{"id":853,"date":"2022-07-01T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cialfo.co\/blog\/?p=853"},"modified":"2025-03-04T07:33:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T07:33:46","slug":"most-pressing-challenges-of-universities-today-reduced-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cialfo.co\/blog\/most-pressing-challenges-of-universities-today-reduced-resources","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s keeping university recruiting teams up at night: Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now that the pandemic has entered a new phase, countries are eliminating travel restrictions, and the phrase \u201croad trip<\/a>\u201d seems to be popping up daily in the news, social media, and everywhere you turn. Cialfo\u2019s CEO Rohan Pasari<\/strong><\/a> and other Cialfo team members recently took a very important road trip of their own, traveling from coast to coast across the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this venture did include bits of sightseeing (including the dazzling cherry blossoms in full bloom in Washington, DC), the primary purpose of this trip was more work than pleasure. Between March 14 and April 8, 2022, the team crisscrossed the country meeting with heads of enrollment and admissions professionals from 15 higher ed institutions to \u201clisten and learn\u201d about the most pressing challenges impacting international recruiting efforts now and into the future.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic and its aftermath<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many of these issues have worsened over the course of the pandemic and the resulting \u201cgreat resignation.\u201d During the course of our discussions, we learned what a significant toll the pandemic and subsequent loss of staff resources have taken on recruitment teams from public and private universities of all sizes. One factor (in addition to budget cuts) that contributed to early exits among recruitment professionals was the drastic change in the nature of the job due to pandemic shutdowns. Some of the draws to the international recruiting industry included global travel, meeting face-to-face with students and their families, and the chance to experience new cultures across the world. As pandemic travel restrictions were set in place with no end in sight, many recruitment professionals left for other positions amidst the loss of human interaction and in-person visits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of these institutions were already working with limited resources – small international admissions teams of only 3-4 people who are faced with navigating both the pandemic and the changing preferences of GenZ students worldwide. The question we heard over and over was \u201chow can already understaffed recruiting teams set themselves up for success in light of budget cuts and fewer international travel opportunities<\/strong>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How universities have coped  <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The various leaders we met with were all exploring solutions to the following questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n