All admission goals and initiatives are expressions of institutionally determined priorities. Admission's main function is to articulate and promote those priorities in an effort to attract students well matched to Colgate. This requires that the staff be well informed not only about the features of Colgate, but the institutional history behind the community, current opinion and experiences of students and faculty, and the future direction of the college. Such preparation requires thorough training of all staff with regard to Colgate itself, and on-going professional development through interaction with colleagues in high schools and peer institutions. Professional development is a priority for the staff.
Some concerns exist regarding the experience level of current admissions staff.
Due to attrition, the majority of staff members are in their first few years of admissions work. This situation exists at a time when marketing concerns continue. The first step will be revisions to primary publications including the Viewbook, Application, and First Contact Brochures. Funds have been approved to continue the project during 1998-99 to extend the application of new concepts to secondary recruitment materials and to further revamp plans for communication with prospective students . Closely related to the revisions to publications will be new strategies for targeted recruiting by staff, alumni, and volunteers, as well as designs and communication strategies that can be applied by Colgate staff to other communications projects in the future.