Case Study: TargetX and Berklee College of Music
The Berklee College of Music doubles the number of applications from the previous year with expansion of TargetX
Challenges: A difficult application and audition scheduling process was creating barriers for Berklee applicants
Michael Moyes, Associate Dean of Admissions Strategy and Operations, began the process with TargetX to implement an ambitious admissions plan — to revamp and customize the application and application management process for the Online School.
That venture was so successful, Moyes decided to expand the TargetX Recruitment Suite with Online Application and Events to all of the undergraduate and graduate programs in Boston. That expansion includes the College’s new merger with the Boston Conservatory. However, Moyes was met with resistance across the campus from those who were wary of the new technology.
Moyes explains, “There was anxiety about whether or not this new technology was going to meet the campus needs. There was a lot of coaching and ‘trust us’ conversations that happened over the year.”
Having used the TargetX Recruitment Suite for the Online School, Moyes was confident in its ability to solve the major issues plaguing the undergraduate and graduate programs, primarily a difficult application process that did not have seamless audition scheduling attached.
“We needed our application and audition scheduling to feel almost like an afterthought,” Moyes says. “At the end of the day, an application is not a selling point for the school. It’s something that students have to do and if we don’t make it as intuitive and seamless as possible, we are putting up real barriers.”
Solutions: The TargetX Recruitment Suite offers a simple Online Application and Events tool that make for happy applicants
In the Spring of 2017, the barriers to ensuring a happy applicant were removed. Berklee expanded the TargetX Recruitment Suite with Online Application and Events to the undergraduate programs, with the graduate programs soon to follow.
Moyes says the application process is simple because of TargetX.
“Our application is visual now. The applicant can see what’s going on at the left of the screen telling them how much they have left to do. That psychologically helps so much,” says Moyes. “Additionally, the applicant can upload documents and fire off a recommendation request right in the application.
Having that built-in, instead of as an auxiliary process, makes it easier to do the application in one session.”
When Berklee merged with the Boston Conservatory in 2016, they also needed a solution that would combine their audition scheduling into one seamless system. They found it in TargetX Events, which allows them to pre-build all the audition sites and time slots for each day and attach them to the end of the application process.
“We needed to have it organized for trumpet, bassoon and piano players, dancers, and musical theater students—all these different variations—so that as soon as they complete an application, they can immediately schedule the audition,” Moyes says. “We were able to build that easily.”
The Online Application is currently making the process simpler for ten times more Berklee applicants than before the undergraduate launch.
Results: Berklee doubles the number of applications from last year with expansion of TargetX
When Berklee opened the TargetX Online Application this past Spring to the incoming undergraduate class, they received double the number of applications compared to the year prior.
Moyes says these are the kind of results he “really likes” and hopes to see replicated with the graduate school and Conservatory next. The third phase is to expand even further to the Valencia, Spain campus and the summer programs.
Needless to say, the anxiety across campus has happily abated.
Berklee College of Music at a Glance
- Founded in 1945
- Based in Boston, MA
- Offers a Spain campus and online school
- Serving 6,400 undergraduate and graduate students
- Recently merged with the Boston Conservatory
TargetX Solutions
Goals
Berklee wanted to broaden its use of the TargetX Recruitment Suite to:
- seamlessly tie together multiple programs and disparate systems;
- expand the intuitive user experience of the online application to its undergraduate and graduate programs; and
- schedule auditions simply