Stephen F. Austin State University

February 01, 2004

Phonejacks has been a resource for raising funds from alumni but will now shift its sights toward recruiting students.

One of the new goals is to contact potential students to see what SFA can do to gain their allegiance. If students have already committed to SFA, the goal will be to see what the University can do to accommodate them in the form of information to make their transition easier.

Another goal is to find out why some students chose not to come to SFA. "They learn more about the student, so that if the student is not coming here, we know what we can do better in the future," said Dr. Jerry Holbert, creator of Phonejacks and vice president for University advancement.

The notion was sparked from a conversation between Holbert and Monique Cossich, executive director of enrollment management, in which they had the idea to combine the department of admissions with Phonejacks. Ideas were put into action when Cossich talked to April Smith, telemarketing program supervisor. From there, the ball started rolling.

The department of admissions does not have the facilities to call students for hours every day to recruit them or to see why they have decided not to come to SFA, but Phonejacks does.

"This is a great example of two departments working together," Cossich said.

The callers, which are all SFA students, have received special training on how to communicate with the students they reach.

"The student-to-student contact is a warm touch," said Adrian Matthys, assistant director of development. "These students receive personal one-on-one communication from SFA versus literature in the mail. That's what it's all about -- contacting these students and making them feel special."

Smith said the response from the change has been positive.

"They seem to be real excited to hear from us," she said.

Cossich said she received positive results from the change, but could not predict any long-term outcome. She also said she would like to see the program extend through the summer.

"It's only been a couple of days," she said, "but all indications at this point have been very positive."

However, the primary goal of Phonejacks is still what it has been since it was created in 1992: to raise funds from alumni.

"(Alumni) are lumberjacks for life," Matthys said. "When we make our calls to alumni, that's what we want to impress (upon them). What's a university without its alumni?"