University of North Dakota Issues Marketing RFP
The University of North Dakota (UND) is seeking proposals from full service agencies to develop a comprehensive recruitment campaign to attract online and graduate students to the University of North Dakota, with a special emphasis on transfer and military students.
Background:
UND is part of the North Dakota University System (NDUS). It has 11 public institutions, which includes two research institutions, four regional universities and five community colleges. UND is the state’s flagship research university, with nearly 14,000 students, 225+ fields of study, and accredited professional schools of law and medicine. More information about UND’s enrollment history can be found in the University Fact Book produced by the Office of Institutional Research & Effectiveness at www1.und.edu/research/institutional-research/facts/fact-book/.
Scope of Work:
The University of North Dakota (UND) is soliciting proposals from full service agencies to develop a comprehensive recruitment campaign to attract online and graduate students to the University of North Dakota, with a special emphasis on transfer and military students.
This RFP is in support of UND’s One UND Strategic Plan. Learn more about the plan at UND.edu/about/strategic-plan. Specific to this RFP, please note:
• Goal 3 states UND will grow enrollment in online and graduate programs by 10%.
• Goal 6 states UND will increase total credit hours earned by active duty military personnel, veterans and their families by 25%.
Under the visionary leadership of President Mark Kennedy, UND is focused on enhancing its marketing and communication efforts. In the last two years, the University launched a new responsive website, developed its first brand strategy, and created its first ever investment in marketing.
Goals
UND’s goal for this project include:
• Research and assess target markets (audiences and geographies), program strengths and value propositions to identify where UND’s marketing efforts can make the greatest impact on recruitment.
• Plan, develop and execute a recruitment marketing campaign(s) to achieve target enrollment growth identified in the One UND Strategic Plan.
Challenges & Opportunities
As a whole, UND has a fairly robust undergraduate recruitment marketing campaign from prospect to enrollment, that includes search campaigns (e.g., ACT/SAT name buys, mailings, digital, emails), recruitment outreach (e.g., high school visits, national fairs), follow-up communications (e.g., emails, mailings, texts, calls, digital), campus visit program (daily visits, weekend visits, special events) and orientation/welcome weekend programs.
UND’s challenge is that the great majority of these efforts are geared toward the traditional undergraduate student who begins in the fall semester. At the undergraduate level, UND has very limited recruitment marketing and communication strategies, tactics and segmented messaging geared toward:
• Transfer students (interested in starting in the fall or spring, either on-campus or online)
• Online undergraduate students (likely to be transfer students)
• Military students (active duty, veteran and dependents who are likely to be transfer and/or online students, there are a significant number of on-campus military/veteran students)
At the graduate level, UND has very limited (if any) foundational recruitment marketing and communication strategies, tactics and segmented messaging in place. Needs include:
• Overarching graduate recruitment marketing plan
• On-campus graduate students – outreach strategies, follow-up communications
• Online graduate students – outreach strategies, follow-up communications
• Military students (active duty, veteran and dependents who are likely to be online students, there are a significant number of on-campus military/veteran students)
UND has begun targeted recruitment campaigns for 15+ priority programs (undergraduate and graduate programs, primarily those with an online delivery format) in areas that have been I dentified as having the greatest growth potential. These priority programs get additional marketing support (e.g., digital investment, print ads, brochures, etc.) and added follow-up communications at the inquiry and admit phases of the recruitment funnel.
Considering our strategic plan goals and where UND is at with its recruitment marketing campaigns, we would like a vendor to:
• Help maximize UND enrollment through a comprehensive recruitment marketing plan
• Grow enrollment of non-traditional students (e.g., transfer, online, military, graduate)
• Prioritize enrollment campaigns (audiences, programs, strategies, messages, channels) based on ROI
• Develop a comprehensive implementation roadmap to help the University grow enrollment for Fall 2020 and beyond
Due Date:
February 8th, 2019.
Address:
University of North Dakota
Procurement Services Office
Request for Proposal (RFP): Full Service Marketing Agency
RFP Number: 73-2019
264 Centennial Dr. Stop 8381
Grand Forks, ND 58202
Alison Brod Partners has relevant experience.
