| dc.description.abstract | The Statistics Enquiry Network Report by the Ministry of the Interior of Taiwan focused on the country’s low birthrate; the number of newborns declined from 321,932 in 1991 to 181,601 in 2018, a decrease of 140,331 (43.59%). This declining birthrate has affected elementary and junior high schools and gradually placed pressure on colleges and universities. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of tertiary institutions in Taiwan exceeded 160 in 2018, and the number of available admission positions at colleges and universities exceeds the number of senior high school graduates. Thus, numerous junior college departments have begun to experience insufficient enrollment. Low enrollment affects the performance of faculties at such schools.
With reference to the relevant literature and conduct institutional research, this study administered two questionnaires to obtain feedback from freshmen to examine their school or department choice and create a model of enrollment marketing. The first questionnaire was administered in 2017. We used the exploratory factor analysis to identify hidden constructs among variables. The current study focused on eight constructs: teaching characteristics, teaching facilities, employment counseling, living functions, extracurricular activities, media advertising, social support, and social evaluation. After eliminating irrelevant factor items, we conducted another questionnaire in 2018. Through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, we examined potential variables to identify those that could be used by school administrators in formulating an enrollment strategy. According to the results of the model, five hypotheses confirmed our theoretical assumptions. Our results present surprising findings; the extracurricular activity construct exerted a not support positive influence on the formation of teaching characteristics. According to our hypothesis, targeting these eight constructs for enrollment marking should increase the number of freshmen enrollment. Thus, our results provide private school operators with a solid foundation for developing a long-term student enrollment strategy.
Through our questionnaire survey and analysis, we identified several key factors of the application of information management. Many student and teaching data can be accumulated through a school affairs database established for related research. After years of accumulating data, the school research and development unit can target for improving school business development, such as the distribution of student sources, quality of student performance, student participation in competitions, or psychological counseling records, etc. Such data can be cross-checked to analyze the pros and cons of the school’s operation to be used as a basis for decision-making. | en_US |