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The role of the admissions director of a Catholic high school in Southern California

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The role of the admissions director of a Catholic high school in Southern California

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The Role of the Admissions Director of a Catholic High School in Southern California
by
Adrien Anthony López

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

December 2021

© Copyright by Adrien Anthony López 2021
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Adrien Anthony López certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Rudy Castruita
Briana Hinga
David Cash, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2021

iv

Dedication
This dissertation is dedicated to my family.

To Mama, thank you for always wanting more of me and from me. I will always treasure the
walks we had together to Puente Learning Center while I attended TK and you attended English
classes. Si se pudo!

To Dad, what more can I say? Thank you for the sacrifice you made for me and my siblings to
attend Catholic school. Although you went to heaven during my final year of my doctoral
program, I know you were with me each step of the way. Te extraño mucho.

A Mama y Papa, gracias por sacrificado todo por mi y mis hermanos. Ustedes son la razon de
nuestro existir y exito. Desde la tierra de Jalisco al barrio de Boyle Heights, nació la raíz de
nuestra familia. Que dios nos bendiga siempre!

To my sisters, Mina, Olga, and Maricela, Ceci, and Angelica: Thank you for always being in my
corner throughout my life. To my brothers, Jose Luis, Jr, and Arnold, Marco, and Carlos. Oscar,
thank you for always pushing me to do more and be better every day. As the youngest of our
family, you set the example and foundation for my educational attainment and success.

To my nieces and nephews, Oscar, Jacob, Sydney, Sophia, Bella, Max, Matteo, AJ, Jamileh,
Lucia, and Toby: Keep growing. Continue to achieve; you’re on deck!

v

To my wife, Daisy, I offer my sincerest love and appreciation. It was because of your staunch
support at home that my entire doctoral journey was made possible. Thank you for supporting
my ambition and my dedication to my students. Thank you for your endless hours of watching
our little Vibiana while I was away. You are truly an amazing wife and “supermomah.” To my
daughter Vibi, you were born during my first semester at USC; you were the reason I continued
to fight on! Mama and papa love you mucho! Lastly, to our son Adrien Refugio who we are
expecting soon, thank you for choosing me to be your papa. I can’t wait to tell you the story of
our family’s success.

To my friends, Cristy, Miguel, Javy, David: Twenty plus years ago, we formed a forever
friendship. A toast to us!

To my colleagues at Salesian, thank you for making me become a better friend, colleague, and
person; your mission of teaching the students at 960 South Soto brings out the best in us.

To my mentors, Mr. Johnson (J) and Mr. Delgado (Moi), from teachers to friends to brothers,
thank you for taking a chance on me and mentoring me in life and career. I am forever indebted
to your unrelenting faith in me. (St. John Bosco, PRAY FOR US!)

Last, to Drs. Cash, Castruita, and Hinga, thank you for challenging me throughout the
dissertation practice. Thank you for your constant push; because of your support, I am able to
look back on this journey with my head held high.

vi

To my teachers, from Puente Learning Center, St. Mary, Salesian, CSULA, LMU, and USC, you
formed a kid from Boyle Heights to become a student and person for others. You have each
contributed to my toolkit of knowledge.

To the students I have taught over the years, you have inspired me to become more rooted in
social justice and the mission of Don Bosco to love, teach, and inspire. Stay hungry, stay
humble, and always remember your heritage.

With gratitude and love,
Adrien

vii

Table of Contents

Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... iv
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
Chapter One: Overview of the Study .............................................................................................. 1
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................... 2
Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 3
Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 3
The Importance of the Study............................................................................................... 4
Limitations and Delimitations............................................................................................. 5
Limitations ............................................................................................................ 5
Delimitations ........................................................................................................ 5
Terminology ........................................................................................................................ 6
Organization of the Study ................................................................................................... 6
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature .......................................................................................... 8
The Role of Admissions...................................................................................................... 8
The Role of the Admissions Director ................................................................................. 9
Enrollment Management Practices ................................................................................... 10
Financial Aid as a Strategy Within Enrollment Management Practices ............ 11
Public and Private School Funding ................................................................................... 12
Competition for Students .................................................................................................. 13
Marketing in Secondary Schools by Admissions Directors ............................... 14
Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................... 16

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Summary ........................................................................................................................... 17
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 19
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................. 19
Sample and Population ..................................................................................................... 21
Instrumentation ................................................................................................................. 21
Data Collection Procedures............................................................................................... 22
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 23
Ethical Considerations ...................................................................................................... 25
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 25
Chapter Four: Findings ................................................................................................................. 26
Background ....................................................................................................................... 26
Demographics of Participants ........................................................................................... 27
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 28
Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................... 28
Coding of Data .................................................................................................................. 28
Findings............................................................................................................................. 29
Results for Research Question 1......................................................................... 29
Results for Research Question 2......................................................................... 36
Results for Research Question 3......................................................................... 43
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 49
Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 50
Chapter Five: Discussion .............................................................................................................. 53
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................. 53

ix

Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................... 54
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 54
Discussion of Findings ...................................................................................................... 54
Research Question 1 ........................................................................................... 54
Research Question 2 ........................................................................................... 55
Research Question 3 ........................................................................................... 56
Potential for Future Research............................................................................................ 57
Implications for Practice ................................................................................................... 57
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 59
References ..................................................................................................................................... 60
Appendix A: Survey Protocol ....................................................................................................... 68
Appendix B: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................... 69

x

List of Tables

Table 1. Gender of Interviewed Admissions Directors and Their Related Institutions 28

