Presentation from Salesforce.org Higher Ed Summit 2018 by: Andrea Gurrola, Miranda Evjen, Central New Mexico Community College, and Vadim Gorelik, Huron Consulting Group
With aggressive enrollment growth goals, CNM needed a revamp of its numerous Banner-based admissions applications. Where existing applications provided typical, not-too-friendly applicant interface and resulted in high incomplete rate, CNM needed a new application process that would facilitate quick application completion and would support mobile devices. See how CNM utilized recently released Force for Change grants developed by University of Miami and Maryville University to revamp its entire application process in under 3 months.
Watch a recording of this presentation: https://youtu.be/MeD6X5Qgeck
1. Force for Change Grants
The Impact of Community on One College’s Admissions
Andrea Gurrola, Miranda Evjen, Central New Mexico Community College
Vadim Gorelik, Huron Consulting Group
2. A Little About CNM
Urban community college in Albuquerque, NM
Majority minority student body
100% commuter students
Largest undergraduate enrollment in New Mexico
Serve about 26,000 students
Over 150+ Degrees & Certificates in career and transfer pathways
2,000 employees
#1 in awarding certificates & degrees to Native American students
#1 in awarding certificates & degrees to Hispanic students
4. Focus on Student Experience
Enrollment began to go down
Losing more than half our applicants from application to
registration
Little tracking of uncompleted applications
8. Barriers we Found on Application
Steps
1. Determine where to apply (home, on-campus, etc.)
2. Go to CNM website
3. Find correct application type
4. Need addresses, phone numbers, SS#, DOB
5. Create login ID and pin#, return and log in (birthday must be in
correct format)
6. Know student type and term applying
7. Must enroll before being advised
8. Determine residency
9. Declare a major
10. Must complete all sections of application and submit
11. Print and save CNM ID# and User Info
12. Wait for admit letter
13. Set up myCNM and email
Barriers
Username and Pin
Residency
Lack of required info
Banner screen alignment
Choice of student type
Importance of knowing student ID
Unable to change major
Clear enrollment steps checklist
No computer
Confusion being admitted/registered
Wrong name or info from previous school (APS)
Leaving out High School graduation
No alternate contact info- email, cell
Not easy to re-enter app if you leave during process
Do admissions questionnaire if
unsure
Indicate it will go to non-CNM
email
Critical Step
Where does the letter go?
Move up or omit
Didn’t understand acronyms or
jargon
Enter
name,
contact
info
11. Limitations of Application & Needs
Web-based admissions application launched 2004
• Quick Start processing
• 100% web-based admissions application delivery and processing since 2010
• Currently 8 admissions applications available for applicant selection
Current limitations and needs
• Customizations/Localizations usually require programmer(s)
• One-for-all display on applications
• Heavy web-tailor info text edits
• Requests for additional questions not delivered baseline
• Creativity on how and where to place or display questions
• Hijack fields and sections
• Decisions about admissions content driven by what is available
• Reporting requires SQL knowledge
Back-End Users
12.
13. Process for Gathering Stakeholder Feedback
• Call for institution stakeholder response
• Announcement of focus group sessions at high-profile college meetings
• Representatives from:
• Academic Affairs
• Deans/Associate Deans
• Program Coordinators
• Student Services
• Contact Center
• Connect Services
• Global Education
• Outreach
• Office of Planning & Institutional Effectiveness/Institutional Research
• Offered 2 sessions
• Collected User Stories
Focus Groups