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CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Beginning in the 1890s higher education experienced significant enrollment gains

over the next eighty-five years. During this period admission offices did not see a need to

be aware of what happened to the student once the admission process was completed.

After the student enrolled, they felt that their job was finished. There was no need to

concern themselves with academic and career advising, retention and student services.

During a scarcity however, competitors within a market respond with unique ways to

maintain viability. Such was the case in higher education in the 80s and 90s according to

Garlene Penn (1999). During these decades, higher education saw a decline in the

number of students graduating from high school who were eligible and interested in

attending postsecondary education. Also during this time fraud and lack of accountability

eroded the public trust in all types of institutions of higher education. Legislators listened

to their constituents and responded by calling for greater accountability, creating

performance based funding and mandating statistics reporting (Hartle 1994). Institutions

of higher education responded by developing the organizational concept of enrollment

management.

Enrollment management is the process of defining enrollment goals and

establishing procedures to reach these goals, thereby providing an institution with the

mechanisms to control its size, shape and characters (Kemerer, 1985). And the structural

frame refers to organizational structure, processes and policies, the skeleton upon which
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the enrollment management enterprise is built. The shape of an enrollment organization’s

skeletal framework often determines, or at least influences, the organization’s method of

operation. Enrollment strategies, student service delivery, staffing patterns and even the

culture itself are among the many facets of the operation affected by the structural frame.

In addition, it is claimed by Deming(1986), that eighty percent of all customer

dissatisfaction is caused by faulty structural systems, not employee behavior. Therefore,

if it said that if Deming is correct the officials of any schools or universities should

devote their time in the improvement of structural systems. It has four primary goals: to

define the institution's nature and characteristics, and market the institution appropriately;

to incorporate all relevant campus constituencies into marketing plans and activities; to

make strategic decisions about the role and amount of financial aid for students and the

institution; and to make appropriate commitments of human, fiscal, and technical

resources to enrollment management (Dixon 1995, p. 7). In addition, computerized

databases for recruitment and application, and telecounseling have provided tools

enabling more efficient management of huge amounts of data about students (Bryant and

Crockett 1993; Krotsen 1993).

Why develop tools for enrollment management at Rizal Technological

University? State universities like RTU continue to experience significant change

precipated by a number of internal and external factors, among them are constant

turnover in administration, government regulations and public’s perception of higher

education’s value to society. And according to (Kemerer, 1985) within the past two

decades, two important situations have had significant impact on the business of higher

education, first the decline number of young people graduating from high school who
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were eligible to attend a college or university. This decline was caused by the increased

competition among institutions for eligible potential students, after years of soaring

enrollment with huge investments in physical plants to accommodate the new students,

the number of people eligible and interested in attending college started a steep decline.

The second circumstance was the general public’s low trust in all types of public

institution (Hartle, 1994) precipated by a series of highly publicized events. Legislators

responded by introducing legislation, calling for greater accountability, implementing

performance-based funding and mandating reports of specific statistical measures.

Since RTU is experiencing tightness with its expenditures for the operation of the

school yearly, the researcher would like to know what impact does a successful

enrollment management program can be brought to RTU? Numerous surveys and studies

over the course of 15 years show the impact of enrollment management systems on

colleges and universities. Enrollment management programs vary widely in the way the

concept is practiced, but the basic need to manage college enrollment from the point of

initial contact through graduation has become increasingly apparent. Declining

enrollments are second only to declining appropriations as the reason for colleges' and

universities' financial problems. And enrollment management is an important factor in

assisting institutions attains stated goals and remains financially viable.

Specifically, since most of universities are experiencing problems with the decline

of enrollees, the researcher wants to examine the effect of an enrollment management

program to the different categories in the Rizal Technological University.

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Conceptual Framework of the Study

This study will focus on the rationale that during the admission of a student was

completed mostly of the admission offices did not see a need to be aware of what should

happened next. After the student enrolled, everybody felt that their job was done. Nobody

was concerned with academic and career advising, retention and student services.

