Opportunities to discuss criminal justice issues of current interest.

As a result of increased exposure and awareness of Real Talk series, there will be an increase in attendance at the event.

Our exit survey we will incorporate questions that poll experiences of our students with this program, including how many are taking advantage of the program and how they became aware of Real Talk.

At least 80% of students participating in the Real Talk series will indicate they “agree” or “strongly agree” that advertisement was adequate.

53.2% of students surveyed participated in the Real Talk Series.  Due to the newness of this program, students were asked to respond if they had participated in the Real Talk Series, but the survey did not explore the way students had been made aware of the Real Talk Series.  Additionally, this was the first time to survey the students about their participation so there was nothing to compare the attendance to from previous years.

 

In the Fall 2011 semester, students will be asked to comment on the effectiveness of advertisement for the Real Talk series on the exit survey.  Students will also be asked again about their participation and we will be able to report on whether there is an increase in student attendance.  Better advertising will be outlined this year at the beginning of the semester.  With our new web page look, Real Talk series is highlighted and more noticeable to students.  Faculty will be asked to encourage their students to attend and will be made aware of Real Talk dates so they can build into their syllabus.

The College will increase the variety of Academic Programs.

The College will explore programmatic and curriculum changes and opportunities. Existing undergraduate and graduate programs will be assessed to determine what, if any, curriculum additions, deletions, or modifications could be made to improve the programs.

Faculty committees will be formed to explore changes or modifications needed for the masters' degree in victim services.  

The Faculty Committee will provide a report to Academic Program Deans with findings from their curriculum assessments.

The ad hoc committee believes that it is feasible to offer this MS program online, but some important considerations must be made in order to do so, including a change in the course requirements and online offerings for the degree and increased faculty support through the hiring of one or more Ph.D. faculty. This can be non-tenure track faculty, but as it is a graduate degree, should be someone with a Ph.D. who has experience with both teaching and research.

The ad hoc committee will begin to work on curriculum changes to the MS In Victim Studies program in AY 2011-2012.

Opportunities for students to participate in professional events. s.

Increase the knowledge of students' interview skills.  Increase students’ knowledge of Career Services.

Increase the knowledge of students' interview skills.  Increase students’ knowledge of Career Services.

At least 80% of students attending the CJ Career Fair will indicate satisfaction with the event.

At least 80% of interviewing agency representatives will indicate satisfaction with the event.

86.69% of students surveyed stated the event was helpful.  Interviewing agencies gave the Career Fair a 4.68 rating out of a possible 5 stating students were well prepared and dressed professionally.   Both groups surveyed felt the Career Fair was beneficial and was a valuable resource.

For the 2012 Career Fair, we hope to continue the satisfaction level of our students and agencies attending by offering another pre-fair presentation to our students on setting up interviews and the interview process along with professional dress and habits when meeting potential employers.  We feel that this was instrumental in the success of the Career Fair.  This could also be expanded to include mock interviews, etc.

To promote criminal justice programs to potential students.

As a result of enhanced student recruiting efforts, there will be an increase in the number of undergraduate applicants from year-to-year.

Comparison of effectiveness of components: mailings, advertisements, events, email blasts, social media, and press releases. Online and phone inquiries will ask for source of interest from six areas.

At least one of the six components will result in 20% more inquiries than others by August 2011.

By utilizing e-mailings, online advertisements, events, magazine advertisements, news stories, and social media the college has made several efforts in improving its visibility to prospective students, as well as professionals, alumni, and academics in the criminal justice field.

Electronic Mailings: We emailed recruitment materials to over 22,000 alumni including doctoral student alumni, many of whom are working in the field or at undergraduate colleges, to inform their students of our academic programs and to maintain the connection with alumni.

Advertisements: We continue to build on the visibility of our graduate programs through advertisements in printed programs for the ACJS and ASC annual meetings. We have also placed a link on the Law Enforcement Management Institute if Texas website and arranged for an ad to be placed on the Correctional Management Institute of Texas website. Finally, we have initiated the purchase of radio ads in conjunction with DELTA for our online MS in Leadership and Management program. 