xi

List of Figures
Figure 1. Data Analysis Process 24

1

Chapter One: Overview of the Study
The Department of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (ADLA, 2019)
services 51 private and independent Catholic secondary schools that span from Los Angeles
County to Ventura County. For the 2020-2021 school year, they served approximately 26,980
secondary students. The number of students served by the ADLA has declined by approximately
20% in the past decade (Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, 2015). This change mimics both a state
and nationwide trend.
Catholic schools across the nation have witnessed a decline in enrollment in recent years.
According to Meyer (2007), Catholic school enrollment plummeted from 5.2 million students in
nearly 13,000 schools in 1960 to 2.5 million students in 9,000 schools in 1990. After a promising
increase in the late 1990s, by 2006, enrollment had dropped to 2.3 million students in 7,500
schools. According to the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA, 2021), the total
number of students in Catholic schools in the State of California has also declined; in the 2013-
2014 school year, there were 212,918 students enrolled in Catholic school, but by the 2018-2019
school year, there were only 199,529 students enrolled.
In order to remain solvent, Catholic secondary schools rely on student enrollment and
tuition collection. According to Cavanagh (2012), the nation’s Catholic schools have labored for
decades under increasingly adverse economic and demographic conditions that have undermined
their finances and sapped their enrollment. Their growing enrollment problem illustrates that
families may be foregoing Catholic schooling for the tuition-free education offered by traditional
and charter public schools.
According to their website, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD, n.d.),
which is the second largest school district in the United States, maintains and operates 254
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public, tuition-free high schools. Charter schools in particular, which first appeared three decades
ago, have emerged as potential competitors to Catholic schools for reasons connected to their
school systems’ missions, academic models, and populations served (Meyer, 2007). According
to Meyer (2007), it was the emergence of charter schools in the early 1990s, coupled with the
increasing costs of Catholic school tuition, that caused enrollment in Catholic schools to begin to
decline.
To combat this competitor threat, many Catholic high schools employ a director of
admissions to oversee strategic recruitment initiatives. Scannell (2004) stated that the director of
admissions, regardless of institution, is the person responsible for the oversight and management
of the day-to-day allocation of resources (both human and fiscal) to implement the plan to recruit
and admit the expected number and profile of new students. The admissions director’s role in a
Catholic secondary school is, therefore, to convince prospective families to select a Catholic high
school as the secondary school of choice over charter and traditional public schools. Thus, the
role of the admissions director is vital to the continued existence of Catholic secondary schools.
Statement of the Problem
The number of families choosing a Catholic education has declined across the nation
(Hunt, 2005; Meyer, 2007). Catholic K-12 enrollment reached an all-time high in the 1965-1966
school year, at 5.6 million pupils—a figure that represented 87% of nonpublic school enrollment
and accounted for 12% of all K-12 pupils in the United States (Hunt, 2005). According to the
NCEA (2021), total Catholic school student enrollment for the current academic year (2020-
2021) is 1,835,376. Therefore, from the 1965-1966 school year to the 2020-2021 school year,
total enrollment declined by 3,764,624 pupils throughout the United States. According to the
NCEA, there are only 561,214 secondary students in Catholic schools in the United States today.
3

In the Los Angeles area, declining enrollment may be due to the wide availability of
tuition-free options. Public schools, whether traditional or charter, are a direct competitor for
Catholic secondary schools. In LAUSD alone, there are 254 public high schools (LAUSD, n.d.).
According to Lauen et al. (2015), charter schools, in particular, are a threat to Catholic school
enrollment because their founders position their organizations to favorably vie for students in
relation to the position, mission, and reputation of nearby traditional public and private schools.
In response to this threat, Catholic schools, including those in the ADLA, have directed
resources to maintaining and increasing enrollment. One major strategy common in Catholic
schools has been to employ a director of admissions who is dedicated to overseeing all aspects of
enrollment management. However, though research exists on the role of admissions directors in
higher education, few studies have focused on their role in Catholic high schools.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to examine the practices of directors of admissions in
Catholic secondary schools and their role in relation to enrollment management.
Research Questions
This research study posed the following questions specific to the role of admissions
directors:
1. How does the work of the admissions director impact the other school leaders at the
secondary school?
2. How do admissions directors experience their role in recruitment for effective
enrollment management practice?
3. What indicators do admissions directors use to determine successful enrollment
management?
4

First, respective to these research questions, the term impact refers to the impact and
strategic recommendations of the admissions directors in their role for school-wide initiatives.
Second, the term experience is meant to indicate their role of recruitment in the larger aspect of
enrollment management. Third, the term indicators refer to benchmarks or metrics set in place
by the school leader on a yearly basis to define success.
The Importance of the Study
This research informs secondary school leaders in Catholic schools about the role of the
director of admissions, particularly in relation to enrollment management. The ADLA (2019)
stated that it is the nation’s largest and most culturally and socially diverse Catholic community,
covering nearly 9,000 square miles in 120 cities in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara
counties and serving 14,000 Catholic high school students. This study identifies and provides
best practices for the ADLA and other dioceses throughout the nation, all of whom are struggling
to attract prospective students and families in the competitive market of secondary school
options. Furthermore, this study highlights best practices for those who serve as directors of
admissions in Catholic secondary schools to increase enrollment. This research provides Catholic
secondary school leadership with information critical to effective strategic planning for
enrollment management. In addition, because each Catholic secondary school is unique
respective to governance, the study highlights the key importance of Catholic secondary school
leaders when allocating financial resources to admission efforts.
This study may also benefit policymakers in Catholic secondary schools throughout the
nation. The information gathered in the Southern California region for this study may serve as a
guide for how to halt the enrollment decline and increase Catholic school enrollment. This
5

research provides policymakers within Catholic schools a framework and toolkit to assist
directors of admissions in their outreach and recruitment efforts with prospective families.
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations
The results of this qualitative study are based on self-reported data from 24 directors of
admissions employed by Catholic secondary schools located within the region covered by the
ADLA. In addition, because the study took place in one location, the results of the research may
not be generalizable to other locations. Los Angeles is very demographically diverse and urban,
and it may not provide a one-size-fits-all strategy for the rest of the nation.
Another limitation of this study is its timeframe. The study took place in the fall of 2020,
when most admissions directors were recruiting students. This limited the availability of
potential respondents.
Delimitations
The study identifies the perceptions of the admissions directors of Catholic secondary
schools in the Los Angeles region. The research was limited to admissions directors employed
by the DCS within the ADLA. This study excluded the admissions directors of the other
neighboring dioceses within Southern California. In addition, this study focused on secondary
schools and not elementary schools; therefore, the study excluded over 200 Catholic elementary
schools within the ADLA.
Another delimitation to this study is my familiarity with Catholic school leadership,
given my role as an admissions director within the ADLA, DCS. I serve on the High School
Leadership Council for the DCS. Therefore, the design of my study might have been
6

misinterpreted by the participants, and the results might be skewed given my personal and
professional relationships with other admissions directors within the DCS.
Terminology
Catholic school leader: the lead administrator at the site-specific school; this may include
the president, principal, or head of school, depending on the leadership structure of the school.
High school administration: includes the Catholic school leaders and the directors of the
various departments within the given secondary school.
Outreach: the strategic actions of marketing and recruiting by the admissions director to
prospective families to inform them of the various programs, including athletics, academics, and
cocurricular activities, at Catholic schools.
Placement: the location of a Catholic secondary school in relation to public schools.
Price: the cost associated with attending a Catholic secondary school, commonly known
as school tuition.
Product: Catholic secondary school education.
Promotion: the public relations, marketing, and branding of a Catholic secondary school.
Success: the metrics and benchmarks established by the school leader and given to the
director of admission.
Organization of the Study
This study is organized into five chapters. The first chapter outlined the study and
included an introduction, the statement of the problem, the purpose of the study, and the research
questions. The second chapter includes a literature review focused on the role of admissions
directors of Catholic high schools in Southern California. The third chapter introduces the
methodology, data collection, protocols, and rationale for this study. The fourth chapter includes
7

a discussion of the results and the outcomes of the research. The fifth and final chapter discusses
the implications of the study and recommendations for further research.

