Question

Topic: Strategy

Improving The Competency Of An Engineering College

Posted by Anonymous on 4/17/2013 at 5:57 AM ET 250 Points
Dear Sirs,

I am working on an opportunity where I could be responsible for improving the competency of an Engineering College. This could involve branding, improving the visibility, improving campus placement rate and thus help the college to preferred by prospect students and industry.

Can you offer me some guidelines here?

Thanks and regards,
Sunil
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Moriarty on 4/17/2013 at 6:27 AM Member
    Your focus needs to be on your customers. Finding out why the current students chose to study engineering with them will do as a very good start here - and some of the issues won't be about engineering at all. My point is to go and ask them. An open ended question like "why did you choose to study here" - and list their reasons. Some will be direct (= about engineering and the quality of teaching) others won'd (= close to home, easy to get to, good social life).

    Once you have that, you can phrase all the college's strengths in the terms that prospective students will identify with.

    After all, this isn't really about raising the visibility of your college to just anybody. It's about getting good students who will get a good qualification.

    Does this speak to you?
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 4/17/2013 at 6:35 AM Accepted
    The "competency" of any college may need to focus on the quality of the people doing the teaching. I think it's far less to do with branding, visibility, or placement rates than you might imagine.

    That said, your focus needs to be on the perceptions of the people applying to join this college, and on what vision of the place current students and faculty have. So you need to ask questions.

    You also need to speak with potential employers. What is it about a graduate from this college that attracts them? How can you THEN attract more of those kinds of potential graduates?





  • Posted by Moriarty on 4/17/2013 at 7:17 AM Member
    Thanks for getting back so quickly, Sunil.

    You need to improve the quality of the college - and you are doing this through marketing. Okay. That means targeting the right people to do your courses, because you can't improve anything else just yet. Once things start improving is the time when they can get better teachers in, and really get it snowballing.

    Now as to the questions I asked you to look into, this isn't an "either/or" it's both.

    I want you to ask them a general, open question that they feel easy and comfortable in answering. The reasons for them attending that school will be manifold, and the aspects you are interested are those I stated above. This will give you a general idea of the CHARACTER of the students who chose your school. This isn't just some questionnaire to tick: it takes a serious in-depth study. Anything less won't give you the answer, okay?

    Appealing through advertising to this character-type (call it a niche) will improve your advertising effectiveness **massively**.

    There are two other schools in the area. What advantages has your institution over them, be they ever so slight. In other words, how are you different? Why choose you and not them. Any aspect except money! This is about how students are motivated to choose you. That sort of motivation can move a lot of money.




  • Posted by Moriarty on 4/17/2013 at 8:37 AM Member
    Ouch! That really doesn't leave much room for you, does it?

    Do the students get any choice at all???

    I found this "Some states also permit private and self-financed institutions in the state to grant admission based on the AIEEE ranks to those coming from outside the state. For example, in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Orissa, 15% of the seats in all private and self-financed institutions are open AIEEE rank holders from other states. The same is true of UP and West Bengal where 10 % of the seats are open to AIEEE rank holders coming from outside the state." https://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-16/news/32268902_1_sea...

    Is this any help? I'm looking at what choices these students ACTUALLY HAVE. Because there might be a chance here? I'm really focussing on the students here as better students = better results. Better students being better matched to your institution - the ones that will gain most from you guys. The figures in that article say 10%; my point is that **do these guys get a choice**? In which case one or two in a class will bring up your statistics by more than their mere presence would indicate. It would also help decrease the failure (leaving) rate. It would be gradual, as a strategy it would work - assuming that these guys get to choose.

    This is from a marketing perspective. I am a trained teacher of Physics and Mathematics, and appreciate what it takes to teach complex concepts - that is beyond the scope of this forum. I'm thinking what the teachers themselves can do to improve performance.
  • Posted by telemoxie on 4/17/2013 at 1:20 PM Member
    I'm confused. Are you trying to increase the competency of the college, which would mean to me that you are attempting to increase the ability of the college to effectively educate people? Or, are you trying to improve people's perception of the competency of the college, in other words, you are trying to influence people so that they have increasing confidence that the college effectively educates people?
  • Posted by telemoxie on 4/17/2013 at 3:28 PM Member
    I would personally never take on a project where I was trying to convince a bunch of University professors that I knew more than them. If you try to do this, my prediction is that they will "give you enough rope to hang yourself".

    We all know that if we evaluate programs from a marketing perspective, we can help organizations improve their delivery of services. However, in my experience, it takes years to establish the credibility needed to make such recommendations and changes.

