Program Leader Handbook - International Education and ...

Appalachian Overseas Education Programs Program Leader Handbook
E. MARKETING AND RECRUITMENT
After you have determined the type of program you will lead and developed a payment schedule in consultation with OIED,
the next step in the administrative process is recruiting students. The responsibility for marketing the program falls mainly on
you, the program leader, but OIED does contribute to marketing in a number of ways. To get you started on your marketing
and recruitment efforts, we have listed below a few basic ideas and venues to keep in mind:
1. Appalachian Overseas Education Programs (AOEP) Brochure
Every year, OIED publishes a general program flyer for AOEPs which is distributed to all 14,000+ Appalachian student mailboxes
in early November. You have already included on your program proposal form a short program description to be published
in this brochure.
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2. Annual International Fair
The International Education and Development Fair is held mid-November at the Student Union. You will be invited by OIED
to promote your program at this widely publicized campus event as it is a key source of publicity for all AOEPs. This event
will provide you with a great opportunity to finalize all your promotional materials (displays, artifacts, slideshows, brochures,
etc.). You may want to invite former program participants to join you at the Fair to promote your program. OIED will provide
your table with a student sign-up sheet to help you gather contact information from prospective students.
3. Classroom Visits
Visiting classes is, in our experience, one of the most effective ways of informing students about your program. Ask your colleagues
if you can visit for five minutes at the beginning or end of their class to inform students about your program. Visit
classes that would be natural feeders to your program. For example, if your program course offers FRE 1050 credit, talk with
the students currently enrolled in the FRE 1040 course. It may be helpful to circulate a “sign-up sheet” for interested students
to write down their contact information so that you can start building a database of prospective students to communicate with.
4. Advertisements, Flyers, and Announcements
Please keep in mind that all promotional materials are legally binding documents. Make sure that there is some sort of visual
continuity between all flyers and ads, and that you always refer to the program by the same title. Target advertisements and
flyers to specific groups likely to be interested in your program, i.e., departmental newsletters for a program that satisfies a
major or minor requirement, student organizations which have a tie to the course content, on-campus cultural or academic
events related to the geographic area or content of your program. For example, you may want to consider hosting/presenting
your program at one of the weekly International Coffee Hours with former program participants (please contact Diana Salazar
OIED at salazardr@appstate.edu for more information on this campus weekly event).
Flyers should mention key points of interest including availability of scholarships, academic credit, and geographic location.
Catchy slogans (i.e., “Why study here [map of NC] when you can study here [map of location of your program]?”) can be effective.
You may want to invite students to learn about the study abroad scholarships of up to $1500 available on the OIED
website at http://www.international.appstate.edu/education/scholarships.
Even if your program is targeted at a particular field of study, it will likely be important to recruit students from outside the
field to reach your minimum enrollment. Stress in your publicity materials the other degree requirements (humanities electives,
language proficiency, etc.) that courses on your program may fulfill. In our experience, students will not apply for a program
if they do not know course options. Keep a running list of student names and e-mail addresses, and follow up with students
who have expressed interest in your program.
Including your email address on advertising materials will encourage prospective students to contact you electronically and
help you build a contact list of potential applicants. You may also want to include the AOEP webpage address so that students
know where to access the online application form for your program once they have made the decision to apply. You may want
to mention on promotional materials that “Students will not be officially enrolled in [your program] until they bring their
deposit payment by check or cash to OIED right after they have submitted their online application” .The AOEP website
address is: http://www.international.appstate.edu/education/aoep.
Revision Date 5/8/13
507_AOEP_LeaderHandbook