Staffing Shortages Threaten Grad School Growth Goals

0:00:10.6 S1: Hello, and welcome to Office Hours with EAB. Our guests today share findings from a new survey EAB conducted with the help of NAGAP, a non-profit organization that supports those working in graduate enrollment. The survey explores the current work environment and the biggest challenges faced by those tasked with meeting graduate enrollment goals. The survey shows a growing gap between staffing realities and pie-in-the-sky growth goals set by senior leaders. Give these folks a listen, and enjoy.

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0:00:48.5 Camilla Arias: Hello, and welcome to Office Hours with EAB. My name is Camilla Arias, and I’m an analyst on EAB’s Adult Learner Recruitment team. One of my areas of focus in recent months has been on how staffing challenges are affecting higher education. Staffing issues are affecting nearly every sector of the economy, but we’ve been examining how this challenge has evolved in higher ed over the past few years, and in particular, the impact that these staffing challenges are having on the ability of graduate enrollment teams to fulfill their mission. With me to talk about this is my colleague, Pam Royall. Pam, would you tell us a bit about your background and your role at EAB?

0:01:26.1 Pam Royall: Thanks, Camilla. I’m so happy to be with you. I am Head of Research for EAB enrollment and marketing services. And I am in my 21st year in this post. Prior to my time at EAB, however, I was a university professor and I worked largely in colleges or schools of business, most having MBA programs and doctoral programs, and I served as a professor of marketing and a department chair for a six-year span. So I’m looking at a lot of these issues with two hats, that of a marketer and researcher working with hundreds of colleges and universities at EAB and my background from my years in the academy.

0:02:19.5 CA: So Pam, from your unique background, can you help us understand what led us to this current staffing predicament we’re seeing?

0:02:26.9 PR: Well, so much of it stems from the pandemic. And we’re gonna be talking about results from a series of surveys that we did with a partner focused on graduate enrollment management specifically. But it was spurred… The entire research agenda was spurred by the onset of COVID-19. And we all recall the early days of the pandemic, which led to many layoffs, the option for some of our colleagues to take early retirement, and both of these actions really resulted from cost-cutting measures that colleges and universities were making. And obviously, there were larger macro trends in play as well, generally shrinking workforce, an increase in demand for flexible work arrangements as people were responding differentially to COVID and the stressful work environments that people found themselves in as fewer staff were tasked to do more with fewer resources. And even in this context, presidents and provosts continued to set double-digit growth goals for graduate enrollments. And this is something we’ve seen for years as graduate programs have been called upon to make up for undergraduate enrollment declines, which really was happening a decade earlier. And in the past, graduate programs were able to do this, but they were operating under far less challenging conditions. So when we think about the resulting workload and stress that all contributed to this staffing shortage, more resignations, more early retirements, it was almost feeding on itself in a very problematic way.

0:04:32.6 CA: Yeah, as you mentioned, Pam, the graduate enrollment landscape is very challenging and unique right now. As a result, we decided… EAB recently partnered with NAGAP, the Association for graduate enrollment management, which is the membership organization supporting graduate enrollment professionals, to conduct surveys focused on the current work environment, recruitment tactics and other dimensions of graduate enrollment. And since our partnership has begun, we’ve surveyed more than 1800 graduate enrollment leaders. What was the primary purpose of those surveys? And what information were we hoping to glean that would be a value to university leaders?

0:05:08.8 PR: Well, the first thing I wanna say about that partnership is that it spans the past three enrollment cycles. And we’ve surveyed enrollment leaders on a variety of topics, as you suggested, but all were focused on the changing environment for enrollment management. The goal really was to provide a broader understanding of the climate and the context for graduate enrollment in terms of the overall landscape. We were hoping that we would let… Well, that it would be an opportunity for enrollment leaders to consider not only what they were doing and experiencing, but what their peers were experiencing as well, almost to give them support through the understanding that they were not, I’m gonna say suffering alone. Initially, the topics were focused on the effects of COVID-19, and we were also considering DEI initiatives, which were spurred by the social justice movement. We examined enrollment objectives and goal-setting, as well as key enrollment performance metrics in this more challenging environment. We also asked enrollment leaders about financial aid policies and practices, because there was so much in the media and certainly in our conversations with others in higher education that costs and perceptions of value of graduate education were really becoming a driving force.

