The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania serves to further understanding of the role of communications in public life. However, their recruitment outreach had been relying on traditional communications, graduate fairs, and word-of-mouth to attract students. More at: www.hobsons.com

1. Case Study
hobsons.com To learn more or to schedule a demo, call (800) 927-8439 or (513) 891-5444 (international).
Challenge
The Annenberg School for Communication at the University
of Pennsylvania serves to further understanding of the role of
communications in public life. However, their recruitment
outreach had been relying on traditional communications,
graduate fairs, and word-of-mouth to attract students.
Inquiries that came in would be responded to and then
thrown out, without any further follow up.
The admissions representative would attend college fairs, but
there was no tracking to gauge the impact of these events or
their applications.
With only a small staff dedicated to tracking students through
their entire lifecycle—from recruitment to enrollment and
even alumni relations—the Annenberg School needed to find
a more efficient way to market to prospects, respond to and
track inbound inquiries, offer a high level of customer service,
and maintain relationships with prospective students, as well
as currently enrolled students and alumni.
Additionally, due to an influx of applications resulting from
the recent economic downturn, the school needed to balance
the quantity of applicants with the quality the program expects.
©2012Hobsons.Allrightsreservedworldwide.50083/12
Annenberg
School for Communication
I have gotten great feedback on all our
new processes. Prospects, applicants, current
students, recommenders, and alumni love
how responsive and personalized we’ve been
able to be.”
– Joanne Murray, Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies
“
Solution
In late 2006, a new assistant dean was hired
to revamp the admissions process at the
Annenberg School. To support this effort,
Intelliworks was selected because of its flexibility
and ease of implementation that would allow
the admissions department to get started with
the system and develop a plan as they revised
their processes. Due to the system’s software-as-
a-service platform, which does not require any
hardware or software investments and minimal
IT support, the admissions department
received their first inquiry within one week of
logging into the system, without any proactive

2. Case Study
hobsons.com
About Hobsons
Hobsons helps educators, administrators, students, and families maximize success through every stage of the learning life cycle. Hobsons’ personalized learning, academic
planning, post-secondary enrollment, and student support solutions serve millions of students across more than 7,500 schools, colleges, and universities worldwide.
To learn more or to schedule a demo, call (800) 927-8439 or (513) 891-5444 (international).
outreach to targets.
“I didn’t fit into the mold for a larger enterprise system,”
says Joanne Murray, assistant dean for the Annenberg
School. “I wanted a vendor that would let me customize
the system and get started without having a formal
plan and, most important, a vendor who would call me
back!”
Results
Intelliworks allowed the Annenberg School to
streamline its admissions process, increase inquiries,
and enhance marketing and outreach to constituents.
During their first recruiting cycle working with the
Intelliworks platform, the admissions department
electronically recruited more than 30 percent of the
total applicant pool. Of those, 17 students comprised
the final 100 applicants being considered. “Annenberg
experienced a 42-percent increase in applicants and saw
an increase in the depth and breadth of the pool, as well
as more ethnic and regional diversity,” Murray says.
The Annenberg School completely eliminated all IT
involvement in their admission processes, which used
to require 25-40 hours of support.
In addition to an increase in applicants, the school
boosted prospects by 95 percent, and inbound inquiries
increased by 125 percent.
The Annenberg School also enhanced its review of
applications to more efficiently handle admissions
and enrollment into its program. The old homegrown
system had not allowed admissions staff to access
applications until the submit deadline had passed, and
no communications were sent to applicants during the
process. They are now able to access applications as they
come in, allowing them to get a head start on processing
them, and stay in touch with students through
automated communications.
Due to Intelliworks’ field-level security, faculty reviewers
can access applicant data to review and provide their
recommendations without being exposed to the review
comments of other faculty members. This not only
facilitates the review process, but it allows for reviewers
to maintain an objective view of all prospective students.
The marketing functionality allowed the admissions
department to look at the responses and click-through
rates they were getting from newsletters. Realizing
that the undergraduate students at the University
of Pennsylvania were an untapped market for outreach,
the department began to engage them, receiving positive
responses.
Alumni relations also now leverages Intelliworks’ e-mail
marketing capabilities to keep alumni informed about
the latest developments and research at the Annenberg
School. The school can now see what content is of the
most interest, and what is not.
“I’ve gotten great feedback on all of our processes,”
Murray says. “Prospects, applicants, students,
recommenders, and alumni love how responsive
and personalized we’ve been able to be.”
Annenberg School for Communication