Southeast Missouri State University must do a better job of selling itself in order to boost enrollment and retention of students, consultants say.

That's the bottom-line advice of consultants Lee Noel and Randi Levitz, partners in a nationally recognized firm that helps colleges and universities do a better job of recruiting and retaining students.

Noel and Levitz made their recommendations at the conclusion of a three-day visit to the campus late last semester. The two visited the school from Nov. 29 through Dec. 1, meeting with 225 faculty, staff and students in 21 focus group sessions.

Southeast paid the Iowa City, Iowa, consultants $7,500 plus expenses, said SueAnn Strom, the school's vice president for student affairs.

The university's goal is to increase student enrollment from the current 8,000 level to around 9,000 or 10,000, Strom said Monday.

"Basically, they said, `You have an outstanding institution. You have a lot of wonderful programs and good strong programs that maybe you should do a better job of articulating to the consumer,'" said Strom.

In an effort to improve recruitment, Southeast plans to hire 12 students as "tele-counselors" within the next few weeks. The tele-counselors will call prospective students, those who have listed Southeast among their top three choices.

Strom said the move is being made on the advice of the consultants.

The tele-counselors will call prospective students five nights a week, probably from 5-9 p.m. The recruitment operation will probably run 40 weeks or more a year, Strom said.

That's a far more extensive telephone recruitment effort than is currently the case. This school year, Southeast had planned four, four-week telephone blitzes, using volunteers and admissions counselors.

But that will now be replaced with the tele-counselor operation, said Strom.

"Hiring the students is not a big ticket item," she said. "If we become more sophisticated as they have recommended, that would be more costly."

The consultants have suggested the university go to a more computerized system in regards to student recruitment.

Strom said another suggestion is that Southeast expand its prospect pool from the current 14,000 to 15,000 level to 20,000 to 25,000.

A larger pool of students from which to recruit is important because recruitment is so competitive among colleges and universities today, said the university official.

"The competition is really tough out there," said Strom. As a result, universities must engage in more of a marketing approach to identify those students who are most likely to succeed at their schools, she explained.

The consultants, she said, suggested Southeast needs to stress the career benefits of the school's academic programs.

Strom said Southeast is also looking at holding orientation for new students in the spring, in addition to the current summer schedule.

"There are tons of advantages to the spring orientation," said Strom. A major benefit is that prospective enrollees can view the university when there are a lot of students on campus, she noted.

Strom said any move to a spring orientation schedule would not occur before 1995.

The consultants said it's important to deal with both recruitment and retention of students. "Recruiting and retention are intertwined," said Levitz. "Retaining students has a lot to do with motivation. There is a big difference between being academically prepared and being ready to persist and succeed academically."

Levitz said students expressed to her a need for help with their educational and career plans; writing, math and study skills; reading speed and comprehension; and personal concerns.

To that end, Levitz recommended that Southeast increase "student-centeredness" on campus, take steps to boost the academic success of new freshmen, and consider refinements to the orientation program that will "build-in" more appropriate academic expectations for students.

Strom said it was recommended that the university, in its orientation sessions, help students understand that they need to study more than eight to 10 hours a week to be academically successful.

Many students, said Strom, are holding down part-time or full-time jobs. It's not uncommon for students to work 20 hours a week or more, while also taking 15 credit hours of classes.

With such a load, there's little time for studying, said Strom. "The likelihood of achieving A's and B's is very, very little."

The consultants said there's a need for improved communication between university offices, and a greater sensitivity to the needs of "students of color" and non-traditional students.

University President Kala Stroup said Southeast has already made strides to improve student retention by enrolling better academically prepared students.

The mean ACT score of entering freshmen reached 22.2 in 1992 and 22.6 in 1993, up from 20 in 1987. In 1993, Southeast attracted 55 Governor's Scholars whose average ACT score was 31.5. The 55 students included 38 National Merit scholars and a National Merit finalist.

"We are attracting quality, high-caliber students," said Stroup. "Now, we must focus our attention on increasing the quantity of those students."