As an enrollment leader, communicating the realities of the market with your board is a tricky topic to broach. In the face of shrinking student demographics, talking about realistic enrollment outcomes can be uncomfortable, especially with campus stakeholders not versed in the day-to-day challenges you’re up against. But without the backing and financial support of your board, carrying out your strategic plans is impossible. Jennifer Winge, Vice President for Enrollment Management at Allegheny College, discovered a better way to build credibility across campus constituencies and set reasonable expectations using real-time, comparative data to clearly lay out the realities of the market.
During such an unprecedented time in the market, the Allegheny team knew how important it was to inform stakeholders about how their funnel was taking shape and provide greater comparative context. Like the struggles at many institutions, Winge’s team did not have consistent access to peer and aspirant data; and when they did, it was often outdated. After partnering with MARKETview, her team was able to continuously monitor their funnel performance against the market. Winge shared how this new level of data insight helped her gain greater credibility on campus.
“I’ve established a level of trust and authenticity with various constituents by sharing our progress — not just point in time — but looking directly at the data from both a peer and aspirant perspective.”
– Jennifer Winge
That campus-wide credibility has helped her team accomplish cross-functional goals. One of Allegheny’s primary objectives was improving their retention; by using the Comparative Retention Report in MARKETview, they’ve been able to identify the Critical Elements to reducing attrition risk. And with seamless Slate integration, student advisors and class deans on the front lines of improving retention at Allegheny were able to easily understand which students mattered most to their goals. Winge highlighted how valuable it’s been to share these insights across campus.
“I love that our VP for Student Experience is in the MARKETview dashboard with me, looking at the data on a regular basis. We’re all leveraging the data to support how we strategize around communication.”
– Jennifer Winge
The Allegheny team was also able to fulfill another request from campus leadership — conducting a pricing strategy study — using MARKETview data. Winge explained how this enabled them to save budget dollars while further boosting her team’s credibility.
“I know many institutions will hire out to do a pricing strategy study, but we haven’t had to do that. We’ve been able to do a lot of our analysis with the MARKETview team. It’s been incredibly informative and builds confidence with board members.”
– Jennifer Winge
Now that the Allegheny team has fully implemented real-time data into their strategic planning, their stakeholders have come to rely on the clarity and precision it provides. Winge described the value MARKETview brings to their enrollment efforts across campus.
“Faculty and board members aren’t asking what MARKETview is when I mention it — they know we’re using the data on a daily basis. When I’m giving quarterly updates, they expect to have MARKETview data.”
– Jennifer Winge
Chat with our team to see how MARKETview’s real-time data can keep you in the know throughout the enrollment cycle on the student populations that matter most to your goals.