Degree Name

Education Specialist (EdS)

Semester of Degree Completion

1978

Thesis Director

Paul D. Overton

Abstract

This study uses field research to compare and evaluate the major recruitment initiatives of the Illinois Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) counselor/recruiter. Following a definition of recruitment and a discussion of related literature establishing the complexities of recruitment and the need for the study, the experimental design is set forth. Under investigation are:

  1. Personal contact efforts such as interviews, phone conversations and encounters at the recruitment booth during registration
  2. High school visitations
  3. Advertisements
  4. Literature sources and mail correspondence

The major findings of the study may be summarized as follows:

The single, most influential factor determining recruitment is the successful person to person contact between the counselor/recruiter and his prospects. A dynamic, capable counselor/recruiter is, therefore, a necessary ingredient of any successful recruitment program. The influence of family and friends, a variable over which the counselor/recruiter has little control, emerges as another factor weighing heavily in the students' decisions to enroll.

High school visitations and the recruitment booth during registration are excellent places for initiating contact. The utilization of literature is helpful in both of these efforts.

The effectiveness of advertising is limited in that it produces results only when aimed at counselors or used in materials made available to the student through the counselor. Therefore, the use of advertising calls for considerable experience on the part of the counselor/recruiter.

The established importance of personal contact leads to the recommendation that everyone interested in the student's enrollment, alumni, faculty and fellow students interact with prospective students whenever possible.

Recommendations for further research include the study of: (1) cost effectivenes, (2) retention, (3) specific target populations, and (4) needs of students versus purpose of the institution.

The study furnishes an excellent bibliography.

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