    If it were my project, I would begin by understanding how things currently work, and do the best possible job I could promoting the organization as it exists today.
  • Posted by Moriarty on 4/17/2013 at 3:31 PM Member
    Just a quick question, and it relates to my previous comment. How much choice does the STUDENT have in choosing their college? From the quoted article there seems a modest amount of choice.

    Because my strategy is to find the students best fitted to the education you have. That way they'll improve their output - that is to say, better qualified engineers. As that improves, so will their ranking and the whole will begin to move upwards. Then they get better students allotted as well as better ones choosing you.

    This positive-feedback (as the electronics engineers say) will slowly get you out of your corner.

    What's more the morale of your teaching staff will improve and that'll help too.

    Over to you.
  • Posted by Moriarty on 4/18/2013 at 2:39 AM Accepted
    I fully accept that you can't suggest changes to the college. It's the same for me. However the insights you have from other businesses may well be valid as examples for them. You act as an advisor, and they are paying you to advise. They should consider that advice as a valid argument.

    Now you have a problem: how do you target the director of a company? You'll find that you are always talking to their secretary, and eventually they'll somehow not be available right now. This is your problem, and one that you need only give the bare details of because using Google's display network isn't something that many marketers understand, let alone college directors. The point is to get these businessmen curious about what's good about your college. This will take time, it will bring results. You need to be subtle and you need some stealth - they have a pre-conception about your college that isn't entirely true. Google's display network is great at changing how people view you. So don't go using flashy ads that show a college that to those who've heard of it think "oh, that rotten place" - do something that gets them to think "I wonder where that is" - they click through and see your college. That's when they think "I didn't know they did that there, that's exactly the kind of engineer we need" (or somesuch).

    Are you following me?

    You can do the same with students - social media, and the display network are fantastic for this. They get three choices - that's what I wanted to know. Get them to make you one of their choices, the second choice would be the best. Many want to go to what they perceive as a "good" university and yet would actually be far better off learning from you guys.

    To do this you need to implement the things I mentioned earlier - why a student chose you, and don't just go for the obvious things. The display network relies on its subtlety. It is a long-term strategy just as with the businessmen, you will get results if you do enough split-testing of ideas. That is to say, you have spoken to them BEFORE they even take their exam. That you have shown interest in them will mean that their attitude to the exam will be different - they'll think "I would like to go to that college - for one thing, it's out of town!"

    This two-pronged strategy should please the directors. At least you have something you can use with them that will bring results. I know it's what I said before, only comment boxes are very small and are limited to words.

  • Posted on 4/21/2013 at 5:07 PM Member
    Sunil,
    Bring in an edge other than the knowledge being accquired from the academics, try to focus on elements which could elevate the skills of students in diverse and not be limites to a specific parameters...

    Few things which I could suggest you with
    1.Bring some guest lectures/Scientists/entrepreneurs/NGOs let sudent have a debate with them to explore the things which are required for the future world.

    2.Internship- Provide internship oppurtunities to students right from 1st year (coulbe just for a month) this helps them to gradually understand the market also many the work from these interns would be helpful to many budding companies which might help you later in comping up for placement requirememnt.

    3.Bring Students From other states :Try to source students from other states by provoding special allowances to them such as discount in hostel charges etc,Benefits behind them are students get to expose to different cultures and network which might be helpful for them to compete in the corporate world as the jobs placements are usually not given in hometown also would add an added glamor to the college ambience.

    Would share few more if you like the ones mentioned..

    Charan
  • Posted on 4/22/2013 at 10:59 AM Member
    Sunil,
    Yes the third point mentioned is a stratey which deemed university work upon,try to focus on it chalk out some schemes and advertising methods and send in some executives across and see they bring in students from all over the country.

    Coming to few more strategies are
    4.I myself have gone through engineering phase i had to choose a college in management quota, to be frank the only thing which i looked for at that moment was how the sports equipment in college and the canteen and convinced over the one which had got good playgrounds and canteen facilities, thus basing on this perception try to focus to bring in some sports equipment and introduce some indoor games for girls too not just cricket for boys and chess for girls, go for some out of the box like indoor badminton stadium,tennis & Indoor games like Foosball,table tenis so on..
    Bring in some good franchise food vendors like cafeday,frankies,icecream parlors and others to set up a stall in your canteen by offering them some benifits.
    This make a world class statement that our college is not just with some blocks with library and a room called canteen in a corner.
  • Posted on 4/22/2013 at 11:02 AM Member
    hope the query closed, any help mail me to charan.sunny@gmail.com for more suggestions.
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