The Blue Devil Blitz is a simple idea with huge ambition.
For three days in early August, roughly 80 吃瓜头条 ambassadors fanned out into Merced County to recruit, re-recruit and unearth new students.
The Blue Devil Blitz was scheduled to lead into the college鈥檚 annual Extreme Registration, where students could register for school, enroll in classes and get loaded up with resources for Fall 2022.
鈥淭his is us taking a step to serve our community in nontraditional ways,鈥� said 吃瓜头条 Dean of Student Services Greg Soto.
The college used the Blitz model to address a significant drop in enrollment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cal Matters, a nonpartisan, state policy newsgroup, said the statewide community college system between Fall 2019 and Fall 2021. The State of California responded with funds to attack outreach, retention and technology. 吃瓜头条 received $800,000 to be used in 2021-22, and another $1.2 million for 2022-23.
In preparation the Blitz campaign, the 吃瓜头条 Outreach team trained employees from other departments to field questions they might hear from prospective students. Roughly 20 people per day worked 10 locations, including Broadway Market in Planada, Orchard Grill in Chowchilla, O鈥橰eilly AutoParts in Livingston, Hobby Lobby and Get Fit 24/7 in Los Banos, and Merced County Credit Union and Save Mart in Atwater.
In Merced, they manned tables at Raley鈥檚, Body Shak, In-Shape, Best Buy and Planet Fitness. Another group attended National Night Out at Applegate Park on August 2.
Their experiences out in the community ran the gamut.
PLANET FITNESS, MERCED
Soto鈥檚 team met a husband and wife duo walking out of Planet Fitness. The wife hung back to ask about the college鈥檚 popular nursing program.
鈥淪he said, 鈥業鈥檓 an RN, but my husband needs to find a focus,鈥欌�� Soto recalls. 鈥溾�業 think this could be it.鈥� She was so motivated. It was amazing.鈥�
Soto told her that her husband might be eligible for free tuition, prompting the wife to promise to go to Extreme Registration.
Another day, Soto鈥檚 group was in Chowchilla, meeting people who were choosing between Madera Community College or Merced, and senior citizens asking about noncredit and enrichment classes.
鈥淲e saw a complete cross section of our student body,鈥� he said.
HOBBY LOBBY, LOS BANOS
Jessica Moran, Dean of Instruction in Los Banos, met several Spanish speakers, including one very motivated mother.
Moran gave Extreme Registration information to the woman鈥檚 child, who had registered at 吃瓜头条 but not yet enrolled. Moran then told the mom about College for Kids for her younger children.
Moran explained that the woman鈥檚 7th-grader could talk to a counselor once she got to high school, to start taking college classes early through dual enrollment. After all that, Moran felt compelled to encourage the mom to look at the college鈥檚 new Relaunch Program, which is designed for working adults, for herself.
The mother worried about whether her English was good enough, until Moran told her about the English as a Second Language courses the college offers throughout the county.
鈥淲e were able to help every single family member,鈥� Moran said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 matter where they were in their lives. 鈥� It made me realize the information we share can be timely for so many people.鈥�
RALEY鈥橲, MERCED
Travis Hicks, Dean of Instruction for English & Humanities, felt buoyed by working with colleagues he rarely sees鈥擟aroline Dawson, Dean of Instruction for Business and Adult Education, and Michelle Joseph, Director of Child Development Center鈥攁nd locals who shop a block from the Merced campus.
They met two business students there鈥攐ne returning and one newly enrolled at 吃瓜头条.
鈥淚t was nice because Caroline gave the incoming student a larger picture of what they would face and shared ideas about what they could study once there, like entrepreneurship and international business,鈥� Hicks said.
They were talking about academic pathways and networking, when one of the students said he felt nervous about starting college.
鈥淚 told him to lean on his partner, and that we鈥檇 all be there to support him,鈥� Hicks said.
NEXT TIME
How successful was the Blitz? Soto said 70% of students they worked with at the two Extreme Registration sessions found them through the Blue Devil Blitz. It also showed 吃瓜头条 employees how powerful they could be at the ground level.
鈥淟ike Broadway Market in Planada,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a heavy traffic area, but every person we met needed info. What we shared was meaningful for them.鈥�
Hicks said the quality of the interactions opened everyone鈥檚 eyes.
鈥淭he purpose isn鈥檛 just to engage with potential students,鈥� Hicks said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 for all of us鈥攆aculty, administration, managers, students鈥攖o mix and mingle.鈥�
Soto sees ambassadors eventually attending Mercado Nights and setting up shop at the Merced Mall.
鈥淲e ran into questions like, 鈥極h, you鈥檙e offering courses?鈥欌�� Moran said. 鈥淪ome may think we鈥檙e shut down or only still online. That鈥檚 a reason to be more present in the community, to say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e here. We鈥檝e never stopped.鈥欌��