Using Data to Inform Decision Making in Recruitment of Prospective Public Health Students

The objective of this study was to compare recruitment methods for prospective students to the public health programs at the CUNY School of Public Health. Recruitment data on prospective Masters and Doctoral Public Health students were gathered during the period of July 2014 to July 2015, using 4 recruitment methods: Schools of Public Health Application Service (SOPHAS) virtual chats, CUNY SPH virtual chats, CUNY SPH website, and face to face information sessions. Data gathered included: recruitment event dates, student registration for recruitment events, attendance status, student engagement with recruiter, recruitment outcomes, and frequently asked questions. Secondary data analysis was conducted during December 2015, using SAS v9.4. Results showed that 152 recruitment sessions were held including: SOPHAS virtual chat sessions (n = 5), CUNY SPH virtual chat sessions (n = 115), and face to face information sessions (n = 32). The fourth method consisted of an electronic form made available on the CUNY SPH website (n = 516). Overall, there were 298 applicants to various programs across these recruitment methods. Majority of the applicants (n = 144) were prospective students who were engaged with a recruiter (n = 597) in the sessions. This study identifies the gaps in aggregating standardized data across different sources in other to facilitate optimal data driven practices in recruitment.