Helping Students Thrive in College Life and Beyond

Play video: CoffeED: Robert Massa (16 minutes 20 seconds)16:20

Guiding college students toward a successful and sustainable life

Dr. Robert Massa is the Senior Vice President for Enrollment and Institutional Planning at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Through this role, he is responsible for admissions, financial aid, athletics, career planning and institutional research. Recruitment of the best and the brightest plays a large part in driving his position and the success of the university as a whole.

There is a great deal of competition between colleges and universities across the country and Dr. Massa realizes the work it entails. As he states, “Our goal is not just to admit a freshman class, it’s to admit a class that’s going to graduate.”

Peter Kraft and Evolution Labs help Dr. Massa with his enrollment management, and Kraft notes how savvy Drew University has been with the “cradle to the grave” approach of supporting their students. Drew uses Evolution Labs’ S360 platform to help reach a variety of goals for engaging and recruiting new students. “Sometimes just buying them a cup of coffee and listening makes all the difference in the world,” Dr. Massa says.

Throughout the forty plus years that Dr. Massa has been involved in higher education, he has seen the roles of admissions officers, administrators and professors evolve. “The role of the faculty member in an undergraduate program is not only teaching in a classroom, but it’s really mentoring students and helping them to find their way,” he says.

“We’re there to help young people mature into adulthood, help them learn how to make their own decisions,” he says. “To grow and develop in ways that are necessary to have a successful and sustainable life.”

Dr. Massa starts by doing everything he can to assure a student’s success by using the right criterion for admission. Sometimes colleges admit students who are not the right fit academically, motivationally or as Dr. Massa says, who lack “grit.” He believes enrollment management is relationship management. It’s not all data-driven with logistical regression models. “We use some tools to help us maximize our yield on students who are admitted,” Dr. Massa explains. “But what we’re trying to do is to build and sustain those relationships.”

A robust advising and counseling system helps support student needs once on campus. Dr. Massa directs his admissions staff to check in on undergraduates from time to time throughout their school year – reaching out as far as their junior and senior terms. Mentors remain critical in helping students cope with the extraordinary pressures of university and higher education.

“A lot of the best learning occurs in applying what you’ve learned whether it’s in the classroom or online to a real-world situation,” explains Dr. Massa. “Having a mentor take you through that is critical.” It’s the university’s responsibility, according to Dr. Massa, to help students stay in school and be successful both in academics and in future life pursuits.

This article was originally published in the Huffington Post Further Reading

1. Huffington Post – Using Technology to Support Students’ Emotional Needs
2. The 74 – Mentoring Program Posts 81% College Persistence Rate With Focus on In-Person Coaching, Affordability, New Study Finds
3. Huffington Post – Creating Safe Digital Spaces for Learners to Explore Social-Emotional Topics

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