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| Lees-McRae College: The Value of Knowledge |
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| Written by Eric Slack | ||
| Sunday, 30 November 2008 23:00 | ||
“It was also a natural transition for the college because we were already doing as a two-year college what four-year liberal arts universities do,” said David Bushman, president. Since making the change, the college has expanded course offerings and upgraded facilities. Founded in 1900, it has firmly established a place in the mainstream of the traditional liberal arts model for higher education through a commitment to career preparation and by providing students a broader understanding of the larger world. Students wanted Right now, Lees-McRae is actively trying to increase enrollment. The majority of its students come from North Carolina, but as the school is located in the rural western part of the state, it also draws from nearby areas of Virginia and Tennessee. The college competes in NCAA Division II athletics, meaning it can provide athletic scholarships to prospective students. The college also made a strong commitment to cycling, which is governed by USA Cycling. The team competes in Division I and has won several national championships.  While the school isn’t looking to increase enrollment to become a larger school, it is trying to reach the high end of its enrollment range to develop economies of scale by being a bigger small school. Bringing in more students can eliminate unused classroom space. Although the college believes in small class size and low student-to-faculty ratios, it operates from a philosophy that believes there are advantages to being close to the higher edge of its enrollment range. For example, instructors usually prefer teaching to a class of 10 rather than five because they get a broader range of ideas and student engagement.The college worked through a two-year process of internal dialogue to determine its identity and create strategies to serve students well, eventually hiring an external marketing firm that specializes in higher education to put a professional marketing and communications plan in place. The college’s Web site, print and radio communications, and billboard ads were redesigned. The college also researched the markets it draws students from to determine not only the areas that yield the highest number of students, but also the markets that bring in students who stay with the school for all four years. “Students from urban areas may not like our rural setting and leave, so they aren’t as cost effective as recruiting students from towns where we might get fewer overall students but they end up staying with us,” Bushman said. “You can’t just slap up a billboard or buy radio time; you have to leverage your resources efficiently.” Another important part of this branding process has been creating a consistent message, both internally and externally. This is more challenging in higher education. Faculty and staff have more freedom of exploration, dialogue, and debate than perhaps is given to employees in the business world. But Lees-McRae overcame that issue by actively engaging faculty and students in the creation of its identity rather than imposing it on them from the top. Putting theory into practice That identity is reflected in its curriculum. In addition to the common educational components one can find at all liberal arts schools, the school offers several specialized majors. For example, it has a popular wildlife rehabilitation program as part of its commitment to environmental stewardship spawned by its location in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The college is also committed to experiential and service learning to make sure part of its students’ education is spent outside of the lab and the classroom and engaging the external world. Now, Lees-McRae is on a mission to find students who are a good fit for its programs and the lifestyle it offers. Communications efforts are less about becoming widely known and more about becoming clearly known. Fundraising efforts are proceeding in the same way by looking for donors who share the college’s ideals. In this way, the college will bring in both the tuition and the donations it needs to thrive. Cost and expense pressures are bearing down on educational institutions, so the college is also looking at ways to improve its energy infrastructure and efficiency to help cut costs. The college has also invested in its facilities, mostly on dorm renovations and recreational opportunities for the campus community, such as renovating a swimming complex. The college’s first gymnasium, which was initially only a basketball court, underwent $2 million in renovations to become a student recreation complex. “We are upgrading these facilities because students live here; they don’t just take classes here,” said Bushman. “It is part of a holistic view of education, balancing our investments between curriculum, the co-curricular experience, and our facilities.” Lees-McRae also pays attention to green building. Its recreation complex was LEED certified, and campus landscaping is done to ensure use of native vegetation, which makes watering and maintenance operations more efficient. The college is now seeing its efforts bear fruit as enrollment increased 10% in a year when many schools are seeing enrollments stay flat or even decrease. While internal growth is a goal, it also is a challenge to manage. But since the college is trying to communicate to the public the essential value of what it offers and the overall value of higher education to the country, it is a challenge its leadership welcomes. “Education pays off. We aren’t quite recession-proof, but we are well positioned to serve the needs of the nation,” said Bushman. “Times are hard, and we are dealing with rising costs and the difficulties families sometimes face when trying to afford to send their kids to college. The reality is that higher education is both valuable and desirable.” |