PLANNING A SUCCESSFUL PREVIEW DAY

PRESENTED BY: TODD KOCH

University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Admissions

UAFS Background

4-year, public university 1928 – 2002: Junior College 2003 Enrollment: 3,400 2012 Enrollment: 7,500 Fort Smith is 2nd largest city in

Ark with population of 90,000 High percentage of Non-Trad

students

Ask Yourself:

Who are you trying to target? HS seniors, HS juniors, HS sophomores, HS

students in general, College transfers When do you want them on your

campus? First Saturday of month, weekday,

weekend, etc. What type of information do you feel is

important? Fin Aid, Admissions requirements, Degree

programs, etc Why is this important to the prospective

students? How often do you need Preview Days?

WHO?

Are you trying to target locally or regionally?

Market your Preview Days for specific classes: seniors, juniors, sophomores, transfers

WHEN?

You want to set up your preview day around major holidays, sporting events, organizational trips to avoid conflicts of interest amongst students. For instance, avoid Fridays in the Fall semester due

to football games; avoid “Fall break”, Thanksgiving break; FBLA, etc.

UAFS selects first Tuesday or Thursday in November and April. This allows greater population to attend: it is

between holidays, after Spring Break, after EOC exams

WHAT?

Pertinent information that needs to be covered: Fin Aid: university scholarships,

FAFSA, Academic Challenge Scholarship

Admissions Req: App fee, deadlines, NSO’s

Advisors: Degree programs, Undecided

Housing: Benefits of living on-campus

WHY?

This gives students the opportunity to walk onto campus, maybe for the first time

Get a feel for the campus environment, class settings, buildings

This could be the final checkpoint in their decision-making process

HOW OFTEN?

Decide what works best for your staff and the prospective students If multiple dates throughout semester/year

seem plausible Maybe only have time for 1 or 2 dates a

year UAFS selects 1 day per semester:

Seniors in Fall, Juniors in Spring

Planning

Create a checklist of everything that needs to get done before the event Contacts for speakers Marketing publications PR and media releases Room Setup Allow catering/food

services for meals Nametags and lanyards

Day of Event

Sign-in: Stubblefield Center Welcome from

Chancellor, Admissons Informational Sessions:

Fin Aid, Advising, Admissions deadlines, Housing, decision-making process

Lunch on Campus Green

Sign-in: Stubblefield Center Separated from students,

welcome from Chancellor Information Session:

Admissions, Fin Aid, Student Services, Advising, Student Panel

Campus Tour Lunch on Campus Green

Students Parents

Senior Den Day 2012

Measuring Success

Keep record of registration Compare to actual number that attended

Offer incentive for coming!! Lanyards, T-shirts,

Free FOOD! Attendance correlates

to Enrollment Students that show

expressed interest

Den Day Attendance

Seni

or D

D 09

Seni

or D

D 11

920

960

1000

1040

1080

Students

Students

Juni

or D

D 09

Juni

or D

D 11

0

200

400

600

800

Students

Students

Senior Den Days Junior Den Days

Making Improvements for Future

Surveys Include a survey for attendees to fill out

at end of day This will let you know what they liked,

didn’t like Word-of-mouth

Ask parents and students to spread word about information given

Include more University offices in event Input from staff/speakers is key

What they saw/heard could improve next year’s event

Thank you for attending this session! Hopefully, some of the information will be beneficial for you and your University!

QUESTIONS / INPUT