Technology key to recruiting students to TSTC

(ABILENE, Texas) – With Texas State Technical College recruiters working from home, creativity is being used to attract potential students.

Daniel Martin, TSTC’s director of Student Recruiting in West Texas, and his team are using technology to gauge the interest of prospective students and keep in touch with current applicants.

“We have been really productive,” Martin said. “Not only are we refining our craft, we have grown together as a team.”

TSTC is offering Virtual Visits on Facebook for prospective students. Each Thursday, a different program is presented from one of the 10 campuses across the state. The West Texas campus virtual visits began with Emergency Medical Services last month.

Martin said TSTC was one of the first colleges to offer Virtual Visits, and he hopes they will continue once on-campus tours are allowed to resume.

“I think we have learned a lot from our Virtual Visits. This will help us connect with high school students because they use social media,” Martin said. “I hope to continue to do more of these once we get back on campus.”

Another avenue recruiters are taking is conducting virtual presentations with high school counselors and teachers.

“We are talking to counselors and teachers about any presentation they would like us to make using Zoom or Google Meet,” Martin said. “This will set up our recruiters with students that are interested in a certain program.”

With open house events canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin and his team had to be creative in recruiting students. Students who have shown an interest in attending TSTC are getting a phone call from a recruiter just to check on them.

“We are doing more of an encouraging phone call to students. We want to know how they are doing and if there is anything we can do for them,” Martin said.

Martin said he hopes all of the efforts being done lead to more students in the summer and fall.

“If we can turn all of our efforts into more students attending TSTC, that will be great,” he said. 

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.