Overall aim and strategy
How do we attract the right student to the right programme with the right conditions and expectations to succeed?
Having a high number of first-choice applicants is just the start of that work. The overall aim of Uppsala University's student recruitment is to help prospective students become successful alumni, with the meaning of success being defined by each individual student.
The Student Recruitment Unit at the Communications Division therefore works to:
- continuously build and strengthen the image of Uppsala University as 'Hela Sveriges universitet'.
- help managers understand and define their challenges in attracting the ‘right’ students,
- propose measures based on the challenges and conditions that exist,
- prioritise and implement the right recruitment activities based on available resources.
The process
Student recruitment is a process based on the prospective student's decision-making process. Our job is to do activities at each stage that help and motivate the prospective student to make an informed decision to continue forward in the process. It is therefore a matter of both inspiring and managing expectations. Below is an overview of the process and the goal of each phase.
Impulse
Goal: Uppsala University should be ‘top of mind’ when a prospective student starts thinking about studies.
Recognisability
Goal: Anyone looking for a training programme that we offer will find it.
Evaluation
Goal: The prospective student should be able to determine whether the programme leads to the desired future career.
Prioritisation
Goal: The prospective student should be able to decide which programme is the first choice based on the content of the programme, student life, cost, career opportunities, etc.
Registration
Goal: Correct enrolment in the ‘right’ training programme.
Admission
Goal: The admitted student should do the right thing after the admission notice is published (accept, pay tuition fees, etc.) and be introduced in a social context with other new and existing students.
Arrival
Goal: Be well prepared for arrival.
Message platform
Uppsala University is arguably the strongest stronghold of academic life in Sweden. On the surface, therefore, it can seem daunting to a prospective student. It's easy to get the idea that only a certain kind of student, with strong academic roots, studies here.
The truth is, however, that at Uppsala University people from all over the world, from all backgrounds and with all kinds of dreams for the future and all kinds of circumstances study. Their different perspectives on life enrich our programmes and give them the opportunity to grow as individuals.
Solving the major global and local problems facing the world also requires a wide range of competences and personalities. With its breadth of subjects and rich opportunities for cross-disciplinary encounters, Uppsala University is very well equipped to give young people an excellent foundation for their future careers and to contribute to solving the world's problems. We therefore need to attract the most motivated students and ensure that the right student ends up in the right programme with the right conditions and expectations to pursue the career they have in mind.
This is the basis of the campaign concept that the Student Recruitment Unit has been working on in recent years and which is described below.
Concept: 'Hela Sveriges universitet'
The following text summarises what we want to express to a prospective student:
At Uppsala University we meet across borders. People come here from different backgrounds, with different dreams for the future and with different circumstances. No matter who you are, and what you want, we are a university for you.
In Uppsala and Visby, you will find environments where differences can meet and together create new opportunities for themselves, each other and others. With us, you get the opportunity to do your own thing while becoming part of a community.
We believe that education is important and know that a large part of the value lies in challenging both yourself and others with new ideas. We believe that if we get opportunities to meet across borders, get new impressions and new knowledge, then we can together influence our own and perhaps the whole planet's future.
Our students have been equally diverse since 1477, and we like that. That is why Uppsala University is 'Hela Sveriges universitet'.
Student Recruitment Steering Group
The University management's priorities and an analysis of results and needs form the basis for the work on student recruitment. The Student Recruitment Unit regularly analyses application pressure and other data for the University's various programmes and uses this to adjust the focus of recruitment activities.
The Student Recruitment Steering Group discusses, when necessary, which parts of the activities should be prioritised when conflicts of objectives or needs arise. The Steering Group is composed of the three Heads of Office, the Director of Communications, the Head of Student Affairs and the Head of Internationalisation. The Steering Group meets twice a year.