Employee Turnover In Christian College/University Admissions

Abstract

Few campus offices bear the weight of organizational health and vitality more directly than college and university admissions offices. This is particularly true for Christian colleges and universities where annual operating budgets depend largely on student tuition dollars. The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to explore rates and reasons for employee turnover in Christian college/university admissions. Data come from 2002–2005 annual membership directories of the North American Coalition for Christian Admissions Professionals (NACCAP) supplemented by a survey of former admissions staff from NACCAP member schools. During this five-year period, nearly half of the NACCAP workforce turned over and most did so within three years on the job. Turnover varied by position type, school size, and region, with gender as a significant mediating factor. Survey respondents indicate that their time in Christian college/university admissions has lasting effects on them, even though other jobs, family, or advancement opportunities spur exit from the profession.

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2005 North American Coalition for Christian Admissions Professionals (NACCAP) annual meeting at Calvin College. The authors thank Chant Thompson, Dale Kuiper, and Tim Fuller for valued research assistance.

Notes

The CCCU is an association of intentionally Christian colleges and universities. Membership is open to North American four-year colleges and universities that are fully accredited and maintain a policy of hiring only Christians for full-time faculty and administrative positions. For more information about the CCCU, see http://www.cccu.org/about/members.asp

The NACCAP website may be accessed at http://www.naccap.org/.

In recent years, Christian high schools gained entrance into NACCAP. Admissions officers from these secondary schools are not included in our analysis.

The mean percentage of women in CCCU schools comes from the annual survey administered by Tim Fuller and was provided to us via personal communication (May 31, 2005).

There are probably many admissions executives that aptly deserve praise for their efforts to champion employee development. One outstanding example is Jeff Rickey, dean of admissions and financial aid at Earlham College (and previously at George Fox University). It was with the support and encouragement of Jeff Rickey that the lead author of this article pursued graduate school and returned to Christian higher education as a faculty member.