Research Paradigm

To better understand the enrollment management program delivering institutional

goals, accountability and fiscal responsibility figure below depicts the research paradigm

of this study.

INDEPENDENT
DEPENDENT

Rizal Technological
Institutional
University’sGoals
Enrollment
Accountability
Management Program
Fiscal Responsibility
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Figure 1: A Conceptual Framework on the Enrollment Management Program for Rizal Technological

University: Delivering Institutional Goals, Accountability, Fiscal Responsibility

As shown in the figure, the variable on the left side which act as independent

variable which is the University’s Enrollment Management Program delivery of this

variable in the said University will determine its extent effect on the following:

institutional goals, accountability and fiscal responsibility, these items will served as the

framework dependent variables.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of RTU Enrollment

Management Program on delivering institutional goals, accountability and fiscal

responsibility.

Specifically, it will seek to answer the following questions:

1. What are the factors that influence enrollment patterns at the Rizal

Technological University?

2. What is the level of performance of enrollment management program

implemented at Rizal Technological University in terms of?

3. What is the level of the performance of RTU in terms of:

a. Delivering Institutional goals

b. Accountability
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c. Fiscal Responsibility

4. Is there a significant relationship between the performance of RTU enrollment

management program and RTU performance in delivering institutional goals,

accountability and fiscal responsibility?

5. What are the implications of an enrollment management program fitted to

Rizal Technological University on its delivery of institutional goals,

accountability and fiscal responsibility?

6. What are the recommendations that will better shape the enrollment of Rizal

Technological University?

Hypothesis

1. There is no significant relationship between the performance of RTU

enrollment management program and RTU performance in delivering

institutional goals, accountability and fiscal responsibility

Significance of Study

In this study, the findings will be a great help to the following:

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Administrators. Results of the study may be used to review college image, the

establishment of goals for enrollment. It may also be used to form marketing services

which may represent a systematic effort to identify, display and match college strengths

and attributes with the needs, interests and abilities of all the students.

Guidance and Counseling Center. Through this study, this department could

form an enrollment services which may track potential students until their registration

and include admissions, financial aid services and registration.

Deans and Department Heads. They will consider this study in design a plan on

retention services which will focus on preventing students from dropping out.

Research Department. They will now be involved on summarizing the annual

enrollment management activities that will generate data to be used in the yearly

adjustment of marketing, enrollment and retention activities.

Students. The study may be utilized to design a better student services that will

guide them from their admission upto their academic and career path.

Researchers. The conclusions and recommendations that will be delivered and

proposed in this study may serve as guide post as an effective reference in conducting

research along this line.

Scope and Delimitation

This study will be limited to the enrollment management program implemented at

the Rizal Technological University. The respondents will be the faculty, administrator
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and students of the Rizal Technological University for the school year 2010 – 2011. Only

Boni Campus will be used for the respondents since the program implemented in the

Boni Campus is the same with what is implemented in the Pasig Campus.

The study will sought to find out the effect of an enrollment management program

of the Rizal Technological University in delivering its institutional goals, accountability

and responsibility.

Correlational analysis of the descriptive method will be used since the study will

determine the association between the said two variables.

Definition of Terms

The following are operational definitions of the terms as they will be used in this

study.

Accountability – It is the individual or departmental responsibility to perform a

certain function. Accountability may be dictated or implied by law, regulation, or

agreement.

Enrollment – It is the act or process of enrolling.

Enrollment Management – Is a term used frequently in higher education to

describe well-planned strategies and tactics to shape the enrollment of an institution and

meet established goals. Enrollment management is the coordination of the functions that

directly affect the recruitment, admission, financial decisions, and retention of the

students the school most wants to serve.

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Enrollment Management Program – It enables a college or university to meet

its mission better than could ever be imagined. EM recruits students for success, links

them to faculty and other mentors, and helps them become college graduates and lifelong

achievers. It also assesses the policies and practices that impact all areas of recruitment

and retention, anticipates changes that are likely to affect, and/or occur in, higher

education, and persuasively articulates to the campus community the need for change

within the institution.