The Opponents

As if it weren’t already edgy enough, more and more players - especially in Utah – are wanting to be a part of the action, this while the number of students nationwide entering traditional colleges continues to decline. There are simply more options; more tech programs, more for-profit schools and more employers who – at least temporarily – seem willing to pay for less than a well-rounded education, even if statistics continue to show you’re always ahead of the game with a degree.

“It’s been that way since I started in the business 10 years ago,” says Putnam, “but we’ve really felt the clamp down in Utah over the last five years. When it comes to some of the enrollment challenges and competition for students the rest of the nation is experiencing, we may have been a little bit behind the curve, but now we’re seeing them all and we’re trying to meet them, head-on.”       

A handful of smaller institutions throughout the Intermountain West, once considered automatic feeders to USU, are revisiting their own game plans and sometimes retaining students once thought to be “Automatic Aggies.” Regional and land-grant university peers are worthy competition for Utah State and simple demographics are also proving tough.

“There is not a lot of room to grow new markets, at least within the state,” says Putnam. “When it comes to college-age students, we’re just not growing – not really for another decade.”

But as Utah State continues to breakdown the numbers, weaknesses in the competition become apparent and Aggie strengths begin to emerge. When growth does come, for example, more students will be found among populations that have not traditionally benefitted from a university education. And among groups well versed in the university experience, the value of life-long, research-enhanced learning will become more and more treasured.

“If we’re going to grow with the trends, we’ve got to start with what’s
appealing,” Putnam says. And therein lies the beauty of the USU plan: “We’ve always offered more opportunities to students who maybe haven’t had opportunities,” Putnam says. “We’re the best option to begin with, and we have the most amazing story to tell.”

The Game Plan

As the overall competition in college admissions intensifies, Putnam says it should be no surprise that the pool of potential student recruits has also been conditioned to expect a faster, more thrilling, personalized game.

“There’s no doubt this is a new kind of student,” Putnam says. “It’s pretty simple, really; we’re not only competing with other schools, we’re competing for the students’ attention.” Technology, the driving force behind marketing efforts in every other discipline, is also forcing admissions offices worldwide to be “more inventive” in their efforts, Putnam says. “You’ve got to start doing weekly blogs with current students, lots of video, you’ve got to be able to do instant messaging; you’ve got to provide some type of connection between your institution and the outside world, and do it, as much as possible, around the clock.

“Recruiting has changed significantly,” Putnam says. “It’s no longer a direct-mail business.”

Teaming up with USU Public Relations and Marketing, Putnam’s office will this fall launch “Friends of Utah State,” a recruitment campaign based loosely on Friends, the TV show, inasmuch as it features three female and three male USU students, who will “basically be documenting their Utah State experience by video,” says Putnam. Each month, potential USU students will be able to view short, unscripted videos celebrating life at Utah State in all of its uniqueness, from lining up outside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum seven hours before tipoff, to getting pulled over on the way to ASUSU’s Mardi Gras for having too many people without seatbelts, to interior design interns waving a USU flag at stops around Europe.

“It’s across the board, but it gives prospective students the chance to
visualize themselves at USU and to realize it doesn’t matter what your interests, or what your goals are, you can come and achieve them at Utah State,” says Jeff Sorensen, associate director of admissions.

Also in the USU playbook this fall will be personalized printed brochures prospective students will receive after expressing interest in any number of Utah State’s colleges, campuses, departments and programs. Within seconds of exploring the USU admissions website, a prospect will receive an e-mail, followed seven to 10 days later by a customized printed brochure. So, if a potential Aggie wants only to know more about the College of Engineering and maybe a little about the music department, that’s precisely the information they’ll receive.

“Students want things that are very tailor-made for them,” Sorensen says, “everything is about ‘me’ and everything has to be very personalized. When we first came across this trend we were blown away by the implications.”

And with their custom brochure, prospects enjoy the added option of requesting a phone call from a current USU student, a touch Sorensen considers a type of admissions grand slam. “We’ve found that is still the most effective way to recruit – by providing a live link of some kind.”

The Schedule: At Home and On the Road

In a six-week period this fall, Putnam and the Utah State admissions team will host 12 open houses from Boise to Las Vegas and everywhere in between. Prospective Aggies within a 200-mile radius of the centralized venues will be invited to experience “Utah State on the road,” meeting with representatives from housing, advising, student services, financial aid, the SOAR program, all seven of USU’s colleges and more. “We collect admissions applications and scholarship applications and if a student qualifies, we award them their scholarship on the spot, that night,” says Katie Nielsen, associate director of admissions. By the end of the night, Aggie gear is raffled off and guests will know for themselves why Aggie Ice Cream is so famous.

