Campus colleagues,
The links below are meant to provide division and operational updates regarding initiatives within Enrollment Management at Kent State. Please share broadly across your network with those that would most benefit from this information.
University effort leads to application growth
It has been a successful application cycle for Kent State University. The Kent campus has never received as many deposits for first-time students this fall than we have this year as of May 1. This is an exciting time, but our work is incomplete. While we celebrate this achievement and strong progress, we realize we are a little over three months from the start of term.
Students and families will continue to evaluate options and we will work toward adding deposits and limiting “summer melt” which is the phrase used to describe the number of students who have deposited and end up not enrolling.
Thank you for your support this year. We would not be where we are today without strong partnerships from academic colleges and student support areas whom we rely on to promote an exceptional experience at Kent State.
Take care,
Sean Broghammer, Ph.D.
Vice President for Enrollment Management
ScholarshipUniverse
By: Brenda Burke, Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management, Scholarships and Financial Aid
A college education is a big investment and scholarships can be an excellent way to make the college experience more affordable!
ScholarshipUniverse is a new enterprise scholarship search portal that helps match students to internal and external scholarships. It is a secure and easy to use source of most Kent State Scholarships and thousands of other scholarship opportunities as well. To use the portal, students must be admitted or continuing students at Kent State University for the current academic year.
ScholarshipUniverse can help students find additional scholarships based on:
- Major
- Academic Achievements
- Financial Need
- Activities and Interests
- And much more!
As students add more details to their profile, a Student Dashboard will show all internal and external scholarships the student qualifies for as well as various sections that will provide scholarship updates and notifications of upcoming deadlines.
ScholarshipUniverse will also match students to external scholarship opportunities outside of Kent State University. Each of these scholarship opportunities has been carefully reviewed before they have been included in the search portal.
ScholarshipUniverse is currently being implemented across all Kent State University academic departments and campus locations. Phase One is fully implemented and Phase Two is in the final implementation stage. Phase Three, the final phase of implementation, will begin this summer.
All Kent State University scholarship offers will be offered through the ScholarshipUniverse portal beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year.
College of Podiatric Medicine Launches Prospect Email Campaign in Slate CRM
By: Mark Ledoux, Director, Enrollment Management Research Analytics
The College of Podiatric Medicine (CPM) recently joined the Slate Admissions CRM to manage outreach to prospects (potential students). CPM purchases names of students who have taken the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT).
An automated email campaign, consisting of a 10-message sequence, has been developed to help educate text score takers about the profession of podiatric medicine and the options within. An example of one of the messages is shared below.
Students have the option of opting in to receive an extensive digital booklet, Step Into Podiatry,with key information about the College and field of Podiatry. In addition, messages with details about applying for admission are included in the campaign.
To date, 176,000 email messages have been delivered to 139,000 students. The average email open rate of the campaign has been over 47%. Over 80 new inquiries have been generated from this campaign for further follow-up from the CPM recruitment staff. As new MCAT names are released, they will be folded into the campaign.
Enrollment Management in partnership with University Communication and Marketing will continue to work with colleges, campuses, and other areas to create compelling and informative communications for prospective and current students.
Improvements to Diploma Fulfillment
By: Chris Dorsten, University Registrar and Nikki Cox, Senior Assistant University Registrar
The Office of the University Registrar has partnered with Parchment Inc to improve the diploma fulfillment process for graduates of Kent State University. Beginning with Summer 2023, graduate’s diploma’s will be fulfilled by Parchment.
This service will enable students to verify their correct address prior to mailing as well as deliver tracking notifications. Even more exciting is the new digital diploma that students will be able to retrieve from their Parchment account.
The digital diploma is directly validated by KSU, and allows students unlimited sharing, including social media and employers. The digital diploma is new to Kent State University and available to students at no cost.
Get to Know the One Stop!
By: Jameka Wilson, Director of One Stop for Student Services
We are a student-centered, front-facing office that assists students, parents and family, faculty, staff and our campus community with questions related to financial aid and scholarships, billing and payment, student records and financial wellness. Our home office partners consist of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, Office of University Registrar and Bursar’s Office.
Ways to connect with us are located at www.kent.edu/onestop/contact-one-stop listing the options of calling via phone, scheduling an in-person or virtual appointment or completing our online "Contact Us" inquiry form.
What have we been up to in 2023?
Below are data points for our three highest service areas in 2022 and 2023. The decrease in service volume is due to enhancements within our student communications, processes from our home office partners and our retention efforts. We are proud to share we are averaging a 90% satisfaction rate per our online service experience feedback survey data for 2023.
One Stop for Student Services has adopted a more proactive approach to supporting students at Kent State University. Examples include direct outreach to students with outstanding financial aid requirements, review payment options, and work to remove holds that prevent course registration.
We are here to help! The additional resources below can be found on our website at www.kent.edu/onestop:
- Hours and location
- Important announcements
- Calendar and deadline dates
- Forms and applications
- How-to videos
- Billing and payment information page
- Faculty and staff page
We are working toward improving the student experience at Kent State and will provide additional updates in the near future.