#NCSRMR - Recruit and Retain

The National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Retention (July 26-28, Denver, CO) is one of the marquee events for higher education professionals who work within what's known as "the funnel." According to the NCSRMR Twitter account, there are already more than 500 professionals who have signed up for the event. Conference sessions are on a variety of topics, including such tracks as: enrollment management, student life / retention, recruitment / marketing, and technology (web, social media, metrics).

I'm looking forward to attending this year's "#NCSRMR" (follow the hashtag to track the conference backchannel on Twitter). During graduate school, my assistantship was in the Office of Enrollment Management at Oregon State University. Most student affairs practitioners are aware of the work being done by Admissions, Registrars, Financial Aid and Orientation. However, it is strategic enrollment management that connects those offices into a strategic funnel that helps to recruit and retain students.

Here are a few of the sessions [PDF with full descriptions] that I am looking forward to attending at the NCSRMR:

• Focusing on Transfers: A Key to Enrollment Growth Now and in the Future - As a former academic advisor, I can say without hesitation that transfer students are all too often a forgotten population. And, as a community college graduate, I know how hard it can be to make the transitions from a 2 year institution to a 4 year university.
• Middle School to Workforce Development: Strategic Access Partnerships - Higher Education + Jobs is a frequent topic on many higher education news sites. What are we doing to make sure that higher education is a pathway to career success?
• Women in Higher Education: Strategies for Success - As an ally and feminist, I love attending this type of session. The more info that I have to share the better.
• Designing Effective and Efficient Communicating Strategies for the Millennial Generation - Communication design/strategies are crucial in 2011. Crafting a communications plan for currently enrolled students is a brilliant idea.
• Technology for Identifying At-Risk Students - Being able to utilize tech/data to assist students who may be struggling is something that most institutions would like to be better at.
• Using Web Tools to Enable Content Marketing - It's so easy to get caught up in thinking about the "tools" when "content" is fundamentally more important. Tools are meaningless without quality content.
• Web Design Insights: A View Into What Makes a Site Effective - Creating a web presence / brand that "looks" different than everyone else is a challenging task.
• Going Mobile: An Introduction to the Mobile Web - Mobile is where we're at and where we're going. If your content isn't mobile-ready, you're probably not ready for your students.

Obviously, I could list practically every session that's going to take place at the NCSRMR. What can I say? I'm a student affairs geek / generalist. The session topics are so diverse that this event really does have a broad appeal. I'm looking forward to attending, learning, and sharing.

Will you be attending the NCSRMR? What other events do you attend in order to better understand "the funnel"?

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