8

Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
The number of families choosing Catholic education continues to decline (Meyer, 2007).
In Los Angeles, this may be due to the number of available options for schooling, which include
traditional public, charter, and parochial schools. Given the competition amongst schools, many
of which are tuition-free, the role of admissions directors is very important. However, very little
literature has focused on this population.
This research informs Catholic school leaders about the role of the director of admissions
in Catholic secondary schools, particularly in regard to enrollment management, throughout the
Los Angeles region. This chapter contains an overview of the role of admissions as well as the
specifics of enrollment management in relationship to the practice of admissions. As a subtopic,
the role of financial aid in the praxis of enrollment management is also addressed. In addition,
literature associated with the use of marketing in secondary schools is reviewed. The chapter
concludes with a presentation of the conceptual framework, culturally responsive school
leadership (CRSL), in relation to school leadership.
The Role of Admissions
Catholic high schools in the ADLA fall under the auspices of the DCS. According to LA
Catholics (n.d.), the system began in 1903 with 19 parochial schools, five academies, and a total
enrollment of 2,895. Today, the ADLA (2019) is the fourth-largest diocese in the United States
in terms of the number of both Catholic schools and students enrolled. In the ADLA, admissions
directors are employed by the DCS.
Existing literature provided rich information on the specifics of admissions. The term
holistic admissions referred to evaluating prospective students in the context of the educational,
personal, and financial conditions experienced by the applicant (Bastedo & Bowman, 2017;
9

College Board, 2012; Lucido, 2014). Holistic admissions, according to Lucido (2014), should
also consider social class as one context of an applicant’s background. However, according to a
study by Bastedo (2016), fidelity to holistic admissions practices was lower than anticipated, and
admissions officers reported unclear understandings of holistic admissions when asked to define
them (Bastedo & Bowman, 2017). The research by Lucido (2014) and Bastedo (2016) provided
meaningful information on the admissions process and how it is defined in relationship to the
role of admissions While the Bastedo study focused on the admissions practice in a higher
education capacity, the research suggested that the same may be applied to a secondary school
setting. When looking at the process of admissions, secondary school admissions directors may
look to higher education admissions processes for their work.
The Role of the Admissions Director
The admissions director is typically part of an admissions department. At the Columbia
College of Chicago (2016), for example, the admissions director reports to the associate vice
president of enrollment management and the director of undergraduate admissions and
recruitment. The director is responsible for designing and executing recruitment plans and
strategies to meet the enrollment goals set by the college. According to Miles (2018), the
recruitment and admissions staff are the first points of contact between prospective students and
families and the college or university in an enrollment management system. These staff members
build relationships with high school guidance counselors to attract the best students to their
institutions. The role of the admissions director in a Catholic secondary school is similar.
Hossler (1996) indicated that particular skills were needed to attract high-quality
students and to positively impact enrollment. Miles (2018) and Hossler (1996) elucidated the
roles and responsibilities that the admissions directors must meet to fulfill their job descriptions.
10

The admissions director is the person responsible for the oversight and management of the day-
to-day allocation of resources (human and fiscal) to implement the plan to recruit and admit the
desired number of new students (Scannell, 2004). Also, Mathis (2010) stated that admissions
counselors can provide valuable information to prospective students about the nature of the
institution's programs of study, research endeavors, and academic values. As such, the literature
suggested that the admissions director was the person between the school and the prospective
student/family.
Enrollment Management Practices
Enrollment management practices can be used by admissions directors to effectively
recruit prospective families. According to Hossler and Bean (1990), enrollment management is
an organizational concept and a systematic set of activities designed to enable educational
institutions to exert more influence over their student enrollments. Organized by strategic
planning and supported by institutional research, enrollment management activities concern
student school choice, the transition to a new school, student attrition and retention, and student
outcomes. Hossler (1986) added that enrollment management is a process that influences the
size, shape, and characteristics of a student body via areas such as marketing, recruitment,
financial aid, and admissions. Thus, admissions directors may utilize several methods to get
prospective students to attend their school.
Enrollment management was further identified as strategic; thus, enrollment management
can be phrased as strategic enrollment management (SEM). Borrowing the description of SEM
provided by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal in 2012, Hossler and Bontrager (2014) defined SEM
as a structural framework that can be simultaneously considered an organizational structure, a set
of processes, and organizational policies. In this context, SEM is simultaneously a set of
11

processes and policies associated with the recruitment and admission of college students and the
retention, academic success, and graduation of students enrolled in secondary education.
According to the authors, it is also a managerial paradigm for organizations associated with these
processes. The authors further defined SEM as a coordinated set of concepts and processes that
enable the fulfillment of institutional missions and students’ educational goals. Therefore,
admissions directors may align the processes to strategically and effectively recruit prospective
students throughout the country. Last, Hoover (2014) wrote that, as the coast-to-coast
competition for students intensifies, a profession that rides the whims of teenagers has become
even more uncertain. Demographic shifts, declining family incomes, and rising tuition have
complicated the task of recruiting and retaining students.
Financial Aid as a Strategy Within Enrollment Management Practices
Given the competitive enrollment landscape, admissions directors in Catholic secondary
schools in Southern California have to use all available resources to attract prospective students.
Connecting students to the financial support offered by nonprofit foundations is a sound financial
aid strategy and an effective tool for student recruitment. According to Litton et al. (2010), the
Catholic Education Foundation (CEF) is one such nonprofit organization. The CEF was founded
in 1987 to provide tuition assistance to students who would otherwise not be able to attend
Catholic schools due to financial limitations. According to the authors, the CEF supports
students in 167 of the 225 elementary schools and 30 of the 50 high schools in the ADLA. With
the assistance of the CEF, admissions directors can promote financial aid assistance as an
attractor for families who are considered low income.
The relationship between CEF and diocesan schools is paramount to ensuring that
enrollment is optimal in Catholic secondary schools. The single most documented barrier to
12

