SIU Carbondale will go back to the drawing board when it comes to marketing, recruitment, and retention, as school trustees voted against an extension of a contract with a Chicago firm.
The unanimous vote was against a one-point-four million dollar extension of a contract with Lipman Hearne, which has worked with the university for several years on re-branding and recruitment.
Chancellor Rita Cheng says Lipman Hearne has done a lot of good work in turning the overall enrollment and image of the university around in the minds of prospective students and parents:
“We were in a mess, and the declining enrollment on the campus reflected that we were not recruiting the way we should, we were not approaching students the way we should, we were not communicating the value of a degree at SIU Carbondale. It’s taken time to turn that around.”
But several trustees, who voiced their displeasure with the results a year ago, were not impressed with their return on investment. Trustee Don Lowery says he was disappointed from the get-go.
“I haven’t seen anything that seems to be effective. I haven’t seen anything that seems to influence students to come. For no doubt, I have never voted for this contract, and don’t intend to today.”
SIU President Randy Dunn says much of the marketing and recruitment will now have to be done in-house, or perhaps through other vendors if necessary. He says he has full confidence campus offices can take on the challenge.
