EMAS Pro Case Study:
Michigan Technological University

Shared by: Director of Admissions and
Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Services

At Michigan Tech, it became apparent that the call center, which we were running on our own was no longer meeting our needs, and that we needed a more robust telecounseling system. We began researching our options and came across EMAS Telecounseling Pro, which was a great fit for us. EMAS Telecounseling Pro was easy for our students and staff to use and understand, and allowed us to run an effective telecounseling recruiting program.

The Search for a Solution

After about a year of success with Telecounseling Pro, our enrollment staff realized a need for a system that would allow us to integrate our telecounseling efforts with other, more robust recruiting efforts including telephone calls, direct mail and other outreach as part of customized communication plans. We chose to purchase a CRM, as this type of functionality was not feasible in our campus student system; we chose to purchase EMAS Recruitment Pro. EMAS was the best fit for us because of the excellent Telecounseling program, but also because of the reporting tools, the ability to use EMAS across campus in different offices, and the ability to track communication history. For each prospective student, we can view their communication history for a snapshot of the print, telecounseling, and electronic communications the student has (or has not) received.

Results

After purchasing EMAS Recruitment Pro, we've seen significant enrollment results; and in the years since purchase, we have continued to realize results across campus at Michigan Tech.

With EMAS' help, we surpassed our enrollment goals a full two years early and had Michigan Tech's largest class in over 25 years. Recruitment Pro allows us to reach out and form relationships with students from the beginning of their college search process; sometimes even before they have started the process! We are effectively managing communications with them from the first moment they hear about Michigan Tech through paying their deposit and enrollment.

Michigan Tech has some unique recruitment and enrollment challenges that EMAS is currently helping us overcome. While many schools are currently facing a declining male population, we are striving to recruit increasing numbers of women, as well as recruit specific students with interests in some of our underrepresented programs and majors on campus. Recruitment Pro manages not only student information, student contact history and communication plans, but also student interest information that we have received from ACT or directly from the student. Now we are able to specifically market to underrepresented populations on campus; we can have a female student call a female prospective student with similar extracurricular interests, or a faculty member from a specific program can call a student to discuss details about their program. In all cases we're able to build stronger relationships by knowing more about each student. We can address questions more effectively and have even customized EMAS to include campus visit history for each student, so we can tailor the conversation to either encourage a first visit to campus or discuss the experience they had during a previous visit.

We've really learned how to utilize all of EMAS' capabilities to achieve our enrollment goals and make our jobs easier. The reporting tools and communication plans are essential - saving our staff so much time. Staff members can run customized reports straight from EMAS, and we adapt our actions based on where the reports tell us we need to spend more time. I am not a technical person, but it is so easy to go to EMAS and get the exact report I need. I don't need to rely on IT anymore. I can easily implement new communication plans for a mass audience or for specific target groups without relying on other departments; all the information, all the history is there in EMAS. Recruitment Pro also really streamlines our communication process with prospective students. Students aren't receiving the same mail piece over and over or the same call over and over, but are getting timely and relevant information. Staff members also benefit as their time is better used to directly impact Michigan Tech's enrollment results.

We have had marvelous success in reaching out to students through telecounseling and EMAS Recruitment Pro has improved our communication plan by leaps and bounds. There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle, but EMAS helps make all the pieces fit. We have a level of agility and nimbleness we didn't have before. We can look at reports and plan a communication strategy in reaction to those reports immediately.

Like anything worthwhile, implementing EMAS was an investment of our time, but it has paid off. Faculty and staff in other departments have a new level of respect for the enrollment team and the work we are doing, and we are better able to help them recruit for their programs. EMAS is a game changer, helping us look holistically at our whole operation and redefine the way we do things ... and the way we define success.

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