parents’ ability to enroll their children in a Catholic school is tuition (McDonald & Schultz,
2012). Furthermore, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB,
2006), since 1990, the average tuition in secondary Catholic schools has more than doubled;
during that same time, the portion of the total cost of educating a student that parents pay in
tuition has risen by almost 13%. As such, prospective families should be informed of the
relationship between CEF, the Catholic secondary school, and the local diocese. Thus, as
admissions directors of Catholic secondary schools in Southern California strategically plan for
effective enrollment management, they may consider how pricing decisions impact institutional
budgets and, by extension, the ability of decision‐makers to fund strategic priorities (Hossler &
Bontrager, 2014). Further, admissions directors of Catholic secondary schools in Southern
California act as enrollment managers who are often a part of the executive leadership team.
They supervise large staffs and budgets and must navigate presidential/board expectations,
faculty and athletic demands, and changing external policies and pressures (Hossler & Bontrager,
2014).
Public and Private School Funding
Admissions directors of Catholic secondary schools in Southern California, by and large,
work in schools that charge tuition. A public K-12 school has the distinct advantage of offering
its education at no cost to the student or family. This difference is due, primarily, to the
distinction between the sources of funding for public and private K-12 schools.
Public schools receive support from federal, state, and local funds, while nonpublic
schools, which are mostly independent of governmental education policy, do not benefit from
public funds, save for very few minimal exceptions. These exceptions include school choice
programs, which are growing in many states, and the state funding of educational savings
13

accounts parents may use to pay for private education (Mulaney, 2014). Therefore, private
schools typically receive little to no public funding and depend almost entirely upon revenue
from tuition to remain open (Maddaus, 1991). Furthermore, many private schools continue to
operate under the immense budgetary pressures brought on by the recent recession and continued
competition from public, charter, and home schools as well as other private institutions (Rivard,
2013).
Competition for Students
The emergence of charter schools led to an important change in the composition of
primary and secondary education (K–12) in the United States. According to the National
Alliance for Public Charter Schools (as cited in Buddin, 2012), the first charter school was
started in 1992 in Minnesota. By 2010, according to the authors, charters had spread to 40 states
and the District of Columbia and enrolled 1.7 million students in nearly 5,400 schools. Charter
schools are publicly funded schools that have considerable independence from school districts in
terms of their curriculum development and staffing decisions. Each charter is responsible for
meeting statewide accountability standards, but they have more flexibility than traditional public
schools in managing day-to-day operations. A key feature of charter schools is that they are open
to all students, while traditional public schools typically draw their enrollment from a district-
defined neighborhood. As of 2013, more than 6,000 charter schools enrolled over 2 million
students spread across the 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (National Alliance
for Public Charter Schools, as cited in Buddin, 2012)
This is important for admissions directors of Catholic secondary schools in Southern
California because when educational institutions must compete for students, questions arise on
how to best prepare for the grand undertaking of filling their schools. This particular challenge
14

has been at the heart of private education for many years, and while some periods have seen
nonpublic schools thrive and grow, more recent decades have brought about greater competition
and financial difficulties that can only be alleviated through the realization of optimal and
sustained enrollments. The increase in the number of charter and nonpublic options, continued
uncertainty in world financial markets, and the possibility of changes in education at the highest
levels of governmental oversight require that sound enrollment strategies are created at private
schools that depend upon tuition to survive (McNay, 2017). Thus, because private schools
typically receive little to no public funding and depend almost entirely upon revenue from tuition
to remain open (Maddaus, 1991), admissions directors have had to expand their purview to
include areas such as marketing.
Marketing in Secondary Schools by Admissions Directors
Many schools are currently facing a wide range of challenges, including a reduction in
student numbers (Aggarwal et al., 2013; Grant et al., 2005), the community’s closer attention to
how schools operate (Lingard et al., 2016; Normore, 2004; Webb, 2005), and the organization’s
coexistence with other schools that compete for the same pupils (Angus, 2015; Lubienski, 2006,
2007). These factors exert pressure upon schools to reassess their educational programs and to
become more attentive and responsive to the expectations and demands of the community.
Consequently, the use of marketing strategies to construct the public image of the school is likely
to occupy an increasingly prominent place in the work of contemporary school leaders. As these
activities become more central to the work of these professionals, there is also a growing need to
understand how they perceive, interpret, plan, and implement them.
School marketing is a way of doing things that expresses to students, parents, school
staff, and the community that the school is dedicated to serving the educational needs of the
15

community to the highest degree possible. This includes offering activities and materials that
consistently and effectively promote the school as the best education choice for students and
parents, that position the school as an asset within the community, and that frame the school as a
responsible administrator of taxpayers’ or supporters’ money. These activities include all the
things the school does to develop, implement, and maintain effective marketing, public relations,
and communication strategies. The materials used might include brochures, videos, newsletters,
prospectuses, school websites, and social media applications that support marketing activities.
However, marketing is more than activities and materials; it is a way of thinking, a state of mind,
and an attitude. Believing in the value of marketing, especially in the early stages of the
marketing effort, is a critical element for success. Some of the marketing views that are often
found among school administrators and staff can sabotage a marketing effort (Lockhart, 2016).
According to Lockhart (2016), marketing activities should be strategic, comprehensive,
and indirect. Further, in the private sector, marketing includes multiple phases and activities,
such as forecasting, product development, position assessment, market research, branding, the
creation of communication materials, and public relations that enhance the company’s long-term
relationship with its customers or stakeholders. Foskett (2002) wrote that marketing may be seen
as an operational process, involving, for example, promotional, sales, and public relations
activities. Alternatively, according to the author, it may be regarded as a holistic approach to the
management of an organization that encompasses its mission, strategies, and operations, and in
which the whole ethos and purpose of the organization is focused on the needs and wants of its
clients, partners, stakeholders, and customers.
To effectively “sell” the school, principals and teachers must be attuned to the needs of
the consumers. Rather than being a negative, the need to market the school has the positive effect
16

