Background

Lasell University, a longtime client of RHB, expanded recent engagements related to the implementation of Slate to aid the institution in executing senior search fully in-house. Our team hosted five Circles of Influence with the undergraduate students, complementing those sessions with several conversations with administrators, faculty and staff.

Challenge

Still fresh from the 2019 announcement of the shift from Lasell College to Lasell University, it was important for RHB to understand how the institution was living into its promise to help students advance to their own personal definition of greatness. It had been more than a decade since our last discovery work with Lasell, and we sought to identify what still rang true for the Lasell undergraduate experience, and how that story could be brought to life in meaningful ways to continue to attract best-fit students.

Solution

Lasell’s mission is to serve and transform students who were perhaps uninspired by their high school experiences–or who went to high schools that were under-resourced–into students whose capabilities exceed even their own expectations. As we learned during Circles, Lasell’s faculty and staff are truly devoted to their students academically, and cultivate a sense of social responsibility and citizenship that motivates students to be change agents for the rest of their lives. Being on campus gave us the opportunity to see how students are making those connections in the spaces where they happen. We got to feel the place-boundedness of their relationship to Lasell and gained insight into the elements of Lasell life that leave an indelible mark—one that has convinced several alumni to come back to Lasell as professionals seeking graduate degrees and certificates or as faculty. With innovative career preparation programs and a faculty and staff who are devoted to connecting the dots between academic coursework and hands-on application, this university boasts outcomes that see students taking paths they never would have dreamed of before college. Further, Lasell is intensely focused on creating and promoting equity. The institution views the creation of engaged citizens as one of the most important outcomes of its mission. One professor talked about “turning them into great citizens, not just great students.” The stories students told us indicated that the missional work and devotion of Lasell were positively impacting the student experience. One student told us, “Professors see you as a person and want you to succeed. [They show you by] how much they pay attention.” And in a reflection of the concept of giving students the opportunity to learn just how capable they are, one student said, “You are not alone. I was not very social in high school. I love talking to people and giving presentations. I developed my social skills.”

Results

Our analysis of Circles data guided us to reinforce for Lasell faculty, staff and administrators how important their work toward equity and engaged citizenship is. We also highlighted new ways to talk in marketing materials about how making connections between classroom learning, career preparation and community building enables the outcomes Lasell desires for its students and society. Lasell next came to RHB with a request to apply this important discovery to the development and deployment of marketing collateral spanning communication campaigns, applicant experience portals and a general strategy that provides a coherent brand experience for students engaged in senior search.

“Circles required our students to engage who they believed were difference makers during their time at Lasell, and RHB did a tremendous job of bringing together those stories and themes into the foundation of our search campaign,” said Chris Gray, associate vice president of enrollment management at Lasell. “The RHB team that lived and breathed the Lasell experience during their research truly looked under every rock to best tell our story. RHB did a great job of learning how the institution’s history runs through our students of today, and how we can attract new students through our story. In their words, they truly learned our DNA.” From Fall 2022 to Fall 2023, RHB helped Lasell University increase senior search campaign applications 215%, from 337 to 725, admits 219% from 290 to 636 and deposits 278%, from 27 to 75. If you’re interested in how Circles of Influence can help you coherently articulate your institutional truth and attract best-fit students, let’s have a conversation.