Directors of Distance Learning
As the person responsible for nontraditional programs in your institution, you are caught in the no-man’s land between the academic and administrative departments who see serving traditional students as their first priority. You have to convince Deans, faculty, enrollment management, and information technology that they can successfully serve online students without disrupting their traditional programs and services. At Compass we help you bridge that gap by providing marketing, recruitment, retention, and instructional design services. Here are some common questions we hear from your colleagues.
How do the people in my institution who are already working in functional areas such as marketing, admissions, and instructional design, interact with the Compass staff?
Compass works closely with individuals across your institution to seamlessly integrate our processes with yours. The last thing we want to do is reinvent the wheel or create duplicate processes. Compass staff see themselves as an extension of your staff, and represent themselves that way to students. They immerse themselves in your institution’s processes, policies, and culture. In fact, at launch we bring the entire program team to your campus to begin that immersion process and build long-lasting relationships.
Who determines where and to whom you market?
The Compass Partnership Director and Marketing Manager create a marketing plan at launch. They then collaborate with the program administrators at the institution to finalize and implement the plan. All marketing initiatives and materials are approved by the Knowledge Partner before being launched to prospective students. Each week we update University program staff about our progress and enrollment prospects. Each term the Partnership Director and Marketing Manager create a new marketing plan based on performance data from the previous term and share this with the Knowledge Partner. It is an ongoing, collaborative process.
Where do you find students?
This answer is different for every program. The extensive research we perform prior to signing a partnership agreement includes information on how best to reach the target audience. These channels include professional organizations, web advertising, print ads, direct mail, and a plethora of other areas and tactics. But one thing is for sure; we know going in how and where to find qualified students, and we test and re-test strategies to find the best and right media mix.
How do you advise in financial aid situations? Do you have your own financial aid?
Our enrollment advisors are trained in the details of the university’s financial aid programs, and they work closely with the institution’s financial aid personnel to help answer students’ questions. Compass staff only discuss financial aid policies and procedures, never the particulars of a student’s file. Compass is not an academic institution, so it does not have its own financial aid programs.
How are students oriented and supported?
Student support begins with the first contact with a prospective student and ends when he or she graduates from the program. Our recruitment and retention counselors are in constant telephone and email contact with individual students to answer questions, provide information, and counsel them on what it takes to be successful as a distance learning student. They orient students to the program and assist them with the administrative details and paperwork that faculty do not want – or know how – to deal with.
To read more about our services click here.
To contact Compass Knowledge Group today for more information click here.