Dr. Susan Schulz

Very good idea to collect as much information as possible before opening or acquiring a school. LIke any business, it is essential to know what you know and don't know. It is essential to conduct a feasibility study and create a Business Plan. If worked on effectively, the Plan will include all your options and opportunities as well as obstacles and potential problems. It's better to know these before you start. The Plan will also result in a budget and list of acivities, timelines, and deadlines. There is a lot to know when setting up a school. Just the desire… >>>

Sounds very challening Kristen. We recommend that the maximum number of key positions one person can hold is only 2. And that's a lot. Students enroll in your school to get training to get a job. That obligates you to offer the best training, provide the best student servicing, including placement, and have great operations and policies and procedures in place. In addition, to keep your school going you need a great admissions team. Right now, key positions to achieve these results, are being handled by very few people at your school.Something is going to suffer. And my guess is… >>>

Hi Miriam, When setting up a school or any business it is critical to put a business and marketing plan in place and a budget. You'll need the financials for the application and you'll certainly need a budget to run your school. Typically schools take a year or so to be profitable. No doubt you will have a lot of competition so it is important to develop ways to reach qualified students and do it with a modest and effective marketing budget and plan. Public relations is relatively inexpensive. YOu have to be smart and benefit from all opportunities. So… >>>

We totally agree, Joanie. The right placement department can impact on admissions, retention, and of course placement. And programs need to be developed to meet the needs of the local employers. That means that some courses may need to be customized to each hiring company. Great idea to develop programs WITH key companies in your community. It helps to create the best program and also helps to ensure that your grads will be hired. And you'll have the start of great relationships with the company. You sound like you know what you are doing. So here's an idea. Run your… >>>

HI Mark Really good points. We believe in community outreach and you address a lot of the issues. Yes, it's important to stay in touch with all employers in the community and find out how to customize your programs to meet the company's needs. Then each company will value your grads when looking to increase staff. And yes, part of developing and maintaining relationships is to understand the company and its needs and when they tend to hire. You might even send out a list of grads and available alumni and credentials periodically so each company knows what kind of… >>>

Yes, Joanie. The placement department really has a great impact on enrollment, retention, and of course placement. That's why we advocate a very strong and pro active department. We like to see the director out in the community calling on employers and prospective employers. We feel it is vital to develop and maintain relationships with the hiring decision makers. We also see results when placement assignments are required. And when placement is as important as each course. We are also researching how many students are placed at the externship site. One school we interviewed said that 100% of the externs… >>>