Will the Real FIT Please Stand Up?

"To shape your image is to shape your destiny."

by Alexander Gelfand
Hue: The Alumni Magazine of the Fashion Institute of Technology
Spring 2008

Let's begin with a pop quiz. You believe that:


These are among the questions asked in a series of recent surveys of prospective students, their parents, and industry leaders. The results revealed that public perceptions of FIT, though overwhelmingly positive, do not always match reality. For instance, some people believe FIT is a trade school, rather than a rigorous degree-granting college with a full complement of liberal arts requirements. Some don't know it's part of the State University of New York -- and thus a public institution with affordable tuition. Many don't know that FIT is a community college that provides a baccalaureate and graduate programs in addition to the associate's degree. And some assume it offers only fashion, not a wide variety of design-related majors and highly regarded business programs.

The surveys were part a comprehensive market research project designed to help the college develop a strategic recruitment plan. The need for such a plan emerged during the college's 18-month strategic planning process that yielded a roadmap for FIT's growth in the coming decades. "This project stems directly from the strategic plan, and the research will allow us to engage in a recruitment process that is more strategic and comprehensive over time," says Loretta Lawrence Keane, vice president for Advancement and External Relations.

Until recently, there had been little incentive to engage in comprehensive external market research. Admissions numbers have been extraordinarily strong and its robust applicant pool robust. But the educational marketplace has changed significantly in recent years, as more and more educational institutions -- public and private, offline and online -- have come to compete for students, faculty, and funding. In response, academic institutions have turned increasingly to market research to guide their communications and recruitment efforts. "The reason colleges and universities are spending more money on marketing is because the stakes have become higher, so they're using research to make decisions," says Dr. Robert Sevier, senior vice president for strategy at Stamats, a company that works with hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the United States, and conducted the research project for FIT.

In order to shape a strategic recruitment plan, it's vital to know how groups such as prospective students and parents, industry members, and high-school counselors view the college. Research data can support more efficient and targeted recruitment and help to sharpen communications efforts and correct public misperceptions. "To shape your image is to shape your destiny," says Carol Leven, assistant vice president for communications, who emphasizes the need to craft an image that is honest and true to the college's core values and distinguishing characteristics.

As the college strengthens its brand -- for example, by emphasizing its strong connections to industry, its experienced and accomplished faculty, and its overall academic quality -- its graduates will benefit accordingly. "The more prestigious the college is, the more prestigious the alumni's degrees are," says Dr. Herbert Cohen, vice president for student affairs.

The research sheds light both on how people perceive FIT and what they want from it. Most respondents ranked FIT at the top of their lists of the best fashion and design schools. Yet many weren't fully aware of the range of programs offered by FIT or that every major has significant liberal arts requirements. The balance between career preparation and traditional academics is valued by prospective students, parents, and particularly by prospective employers who want candidates with the advanced communications and critical-thinking skills required for mid- and upper-level positions. "Rather than asking if a recent graduate can handle an entry-level position," says Keane, "employers are instead asking, 'can they make a presentation for an ad agency? Can they make top-level marketing and business decisions? Can they be a design director, rather than a design associate?'"

Findings like these could have far-reaching implications for the college. For example, by emphasizing the breadth of its program offerings, the college could enhance its appeal to strong candidates who might mistakenly assume that an FIT education would be too narrow or lack overall academic rigor. The college might also attract larger numbers of talented applicants who are simply unaware of the wide range of career opportunities available within fashion and related industries, from advertising communications to product management and international trade.

Meanwhile, broadcasting the public rather than private nature of the institution (and its relative affordability) could enhance the college's ability to reach students from a wide range of economic, ethnic and educational backgrounds. This, in turn, informs the discussion regarding the kind of students the college ought to recruit. Any changes to the institution's marketing and recruitment activities will inevitably affect the kinds of students that it attracts, thereby shaping the school for many years to come. As a result, the study has already sparked discussion within FIT regarding the mix of students that the college should teach: Local or out-of-state, affluent or disadvantaged. In recent years, FIT has tended to attract applicants whose family incomes, geographic distribution, educational backgrounds, and aspirations reflect an increasingly national and international pool of middle-class students seeking an education beyond the associate's degree.Yet providing access to a diverse range of students in and around New York City remains central to FIT's mission as a community college within the SUNY system.

The college is already acting on the research findings. The majority of prospective students surveyed said that they did most of their college research on the Web, and most students and parents said that they identified candidate schools based on the availability of particular degrees and programs. A long-planned redesign of the college's website is now underway with a structure created directly in response to the research findings. A set of five key messages reflecting the college's core values and strengths will be integrated into all college communications to make sure that perception matches reality. And for the first time, the college will acquire enrollment management software that will allow it to track and communicate with applicants and prospective students from initial contact through graduation and beyond.

Because students and parents said that they find campus visits extremely helpful, the college is also developing a welcome center and tour program. And since 84 percent of prospective students are interested in pursuing a four-year bachelor's degree, a number of college departments have reworked their curricula to avoid redundancy in course content as students move from associate's into baccalaureate programs.

One of the great advantages of initiating the research now is that the college will ultimately be able to prepare itself for the challenges of the future -- challenges that are presently unknown, but sure to arise in a constantly evolving and increasingly competitive marketplace. And that argues for more research down the road. "Any organization that engages in the work of market research doesn't do it every 20 years," says Keane. "You do it every five."

In keeping with that commitment to ongoing research, the college has already commissioned research for the School of Graduate Studies and The Museum at FIT. If this first foray into market research is any guide, it should yield plenty of additional food for thought.


Copyright ©2009 Alexander Gelfand

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