New EMG Partnerships, Platforms Help Expedite Application Process

New initiatives recently implemented by the Enrollment Management Group have helped to make it easier for prospective students to complete an application to Duquesne.

Duquesne is now accepting self-reported grades and test scores in the undergraduate application process. Prospective students can accelerate their application review by submitting their records to the University via a Self-Reported Academic Record or Scoir College Network.

Unlike transcripts, the Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR) can be exactly matched to an application, reducing time to complete the application file so it can be reviewed. A faster review process leads to a faster admission decision—and to learning about scholarship details—for the applicant.

Students who have an account can send their information to Duquesne through Scoir, which is a college-research, application-support online platform for students and families. Many high schools offer Scoir. Application-related documents such as transcripts and recommendations can be managed, sent and tracked using Scoir.

“We continually look for innovative ways to enhance access to and streamline the application process for our prospective students,” said Joel Bauman, senior vice president for enrollment management. “It aligns with our strategic plan. And these cutting-edge partnerships with innovative companies, combined with our recruitment efforts, support our efforts to expand national awareness of Duquesne.”

Enrollment Management’s partnerships with SRAR and Scoir began this semester and already have been leveraged to support enrollment for the 2021 freshman class.

“We found that nearly 4,800 of our fall 2021 applicants had already completed an SRAR and were able to import those into our database,” Bauman said. “This initiative has enabled us to complete about 10% of our existing incomplete applicant pool. Moving forward, it also will help us to get in front of more applicants to some of our top competitors, including tens of thousands of Penn State University and Pitt applicants—our largest overlap competitors for First Time in College (FTIC) students.”

Transfer students will be able to use the system pending internal updates to Duquesne’s Banner system.

Partnership benefits with startup Scoir—a state-of-the-art technology firm and admission network connecting students, families, high schools and colleges—includes new dashboards, insights, a fully customizable school profile and new opportunities to find prospects and gain applicants at individual high schools.

“We were able to reach accepted students with a Scoir account by sending a message to them via that platform, enabling another innovative way to communicate, along with our comprehensive plan that includes direct mail, emails, texts and phone calls,” Bauman said.

Since June 2020, the Enrollment Management Group has used the Conduit PlatformQ virtual event tool for many events for prospective and accepted undergraduate and graduate students. More than 1,200 students participated. The Office of Freshman Development also used the tool for the Freshman Advisement Summer Transition (FAST) program in July 2020.

Duquesne received the Conduit Engagement Excellence Award for the recent PlatformQ Accepted Student Days event, a three-day event hosted by the University in April.

“The award recognized segmented content, just-right timing and student-to-student engagement,” said Anthony Cappa, director of enrollment management. “Duquesne’s use of PlatformQ led to more than 80% of students either participating in multiple sessions or returning for multiple nights of programming and 25% joining our face-to-face sessions between or after the content hosted on Conduit.”

EMG continues to offer virtual and in-person events as local and state pandemic guidelines decrease.

“Innovative tools are an important part of our recruitment efforts,” Bauman said. “We’ll share more details about additional tools and resources as they become available. It really is time for bigger goals!”