Faculty, staff, and students play critical roles in student recruitment.
Student Recruitment has identified a number of strategies that departments identify as very effective practices in recruiting potential students to the University of Windsor. We look forward to collaborating with you to put these into action, and to helping to make the process as easy and efficient as possible for you.
If you have a question or request regarding Student Recruitment that isn’t covered in this section, please contact Student Communication and Events Coordinator Zora Savic directly at zora@uwindor.ca or Extension 3933.
Student Recruitment will:
- Send Student Recruitment Team members on high school visits and to fairs and events. Organize open house days and campus tours that include scheduled advising sessions in specific program areas.
- Assist with the planning, promotion, and execution of events organized by Faculties and Departments.
- Create a planned, sequential flow of communication to prospective students from the beginning to the end of the recruiting cycle.
- Encourage prospective students to visit campus for a tour, shadow a current student, or attend an organized recruitment event.
- Ultimately, encourage prospective students to apply to UWindsor!
Prospective students most frequently ask Student Recruitment:
- If the University has the program they want.
- If UWindsor graduates are successful in finding employment.
- About assistance options to help finance their university education.
- If the campus is a “good fit” for them.
If you’re looking to enhance your recruitment practices, you may want to consider some of these strategies:
Create key messages:
Identify and develop key messages by program area. A key question: What are the most important and attractive features or benefits of each degree program within your faculty or department? The Student Recruitment Team can disseminate these targeted messages at visits and campus tours and when answering phone calls. Your messages will also be shared with the University’s student ambassadors and tour guides. Articulating and communicating precisely what makes your program distinctive encourages prospective students to choose UWindsor over other universities that offer the same or similar programs.
Create a Program Recruitment Strategy:
Share success stories about your existing students or graduates of your program with Student Recruitment so that it can work with Public Affairs and Communication (PAC) to develop further communications (e.g. Daily News items, social media posts, and videos). Using PAC’s key marketing messages for the University will reinforce UWindsor’s overall message.
Review your past recruitment strategies to determine which have worked best:
An effective recruitment strategy tells students what they can do to make their transition easier while generating excitement for the start of their program. Create stories that support your key messages, and write them for the web, print, various social media platforms, and video. Whenever possible, use a mix of media and include video content. Make sure these stories promote engagement.
Know your audience:
To develop relevant communications, keep in mind the audience’s stage in their overall process. Prospective students may not know what they need to know – particularly if you are reaching them early in the process. Note that communication should never stop with an application.
Encourage staff to use the online Request for Information (RFI) form when talking with prospective students:
Prospective students who sign up using this form will automatically receive your program information, invitations to events (e.g. Open House, campus tours, and faculty/program-specific events), calls from current students (usually in their preferred program area), and any further communication the faculty or department wishes to send out. Within an AAU, every employee who might interact with prospective students should be aware of this link. Particularly, frontline staff should understand the information a prospective student will receive if they input his or her name into the system.
Optimize your online presence:
Ensure your website is optimized for mobile browsers. Include a link to the RFI form on every page. Use video content on your website and in your communications whenever possible.
Develop publications:
Student Recruitment can work with you to produce dedicated program flyers, which it can distribute both online and in print in response to inquiries. Ensure that key messages are included in these documents.
Engage over social media:
Messages, link to videos, event registration forms, and program information can all be part of the conversation. Have a plan to post regularly using your messaging platform(s).
Participate actively:
Consider participating in on-campus visit events by providing engaging presentations, tours of facilities, and advising sessions for prospective students.
Connect with high school students and teachers:
Student Recruitment can assist with organizing and promoting campus visit days for high school students within your area as well as campus events for secondary school teachers in your discipline which can also function effective community outreach. Events where teachers from all local school boards can share ideas, network, and learn about the programs you offer, while also accessing useful tools and information that support the curriculum can have positive benefits on many levels.
Answer inquiries quickly and directly:
Try to prioritize responding to questions and inquiries from prospective students and their families. Always endeavour to address their questions in specific terms and, if you have time, phone them. Think about establishing a departmental policy on response time for prospective student inquiries. Sooner is better, but 24 hours is strongly recommended as a limit. When you respond, remember to encourage prospective students to complete the online RFI form. If you have a student on the phone, you can use the form to add them yourself.
Invite individual students to visit our campus:
If you have a prospective student or applicant interested in experiencing the campus, please inform Student Recruitment so that the Office can arrange an effective and informative visit.
Use your existing students:
Involve your current students at events. They can be an excellent resource for connecting with prospective students. Please send Student Recruitment the names of students you think would be strong and effective ambassadors for your program and the University as a whole. Student Recruitment is always looking for tour guides, event staff, and model students to feature in videos and photo shoots.
Test your activities and communications:
Talk to your students and involve them in your outreach activities. Ask them what they wish they’d known when they applied.
Partner with Student Recruitment to offer online events:
Student Recruitment hopes to launch a new Webinar initiative in January 2017. This platform will provide an easy means of hosting informative virtual events for prospective students and their families. If you are interested in holding an online event, please phone Student Recruitment at Extension 3933.
Send your suggestions to Student Recruitment:
When you identify a barrier or pain point for a prospective student, please share this information with Student Recruitment. The Office will be happy to work with you to address the issue and improve the situation going forward.