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I’ve had this on-going love/hate relationship with Internet Explorer. Like many others, I use IE because it’s just the de-facto internet browser used by PC users. Lately, I’ve just had it with using IE. I always seem to have to deal with loads of pop-ups, security issues, patches, and the occasional virus – always when I least need to have these troubles. Of course, this doesn’t include unexpected fatal errors that close down ALL my tabs and windows from time to time – grrr. So I’ve committed myself to changing and begin using Mozilla Firefox. There are tons of people everywhere on the internet that rave about Firefox and how it’s better than IE. Namely, it’s an open-source browser. This means it’s supported by a community of developers and programmers that are always trying to make Firefox better. Since there’s a community that cares about the product, getting technical support is as easy as Googling for the answer. Another great benefit is all the neat and productive plug-ins or add-ons a user can use. You can literally customize your browser to meet YOUR needs and not be forced to use a canned browser. Of course, there are still those that will forever pick IE over Firefox.

So what does this have to do with my blog? Well, I got to thinking about how much college recruiting is very much a comparison between these two browsers. On the one hand, you have traditional college recruiting (the old guard) that still believes college recruiting should be done a certain way. Same old strategies – same old approaches. On the other hand, you have those that advocate a different approach – one that incorporates more technology, social media, and other non-traditional approaches. We should be more like Firefox shouldn’t we? Listening to the whole community, customizing the strategies, and sharing the information. This approach is what really makes the difference in creating change and making things better.

Hispanics have a long history of U.S. military service. The number of Hispanics having earned the Congressional Medal of Honor has been a source of pride and distinction for the Hispanic community. In fact, the first Hispanic CMOH recipient was given to a corporal during the Civil War in the Battle of Gettysburg. According to recent military data, Hispanics have seen a dramatic increase in the number of enlisted personnel serving in all branches of the U.S. military. But despite their increasing numbers, Hispanics remain under-represented at the officer level. That’s why it was great to see this post via The Americano describing the partnership between the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Employers and the United States Armed Forces. The goal is create more opportunities for Hispanics in the military at all levels of the military through scholarships and other educational approaches.

Excelencia in Education continues its tremendous work with a study regarding emerging Hispanic Serving Institutions - or HSIs. If you’re not familiar with the term, HSIs are colleges or universities where total Hispanic enrollment constitutes a minimum of 25% of the total enrollment. According to Hispanic Association of Universities and Colleges (HACU) one of every two Hispanic attends an HSI. This study is another indicator providing evidence of the increasing number of Hispanic students attending college. Based on the study’s analysis, there are 176 emerging HSIs. These are institutions where Hispanic undergraduate full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment is somewhere between 15 and 24 percent. Additionally, these emerging HSI schools are located in 20 states. One area of concern I see in the study’s results is the high concentration of emerging HSI schools that are community colleges (44%). With transfer rates from community to 4 year colleges low and needing to improve, more work and investment needs to be done to assure community college students (many of which are Hispanic) have the support to make that successful transition. I encourage you to review the whole report.

Update: Diverse Issues in Higher Education also has an excellent write up on the study.

What’s the future hold for college recruiting? Kevin Wheeler provides a great list of 40 factors that he sees in the future. While most of Kevin’s great list is linked to incorporating online technologies, I think there is also an opportunity in the college recruiting industry to change the paradigm in another way. This includes changing the “one size fits all” recruitment strategy (or paradigm) to one that integrates and appreciates the complexity of the diverse workforce. Much like consumer-centered models are designed to target a diverse population, college recruitment strategies can mirror this same approach. Why should diverse and inclusive strategies wait until employees enter the organization?

The reality of the economic times makes phrases like “cautiously optimistic” a real good thing. So say several CSOs around the country about MBA hiring via Business Week.

At the same time, there are a number of signs that the MBA job market could improve, albeit slightly, in the coming months and a growing sense of optimism prevails among career services officers, says Kip Harrell, president of the MBA CSC. According to his group’s survey, full-time MBA job postings appear to be rebounding; 34% of schools reported an increase in full-time postings this fall. And, perhaps even more important, fewer schools are reporting declines, with 48% of schools seeing a reduction in full-time postings, as compared with 70% of schools last year.

I hear the same from several CSOs that I speak to on a regular basis. I think some areas of college recruiting are doing better than others so it makes the overall environment look better than it really is – however – one point I think is on point — the bleeding seems to have stopped. For another take on how the college recruitment environment is doing – check out the great podcast put out by Lindsey Pollack.

I still consider myself a novice (more like a zygote) when it comes to building an online presence via my blog, especially if it concerns knowing the right “jargon” regarding blogging and other social media tools. One term I finally figured out was “Google juice.” What the hell is “google juice” I wondered, and more importantly, regardless of not knowing what it means, how do I get some of it?! I figured anything associated with “Google” and “juice” had to be good for me and my website. I was right. In essence, Google juice is the value Google gives to your website for having a link from a very good site. As the worth increases for each link, you pick up improved search rankings (SEO) – hence the word “Google juice.” Check.

In my relentless quest for understanding terms like Google juice and other cool lingo, I got to thinking about what “lingo” is important to employers recruiting on campus. What came to mind were terms like: branding, relationships, planning, events, outreach, sourcing, scheduling, promoting, interviewing, screening, coordinating, traveling, tracking, communicating, researching, collecting, arranging, compiling, and handling. I’m sure there’s more I could’ve come up with – but you get my point. College recruitment doesn’t have a phrase like “Google juice” – terminology in this industry, let’s face it, is rather boring. So what’s your “Google juice” going to be? And more importantly, how can you as an employer apply the same principles Google juice commands on the internet? What tools, resources, and links are you going to use to improve your value and improve your ranking on the campuses you visit?

Over the last few months there have been more and more articles like the one in the WSJ today asking — really, what is a college degree worth? Enough with this tired and ridiculous argument – yes, it’s worth it. Go get yourself one.

Update: Someone agrees with me — but much more eloquently! : )

Louis Pagan over at Latino Rebranded shares an excellent post regarding the Hispanic Cyber Study put out by AOL. The statistics are eye opening and again can be applied to employers looking to leverage information on Hispanics, particularly Hispanic college students, and their online activities. A key observation:

They spend over 24 hours online per week, half of that time connected via mobile device.  They are highly innovative, thus are early adapters.

Employers need to consider how this social media trend can benefit their campus recruitment efforts given that Hispanics are incredibly active in using this technology.

An article in the Texas Tribune provides an excellent overview of the challenges faced by some Texas community colleges in their objective of getting their students to transfer to 4 year institutions. Certainly a lot of work to be done regarding budget, programs, and infrastructure. According to the article: “Statewide, among full-time students, black students ended up dropping out with no credential in 68 percent of cases, compared with 59 percent for Hispanics, 53 percent for whites and 46 percent for Asians.” That’s an amazing number of students “spinning their wheels” in what is supposed to be a bridge to higher education for many. This is only one state – no doubt the issue is nationwide.

With the all the activity of the last couple weeks, I forgot to mention I’m now a blog contributor with Global University Recruiting.  You can check out my initial contribution regarding Best Practices in Hispanic college recruitment here.  

Also known as GURConnect, the website is a weblog dedicated to profiling the world of university recruiting. In addition to covering companies and organizations on campus, the website will also include case studies from vendors on how they have helped clients succeed. I’m honored to have joined GURConnect’s  impressive group of contributors. They’re all certainly at the forefront of university recruiting. My contributions will focus on college recruiting in the context of building awareness of Hispanic college talent.  I’m  grateful to have been chosen to be part of the discussion and look forward to our future collaborations!