Let’s Talk About Recruitment 

—From the desk of Brier Albano, Vice-President, Students and External Relations

When people hear the word recruitment, they often picture posters, ads, or someone visiting a high school with a stack of viewbooks. Those things certainly matter, but at Selkirk College, recruitment means much more than marketing. In fact, how we define recruitment is an important part of our strategic enrolment management (SEM) work and our goal to grow domestic enrolment by 20% by 2030. 

In our SEM Framework, recruitment is the first stage of a seven-stage enrolment cycle. It starts long before a student ever fills out an application and continues right up until they decide to apply. Simply put, recruitment is how students come to see Selkirk College as an option—whether that happens on purpose or by accident. 

That “accidental” part is important. Recruitment includes deliberate efforts like school visits, open houses, emails, campus tours, and social media campaigns. But it also includes word-of-mouth, family conversations, community pride, a great experience a friend had, or a moment when someone realizes, “Oh! I could do this here.” 

At its best, recruitment is vibrant when interest is strong—applications come in early, and there are more applicants than seats. At a sustainable level, recruitment still works if it consistently fills programs and converts interest into applications, ideally without a last-minute scramble. That’s the balance we’re working toward. 

Recruitment Is a Relationship, Not a Transaction 

One of the biggest shifts in our approach is seeing recruitment as a relationship-building process, not a numbers game. This drives us away from the enrolment funnel idea popularized at much larger institutions. More applications alone don’t guarantee healthy enrolment. What matters is who is applying, when they apply, and how connected they feel to our programming along the way. 

That’s why the Recruitment team, as of the start of 2025, now sits alongside Admissions with Enrolment Services. This helps ensure that prospective students experience Selkirk College as one connected journey—from their first question to their first day of class. Quick responses, clear information, and human support all play a role in whether someone chooses to apply and follow through.  

Some of the Work Happening Around Campus 

Over the past year, Selkirk College has been building a strong foundation for recruitment. This includes: 

• Strengthening relationships with high schools across our region and beyond. 
• Providing one-to-one support to prospective students by phone, email, Zoom, and in person. 
• Creating clearer communication and follow-up for people who inquire but aren’t quite ready to apply. 
• Hosting meaningful on-campus experiences like tours, student-for-a-day visits and open houses. 
• Trying new approaches—like coordinated social media efforts—that tap into our collective reach as a college community. 

All of this work helps students move from curiosity to confidence. Brand consistency enters the conversation too by ensuring that before a recruiter walks through the door, people see Selkirk College as a viable choice for the life they want to create.  

Where We’re Headed 

Looking ahead, our recruitment efforts are focused on depth, not just reach. That means: 

• Deepening engagement with high schools, guidance counsellors, families, and community partners. 
• Expanding outreach to mature learners and people returning to education. 
• Improving how we track and learn from recruitment data so we can focus on what actually works. 
• Enhancing campus visits so students can picture themselves here. 
• Converting more inquiries into applications by making the process clearer and more welcoming. 

These efforts directly support our SEM goal of growing domestic enrolment by 20% by 2030. The Recruitment team is not recruiting alone, but it certainly helps set the tone for everything that follows. 

Everyone Plays a Role 

Recruitment isn’t owned by one team. Every interaction matters. A helpful email, a positive campus visit, a great class experience shared with friends—all of it contributes to how our communities see Selkirk College. 

Recruitment is how students first meet us. Our goal is to make that first impression honest, supportive, and worth saying yes to.  

How will Selkirk College’s SEM Plan Change Recruitment? 

Our Strategic Enrolment Management Plan focuses on attracting more domestic students, with a strong emphasis on recruiting from within our region. Recruitment is one of the college’s most established areas of investment, and many of our programs see healthy application numbers that just don’t translate into enrolled students.  

Over the next five years, our recruitment focus is less about doing more, and more about understanding what works. This means improving how we use data to track return on investment, better understanding where our students are coming from, and reviewing recruitment patterns at the program level. This approach helps us determine whether recruitment is truly the challenge, or whether other stages, like yield or enrolment (stay tuned for more information in future blogs!), need attention instead.  

Next week, we will do a deep dive on stage two of the SEM cycle, admissions, when intent turns into commitment!