1. Melanie Weaver, Director of Financial Aid Deb Miller, Director of Admissions

2.  Private, 4 year institution in Northwest Ohio  Located in a small rural village  Approximately 80-90 miles from Toledo, OH; Dayton, OH; Columbus, OH and Fort Wayne, IN  Five Colleges – Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, Pharmacy and Law  The Law college has a separate admissions office.  Financial aid serves all students  Total Enrollment of around 3600  About 600 are graduate students, the rest are undergrad

3. OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS  16 total staff  10 counselors/professional staff ▪ 5 counselors travel Ohio ▪ 3 out of state/specialized travel ▪ Associate Director ▪ Director of Admissions  6 support staff OFFICE OF FINANCIAL AID  8 total staff  6 counselors/professional staff ▪ 4 counselors dedicated alphabetically ▪ 1 counselor for technical operations ▪ Director of Financial Aid  2 support staff Shared VP of Enrollment Management Systems Analyst

4.  Location  Primarily compete with public institutions  Major offerings  Number of schools – 14 four-year  Large number of private schools in the state – over 50  More regional recognition  80% of students come from Ohio  Number of Ohio high school graduates declining  High cost/high aid model  In 13-14, 9 th most expensive private school in the state  Of schools we compete against we are the 3 rd most expensive private

5.  Loss of staff  Service families better  Efficiency  Effectiveness  Cost-Savings  Build an enrollment team  Campus visit is critical to enrollment

6.  Prospective student visits  Each visit ▪ Campus tour ▪ Meet with Admissions ▪ Meet with Financial Aid ▪ Academic appointments  Many students want to also meet with coaches, music, musical theatre, band, etc. ▪ Academic focused with many interests  Host 10 visit days throughout the year  Overnight visits offered to accepted students  Travel  8-10 weeks during the fall  Minimal spring travel  Review applicant files

7.  Trained admissions counselors to discuss financial aid packages with families ▪ More in-depth compared to the basic overview they knew in the past ▪ Walked families through financial aid packages to cover questions and concerns ▪ Continued counselor/student relationships established during travel in the fall

8.  Developed reference sheets to guide admissions counselors through aid package conversations  Team approach – admissions shadowed financial aid counselors during calls and on campus visits

9.  Meet with prospective students and families  Give early estimates of the total financial aid package  Official award packages each spring  Work with current students and families while enrolled  Counseling  Financial Literacy  Work study sessions  Specific populations such as Law, Veterans, RN-BSN and MPPA students (both when prospective and returning)  Complete federal requirements such as verification, exit counseling, professional judgments, etc.

10.  Trained financial aid staff to meet with admissions visitors ▪ To have more in-depth admissions conversations ▪ To learn more about marketing the institution to prospective students and parents ▪ Walk students and parents through the admissions process

11.  Developed guide sheets on conducting an admissions visit  Team approach – Financial aid counselors shadowed an experienced admissions representative through visits with prospective students and parents

12.  The whole team met with representatives from three of the undergraduate colleges and by department for the fourth college  Created talking points about each of the colleges/departments for admissions and financial aid counselors  Met as an entire enrollment team to train both staffs on how to have the conversation about value, placement and ROI.  Targeted our marketing towards value, placement and ROI  Train both staffs to use our CRM (Hobsons) and our SIS (Banner) for tracking comments and concerns

13.  Common messages and goals through the entire enrollment team  All counselors have a stronger comfort level with discussing all areas of enrollment  Reached more families to discuss financial aid packages in the spring  Reduced travel budget by financial aid staff covering admissions visits in the fall  Both admissions and financial aid counselors are better trained to “close the deal” with students in the spring by talking about value, placement and ROI  Streamlined campus visits  One counselor can address both admissions and financial aid

14.  Inexperienced admissions staff  Getting staff comfortable with speaking to all areas and being consistent in their message  Pulling staff together for enrollment management training  Providing continued training

15.  Melanie Weaver m-weaver.2@onu.edu  Deb Miller d-miller@onu.edu