managing numbers in northern ireland spa seminar - 12 april 2011 janet graham, annie doyle and...
TRANSCRIPT
Managing Numbers in Northern Ireland
SPA Seminar - 12 April 2011
Janet Graham, Annie Doyle and Leslie Currie
How can SPA support your planning in admissions?
Strategic leadership in admissions is an integral to an institutions learning and teaching strategy, management and planning.
SPA suggests an applicant experience strategy would underpin planning in admissions and support the management and processes of both academic and professional staff
The benefits for the institution: more integrated ways of working, with possible efficiency gains enhanced staff professionalism and understanding of strategy improved quality practices and procedures which may give
competitive advantage and enhance reputation ability to take advantage of external changes quickly
The benefits for the applicant: transparency and a better experience
Context for admissions planning and management for 2011 and beyond
Planning now for this year and beyond - working with internal colleagues and learning from external colleagues - can help you and your institution manage the policy and processes more effectively
Planning needs to be underpinned by robust systems in terms of
• IT, good quality data and analysis
• and the ability to use it for management , policy and process development
Managing Numbers in Northern Ireland
Working in small groups
1. Agree the order (1-8) you would prioritise as to relevance for managing applications.
2. Taking your top priority, agree three initiatives to manage the situation better.
N.B. Being able to reach agreement on a strategy in a timely
fashion is key to good management.
Managing Numbers in Northern Ireland
Faced with increased demand for limited supply of places, how do you prioritise:
monitoring
conversion rate predictors
policy enactment
entry criteria and offer-making
Having prioritised, what initiatives manage the situation best?
staffing levels
staff training
competitor tracking
future modelling / planning
Monitoring
monitor, monitor, monitor
Information is power
knowledge that change is happening (not happened)
understanding of variables within any change
evidence to justify quick action
benchmarks for tracking and reflection
Without adequate data you are reduced to the anecdotal and the reactionary – neither is a sound basis for prioritising
Conversion rate predictors
Reliant on good data and good monitoring
If this is an exceptional year, then senior management should be involved now
Remember the vices as well as the virtues of predicting on past conversion rates Are your applicants the same (has the increase shifted the
distribution/mix)?
Are your requirements the same (is it now harder/easier to convert)?
Are your competitors the same (don’t forget insurance)?
Are there any historically hidden numbers (e.g. progression agreements)?
Policy enactment
Policy is defining and binding
It can act as justification for your actions, but can also restrict your options for change
It is more difficult to change quickly and needs more planning to implement
It is very much a statement for the future as well as now
Most factors under admissions’ control will be in policy, so difficult to change anything without addressing policy
Entry criteria and offer-making
The key control devices in admissions
Reliant on good monitoring and conversion predictors
Changes will affect all other aspects of admissions, particularly: Conversion rates Competitors (and how you are perceived in relation to them) Advisors’ impressions for future years
Transparency in entry criteria (Entry Profiles) will aid matching and moderate applications
Care in wording offers can be an aid to acceptance and an asset at Confirmation
Don’t forget feedback and think of alternatives
Staffing levels
• Changes elsewhere only effective if you have enough of the right staff to process applications
• How do you know whether or not you have enough staff to deal with the increase?
• Can you predict whether this is temporary or long-term staffing demand?
• Can the demand be mediated by other resources (IT; procedural efficiencies; support from other areas)?
Staff training
• Changes elsewhere only effective if your staff are aware and able to enact them
• How quickly can all your admissions staff respond to change?
• How quickly can they spot change?
• Who has the authority to invoke change?
• Who is responsible for following change through?
Competitor tracking
• External influencers on your numbers are far harder to predict then internal
• Do you know who they are and how they’re changing?
• Do you know what your applicants’ expectations are (are you creating them or are you reacting to expectations given to them by others)?
• Understand that applicants are competing with each other and that you are competing with other institutions
Future modelling/planning
• Is this a one off year?
• If so what impact will your actions have on future recruitment?
• If not, are you embedding change to pre-empt this new trend, or are you going to have to react year-on-year?
Quick Fixes
Bending the rules How appropriate do you feel these options are in exceptional times?
• Dropping equal consideration
• Changing standard offers mid-cycle
• New entry requirements mid-cycle
• Less transparency
• New contextual data
• Gathered field
• Closing courses
• Changing progression agreements with partners
Quick Fixes
Know your enablers How well do you know and control the key internal enablers to change?
How quickly can you utilise and redirect them?
• staff• systems• funds
N.B. these should be more than just resources
Collaborative Fixes
Who should you collaborate with internally • and how do you do it?
Who should you collaborate with externally • and how do you do it?
Think about: • who to collaborate with and why• what to collaborate on• when and how such collaboration should take place
