Cheaper, faster—and better—international student recruiting

by Tom Robinson

AST MONTH 60 undergraduate students from the University of Delhi were virtually face-to-face with MBA students, alumni and faculty at the University of Akron’s School of Business. The Delhi students were admissions prospects for Akron, and they all used a sophisticated video conferencing service developed by the Campus EAI Consortium.

Anjli Jain Chopra, Executive Director of the CampusEAI Consortium, explains that the goal is to better utilize technology already in place at many schools. “We need to leverage the investments we have made. It will save time and money that's often wasted in the traditional recruitment process.”

Raj Aggarwal, Dean of the Business School, feels they got a welcome blend of technology and needs. "Northeast Ohio students have not traveled much. But over the future course of their careers, they will find themselves working with people from the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). It is very expensive to send our students abroad to get that exposure to other cultures. It's much cheaper to bring Indian students here."

Here's how sophisticated hardware and software can produce a seamless, real-time simulation of a personal meeting. As a matter of fact, any admissions officer might borrow a page from this case whether recruiting in India or Indiana.

Contacts were peer-to-peer and student-to-faculty. Prospects talked with enrolled students about their experiences and with Akron MBA graduates to evaluate career prospects.
Propsects spoke directly with some faculty members and the dean, rather than requesting information through a recruiter and waiting for a reply.
There was interesting advance preparation. The international students had been pre-screened for Akron's MBA offerings. The Akron students were Indian themselves and had profiles of the U of Delhi students.
Chopra says a typical international student recruitment process resembles a Santa Claus line. “You sit in his lap for two minutes and tell him what you want. Then it’s the next person’s turn.” The Akron group of 60 had the opportunity for meaningful discussion. For example, "Delhi is generally warm. What is it like to go to school with two feet of snow on the ground? What visa complications might I face?"
A 10 percent 'lift' has six of the prospects on Akron's short list for acceptance. As foreign students, all will be paying full tuition. They are quality students and will help meet diversity goals.
Quality video recruiting reduces staff time and stress and the cost of international travel.

Jim Divoky, Assistant Dean and Director of Graduate Programs in Business, says he can’t think of a better way to reach international student prospects. “It’s just shy of actually being there. The key is to get people with the same sense of vision on both ends.”

CampusEAI is now making this technology available to all consortium members. They think it will fit within an overall strategy to use cloud computing rather than install and maintain the application on each campus. More than 260 members belong to CampusEAI, including OhioState, Temple, MIT and McGill Universities, as well as the City of Cleveland, Portland Public Schools and AmTrust Bank.

Tom Robinson is editor of The Greentree Gazette.
Reach him at trobinson@greentreegazette.com