It’s Time Again to Celebrate, Assess, and Plan

I always look forward to the beginning of a new school year. The bright smiling faces and eagerness of new students to experience a fresh start in the next grade level, mark this time of year as the annual highpoint.

The beginning of the new school is also an important time of year for you to do three things:

1–Celebrate. This is the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. All of the phone calls, emails, tours, letters, interviews and marketing strategies have hopefully paid off and you can enjoy the moment. Whether you hit your goal or not, it is important to celebrate the students and families that will now experience the life-changing educational impact that your institution provides. It’s time to celebrate. Go ahead, you deserve it.

2–Assess. After you finish celebrating, which usuallly lasts a day, it’s time to move on and assess the good and the bad, the success and failures, the results and reports from the school year. What worked in your enrollment and marketing strategy? What didn’t work? What can you improve to increase your effectiveness and achieve better results for this next year? What do you need to change? It’s time to assess. Go ahead, you will need it.

3–Plan. Finally, you can take your assessment and develop a new marketing and enrollment plan for the year. It is critical for you to develop a comprehensive plan for your enrollment strategy, which includes admissions and retention, and your marketing strategy, which includes internal, external and web-based marketing. It’s time to plan. Go ahead, you will use it.

These three steps are very important for you in order to get ready for another school year. Make sure you take them in order–Celebrate, Assess, and Plan–and make sure you take them now. When you do, you will be ready for another proactive year to recruit and retain more students at your school. Go ahead.