Staff Excellence: Enrollment Management Strategic Communications and Initiatives

At a higher education institution the size of Purdue University, it’s easy for a team like Enrollment Management Strategic Communications and Initiatives (EMSCI) to operate without much fanfare. But its role in attracting prospective undergraduate students, sharing critical academic information with current students, and amplifying the stories and experiences coming out of colleges and units across campus is crucial in cultivating and sustaining Purdue’s world-renowned excellence.

“My team’s work is a key component of Purdue’s effort in making a freshman class every single year and helping our recruitment community achieve success,” says Jamie Ingersoll, executive director of EMSCI. “When I think about Purdue, excellence at scale and students who would be a great fit at the university, my team drives a lot of those processes and communications from the time they’re in high school to the time they join us on campus.”

As the central hub for communicating with prospective, admitted and current Purdue undergraduate students, EMSCI takes on a wide variety of responsibilities that support two key branches of Purdue’s enrollment management efforts: marketing and communications, and systems and data.

As part of its communications efforts, EMSCI routinely assists central units like the Office of the Registrar and the Division of Financial Aid with sending students important information about commencement eligibility, course releases and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

The team also meets with every single college and central unit at least once a year to develop recruitment and retention communication plans, brainstorm the best strategies to reach particular audiences, and help guide each area on a path toward achieving its target goals. During every conversation, the staff members’ customer-focused approach and solution-driven mindset fosters an environment where challenges are embraced, even welcomed.

“We’re talking with the colleges almost daily about their various efforts and just making sure they’re strategically aligned,” Ingersoll says. “Sometimes they’ll come to us saying, ‘We have this crazy idea. Can you help us try to execute it?’ And we’ll say, ‘Yeah! We’ll give it a shot.’ If there’s a problem or a need, my team is nimble and will do our best/their best to figure out what’s going to be the best solution.”

A significant bulk of EMSCI’s work includes collaborating with the Office of Admissions to communicate with prospective undergraduates throughout every phase of the student journey — from the time they’re in high school to their decision to accept their offer and eventually enroll at Purdue. This includes executing email campaigns, partnering on digital campaigns and designing mailed print pieces.

On the flip side, EMSCI’s strategic initiatives arm — or its systems and data team — is charged with managing Slate, the university’s established undergraduate CRM tool used to send all of EMSCI’s and the college’s communications. Slate is the system that houses all of Purdue’s applications and Common App data, and it’s where Office of Admissions counselors read applications and students view their offers of admission.

Managing Slate is a huge undertaking, and it couldn’t be done without the team’s ability to come together and make adjustments when necessary. Recently, after taking a close look at all applications housed within the system, the team reworked several to be more user-friendly for students, a process that also included building seven new applications for the various student populations that apply to Purdue. But their work in enhancing the student experience has only just begun.

“I’m really proud of the work they’ve done, and my whole team and I are aligned on continuing to enhance the digital student experience,” Ingersoll says. “So many students are digital natives, and we really want to enhance the digital student journey through our admissions website and eventually through things like visit portals to serve up content that is unique as opposed to catchall. It’s really daunting and a lot to take on, but it’s very exciting.”

This a group that was also instrumental in managing the systems and communications for the opening of Purdue University in Indianapolis and setting up new students in the capital city for success — an all-hands-on-deck effort that showcased the team’s ability to operate at a high rate of speed and precision.

No order appears to be too tall for these talented staff members, as reflected in the quality and output of their work. As a silent partner dedicated to ensuring that enrollment management processes and communications across the university are clear, effective and impactful, EMSCI is always eager to collaborate with members of Purdue’s recruitment community. In fact, it’s one of the best parts of the job.

“Without the help of all of these other people, our jobs would be really hard and not very enjoyable,” Ingersoll says. “And so, honestly, fostering those relationships, delivering results and being clear in our communication — all of those are things we strive to do well and that have greatly benefited us over the past year.”