasts, alumni join faculty for interviews and lectures. This strategy allows universities to maintain alumni connections, utilize their research and knowledge, and exemplify the success of their own graduates. The promise of listening to an old classmate attracts alumni who may not otherwise subscribe to the podcast and the familiarity of the speaker invokes a greater audience interest in the subject matter.

Johns Hopkins has published a podcast containing a series of discussions over a range of topics, such as evolutionary biology, nation building, national security, and the U.S. healthcare crisis. In addition to contributing to the knowledge base, alumni are also included in panel discussion on campus affairs. Colgate University’s Colgate Conversations podcast follows a similar track. By spotlighting alumni and including them in their presentations, both universities are making statements about their continual interest and investment in their graduates.

With each successive graduating class being increasingly wired and web-savvy, podcasts hold much promise as a means of staying connected. Alumni podcasts are a great strategy for several reasons:

1. Subscription. The ability to subscribe to a feed ensures that alumni stay connected, even when they move or change email addresses.

2. Frequent updates. Offering short but frequent updates on campus news and recent research is relatively painless for both the university and alumni subscribers.

3. Multimedia. Podcasts can feature audio from familiar professors and video clips of campus events — elements not possible in as timely a manner in most other marketing mediums.

As universities increase their use of academic podcasts and more students encounter them in their classes, it is likely that graduates will be more interested in creating or contributing to podcasts as alumni.

In our next issue of the Scoop, we’ll tackle the fourth type of podcasting in our series — athletic podcasting. To contribute your college’s experiences, thoughts, and concerns about podcasting in education, please email mgwaltney@steincommunications.com.

CommunityYou — Now’s the time!

“CommunityYou has done well for us. It was fascinating to go to receptions for admitted students on the east coast and have them meeting each other because they had previously met on CommunityYou. It does build community.”
– Mike Maxey, VP College Relations & Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid, Roanoke College

Have you thought about how social networking sites can impact your enrollment? If so, did you know that there is one that can be branded for your institution, administered by you? CommunityYou is an easy-to-use, cost-effective tool designed to increase yield. Both client and student response have been outstanding. If you are interested in learning more about how CommunityYou can support your enrollment initiatives, please contact Jenny Brower at 404.494.4393 or jbrower@steincommunications.com.

Direct marketing news

2007 has been an exciting year on the direct marketing front. If you would like to learn more about how we can work with you to develop a unique direct marketing approach, please contact Jenny Brower at 404.494.4393 or jbrower@steincommunications.com. From a large state institution to a small liberal arts college, we can create a program that suits your budget and makes you stand out in a crowd.

Upcoming conferences

Stein will be exhibiting at the following conferences this spring and summer, so please drop by for a visit, or contact us in advance to schedule a meeting:

NSCEC in Richmond — July 9-11
CASE Annual Assembly in Chicago — July 8-10

New clients

We’re pleased to announce the following new clients:

Arizona State University (AZ)
Barton College (NC)
The City University of New York (NY)
Culver-Stockton College (MO)
Foxcroft School (VA)
Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY)
Shimer College (IL)
St. Leo University (FL)
Wheeling Jesuit University (WV)