Our own school mascot, Bucky the Buccaneer, is hitting the road with several admissions counselors who are responsible for the recruitment of new students.
Protected by his own facemask, Bucky will lend a hand in recruiting new students from Tennessee and neighboring states to our campus. The counselors will set up tents in parks, pavilions and other outdoor spaces where prospective students can arrange to meet with them to learn more about the opportunities that await them here at ETSU.
Recruitment is going to be a bit more difficult than normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents and potential students may be discouraged from the college application process due to fear of contracting COVID and because several campuses are closed off to visitors. Because of this, university applications across the nation are most likely going to see a decrease in admissions in 2021.
Universities make money by both accepting and rejecting applications, so there is a lot of revenue to be lost with a decrease in applications. Each university is a product that counselors need to sell to the potential students. Failure to effectively market the campus could result in more dramatic losses than they originally anticipated.
This is why ETSU has come up with the idea to meet potential students where they are in order to offer them the college visit experience that is such an important part of a high school student’s senior year.
When meeting with the potential students, the counselors will be following the guidelines of social distancing as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There will be a variety of handouts for the new recruits, including brochures and t-shirts.
This is a really good marketing plan that ensures that the admissions office is doing everything they can to keep admissions up, and therefore keep the revenue.
