WORK STORY

Improving Transfer Enrollment

While at Moore College of Art & Design, I lead a cross-department effort to enroll more transfer students.

PROBLEM

Transfer enrollment rates were dropping, and administration wanted to understand how to improve transfer enrollment. I lead the transfer taskforce.

PEOPLE

I worked across departments with the Vice President, Dean of Admissions, Dean of Faculty, Dean of Students, and the Academic Advisor to solve this problem. I also managed relationships with 2 year colleges with whom we had articulation agreements.

MY ROLES

Research current degree trends for transfer students.
Compile enrollment data for transfer students.
Find under-performing degree programs for transfer students.
Interview department chairs to understand their curriculum scaffolding.
Present my findings to the taskforce.
Manage relationships and agreements with articulated schools.
Develop curriculum plans for applicants to graduate as quickly as possible.
Ideate on how to solve the problem for students given our limitations.

Process

The taskforce met to discuss our goals, and to assign tasks. My first steps were to research the competition, and look at our transfer enrollment numbers based on degrees.

Once the research was compiled, I interviewed the Academic Advisor, and the Associate Dean of Students to better understand the curriculum and rentention issues facing current students.

Using all of my findings I created a presentation for the taskforce to fully understand the state of transfer enrollment at Moore. Once everyone was on the same page, the taskforce decided to address the curriculum and scheduling issues that were holding transfer students back. They also started to ideate about what future transfer programs could look like.

Discovery & Research

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Transfer students were finding flexible, cost-effective ways to complete their degree at other institutions. The traditional curriculum delivery at Moore made some degrees more challenging to complete quickly. Those degrees were also under-performing when it came to enrollment.

Research We Didn't Do

We could've used more formal interviews with students who had decided to enroll elsewhere, and students who didn't matriculate at Moore. It was hard to get in touch with these students. As an admissions counselor I was using what knowledge I had from my admissions appointments with prospective students.

TRANSFER STUDENT'S MOTIVATIONS

I don't want to lose any of my credits.
I want to save money.
I want to graduate as quickly as possible.
I need some flexibility with my schedule.

ACADEMIC CONSIDERATIONS

Rigor of the student's current program.
Alignment of the schedule.
Credits needed to graduate.

ENROLLMENT CHALLENGES

Declining transfer rates.
Tuition-based art school.
Traditional curriculum delivery.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS FINDINGS

Other schools are offering a wide variety of online courses to complete degrees.
Many programs are asynchronous, meaning the student has less preqrequisites to get into a class.
Moore is positioned as a niche school with a rigorous program.

COMPETITORS

UArts
PAFA
Temple University

Outcomes

In my time on the Transfer Taskforce, I learned how to present to stakeholders, research the competition, use our data, and advocate for our users the transfer students.

The taskforce was an ongoing project to increase enrollment from transfer students. My contribution lead to a turning point in understanding for department chairs and academic administration. When faced with the current needs of students they began to accomodate the irregularity of a transfer student's experience. This turning point was beneficial to enrollment and also to the faculty members who wanted their programs to thrive.

As I look back on this work experience, I realize it influenced my decision to go into UX, and how to use my skills in presentation, stakeholder management, and ideation.