Please don’t Go: Eliminating “fight or flight” responses during new student onboarding Dr. Porter Brannon, Mitchell Community College Tuesday, March 6, 2018 Convention Center, ROOM# 113 C

About the Presenter Almost 20 years of progressively responsible experience in higher education. Served in key leadership roles at public, private and proprietary institutions. Responsible for short and long-range strategic planning: academic guidance career services disability services enrollment management financial aid placement testing retention services student activities veteran’s affairs Works closely with campus and external partners to ensure students meet the demands of a constantly changing community and workplace.  Dr. Porter Brannon Vice President for Student Services Mitchell Community College

50% of community college applicants drop out b4 the first day of classes. Why is that? What Mitchell did to reduce fight or flight

Testing & Credit Evaluation How College Administrators View the Enrollment Process Application Financial Aid & FAFSA Testing & Credit Evaluation Academic Advising Registration Orientation 1st Day of Classes College administrators and staff often see intake and orientation as a linear path from application to the first day of classes. A series of sub-processes comprise the onboarding process, from application to advising and financial aid, to registration.

Student’s View of the Enrollment Process

Stress-Inducing Scenarios New applicant receives conflicting information about college onboarding steps. Multiple visits required to complete one task. Completing the FAFSA. Selecting a major

The end result 50% of new applicants never attend. Most college administrators are aware of what’s happening. We have made sense of our processes. We get frustrated that our student have not. We tend to blame student for their behavior, instead of modifying our processes around their behavior. Why should we change what we do to accommodate perceived bad behaviors? Because we need them.

How did we reduce fight & flight at Mitchell? Staff paradigm shifts using Behavioral Economics Monitoring enrollment processes Setting goals. Communicated goals. Achieving goals Repurposing staff Change the way we communicate with students. Stats on Mitchell 3,000 students (900 are dually enrolled) 67% of our students are PT 57% receive Fin Aid Student Services 25 FT staff 10 PT

Too often students are required to helplessly navigate complex and ill-defined requirements, and make significant academic decisions without fully understanding their impact. Behavioral economics theory asserts that individuals do not do a good job of making decisions when faced with such large sets of complex and ill-defined choices.

Paradigm Shifts: Traditional Economic Theory The rational person is assumed to correctly weigh costs and benefits and calculate the best choices for himself. The rational person is expected to know his preferences (both present and future), and never flip-flops between two contradictory desires. He has perfect self-control and can restrain impulses that may prevent him from achieving his long-term goals.

Behavioral Economics Reality In contrast, behavioral economics shows that actual human beings do not act that way. People have limited cognitive abilities and a great deal of trouble exercising self-control. People often make choices that bear a mixed relationship to their own preference (happiness). They tend to choose the option that has the greatest immediate appeal at the cost of long-term happiness. We choose a goal and then frequently act against it, because self-control problem fails us to implement our goals.

Community College Processes Don’t Help The traditional community college employs a self-service model of student support, where applicants find their own way through decisions, processes, policies, and procedures. Community college students are forced to make a wide range of complex decisions during their onboarding process. Students do not do a good job of making decisions when faced with complex and ill-defined. Unexplained processes, poor communication from the college, seemingly unnecessary tasks to complete, and directions wrapped in unfamiliar jargon trigger “fight or flight” new student responses.

Monitoring the Enrollment Process Fragmented with no one person responsible or accountable for enrollment and recruitment. No recruitment plans. No one monitoring enrollment funnel. No one monitoring enrollment trends. No one setting enrollment targets.

Set Goals. Communicate Goals. Achieve Goals

Repurpose Staff Reorganize in-house talent with the necessary skills, attitude and desire to improve our processes. Removal of staff who’s skills did not match the new needs of the Division. My assistant. Testing Coordinator. Senior Advisor

Change how we Communicate with Students Personal phone calls Text messages Emails Postcards On-time Reminders

End Results

Questions & Discussions

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