The purpose of the study was to analyze strategies and techniques used in graduate student recruitment efforts at institutions of higher education which have developed graduate student recruitment programs involving administrative personnel in graduate schools. The population consisted of 71 graduate school deans. The deans, however, were given the alternative of selecting an alternate administrator to respond to the survey provided the alternate possessed experience with graduate recruitment activities.A Likert-type instrument consisting of 42 questionnaire items was utilized to gather data pertaining to the respondent and the institution included in the survey, organization for graduate recruitment, current and desired involvement with recruitment administrative functions, plus usage and perceived effectiveness of selected strategy/techniques used in graduate recruitment.Findings1. Institutions having the greatest available finances for graduate recruitment activities tended to have coordinated recruitment programs.2. Graduate administrators expressed strong interest in being involved with the development of recruitment planning, setting goals and identifying desirable recruitment strategies and techniques.3. A lack of formal training existed for personnel engaged in graduate student recruitment.4. Financial assistance, prompt response to applicant inquiry, and personal contact from the concerned department (faculty) were perceived as very effective student recruitment strategy/techniques.5. The utilization of alumni as well as establishing contact with representatives from business and industry were viewed as valuable but relatively untapped sources for increasing the number of graduate student applications.Conclusions1. The projected decline in the 18 to 24 year-old population group can be off-set partially by conscientious efforts to attract former degree recipients from other age groups, women and minorities.2. Graduate student recruitment has traditionally differed from undergraduate recruitment. Much, of the current activity conducted as. graduate recruitment is uncoordinated and difficult to monitor; however, efforts to organize graduate recruitment programs are attracting the attention of graduate administrators nationally, thus creating the potential for an emerging professional area in graduate education.3. Financial support for coordinated graduate recruitment programs will be derived predominantly from the university budget.4. Faculty are imperative to successful graduate student recruitment, therefore, recruitment planning should include ways to effectively utilize outstanding faculty in the recruitment process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/176783 |
| Date | 03 June 2011 |
| Creators | Hill, John J. |
| Contributors | Snyder, Jack F. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | x, 166 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us--- |
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