When Your Enrollment Problem is Actually an Experience Problem

For many enrollment leaders, the greatest frustration is being held accountable for metrics they don't fully control. Scott Rhodes opens the discussion with a blunt truth: no amount of marketing can fix a campus experience that feels dead or a classroom experience that feels transactional. A core theme of this episode is the mismatch between the residential promise made in the brochure and the actual daily life of a student who finds themselves sitting in a dorm room taking Zoom classes from a faculty member who is not fully present.

• [00:19] Stop blaming the funnel: Why enrollment problems start before the admissions office.
• [02:28] The Zoom classroom dilemma: Addressing the friction of remote teaching on a residential campus.
• [05:28] Where did the fun go?: How risk aversion and ideology are draining student affairs.
• [08:35] The SEC factor: Why students flock to campuses that prioritize an alive atmosphere.
• [11:29] The suite vs. community debate: Why higher ed may have caved too early on private housing.
• [14:16] How tours reveal the truth: Using class changes and authentic cues to build trust.
• [18:12] Politics in the classroom: The enrollment impact of faculty bringing personal views into work.
• [20:12] The measurement challenge: Why it is easier to fire an agency than fix the academic experience.