of making schools more responsive to the communities they serve and pushes them to reevaluate
and reassess how well they meet identified areas of need (Foskett, 2002; Harvey, 1996).
Theoretical Framework
The purpose of this study was to research the role of admissions directors of Catholic
high schools in the ADLA in relationship to enrollment management. I selected CRSL as the
theoretical framework for this study. This theory provided a perspective on this research and why
it was necessary for the field. Understating this framework was crucial to understanding the
relationship between what was being studied and its environment.
CRSL, as described by Khalifa et al. (2016), can trace its origins to culturally relevant
(Ladson-Billings, 1995) and culturally responsive pedagogies (Gay, 1994). Culturally relevant
pedagogy, as presented by Ladson-Billings (2014), focuses on three domains of teacher practice:
academic success, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness. Academic success, in
this model, refers to the intellectual growth that students experience as a result of classroom
instruction and learning experiences. Cultural competence refers to the ability to help students
appreciate and celebrate their cultures of origin while gaining knowledge of and fluency in at
least one other culture. Finally, sociopolitical consciousness refers to the ability to take learning
beyond the confines of the classroom using school knowledge and skills to identify, analyze, and
solve real-world problems.
These pedagogies led to what is known as CRSL, which is a framework through which
leaders can promote a school climate that is inclusive of minority students, particularly those
who have been marginalized within most school contexts (Khalifa et al., 2016). In this model,
school leaders also maintain a presence in, and relationships with, the community and the
17

community members they serve. Therefore, the role of admissions directors in Catholic schools
was viewed through the CRSL lens in this study.
Utilizing CRSL as the theoretical framework for this study allowed me to gain a deep
understanding of the admissions directors’ presence in the communities in which the Catholic
secondary schools were located. The framework also provided a perspective on the admissions
directors’ relationships with prospective families and the connections between the admissions
directors and the minority students seeking an education in Catholic secondary schools.
While the focus of Khalifa et al.’s (2016) research was on the role of the principal, I
applied their description of the key leadership skills of school leaders to admissions directors of
Catholic secondary schools. Further, Yosso (2005) stated that the role of advocacy in educational
leadership is well established as a way for culturally responsive leaders to lead and to earn the
trust and credibility of families and communities.
Summary
The role of the admissions director is not limited to enrollment management. Admissions,
marketing, and the relationship between the school and prospective families are essential for the
growth of Catholic secondary schools. Currently, there is limited research on the CRSL practices
admissions directors use in their roles. In addition, there is very little research on the role of
admissions directors in secondary schools. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the role of the
admissions director in Catholic secondary schools that effectively utilize CRSL practices.
This study contributed to academia by observing the role that admissions directors play in
school leadership, in the enrollment process itself, and in the larger context of enrollment
management. Chapter 3 includes a discussion of the design of the study, including the sample
18

and population studied, the data collection and analysis processes that were used, and the ethical
considerations that were addressed in this study.

19

Chapter Three: Methodology
There has been a decrease in the number of students attending Catholic schools in
Southern California, and specifically in the Los Angeles region (Conrad N. Hilton Foundation,
2015). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the practices of directors of
admissions in relationship to enrollment management in Catholic secondary schools in Southern
California. This study also examined the impact of CRSL within the role of director of
admissions. This qualitative study contributes to the field of education by identifying the best
practices used by directors of admissions of Catholic secondary schools to recruit students to
attend Catholic secondary schools.
Chapter 3 includes a summary of the problem statement, the purpose of the research, and
a restatement of the research questions that were developed to help guide this study. The chapter
also contains information about the methodological approach that was selected for this study,
along with a description of the participants, instrumentation, procedures for data collection, and
methods of data analysis. Last, ethical considerations such as confidentiality and data security
are discussed.
Statement of the Problem
The number of families choosing a Catholic education has declined across the nation
(Hunt, 2005; Meyer, 2007). Catholic K-12 enrollment reached an all-time high in the 1965-1966
school year, at 5.6 million pupils—a figure that represented 87% of nonpublic school enrollment
and accounted for 12% of all K-12 pupils in the United States (Hunt, 2005). According to the
NCEA (2021), total Catholic school student enrollment for the current academic year (2020-
2021) is 1,835,376. Therefore, from the 1965-1966 school year to the 2020-2021 school year,
20

total enrollment declined by 3,764,624 pupils throughout the United States. According to the
NCEA, there are only 561,214 secondary students in Catholic schools in the United States today.
In the Los Angeles area, declining enrollment may be due to the wide availability of
tuition-free options. Public schools, whether traditional or charter, are a direct competitor for
Catholic secondary schools. In LAUSD alone, there are 254 public high schools (LAUSD, n.d.).
According to Lauen et al. (2015), charter schools, in particular, are a threat to Catholic school
enrollment because their founders position their organizations to favorably vie for students in
relation to the position, mission, and reputation of nearby traditional public and private schools.
In response to this threat, Catholic schools, including those in the ADLA, have directed
resources to maintaining and increasing enrollment. One major strategy common in Catholic
schools has been to employ a director of admissions who is dedicated to overseeing all aspects of
enrollment management. However, though research exists on the role of admissions directors in
higher education, few studies have focused on their role in Catholic high schools.
Given the enrollment data presented by the NCEA (2021), which showed that only just
over half a million students are currently attending secondary Catholic schools in the United
States, this research addressed the following questions specific to the role of admissions
directors:
1. How does the work of the admissions director impact the other school leaders at the
high school?
2. How do admissions directors experience their role in recruitment for effective
enrollment management practice?
3. What indicators do admissions directors use to determine successful enrollment
management?
21