0:06:45.5 PR: And as we’re discussing today, we explored challenges due to staffing shortages, remote and hybrid work environments and mental health concerns that were related to this heightened stress and declining job satisfaction. And importantly, we were able to track changes in perceptions and outcomes over the life of that research, that three-year research partnership, and examined some trends over time.

0:07:12.9 CA: If you don’t mind, let’s go ahead and start with the mental health of those working in graduate enrollment. Now, you might expect that stress levels would have eased somewhat after COVID vaccines became more widely available and people were able to return to some sense of workplace normalcy, but that assumption isn’t supported by the data, is it?

0:07:31.5 PR: That’s right, Camilla. Instead, and I’m gonna say, sadly, we saw increases in the number of respondents reporting high stress. From January of 2022 to September of 2022, we went from an already high percentage, 49%, indicating they had very or extremely high stress levels at work, to 54%, so the majority were reporting that they were very or extremely stressed at work. And during this time, goals remained high despite staffing challenges. And not surprising, not only was there increases in stress on the job, but also at home, many families were wrestling with how they were going to manage their work life and their family life, given the disruptions to higher education and secondary education. Mental health concerns were expressed by the respondents, mental health concerns for themselves, as well as for others, the students on campus, the staff that they were working with, and there was general job dissatisfaction that was driving increased job searching. And they were not just looking for jobs within higher ed, a significant number of respondents indicated that they were considering opportunities outside higher ed, because they saw the whole mechanism of higher ed to be threatened by these conditions.

0:09:12.1 CA: Yeah, Pam, in our surveys, one respondent said, “There are not enough people to do the work. How do we keep up without creating a workplace that drives our existing staff to seek other easier and more flexible jobs?” So in that vein, what should university leaders do differently to turn things around?

0:09:32.4 PR: It’s really… I hate to sound demoralized, but there is no question that turning things around is gonna be a challenge. And it’s not likely that things are going to return to a pre-pandemic state, most institutions will only be successful by doing things differently. One of the things that we could do differently is outsource some of our marketing functions. Now, that is something that costs money, but it is a movement of resources, it’s a transference of resources. And as most business people recognize, in a case where you’re working with a unit that’s going to generate revenue, you need to spend money to make money. So that leads to a second recommendation, and that is to make a strong case for additional budget, and that additional budget is what’s needed to allow enrollment managers to undertake new and different recruitment activities. Again, we can’t go back to pre-pandemic, we can’t continue to do things the way we used to do things. We have to think about new and different ways of recruiting students. And finally, I would suggest that we need to think about what we can do for staff members. To improve morale and to improve retention, we need to provide staff with other development opportunities, allow them some growth opportunities. And clearly, some of these will require additional investments as well.

0:11:23.3 CA: Pam, I think that’s such an important piece. Providing opportunities for your staff to grow, I think is so beneficial for them and for the institution as a whole. So let’s talk about growth goals for a minute. Every business and every industry is looking for revenue growth, and university leaders are certainly no exception. What is it about the goal-setting strategy or process in graduate enrollment that isn’t working?

0:11:47.4 PR: Well, the evidence we have is that growth targets often lack any analytical foundation. They are dream goals based on a gap that goal-setters see. And in many cases, they are not realistic, and as a consequence, many grad programs missed their growth goals in 2022. Many of the respondents in our surveys indicated that it was unrealistic goals that were contributing to workplace stress. And we all know that goal-setting is a challenge, but it is especially so in a changing or unsettled environment. In another EAB study where we surveyed senior most university leaders, we learn that 41% of them found setting realistic graduate enrollment goals to be the most difficult aspect of their operations. And goal-setting, unfortunately, is often done outside the unit that’s responsible for meeting goals. So, again, in our research, only 37% of our survey graduate leaders said that they had a good or a great amount of input on the goal-setting. So they were told what they needed to do rather than considered drawing on their information and expertise on what those goals should be. And it’s not surprising that we found respondents were more likely to achieve their goals when they had more input into setting goals.

0:13:35.5 CA: I think that’s such an important connection that we were able to glean from these survey results. What would you urge senior leaders to do in terms of adjusting their approach to goal-setting?

0:13:47.3 PR: Well, if we’re thinking about presidents and provosts, the first strategy is really to further invest in graduate programs. It’s gonna be the only way to realize graduate growth. It can’t be done under the current conditions. And those goals need to be smart. And what I mean by smart is they need to be informed by the reality of the environment. And in that environment, it has a lot to do with the behaviors and preferences of the prospects for the graduate market. So let’s say set set, that is informed and realistic enrollment goals. And finally, the point I made earlier, involve graduate enrollment professionals in goal-setting. They’re the closest to it, they’re the most knowledgeable about it, they are most likely to have their fingers on the pulse, and as a consequence, will be offering more realistic goals.

