Rankings & Recruitment

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Rankings & Recruitment

.

the truth behind the myth.

Collette Lux, Director of Marketing at King's College London

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• Politecnico di Milano was founded in 1863 • Ranked no. 1 in Italy, 7 in Europe and 24 in the world by QS Ranking by subj. • TOP technical school for Engineering, Design and Architecture • 5 campuses in Italy, 1 in China and 1 in India

Politecnico di Milano School of Management

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MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business

• Founded in 1979 • Companies on‐board since the foundation • From Consortium to non‐for‐profit consortium limited company

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• Prestigious:

•

4

th

_{oldest university in England}

• Ranked 19

th

_{in the world (QS)}

• Multidisciplinary:

• Humanities, Law, Science, Social Science,

Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Psychiatry

• Research‐intensive:

• £193M research earnings

• > 350 International partnerships

• Located at the heart of London:

• Four central campuses

• 27,600 students of which 10,500 are post‐

graduate

• Cosmopolitan:

• Student body is from >150 countries

• >40% of all academics are from overseas

• Total income: £684M

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Rankings are part of the key consideration factors

when making the decision where to study overseas

• Affordability and the cost of living (inc fees) • Anticipated experience and lifestyle factors • Reputation and course quality • Employability and differentiation for future career

Career

Course

Costs

Culture

Create opportunities for prospective students to explore if your course is a good match for their academic and professional backgrounds as well as needs and goals Source: London & Partners International Student Research 2014

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Rankings are part of the key consideration factors

when making the decision where to study overseas

Career

Course

Costs

Culture

Source: London & Partners International Student Research 2014 Trends in the last 5 years show a shift in the source of information: • Candidates contact directly alumni on LinkedIn • Online forums (no school engagement)

• Accreditations (EQUIS – AMBA – AACSB)

• GMAC survey 2015 reveals that when students listed their top five consideration criteria for selecting a program based on their preferred study destination, rankings didn't rank highly.

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Rankings are part of the key consideration factors

when making the decision where to study overseas

Career

Course

Costs

Culture

Source: London & Partners International Student Research 2014 Rankings are relative to the competitive set: • National Undergraduate are more likely to compare at institution level • National Postgraduate at departmental level • International Postgraduates at Job Placement and Quality of program (Accreditations)

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Dilemma 1: Which London?

• For international recruitment, the university often holds information evenings with sister London Universities. • This is often more cost and time efficient than creating separate events • It has the advantage of attracting students who are thinking seriously about studying in London already • The university had the option of being part of • World Class Study in London, or • London University International Partnership

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Partner with 4 other London universities? • Imperial College, • LSE, • SOAS • UCL + Higher ranked institutions BUT the university is often lower ranked than UCL, Imperial and LSE Partner with 18 other London universities? • Goldsmiths, University of London • London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine • London South Bank University • Middlesex University • Queen Mary, University of London • University of East London • University of Roehampton

• University of Westminsteretc etc + More universities = lower cost BUT less prestigious group

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Dilemma 1: Which group would you

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Dilemma 2: The future of the Full‐time MBA

• Global trends:

• The Full‐time MBA program is becoming less popular with an increase interest in

other master programs

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• The “ranking game” and competition is becoming fierce, and getting and

maintaining a ranked position is also very expensive.

• Increase of Asian schools in the MBA ranking tables

• Current MBA:

• Stable number of applications between 2011 and 2015 but no substantial growth

• Not in the Global ranking but recognized internationally for Innovation,

Technology and Company network

• Increase number of services to attract students (1‐2‐1 approach, career services)

• Lower margins (increase of costs every year)

(*) Source: GMAC, Application Trends Survey Report 2015

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Dilemma 2: The future of the Full‐time MBA

What to do?

Options:

1. Exit the “Full‐time MBA arena” and concentrate on other programs, such as

Specialized Masters

2. Invest more heavily in a highly‐visible MBA program that follow a specific ranking

and its criteria (“Ranking engineering”), increasing the costs of delivery and

modifying the MBA curriculum.

 Reasons and risks linked to the first or second option (+ and ‐)

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The results • From the next recruitment cycle, applications to the university declined and UCL’s School of Pharmacy increased • Academics in denial and claiming ‘it’s a blip’ refused unswervingly to join recruitment activities

Dilemma 3: Reversing the negative rankings spiral

• The university is highly ranked for Pharmacy & Pharmacology • In 2011, a lower ranked independent institution, the London School of Pharmacy, part of the University of London, was in discussion with the university about merger • The merger fell through and the School of Pharmacy was taken over by UCL QS World University Rankings 2016 QS by Subject 2016 UCL = 7th _UCL = 8th University = 19th _{University = 4}th

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Dilemma 3: The negative rankings spiral

Struggling to attract high calibre students Gain students through ‘Clearing’ Accepting lower entry tariffs Remove barriers to offers ie stop interviews Accept ‘failed medics’ Academics demotivated and unwilling to join recruitment activities

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Dilemma 3: How can we attract higher calibre

students?

Struggling to attract high calibre students Gain students through ‘Clearing’ Accepting lower entry tariffs Remove barriers to offers ie stop interviews Accept ‘failed medics’ Academics demotivated and unwilling to join recruitment activities New enthusiastic head of department Highly targeted out reach to schools and colleges New marketing officer Update and improve all collateral and event format Be prepared to take students through ‘Clearing’/ lower entry tariffs/ no interviews/ accept ‘failed medics’

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