Sample and Population
The population for this study consisted of the 24 directors of admissions employed by the
DCS for the ADLA. I sent surveys to the entire population. In addition, I conducted in-depth,
one-on-one interviews with five of these directors of admissions. According to Patton (2002), the
purpose of interviewing is to allow the researcher to enter into the other person's perspective.
Surveys, on the other hand, describe “what is”—that is, how variables are distributed across a
population or phenomenon (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This study attempted to answer three
research questions, and I utilized the CRSL framework to analyze the findings of the research.
The subjects of the research study were the 24 directors of admissions of Catholic secondary
schools that belong to the ADLA, DCS. I selected a sample based on time, money, location, and
respondents (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Instrumentation
Qualitative research focuses on how meaning is constructed and how people make sense
of their lives and worlds. A basic qualitative study's primary goal is to uncover and interpret said
meanings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In this qualitative study, I utilized two methods for
collecting data. The first data collection method was a survey that contained 18 open-ended
questions (see Appendix A). It was sent to all admissions directors employed in secondary
schools run by the DCS for the ADLA in Southern California. According to Merriam and Tisdell
(2016), surveys or descriptive designs are intended to systematically describe the facts and
characteristics of a given phenomenon or the relationships between events and phenomena.
The second data collection method that was used for this study was one-on-one, in-depth
interviews. Specifically, I conducted semi-structured interviews with five admissions directors
(see Appendix B). Semi-structured interviews use a guide that includes a mix of more- and less-
22

structured interview questions; all questions are used flexibly, and specific data are gathered
from all respondents. The most significant part of the interview was guided by a list of questions
or issues to be explored, as recommended by Merriam and Tisdell (2016). Interviews grant the
researcher access to others' observations and illuminate what people perceive and how they
interpret their perceptions (Weiss, 1994). Essentially, interviews give the researcher a window on
the past.
Using two methods to collect data in a qualitative research design allows for triangulation
(Fielding & Fielding, 1986). According to Maxwell (2013), triangulation involves using different
methods to check on one another; this is done to see if methods with different strengths and
limitations support a single conclusion. In addition, triangulation increases credibility and quality
by countering the concern that a study's findings are simply an artifact of a single method, a
single source, or a single investigator’s blinders (Patton, 2015). I surveyed and interviewed the
admissions directors to conduct a more in-depth investigation into their perceptions of their role
as admissions directors.
Data Collection Procedures
For this research study, I utilized surveys and interviews to collect data from the
participants, all of whom were admissions directors of Catholic secondary schools, to eliminate
researcher bias. I utilized triangulation to ensure validity. It is important to note that given the
current COVID-19 pandemic, all previously planned face-to-face data collection procedures
were conducted via electronic means in a virtual setting.
I emailed a survey, via Google Forms, to the 24 directors of admissions throughout the
DCS in the ADLA in Southern California. I used the survey to better understand their roles as
admissions directors in recruiting prospective students to Catholic schools, particularly in the
23

context of competing with traditional and charter public schools. The Google Forms surveys
were sent out to the admissions directors during the Spring 2021 semester. This timeframe was
selected because new admissions directors are typically hired by July for the upcoming school
year. My goal was to have all 24 surveys completed and returned.
I also conducted five interviews with admissions directors within the DCS in the ADLA
during the Spring 2021 semester (see Appendix B). The goal was to sit down with one
admissions director from a co-educational secondary Catholic school, one admissions director
from an all-male secondary Catholic school, and three admissions directors from an all-female
Catholic secondary school. I coordinated with the school site leaders at individual secondary
schools to request access to interview the admissions director in each of these settings during the
fall semester. This did not interrupt their recruitment activities. The five interviews occurred via
an electronic media platform, and each participant was given a consent form to sign before the
interview took place. The objective of interviewing admissions directors from both co-
educational and single-gender school settings was to discover if they utilized CRSL in their role
and in their successes as admissions directors.
Data Analysis
To analyze the data collected via surveys and interviews, I utilized Creswell’s (2014) data
analysis process (see Figure 1). I followed the steps as outlined to collect and analyze the data.
The first step was to organize and prepare for data analysis through transcription and extended
note taking. Next, I examined the data and obtained an overall interpretation of the meaning of
the interviews, observations, and documents. This was followed by the coding process, in which
data was chunked into categories; the chunks were then developed into themes using open and
priori codes and descriptions that added to the complexity of the analysis. I then determined how
24

the themes were represented in the qualitative narrative. In the final step, the data were
interpreted to make meaning from the findings.

Figure 1
Data Analysis Process

Note. Adapted from Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches (4th ed.), by J. W. Creswell, 2014. Copyright 2014 by SAGE.

25

Ethical Considerations
The participants in this study were protected, and their identities remain confidential.
Pseudonyms were used both for the admissions directors themselves and for the secondary
Catholic schools in which they worked. The University of Southern California’s Institutional
Review Board reviewed the research proposal before any participants were contacted.
I am a current assistant principal and admissions director in a secondary school within the
DCS in the ADLA. Thus, I am a colleague within the same secondary school setting as the study
participants. According to Glesne (2011), this situation may allow the researcher to gain access
to confidential information that is given in friendship, rather than in the researcher role. As such,
it is essential to note that I have worked for the DCS for the last 10 years. In that time, I have
maintained professional, collegial relationships throughout the Department of Catholic Schools,
specifically in secondary schools.
Summary
Chapter 3 described the research methods that were utilized for this study. In addition, the
chapter explained that the data were viewed through the lens of CRSL. The chapter also
contained a restatement of the research problem and information on the sample and population
for the study, the research instruments, and the procedures for the collection and analysis of the
data. Last, this chapter addressed my own ethical considerations as well as those for this study.
This chapter highlighted Merriam and Tisdell’s (2016) work on sampling and
instrumentation and Creswell’s (2014) steps for data analysis. The data were collected via
surveys, and interviews were analyzed according to Creswell’s recommendations and in light of
the CRSL framework. Chapter 4 will present the findings based on this analysis.
26

Chapter Four: Findings
This chapter presents an analysis of the data collected for this study, which examined the
role of admissions directors in Catholic secondary schools in Southern California in relation to
enrollment management.
Background
Families in Southern California have two primary options, public or Catholic, when
choosing a secondary school for their children. LAUSD (n.d.), the second largest school district
in the United States, maintains and operates 254 high schools, while the DCS for the ADLA
(2019) services 51 Catholic private and independent secondary schools that span from Los
Angeles County to Ventura County. Therefore, families in this area have numerous free or
tuition-based institutions from which to choose.
Tuition-based schools must compete both with each other and with free public schools
for a limited number of students. Therefore, admissions directors play a pivotal role in
maintaining the viability of tuition-based schools. However, few studies have focused on this
population. This study addressed that gap by investigating the admissions directors’ presence in
the community, their relationships with prospective families, and the connection between the
admissions directors and the students seeking to attend Catholic secondary schools. This
investigation was viewed through the lens of CRSL.
CRSL, as described by Khalifa et al. (2016), was used as the framework for this study. Its
roots trace back to culturally relevant (Ladson-Billings, 1995) and culturally responsive (Gay,
1994) pedagogies. While Khalifa et al.’s (2016) research focused on the role of the principal,
their description of the key leadership skills required of school leaders was applicable to this
study because admissions directors are part of the leadership team.
27

