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Institutional Audits and Program Reviews |
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Aslanian Group offers two options for colleges to consider in commissioning an audit/institutional review of programs and practices regarding adult students. The Basic Audit and the Extended Audit are described below.
Basic Audit
An in-depth examination of your college's current practices and policies helps set a solid foundation for the direction you take in the future. Aslanian Group staff and selected program associates visit your campus to assess the policies and practices relevant to attracting and serving adult students. Aslanian Group carefully selects experts and practitioners to accompany its own staff, ensuring that the best talent available matches your needs. Audits may focus on your college's recruitment and marketing strategies, advertising materials and products, tracking and follow-up of prospective students, admissions and enrollment procedures, college-wide administrative structure for serving adult students, and/or any other policies or practices you nominate. The basic audit or review can take less than six weeks, from an initial planning discussion with college staff to the submission of the final report.
Focus of the Audit
Colleges may want our staff to examine some or all of these areas on campus as well as others you suggest:
- Recruitment and marketing strategies
- Advertising materials and products
- Tracking and follow-up of prospective students
- Admissions and enrollment procedures
- Courses, degree programs, schedules, and services matched to adult needs
- Alliances with community organizations
- Contractual arrangements with area employers
- College-wide administrative structure for serving adult students
- Staffing and professional development needs
During an Aslanian Group visit, we can also assess your competition as well as the views of faculty and staff regarding the enrollment of adult students at your college.
Focus of a Program Review
Some colleges want an independent, third-party review of specific efforts, such as:
- Accelerated or fast-track programs
- Distance education programming and marketing
- Weekend schedules
- Special projects supported through external funding - foundations, government agencies, etc.
- Partnerships with other institutions or consortia-based activities
- Off-campus locations
Scope of Work
A typical audit or review requires:
- Aslanian Group's collaboration with your college to shape a set of activities that address the college's needs within an appropriate budget and timetable.
- A two- or three-day campus visit.
- Compilation of relevant existing materials/documents by your college in advance for review by the Aslanian Group staff.
- An agenda of individual and group meetings for the visit, including contact with key administrators, faculty, staff, and community representatives as necessary.
- An exit interview for Aslanian Group staff to report on its observations and initial views, followed by a written report of specific findings and action recommendations.
Extended Audit
The Aslanian Group has recently announced an expanded institutional assessment program for colleges that are committed to taking their adult student recruitment and retention strategies to the next highest level.
Focus of the Extended Audit
The Institutional Assessment Program is a one-year service which will:
- Review your institution's marketing strategies, academic programs, services, organizational structures and relationships
- Assess your institution's current strengths and weaknesses in attracting, serving and retaining adult students
- Provide your institution specific and measurable recommendations that can be implemented within an eight- month period by your institution to increase your enrollment of adult students
- Guide and assist your institution throughout the eight- month implementation period to insure successful implementation of the agreed-upon recommendations
Scope of Work
- An advance review of your institution's programs and services for adult students, marketing strategies, and other selected aspects of your operations.
- A review of institutional information/data collected to date about prospective and current adult student satisfaction, outcomes from related research, and college records and databases as they apply to adult students. (If not available, we may recommend the administration of additional data collection activities using Aslanian Group assessment instruments.)
- An initial on-site visit to your institution and engage in an extended dialogue with your faculty, students, staff and administrators followed by other visits as necessary, supplemented by ongoing electronic and print communication.
- A written report and analysis of our findings and present a prioritized list of recommendations, with timetable, that can be implemented with your institution over an eight-month time period.
- The Aslanian Group will assign a "project manager" who will work closely with you institutional team to ensure the successful implementation of the recommendations within the agreed-upon timetable.
- Two additional written reports will be provided for you during the implementation period. The first will be a four-month progress report and the second will be a final eight-month report which will be presented in-person with a visit to your institution.
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