For many organizations, history is important. And so it is for The Enrollment Management Center, Inc. We have worked in the area of enrollment management since 1975 in one form or another. Throughout that period we have been dedicated to the success of students, our institutions, and the professionals in the field.
Beginnings
In 1975, an association developed between Stuart Weiner and the Ingersolls. Stuart was one of the very first to make an impact in the area of enrollment. He was the first to use extensive research to deal with enrollment, and our partnership lasted through many years as we worked from Chicago and Denver.
In 1979, the organization was called Weiner Ingersoll and Associates and this changed to The Ingersoll Group as we moved from Chicago to Denver. In this period we began to move from marketing as the way of dealing with enrollment to working with the total institution.
New Approaches
What we found, in the early years, was the fact that many schools would do very well while we were with them. After we finished, the enrollment results might decline because the total institution was not willing to become involved in enrollment work. The admissions office was the focus of the effort, and faculty and staff were most happy to leave it at that.
It was our feeling that there needed to be a more systematic approach to recruitment and retention success, and we searched for the “key” variables that impact enrollment. Over several years we evolved the matrix approach to enrollment, expanding and improving it each year. This has proven to be a very successful approach that a college or university has been able to use to institutionalize the approach to enrollment success.
Changes
In about 1984, Ingersoll Williams and Associates was created through our association with Tom Williams, one of our consultants who became the president of the firm. In these years we were involved in the development of software and increasingly used technology, research, and expert consulting to produce outstanding results for each school with which we worked.
In 1991, the Ingersolls sold the firm to Tom and became involved in working more directly with schools in assisting the president and others in improving all of the processes, and working to produce success for everyone. In the years from 1991 to 1996, we focused our thinking and work on issues of student success. This was the key factor for most students and parents and one that we have grown to take very seriously.
Back to the Our Mission
The Ingersolls moved back into consulting work in 1996 through The Enrollment Management Center, Inc. with a renewed dedication to student and institutional success and the application of the enrollment matrix to overall success in terms of recruitment and retention.
In the last eight years we believe we have taken the best of our work to fashion the three phases of enrollment success which are essential to institutional, recruitment, retention, and student success. The element that is most critical for success is knowledge management, a systematic approach that involves the whole institution, and a culture of success.
