As admissions advisers, Tom Kasper and B.J. Selfridge
are used to answering questions from prospective students.
But since Eastern Michigan University subscribed to the
networking site, Zinch, about six months ago, Kasper and
Selfridge have become round-the-clock and round-the-world
ambassadors for EMU.
Zinch ( www.zinch.com )
is a service that connects students, parents, counselors
and colleges. Students fill out profiles, as do colleges
and universities. Based on that information, each can narrow
down its target audience, exchange messages and provide
feedback.
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ZINCH FACTOR: (above, from left) Admissions
advisers Tom Kasper and B.J. Selfridge display
information about Zinch, an online service that
allows EMU recruiters to connect with and build
relations with high school students and their parents. |
Eastern Michigan has approximately 15 targeted campaigns
that generate messages to specific groups of students.
The National Scholars Program, for example, pays the out-of-state
tuition cost for select students from outside Michigan
and Ohio, so every student on Zinch who meets the geographic
and academic criteria will receive a message from EMU about
the program. Eastern Michigan's various campaigns have
generated 350,000 messages since the school signed on with
Zinch in October 2008.
The Zinch subscription costs the University $5,000 a year.
Before Zinch, admissions bought names from a clearinghouse
and sent out mailings — seven to 10 of them
a year at $3,500-$7,000 a pop. Now, admissions sends out
information packets, but only to students who ask for them.
"When a person connects with us (through Zinch), they're
more likely to be what we'd consider a hot prospect," said
Anne McKee, admissions assistant director for communications. "So,
the best part of this is there's a much better return on
investment."
Kasper and Selfridge typically receive 40-50 inquiries
a day and 100-300 over the weekends. Since students are
just getting out of school on the West Coast when the advisers
are getting home from work here, the two log on at night,
too, to keep the conversation flowing. Kasper and Selfridge
track every prospect and inquiry, and, though they're concentrating
on students who are juniors or younger, they have one "Zincher" from
California who's already gone through the Fast Track program.
"We'll get a lot of interesting dialogue," said Kasper,
who, along with Selfridge, won a Gold Medallion innovation
award this spring for his work with Zinch. "We might exchange
30 to 40 questions back and forth as they think of more
questions.
The No. 1 thing high school students ask about is cost
and scholarships. Some have asked if there's anywhere to
board their horse. They ask about campus life. One asked
how our Super Bowl Sunday was. They ask if we're real people.
I think they're surprised to get a personal response."
That personal response is part of what makes EMU's use
of Zinch effective. Even a student who's never seen the
campus already knows Tom and B.J. on a first-name basis.
In fact, the advisers tell all their Zinchers to look them
up if they're ever on campus. Those who do get an EMU logo
cinch sack.
Students can post positive feedback ("drop props") on
EMU's profile and, when they do, they receive a handwritten
postcard thanking them. It's a personal touch Kasper said
he hasn't noticed coming from many of the 600-plus other
colleges using Zinch. The mechanical messages and form
letters some schools send waste the potential of a tool
like Zinch, he said.
"I think one of the neatest things is we can recruit and
interact with students who we won't see in person and they
are going to receive the same level of attention that they
would from a very small, private liberal arts college," Kasper
said. "We can give them that level of service."
Students and their parents seem to appreciate Zinch. They
like that it doesn't fill their physical mailbox with paper
or their e-mail inbox with unsolicited mail. It doesn't
invade students' personal online spaces — their Facebook
or MySpace pages. It puts parents and their high school-aged
children in control, with lots of resources at their fingertips.
On the college side, the profiles follow a set format,
which means that a larger university with more resources
can't buy a premium package that will give it a fancier
page. Each school also receives a notice when another university
updates its site, so everyone has a good sense for what
the others are doing.
"That keeps the playing field pretty level," Kasper said.