Events: We also held a Criminal Justice Job Fair, and an Undergraduate Conference, and Graduate Studies Open House as resources for current students.

Products: We carried out and completed a website redesign to enhance our online presence in conjunction with university branding initiative. With the implementation of our online degree re-launch we also created a new distance learning site for the online MS in Leadership and Management, Bachelors of Science, and particularly a new Master of Science in Criminal Justice Leadership and Management for Military Police program. We have produced a number of print products, including a new undergraduate fact sheet, a Master of Science in CJ leadership and Management brochure showcasing our new online program, and new fact sheets for all of our graduate degree programs in collaboration with the Office of Graduate Studies. Finally, we have hired a communications officer in October, who has written over 90 news stories. Some of these news stories were sent for press release and published in various news papers as well as by the university community.  Using social media with our news stories has increased the visibility of our facebook page, bring alumni and prospective students to one place for college information.

In addition the Criminal Justice Mandate an online alumni magazine was completely redesigned and launched. This in addition to our other efforts has made a drastic change in how we maintain the visibility of our college.

 

With an increase in recruiting efforts, enrollment will increase.

We will increase the number of recruitment efforts by 10% and the outcomes will increase by 10% as well.

During academic year 2010/2011 recruitment efforts were increased by 10%. The college's involvement with our training institutes has encouraged an involvement in recruiting at criminal justice related conferences. This year the college has had a presence at the American Correctional Association conference in San Antonio, TX and Washington, DC, Texas Jail Association, American Probation and Parole Association, and Criminal Justice Symposium at Univ. of Arkansas, thus increasing awareness of graduate programs dedicated to working professionals. The college participated in TACRAO recruitment activities in Houston as well as Dallas. These activities include visits to high schools and community colleges. Most importantly, these schools offer criminal justice courses, so there is direct contact with instructors as well as students who are directly interested in pursuing a career and education in criminal justice. The college has also taken over the sponsorship of the High School Criminal Justice Instructors Training (HSCJIT), as well as hosted forensic science training for high school teachers. These teacher-training programs in particular build a reputable relationship with high school criminal justice teachers.

We have also continued a growing effort with the Criminal Justice Center in presenting an overview of all academic program offered by the college.

 

The objective is to increase the number of undergraduate and graduate students. We have continued to actively meet this goal and objective through aggressive recruitment activities which we have increased recruitment activities by 10%. The college's participation in TACRAO recruitment activities in Houston and Dallas, including visits to high schools as well as community colleges, provides face-to-face interaction with prospective students and parents. Our participation in Saturdays @ Sam as well as Parent's Weekend, and an open house for the forensic science program has increased awareness. The success of the High School Criminal Justice Instructors Training (HSCJIT), as well as on- campus visits, continue to enhance enrollment. This training in particular continues to build a reputable relationship with high school criminal justice teachers. The college's involvement with our training institutes have encouraged an involvement in recruiting at criminal justice related conferences. This year the college has had a presence at the American Correctional Association conference, Texas Jail Association, American Probation and Parole Association, and Women in Criminal Justice thus increasing awareness of graduate programs dedicated to working professionals. The American Probation and Parole Association in particular were attended at both the state and national level thus enhancing the awareness for our new online programs for working professionals.  Recruitment efforts have remained a success by continuing our initiatives. We will continue to participate in high school and college nights as well as remain a venue for on-campus visitation.  We will also continue to be a bridge for those attending training programs wanting to continue their education.

 Ongoing Marketing Efforts

All of our planned mailings, advertisements, events, and products were carried out successfully. Our electronic mailings have been sent to thousands of contacts, with The Criminal Justice Mandate online alone reaching approximately 22,000 individuals. Our planned events were also a success.  Advertisements have been successfully placed in the conference programs for ACJS and ASC. Our online and print products have all achieved their intended goals to enhance our image and visibility.

 Marketing is an ongoing effort. In order to achieve and build upon our objective, we will carry out successful projects on a regular basis.