How to Approach Your Faculty to Look at Retention: Delivering on Recruitment Promises

This conference session underscores the critical importance of fulfilling promises made to prospective graduate students during recruitment and admissions. Presenters will examine how decentralized graduate enrollment management (GEM) models and interdependent relationships between graduate admissions staff, faculty, and support staff—including academic advising, financial aid, the registrar, and the bursar—are vital in ensuring alignment across academic policies, course availability, program details, and student success resources. The session will offer strategies for fostering collaboration among these key stakeholders, emphasizing how their combined efforts can lead to a more seamless and transparent experience for students. Attendees will learn to develop robust processes and timelines for regularly reviewing and updating information to ensure clarity and accuracy. Additionally, the session will cover techniques for aligning departmental practices with overarching institutional policies, ensuring that all communications genuinely reflect institutional practices and student experiences. By prioritizing integrity in graduate student recruitment and retention, this session aims to enhance student satisfaction, elevate program reputation, and cultivate a more ethical and effective graduate education environment. Participants will leave with a versatile guide and practical tools to implement these strategies within their own institutional contexts, fostering collaboration and consistency across all departments.