0:14:49.5 CA: Yeah, absolutely, Pam. I would love to know, just shift over and talk about these changing demographics that we’re seeing. So next year, millennials will account for 49% of adult learners, and Gen Z will account for 31%. However, by 2031, only 30% of adult learners will be millennials, while Gen Z will account for a full 60%. 80% of the prospect pool are stealth shoppers, they’re spending a ton of time, 4.1 hours on average online, and they are hyper-distracted. They’re seeing an average of 4000 brands each day. How good a job our school is doing in terms of understanding student preferences and adjusting their recruitment tactics?

0:15:34.1 PR: Clearly, those conditions that you just highlighted produce a challenging environment for recruitment. We know that both graduate and adult learners are becoming increasingly difficult to recruit. And because of that, it’s even more important now to monitor their behaviors and their preferences and to understand the changing demographics of the adult learner segment. And that’s why EAB conducts an annual survey of adult learners. I’m proud of our work that we do in that area. We know how important it is to have insight into key drivers of prospects’ enrollment decisions.

0:16:13.9 PR: In terms of recruitment tactics, almost half of graduate leaders responding to our survey indicated that they want or need to improve their email campaigns to better target prospective students. We know that email still dominates in both the undergraduate and the graduate space. It is the go-to communication mode or channel for students. And to do so, you are gonna need to focus your messages to better communicate the value of graduate education. And we’re doing much in our work at EAB to understand value perceptions. You also need to ensure that your email campaigns are both responsive and personalized. And not everybody does that well. There are real advantages to building an email campaign that speaks to what is important to the prospect. And however students contact you, you need to prioritize rapid follow-up with prospects. Enrollment leaders told us that they were following up with prospects in less than two days on average. And if your operation is not, it could be a competitive disadvantage for you.

0:17:36.6 CA: Pam, I know we’ve only just scratched the surface, but we are almost out of time. What additional advice would you share with graduate enrollment professionals or university leaders about how to get things moving in the right direction?

0:17:51.2 PR: Well, to the extent possible, I would encourage everyone to have a very candid conversation with your president, provost or dean. Whomever you’re reporting to, share data, data like what we’ve collected in our EAB surveys. It will help everyone on campus set goals based on relevant information and the current conditions. Setting realistic goals, as we’ve said will go a long way toward reducing stress and increasing job satisfaction, which is gonna be so important, as important as it was at the start of the pandemic, and perhaps even increasingly so as we try to manage the future yet to be determined. Take advantage of the resources that you have on campus to support your own mental health concerns, as well as mental health concerns of your staff. For some, continuing to offer flexible work schedules will be helpful. And for others, fully re-engaging on campus will be the most beneficial, being back in the community. And finally, consider ways by which you can reduce the stress of your day-to-day activities through collaborative engagements, perhaps with colleagues in different units on campus, and you can take full advantage of resources that are provided by organizations like NAGAP and EAB. Insights into the larger higher education landscape can provide guidance for your own activities, and importantly, provide a reality check for others on campus.

0:19:38.6 PR: So Camilla, one of the things I want to say before we end is that we have a great research brief coming out soon. It’s entitled From Stress to Success: Survey insights to Empower Graduate Enrollment Teams. And it takes a lot of what you and I have been talking about into a little bit more depth. We show nine key findings from the EAB and NAGAP surveys of graduate enrollment leaders, and each of these topics is treated a bit more in detail than what you and I had time for. And I would encourage everybody to read it when they had a chance. And it also would be a nice thing for you to share on campuses.

0:20:20.7 CA: As a data geek, I am so excited to be able to see those numbers laid out as well.

0:20:26.5 PR: Yeah, it’s a good report. And we look forward to sharing it with everyone.

0:20:31.3 CA: Pam, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me about the results we saw from these surveys and for the wonderful strategies that you highlighted today.

0:20:40.1 PR: It’s been fun, Camilla. Thanks for the opportunity.

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0:20:50.0 S1: Thank you for listening. Please join us next week when we examine the ways that a student’s racial or ethnic identity influences every step in their college journey, and whether that journey ends before it’s even started. Until next week, thank you for your time.

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