Road runner. File jockey. Advisor. Public speaker. Recruiter. At any given time, an admissions counselor fits one, some, or all of these descriptors. While all of these descriptors indicate an important function within a college or university, none reflects the increasingly complex nature of the role of an admissions counselor in strategic…

With the popularity of home schooling strengthening at the secondary level, the prevalence of home schoolers now attempting to enter higher education is escalating. Community colleges, however, may be inadvertently closing our doors to home-schooled applicants. This content analysis study uses the Home School Legal Defense Association's…

The purpose of this study was to identify the current practices and future plans for using technology in admission practices at four-year colleges and universities. This study collected data through an online survey. The survey was largely quantitative but also included several qualitative questions, and focused on 12 broad categories of…

Many college alumni wear their love for their alma maters on their sleeves, if not their sweatshirts. They are practically a walking advertisement for the college, so it often makes sense to rely on them when recruiting, a new survey of admissions officers suggests. The survey, however, also showed that admissions offices with budgets of less than…

Recruitment pieces are often part of a university's larger marketing effort or branding. With the assistance of consultants, admission officers conduct research and often know more about prospective students than students may know about themselves (Gose 1999). Why do admission offices often have a difficult time reaching target audiences?…

When considering any type of alternative or special admission processes for incoming students, the university is charged with taking into account traditional admissions criteria such as high school grade point average (GPA) and standardized test scores as well as other attributes. These "other attributes" frequently include pressure to…

Nearly 40 years after the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act directed aid from institutions to students in an effort to enhance student choice and opportunity, the system of higher education continues to be widely stratified with regard to college degree attainment across family income levels and with regard to the distribution of…

The study explores how alumni can help community colleges in Southern Appalachia to create greater access for people in groups which are traditionally under-served by higher education. Semi-structured interviews conducted with alumni program directors and admissions officers at seven community colleges in the Southern Appalachian Region explore…

Most people in admissions have a road story. There are tales of wrong turns, lost suitcases, and days when they were just well-dressed ghosts, walking in and out of high schools where no students came to see them. These are the trials of admissions representatives who leave their campuses for several weeks each fall. They trek near and far to meet…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore ethical challenges and dilemmas that exist within admissions systems at colleges and universities in the USA. Design/methodology/approach: Although the issues considered herein are examined primarily from the perspective of admissions officers, this paper also considers the viewpoint of prospective…

All of the admissions research says that prospective students and their parents want to know something about the mysterious people who do the professing. They want to ask questions in a public forum; they want to visit classes; they want private meetings with department chairs; and they want admissions people to call them on the phone to explain…

This article reviews a project at Fordham University to promote fresh thinking about the problem of increasing access and diversity on college campuses. Based on this project, staff members made changes to the admission process, which generated broader and, sometimes, new ways of recruiting and reviewing students. (GCP)

There is no shortage of places in higher education--most noncompetitive colleges could admit more students, but institutions often struggle to get the class that they want. Professionals consider the admission process successful when they are able to configure a class that meets the institution's many missions and notions, rather than just…

The College Recruiters' Quick Guide provides an orientation to Recruitment responsibilities for new admissions professionals and those contemplating a career in college admissions. It is organized to give the reader a quick orientation and down-to-earth advice about what is involved in the admissions profession. This short publication defines the…

Provides overview of the vital role a sound admission program plays in helping an institution fulfill its mission. Notes that, in the future, admission directors will need to implement the concept of strategic planning, and that strategic decision making will be needed in the future student recruitment environment. (NB)