‘The programmes can actively participate in student recruitment and marketing’

Participation in the pilot programme provides clear benefits, says Professor of Practice Rita Järventie-Thesleff, who runs the Master's Programme in Global Management.

Rita Järventie-Thesleff

Six Aalto degree programmes containing around twenty subjects were selected for the project last year. The goal of the project was to develop student recruitment for this spring’s application period. Now the pilot is seeking new programmes.

‘The experience provided clear benefits,’ says Professor of Practice Rita Järventie-Thesleff. At the School of Business, she runs the Master's Programme in Global Management, which participated in the pilot last year.

According to Järventie-Thesleff, their participation in the programme provided inspiration and concrete help. She lists such useful experiences as the sparring provided by an ad agency on writing the programme description for the studies page. Her other highlights include the different tools and bases that were provided for the programmes.

‘In addition, the pilot programme provided an avenue for receiving peer support from other Aalto programmes and the opportunity to discuss various issues.’

According to Järventie-Thesleff, it is especially crucial that the people in the degree programmes become active participants, to ensure that their participation in the pilot is as beneficial as possible. ‘Even though the pilot programme provides valuable support, the programmes must still actively participate in their own marketing. They know their contents the best,’ she notes.

Rita Järventie-Thesleff encourages all programmes to pay especially close attention to their marketing on social media. ‘Arja Sahlberg, our coordinator, was responsible for that in our programme. Social media marketing is its own fast-paced “art form” where you learn by doing.’

‘In addition to staking your claim, you have to be there early. Young people are very involved in choosing their study areas and paths, and they're out there early,’ Rita Järventie-Thesleff emphasises.

The commitment to the pilot programme lasts for two years – apply now!

The invitation is to those bachelor’s and master’s programmes whose heads and staff are ready to develop their programme’s student recruitment for two years. The selected pilot programmes will participate in two workshops in spring 2017.

The pilot is part of the “Programme Attractiveness” strategic development project that was initiated in 2016. Read more: https://inside.aalto.fi/x/3yHeAg