Rationale for change: As colleges became increasingly market-savvy, it was clear that Sweet Briar needed to respond to the changing desires of prospective students in the materials and messages that they were receiving. An outside consultant was deemed the best way to gather quantitative and qualitative data to modify, expand and fine-tune its approaches.

Result: Noel Levitz conducted its audit and presented its recommendations to the College. Some of these recommendations were to:

• Develop a comprehensive recruitment plan
• Stabilize admissions staff and provide professional development opportunities
• Analyze current conversion and yield rates by source, counselor, territory, major, etc.
• Qualify and grade prospect pool as early as possible
• Expand the communications flow, incorporating written and phone communications
• Accelerate the communications flow
• Target travel efforts to most effective areas and high schools
• Develop new initiatives to expand campus visits
• Renew marketing and recruiting emphasis on riding program
• Develop new communications that address barriers to enrollment
• Expand the support and involvement of coaches
• Expand distribution of Sweet Briar video
• Fine tune Alumni admissions program

Many of these recommendations were instituted:

• A prospect rating system was developed and students were asked to self-rate their level of interest.
• The College contracted with Ruffalo, Cody and Associates to qualify the entire senior prospect pool during the summer prior to their senior year. By reducing the number of active inquiries, admissions staff was better able to concentrate their personal recruitment efforts on students who established a higher level of interest.
• Admissions staff members and current students increased telemarketing efforts as well to facilitate conversation at various points throughout the recruitment process regarding financial aid, application deadlines, athletics, etc.
• Ongoing professional development was funded, although the College continued to have high staff turnover throughout the 1990s.
• New marketing and advertising plans were developed in concert with the riding faculty to increase publicity for the riding program.
• The number of on-campus Open Houses offered was increased, and coaches were involved more in them.
• The video was distributed to all accepted applicants automatically shortly after admission.
• The hiring of a data management coordinator allowed for greater analysis of conversion and yield rates, with fine-tuning in budgeting primarily for publications and travel.

Applications increased 26% in 1992, and enjoyed small increases for the next three years following.

Rationale for change: Strategic as well as political concerns argued for a comparison of the College’s financial aid policies and practices in order to ascertain Sweet Briar’s competitiveness with its peer institutions. The College hired Noel Levitz, an enrollment-management consultant, to conduct an audit of aid policies and practices.

Result: Noel Levitz conducted its audit and presented its recommendations to the College. Specific need-based financial aid recommendations are listed in the Financial Aid Office overview. Recommendations made specifically to the Admissions Office were to:

• Institute a yield scholarship, to enroll more students whose family income precludes need-aid eligibility (adopted) and therefore decreases the likelihood of enrollment
• Institute an "early estimator" mailing to qualify families for assistance in the prospect stage and thereby increase the size of the applicant pool.

Both of these recommendations were adopted by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid beginning with the 1992 prospective student pool, and assisted in the modest improvement of the student body’s size and academic quality. The College has continued to contract with Noel Levitz annually to review and fine-tune its merit award process.

Rationale for change: In the wake of increasingly competitive marketplace for higher education, and in particular for small private colleges and for women’s colleges, the College desired to strengthen its recruitment marketing position by differentiating its academic "product" from that of its competitors. In an effort to reverse a trend of small applicant pools and declining selectivity, an integrated marketing plan was viewed as the logical way to accomplish this from the vantagepoint of both the Admissions Office and the Office of Public Relations. The Office of Public Relations had recently had a comprehensive communications assessment done by Art & Science Group, Inc. as the College began considering implementing new academic and programmatic initiatives.

Result: In May 1999, the College retained Art & Science Group, Inc., to conduct a study focused on institutional positioning and student recruitment marketing. They surveyed approximately 500 academically pre-qualified high school students who were either admitted applicants (both matriculants and admit-declines) or who had chosen not to apply to Sweet Briar. Based upon these surveys as well as interviews with administrators and faculty, the following recruitment recommendations were made: