Even as the bad boys of Saluki basketball slam-dunked our University's true nature into the American arena, the national media did not even flinch when linking this Carnegie Research Institution with its romper-room image.
The sour perception created by Halloween beer guzzling still has SIU administrators scrambling back to the locker room to plan an attack on our undeserving party-school identity.
In 1999, then-interim Chancellor John Jackson formed an image task force and hired a nationally renowned firm, Noel Levitz, for $300,000 to study recruitment and retention.
Despite putting some of the company's theories into practice, last fall's enrollment dropped by 954 students. It may be too early in the season to judge how implemented suggestions such as telecounseling and same-interest dorm rooms will affect the University in the long run.
In these tough financial times, President James Walker is planning to hire another marketing firm to "tell the real story of SIU."
Yes, the real story sorely needs to be told. This University obviously has a serious identity problem and cannot seem to let any of our positive points stick to the national scoreboard.
SIU was mysteriously missing from the half-time round of commercials glorifying other Universities during the NCAA tournament. That John A. Logan, the junior college down the road, has more aggressive television and radio campaigns than SIU demonstrates our complete lack of market showmanship. We applaud Walker's efforts to dribble past this image problem. But $300,000 is no longer chump change for SIU's red-shirted budget.
SIU does need to develop a strong offense on this one.
If the Board of Trustees approves Chancellor Walter Wendler's proposed 18 percent tuition hike, we better let people know why this University is worth the ticket price.
An on-campus marketing division, if implemented intelligently, is a long-term solution that will keep current students in our bleachers while attracting new ones to our educational playing field. Most public universities have a marketing office. Some private schools devote as much as 3 percent of their budget to marketing. The costs are tremendous but are offset easily by new-student tuition as enrollment increases.
To score a new department, however small, requires a chunk of the yearly budget. The administration needs to honor its promise to trim the bloated bureaucracy and make room for this necessary addition. Then the University should hire a marketing director who could coach student workers in the development of campaigns and strategy.
Students would play various positions, gaining real-life experience in many fields, including advertising, radio-television, public affairs, business, art and design. This would help to shape the "workship" that the chancellor has been promoting.
Students could also be employed in the initial stages of creating the department. They could conduct phone interviews to discover how other universities' marketing divisions are handled. They could also contact distinguished alumni still high on Saluki spirit who are looking to support the home team. By doing our own legwork, we'll eventually make it to the big dance.
The proof of this game plan's success already exists at SIU within various department levels. The College of Mass Communication and Media Arts utilizes students in this capacity and has had tremendously positive results. While SIU enrollment is down, MCMA continues to grow in student numbers and reputation.
A marketing division and national ad campaigns do not come cheap - even from a student team. This is one of many reasons that the University should more aggressively pursue private donors and lobby harder for federal dollars. But the administration also needs to learn how to use the talent in its own court.
We can win this image game using our skillful student lineup, not by shooting administrative air balls.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
