Connecting Outreach with Recruitment

By Susan McCahan, Chair of First Year

A student’s experience at the University of Toronto begins with the first contact they have with the University and its staff. Out of that first experience, the prospective student develops a set of beliefs about the university and what it represents. This makes outreach initiatives important from many different perspectives, but strictly from a recruitment point of view, it is important as a means of shaping that set of beliefs that are formed during their first experience with us. It is all about first impressions. 

Think about the ways in which your interaction with a product or organization shapes your beliefs about them: What comes to mind when you think about your experience with Canada Post, Starbucks, Apple (iPod), and Microsoft? Although all of these organizations recognize the importance of providing a good experience for the people they serve, probably not all of them have been able to create a first interaction with you that leaves you feeling highly positive toward the organization and its mission. And yet we know that in terms of your beliefs this first interaction will often trump future experiences you have with the organization. When you choose what product to buy or whose services to use, the choice is often more about the interaction you expect to have, and your perception of the organization’s personality, than the product or service itself. 

A well designed outreach program manages the prospective student’s first experience with us, creating a sense of excitement and opportunity. The experience sets that impression and helps to develop a positive understanding of the Faculty’s mission. The type of student we want to attract begins to see how their values and needs align with what we value and who we are. 

All of this translates into a lasting impression of our Faculty as a place where excellent students are nurtured and appreciated, which has a huge impact. The prospective student will go on to research our programs, and those of competing institutions, and to rationalize choosing our program, the student needs to know that we have high quality undergraduate programs.  But when it comes down to it, the choice of where to go to university is often no more rational than the choice of where to buy your cup of coffee or what car you choose to drive.

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