Mobile Counselor Recruitment Tool
Product: Mobile Counselor Recruitment Tool
Development Stage: Program Completed and in Use at WMU
Primary Creators: Scott Puckett and Michael Sisk
Scientific Publication: None
License Status: Available for Licensing
Copyright Status: Copyright assigned to WMURF
Reference: 2014-002
Student recruitment is a key element of any higher education program and is a top priority for any education organization’s business development. Recruiting the right students is critical to the long-term success of an institution. Competition for domestic and international students has increased, making effective recruitment strategies a vital part of higher education.
Recruitment relies almost exclusively on manual efforts supporting marketing. The information collection process mostly involves using index cards or forms and asking prospective students to provide details about themselves on the cards. This requires significant time and is also inefficient for transferring data from the cards/forms into the University Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System. Some institutions use a CRM tool for recruiting, but these are expensive and do not interface with mobile, iPad or any hand-held device to increase information flow.
Technology Description
Programmers at WMU have built a Mobile Counselor web application that caters to institutions of higher education for recruiting high school and college transfer students. It seamlessly interacts with smartphones, tablets and computers for collection of prospective student data. The software is an inexpensive, stand-alone system that can be integrated with existing CRM systems. It is extremely efficient compared to a paper-based recruitment process, as the software immediately logs prospective student information and interests, allowing for same day responses with targeted recruiting information. The main functionality of Mobile Counselor is to collect and store student recruitment data. It generates a flat file that can be processed in different formats directly by the CRM system of any institution. This process makes data gathering and tracking much simpler and faster. In addition, Mobile Counselor has multiple additional recruitment functionalities like: a chat system to help counselors communicate with each other while on the road; a directory to store all individual contacts; and customizable inquiry forms.
The tool can reside either on a public or private server depending on school security standards. It has been tested on multiple browsers, different platforms and devices, with seamless operation of all functions.
Program developers can adjust Mobile Counselor pricing for a licensee to use a subscription rate or usage rate tracking, providing flexible financial control for licensee.
Potential Benefits
•Mobile device friendly data capture
•Seamless integration with present systems
•Affordable and customizable according to school needs
•Immediate data processing into CRM systems provides same day responses with targeted recruiting information
Contact
D. Clark Bennett
(269) 387-8218
Director of Technology and Innovation Advancement