In another program, the Road Scholars Tour, Utah State “turns a given high school into USU for the entire day,” Nielsen says. Professors teach in high school classrooms, giving college hopefuls the unique opportunity to experience an early day in the big leagues. An all-star lineup of Utah State administrators, including Gary Chambers, vice president for student services, and – when his schedule allows – even USU President Stan L. Albrecht, makes the trips and conducts team meetings with administrators and counselors at the high school. “They’ll sit down and have a half-hour chat about what their vision for Utah State is and how we can better help their students in getting here,” Nielsen says. “It’s a great exchange of dialogue and ideas. And that’s unique to USU. We get buy-in with our efforts from the very top. That says so much to a potential student.”

Utilizing still another muscle group, Putnam’s team is also working with the Utah State University Alumni Association in identifying dense pockets of possible Aggie growth where out-of-state receptions will be held. Currently consisting of the Denver, Colorado; Mesa and Tucson, Arizona; and the Anaheim and San Diego, California areas, the locations are all hotbeds of long-standing Aggie tradition and home to very active alumni groups. “It really makes sense to tap into those pools of prospective students,” Putnam says.

“The receptions are smaller affairs than our open houses, but we’ve had anywhere from 15 to 120 people show up. Our alumni are always willing to talk to students and to share the great things that happen at Utah State. It’s a powerful tool,” Nielsen adds. “Alumni are really a key strategy for us.”

The home schedule has the admissions crew working out to host two or three overnighters every semester on the USU campus in Logan. As part of that program, prospective students can hang out with current students and attend a basketball or football game. Interested
high school students who wish to forego the sleepover, may also contact admissions for game-day tours and tickets associated with every home Aggie basketball and football game.

But Putnam says she has three additional plays she can always count on to produce big gains. Preview Day in the fall serves to showcase USU. “We invite every student we’ve got in the system – no matter where they’re from – and they’ll get the chance to stay on campus if they’d like, attend a mock lecture, workshops on admissions, scholarships, financial aid, the honors program – everything,” says Putnam. The group gets lunch and the chance to tour campus, will explore different majors and departments and then will divide into smaller groups for question-and-answer periods with USU Ambassadors.

“They get to ask them any question they want, about university experiences, about fears and expectations. It’s a wonderful chance to have a student envision life at USU while actually participating in life at USU,” Sorensen says.

The other two big plays in the USU admissions book occur in the spring. Scholars’ Day brings USU’s top recruits (Presidential and Dean’s Scholarship winners) to Logan for a more in-depth look at research opportunities and a chance to interview for the research fellowship scholarship. And A-Day, or Admitted Student Day, caters to any student already admitted, or still hoping to be admitted, by offering yet another slice of Aggie life. “As part of that schedule, they’ll get an Aggie Shuttle bus tour of Logan, get to go to an actual class within their college or program of study and they’ll meet with current students in the Merrill-Cazier Library,” says Putnam. “They’ll also go to a workshop on life in Logan, to learn about cool date ideas and what they can do for fun, and maybe even meet with a professor during office hours.”

The Box Score

To track its successes, Putnam says the admissions office asks students to evaluate their experiences shortly after participating in any program, from a short campus tour, to one of the full-blown days on campus. “We always ask the students where USU was, as far as a ranking in their mind, before they participated in learning more with us, and then where we rank after they participate,” she says. “That ranking always seems to improve, overwhelmingly. The more students we can visit and the more students we can get on campus, the better.

“Prospective students don’t necessarily expect the personal touches they get from a large institution like USU. Once they’re here, they’re surprised and then get completely spoiled and they realize that’s part of what makes this place amazing.”

USU admissions also tracks enrollment and application numbers and the timing associated with both. “We’re succeeding if we are getting them in the system earlier,” says Sorensen. The office monitors attendance at its sponsored events, the number of information requests received and the number of e-mails and phone calls staff members receive.

“In the 10 years I’ve been here, as far as those indicators are concerned, this last year has been the most successful year we’ve had,” Putnam says. “It’s been incredible.

“There has been an overwhelming amount of commitment from the administration down, from the deans and advisors to student services and marketing efforts on campus.” “Everybody at USU realizes this office cannot do this on its own.  I don’t think any of our competitors have that.”

And that is precisely the statistic upon which Putnam places USU’s future success in a game more and more competitive at the end of each passing season. It is her motto and her rallying cry: “GO AGGIES!” —Jared Thayne ‘99