Recruiting amid Resource Constraints: Seven Tips

Most international enrollment professionals would agree: Rising costs and increased financial constraints have put the squeeze on international recruitment efforts. “Everything has gotten more expensive, but our budget has not increased based on inflation,” says Emily Grubbe, associate director of international enrollment for undergraduate programs at Duke Kunshan University.

But it isn’t only inflation that is putting pressure on international office budgets. Many institutions are also looking to these units to offset declines in revenue related to decreasing enrollment among domestic students. “Universities are constrained in the amount of revenue and fees they receive because of the demographic cliff,” says Balaji Krishnan, vice provost for international affairs at the University of Memphis

The pressure that many international offices face to meet recruitment goals can lead to additional resource constraints, such as those related to staffing. “We had a 41 percent increase in applications but [fewer] staff to process them,” says Grubbe.

International offices have been coming up with innovative ways to make their resources go as far as possible. Below, recruitment and enrollment professionals share the strategies they employ to support their initiatives and meet goals.

Look for Process Improvements

Stakeholders say that a great way to get started is taking a hard look at how things are currently done and identifying improvements that can free up time for staff to focus on other, more important efforts. One common focus is shortening the application review period, since a prompt admissions decision can increase the chance that an accepted student follows