Marketing: a community college success story

College Student Journal, March, 2003 by Carl Sefl, Joel C. Snell

5. WALL STREET JOURNAL, BUSINESS WEEK, US NEWS & WORLD REPORT, COMMUNITY COLLEGE WEEK and other periodicals have made accolades about the college. Numerous editorials from the local CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE have been favorable to the school. The NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF BUSINESS recognized the school as the "college of the year.

Conclusion

Enrollments and related may increase with a centralization of marketing authority, well-researched advertising, marketing outreach plan and a supportive institution. Although decentralization has become a mantra for some business enterprises, in this instance, we believe that the reverse is true.

All other "successes" in a school may be related, coterminous, tangential or spurious. We suggest that each make their own judgments.

To some in academia, "marketing" is almost derision. The student as a 11 customer" falls into a similar negative stereotype. Yet, we suggest that what appears to be efficacious is a proactive outreach in terms of encouraging individuals to benefit from education and training. Life long learning is now a reality for many and is no longer an issue for the "few."

Parenthetically, "success" is a relative term. "Only" 7% of the households in the school's region are credit students in our post-secondary institution. We assume that this will grow and that the college will continue to aggressively reach out to area residents.

For more information, contact Mr. Carl Sefl at 319-378-1381

CARL SEFL
R.O.I. Marketing

JOEL C. SNELL, PROFESSOR EMERITUS
Social Sciences
Kikwood Community College