Brief consultation with Jan Withofs from UCLL University College

When we speak with Jan Withofs, Head of Marketing at UCLL University College (8 campuses in Belgian Limburg and Flemish Brabant), it becomes apparent that he always has the Hippocampus dashboard at hand. However, this does not mean that the platform is only used ad-hoc. On the contrary, Hippocampus is used systematically by UCLL for marketing and recruitment and is also an integral part of the university college's quality cycle.

Could you explain the latter?

In recruiting students, quantity is important, but quality is just as significant. The chance of someone making the right study choice is greater if they receive the right information at the right time. And that is possible with Hippocampus.

Are you able to plan well?

Yes and no: the information flow here in Belgium often differs from that in the Netherlands. Here, we have relatively many late decision-makers. It remains uncertain what we can expect for certain courses for a long time.

How do you handle that?

By looking ahead effectively. We analyse the data of previous years for each course in Hippocampus, extrapolate it and thus sketch out scenarios. If the number of applications before the summer lags behind the scenario, then we speed up, for example with extra online marketing. Adjusting in the summer is quite challenging, but we do it nonetheless.

And what if things go faster than expected?

Then we can also make adjustments towards Marketing, Communication, as well as the internal organisation. The data in Hippocampus remain somewhat relative, as we also have many lateral entrants. These are university students who switch to a university college. This happens just before the start of the academic year and often they do not appear on the dashboard.

Opt-ins are becoming increasingly scarce. Is that the case for you too?

Absolutely. We are regularly present at fairs and try to scan all visitors there, including which course they are interested in. We follow up diligently on the opt-ins we acquire this way. They receive, alongside a newsletter of their favourite course, a Quality survey directly from Hippocampus about how we welcomed and informed them. An important contact moment and also a tool for us to keep improving.