The Office of Undergraduate Recruitment has a dual mandate to provide both support on matters of undergraduate recruitment to the College of Arts and Sciences and to strategically link underrepresented students to campus resources through support programs like the Program for Advancing in Scholarship and Service (PASS) and Buckeye Opportunities for Leadership Development (BOLD).
Recruitment Services for Staff and Faculty
As the office within the College of Arts and Sciences tasked with undergraduate recruitment, we serve as the college liaison to Strategic Enrollment Services, organize college-specific events, coordinate departmental participation, coordinate academic sessions for daily visits and represent the college at on- and off-campus events.
We offer a number of other services to our faculty, staff and community partners at the college, department and major level, including:
- Access to prospective student contact information
- Access to prospective student data
- Recruitment and informational webinars
- Recruitment best practices workshops
- Collaborating with the Office of Marketing and Communications to develop short- and long-term recruitment marketing and communications plans
Funding
The Office of Undergraduate Recruitment's undergraduate recruitment grant program provides funds to Arts and Sciences departments and schools to build upon established best practices and explore new strategies related to undergraduate recruitment praxis.
How to Prepare for Yield Season
Every Arts and Sciences department and unit will have different yield goals, resources, and needs.
We recommend working with OUR to obtain a copy of your program data from previous years.
This data can be used to set goals for the upcoming yield season and provide insight into trends and patterns within the admitted student population you are targeting.
Once you know how many students you would like to yield this year, you can work with OUR to develop a plan to reach your goals.
The plan should include a minimum of 2-3 communications tactics (welcome letters, webinars, special campus visits, calling campaigns, email campaigns, etc) that engage students during the yield season.
The Top Five Things Prospective Students and Parents Want to Know
Undergraduate recruitment provides prospective students and parents with an opportunity to learn why there is no place in the world like the College of Arts and Sciences.
To get started, we recommend you begin by reviewing the five critical recruitment questions below to guide your conversations and messaging to prospective students and parents.
You can incorporate these answers throughout your emails, print materials, presentations, social posts, letters and speeches to families.
Why this major?
Discuss the major. Oftentimes, high school students and parents have a limited understanding of the kaleidoscope of academic majors within Arts and Sciences. Be sure to educate them about the major and its areas of focus.
Why this major at Ohio State?
Help prospective students and parents understand why the major at Ohio State provides a learning experience like no other institution. This is an opportunity to highlight your strengths, distinction, and noteworthy accolades.
What can I do when I get there?
Discuss high-impact practices such as first-year seminars, special courses, research, study abroad, internship, opportunities for engagement, and learning both inside and outside of the classroom.
How will you take care of me when I’m a student?
This is an opportunity to discuss the community within the academic program and how students have been able to make meaningful connections and build a community.
What can I do with this degree when I graduate?
Discuss possible career, and post-graduate opportunities, and be sure to include real-life outcomes of alumni and how they are using their degree.
Make sure your website and social media channels are providing students and parents with the information they need during the yield season as well as answering the “Five Critical Questions” listed in the Core Messaging section on this page.
Prior to yield season, review content, check all hyperlinks, and update content so that information is engaging, accurate, and easy to understand.
We also recommend incorporating quotes from students and alumni that highlight the major’s learning experience, engagement programs, and outcomes.
Be sure to also update pertinent contact information, building location, and email addresses as needed.
Welcome Letter
Receiving a congratulations letter from an academic unit is an important milestone in the admissions process.
Letters are a unique way to welcome newly admitted students into the Arts and Sciences community, provide an opportunity to highlight the distinction of our programs, establish communication, and direct students and parents to the next steps.
Campus Visits
The campus visit is a critical step in the recruitment process for prospective students and parents.
A campus visit can happen at any phase in the recruitment cycle.
While on campus, prospective students and parents are focused on learning as much as they can about the university, and the program, and are seeking to find the undergraduate experience that most closely aligns with the needs of the student.
The templates in this section will provide you with the essential items you’ll need for your visit and these include an A-Frame for printing event signage, an agenda, and a PowerPoint presentation.
Advertising in Campus Spaces
Digital screens are one of the newest opportunities within higher education to advertise content to visitors within a space. Screens are still relatively new and are not available in every campus building.
However, if you have a screen located in a high-trafficked public space, a screen presents a great opportunity to provide wayfinding, reinforce key recruitment messaging during campus visits, share videos and images, as well as program noteworthy highlights that would resonate with prospective students and parents.
This template provides you with the building blocks you need to add your content.
Print Materials to Promote Academic Majors, Minors, Departments, etc.
Print marketing remains a critical tool for recruiting prospective students.
It provides an opportunity to reinforce messaging about academic programs.
Print materials should work as a complement to the overall strategy. Be sure to think through how the print piece below will support current efforts to recruit students.
Calling Campaigns
A recruitment calling campaign is a structured plan for one-on-one conversations with prospective students and/or parents.
It is one of the oldest forms of recruitment marketing and continues to be effective. Below is a script template to use for calling campaigns during yield season.
Join OUR at Experience Arts and Sciences Day on February 15, 2025.
This exclusive event provides admitted students and their families an enhanced preview of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Departments are invited to participate in a college-level table fair.
Contact Chinwe Okpalaoka at okpalaoka.2@osu.edu for more information.
Industry Reports
- 2023 Prospective Family Engagement Report
- Parents and guardians are the biggest influencers on enrollment for students. Nearly all are invested and involved in the college search process with their students.
- The RNL 2023 Prospective Family Engagement Report includes key findings on family engagement.
- Parents and guardians are the biggest influencers on enrollment for students. Nearly all are invested and involved in the college search process with their students.
Higher Ed Marketing and Communications Podcasts
- A Platform to increase Yield, Affinity, and Alumni Relations, Enrollify
- In this episode of The Brewstorm, Shane, Dan, and Zach brainstorm what it would look like to flip the relationship between admitted students and admissions teams on its head.
- How do we make prospects feel wanted, increase school affinity, and level the playing field for all? Tune in! The Brewstorm is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
- In this episode of The Brewstorm, Shane, Dan, and Zach brainstorm what it would look like to flip the relationship between admitted students and admissions teams on its head.
Articles
- How to Attract, Engage, and Yield High Intent Stealth Students, The Chronicle of Higher Education
- More Than Melt: Strategies for an Extended Yield Season, Inside Higher Ed
- Parents Matter More, Inside Higher Ed
Let's Work Together!
A unit/department yield strategy should be intentional and data-informed, complete with tactics that complement strategies and focus on the particular goals and needs of your unit/department.
Every unit will be different. Recruitment Services and Marketing and Communications collaborate with units and departments to provide recommendations on how to create a yield strategy to reach students and support desired goals and outcomes.
To get started, contact Chinwe Okpalaoka at okpalaoka.2@osu.edu.
Arts and Sciences Marketing and Communications will also offer "Yield Season Office Hours" to provide units with additional support with marketing, communications, and branding. Timing TBA. Please email asccomm@osu.edu if you have any questions.
Arts and Sciences Marketing and Communications has uploaded additional resources and guidelines on logo files, unit identification and additional university brand resources on the Arts and Sciences Intranet.
If you have questions about any of the branding content, contact Lauren Fanfer, senior graphic designer, at fanfer.1@osu.edu.