Data for this study were collected using surveys and electronic interviews. Qualitative
data were collected via an electronic survey that was emailed to 24 directors of admissions
throughout the ADLA. The survey had an overall completion rate of 50%; 60% of the
respondents were female, and 40% of the respondents were male.
In addition to the survey, I also conducted one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with
five admissions directors via Zoom. Three of the interviewees were women, and two were men.
The semi-structured interviews consisted of 10 questions. The semi-structured interview method
allowed for follow-up questions.
The use of two qualitative methods allowed for triangulation of the data (Fielding &
Fielding, 1986). According to Maxwell (2013), triangulation involves using different methods to
check on one another, seeing if methods with different strengths and limitations support a single
conclusion. Triangulation increases credibility and quality by countering the concern that a
study's findings are simply an artifact of a single method, a single source, or a single
investigator’s blinders (Patton, 2015).
Demographics of Participants
A total of 14 respondents (8 females and 6 males) participated in the survey (see Figure
1). Gender may have played a role in relation to the demographic of the Catholic secondary
schools they served. A total of five admissions directors participated in an electronic, one-on-one
interview. Table 1 presents the genders of the interviewees as well as the gender of the students
at each secondary school. One female director worked in an-all boys Catholic secondary school,
two females worked in all-girls Catholic secondary schools, and two males worked in co-
educational secondary schools.
28

Table 1
Gender of Interviewed Admissions Directors and Their Related Institutions
Gender of admissions director Gender of secondary school students
Female Male
Female Female
Female Female
Male Co-educational
Male Co-educational

Research Questions
The findings in this research study were guided by three research questions:
1. How does the work of the admissions director impact the other school leaders at the
secondary school?
2. How do admissions directors experience their role in recruitment for effective
enrollment management practice?
3. What indicators do admissions directors use to determine successful enrollment
management?
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to examine the practices of directors of admissions in
Catholic secondary schools and their role in relation to enrollment management.
Coding of Data
In order to conduct the data analysis for this study, I began by categorizing data that were
relevant to the research questions. To do so, I listened to the audio recordings of the interviews
while utilizing Creswell’s (2014) data analysis process, which had several steps. The first step
was to organize and prepare for the data analysis through transcription and extended note taking.
29

Next, I examined the data and obtained an overall interpretation of the meaning of the
interviews, observations, and documents. This was followed by the coding process, in which data
were chunked into categories; the chunks were then developed into themes using open and priori
codes and descriptions that added to the complexity of the analysis. I then determined how the
themes were represented in the qualitative narrative. In the final step, the data were interpreted to
make meaning from the findings.
Findings
The findings are presented in categories and themes taken from the analysis of both the
surveys and interviews. The findings from this research provide policymakers and school leaders
within Catholic secondary schools with a framework to assist directors of admissions in their
outreach and recruitment efforts with prospective families.
Results for Research Question 1
Research Question 1 was this: How does the work of the admissions director support the
other school leaders at the secondary school? The subsections that follow explore the results
obtained in response to this question.
Admissions Director Supporting President/Principal
The principal and the president lead Catholic secondary schools in Southern California.
Marino (2010) stated that, while the president leads the way for school advancement through
financial development and the proper administration of these resources, the principal works in a
parallel capacity to advance viable and appropriate academic programs for those they serve. The
president is tasked with the advancement of the school, the principal is responsible for the
academic programs of the school, and the director of admissions is tasked with enrollment
management and the marketing/outreach plan at the school. The director of admissions is
30

responsible for recruiting an optimum number of students for the principal. Once the optimum
number of students is reached, the principal then has the ability to properly plan the number of
class sections available for the faculty. Thus, the admissions director supports the principal by
enrolling the desired number of students so that the principal can make further decisions on class
sizes, class sections, and the hiring of teachers.
According to Clark (2016), leadership in Catholic schools must be viewed through the
lens of time and place; in other words, it must be viewed in light of its particular circumstances,
needs, and challenges. Leadership takes many different forms and must respond to the needs of
the institution. When discussing Catholic school leadership, Branson et al. (2019) stated the onus
is upon leaders to carefully nurture and skillfully support people within the organization by
focusing on such things as relationships, interpersonal skills, psychological commitment,
communication, empowerment, teamwork, trust, participation, and flexibility.
Admissions Director B, a female admissions director who works in an all-girl Catholic
secondary school in Southern California, spoke about the ways she supports her principal and
president. She stated,
I provide data and reports to the president and principal regarding the number of
applicants and how many applicants submit financial aid, so that they can focus on the
development and fundraising of the school. I basically take care of all things enrollment
management so that they (principal/president) don’t have to worry about it.
Admissions Director B supported the president and principal by providing data. She
supported the president by providing the number of financial aid applications submitted by
prospective families. She also supported the principal by providing the registered number of
students for the upcoming fall. The director of admissions is charged with the overall enrollment
31

management of the school, leaving the president to focus on the fiscal viability of the school and
the principal to focus on the curriculum of the secondary school. Each school leader’s role is
clearly defined, and each knows their responsibility to the secondary school.
Marketing and Outreach Plan
According to Scannell (2004), the admissions director is the person responsible for the
oversight and management of the day-to-day allocation of resources (human and fiscal) to
implement the plan to recruit and admit the expected number and profile of new students. The
admissions director is the person accountable for the day-to-day operations of recruiting
prospective students and families to attend their school. Essentially, the admissions director is
responsible for creating an annual plan to ensure that new students enter the school.
As part of the survey protocol, participants were asked, “How many people are currently
employed within the admissions department?” Of the 14 respondents, five stated that two people
work in the department, six stated that they are the only person within the department, and two
stated that three people work within the department. This was an important data point because it
informed me about how many people were dedicated to accomplishing the admissions director’s
tasks. In addition, the data provide context as to how resources are allocated to the admissions
office.
The same question was posed during the interviews that were conducted as part of this
research. The responses that follow are from the interview protocol from the five directors of
admission. The first participant, Admissions Director A, was a female admissions director who
worked in an all-boy Catholic secondary school in the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California.
She stated, “I would say that I create the plan, I definitely want to work with administration and
get their input and get their support. But you know the planning and the execution really is up to
32

me.” Admissions Director B, a female admissions director who worked in an all-girl Catholic
secondary school in Southern California, also stated that she plays the most significant role in the
admissions department. She stated,
The main role. I get to do pretty much everything. So, I do all the presentations, I am at
all the admissions events. I'm pretty much like the go to person for admissions at my
particular school; my job is to really bring in new families and I'm pretty much the face
of the admissions office.
Admissions Director C, a male admissions director who worked in a co-educational
Catholic secondary school in Southern California, stated that he is responsible for the following:
“Organizing the admissions process from the intaking of applications to the processing of
applications, organization of the files, the registered with the register.” Admissions Director D, a
male admissions director who worked in a co-educational Catholic secondary school in the San
Gabriel Valley in Southern California, shared,
It's usually me in communication with the assistant principal and principal as to what our
intentions are who we're going to approach the timeline in regard to high school nights in
the past. And then we talk about that calendar when we want to schedule strategically
schedule our activities nights on Zoom or our open house, which we did a few different
options we did a Zoom one and then we did a, a drive thru one so really, it's thinking
outside the box and how we can captivate prospective families.
Admissions Director E, a female admissions director who worked in an all-girl Catholic
secondary school in Southern California, stated,
33

Micro marketing is when I get the principal involved, she gets to do a lot of meets and
greets with the families. I do my shadow day Fridays. And then I also do a lot of campus
tours. So that's when I micromanage the situation.
From the development through the completion of the admissions/outreach plan, the
admissions director is in communication with the school leadership (either the school principal
or school president) for the approval of the plan. The admissions director is accountable for the
marketing/outreach plan, and the school principal or president is responsible for ensuring the
admissions director is held accountable for the execution of the plan.
Admissions Outreach to Diverse Communities
An admissions director must reach out to diverse communities in Southern California.
Madhlangobe (2009) noted that culturally responsive leaders show determination to create a
welcoming school environment for all students and their parents. The admissions directors who
participated in this study were culturally responsive leaders who created welcoming
environments for prospective families at their school. When I asked specifically if CRSL was
utilized in their role, the respondents’ answers varied. For example, Admissions Director A
stated,
But as far as targeted outreach to underrepresented communities, I don't think we would
do nearly enough. And I compare and contrast that to the charter schools that I've been
involved in because that is such a mandate of their overall outreach.
While Admissions Director A stated that they do not do enough for their community,
Admissions Director B stated, “You know we are culturally inclusive, but I feel our community
is, you know, tended to Spanish speaking families usually.”
34

The response given by Admissions Director B mirrored the statement given by
Admissions Director C, who said,
Being a, you know, Latino myself or in the leadership and representing that, but there's
also been a cultural change, funny thing is like we compete with schools that, you know,
that are borderline Orange County, which is a different demographic.
As part of the survey protocol, I also asked how participants used culturally relevant
leadership in their admissions process. One respondent stated,
As an effective leader, I recognize the importance of including students’ cultural
backgrounds and lived experiences in all aspects of learning. The delivery of highly
effective and culturally responsive pedagogy is integral to the creation of meaningful
educational experiences which support college and career readiness and increased success
for all Latino young women. As the admissions director it becomes a vital part of the
process in recruiting a diverse enrollment for the purpose of cultural and relevant
instruction of all students.
The admissions directors in this study acted as culturally responsive leaders because they
worked with diverse communities throughout Southern California. Admissions directors sharing
their lived experiences was an example of being culturally competent because they also attended
Catholic secondary school. By attracting students who are culturally diverse, admissions
directors are being culturally responsive. Promoting overlapping school–community contexts,
speaking (or at least honoring) students’ languages/lexicons, creating structures that
accommodate the lives of parents, or even creating school spaces for marginalized student
identities and behaviors all speak of this community aspect (Khalifa et al., 2016)
35

Discussion for Research Question 1
I conducted a thorough analysis of the data presented by the surveys and interviews. The
findings suggested two key themes for the first research question. First, the director of
admissions is the person responsible for the genesis and development of the marketing plan.
Upon completion of the marketing plan, the admissions director then consults with the president
or principal of the school for final approval of the marketing plan; it is in this manner that the
director of admissions supports the other school leaders.
The second finding was that secondary school leaders utilized CRSL as a framework for
their role in the admissions process without knowing the CRSL theory. For example, the
interviewees acknowledged that they worked with diverse populations, but they could not define
the CRSL as a structure for their role. Their leadership approach suggested that they wanted the
school leaders to clearly identify with the population they represented. According to Khalifa et
al. (2016), given the spiritual positionalities of many minority communities, this pragmatic
prophetic expression of school leadership is responsive to their cultural needs. As admissions
directors in Southern California recruit prospective students, they enact CRSL because they
market the benefits of being a Catholic secondary school that welcomes diverse faiths.
Admissions Director A, however, stated that the school does not do enough to serve their school
community given that their school primarily serves a homogenous population.
While the focus of Khalifa et al.’s (2016) research was on the role of the principal, their
description of key leadership skills for school leaders can be applied to admissions directors of
Catholic secondary schools. Further, Yosso (2005) stated that the role of advocacy in educational
leadership is well established as a way for culturally responsive leaders to lead and to earn the
trust of families and communities. Therefore, the director of admissions role is to be the liaison
36

between the school and the external stakeholders to attract prospective students to attend their
Catholic secondary school.
Results for Research Question 2
Research Question 2 was as follows: How do admissions directors experience their role
in recruitment for effective enrollment management practice? This question explored the role of
an admissions director in relation to effective enrollment management practice. According to
Hossler and Bean (1990), enrollment management is an organizational concept and a systematic
set of activities designed to enable educational institutions to exert more influence over their
student enrollments. Organized by strategic planning and supported by institutional research,
enrollment management activities concern student college choice, the transition to college,
student attrition and retention, and student outcomes. An analysis of the data highlighted three
themes for effective enrollment management practice as admissions directors: customer
relationship management, financial aid, and faith-based education.
Customer Relationship Management
The first theme to emerge in response to Research Question 2 was related to customer
relationship management (CRM) or customer service, as it is more commonly known. Within the
context of CRM, Poole (2017) stated that students and their families may develop relationships
with the teachers and administrators with whom they interact, as well as with the schools these
employees represent. Strong positive bonds with a school can be conveyed in the wearing of
branded attire, boasting about the school’s legacy and reputation to friends and family, and
donating resources to the school long after one’s studies have been completed. One admissions
director in an all-female secondary school spoke about CRM this way:
37

We do a variety of things to cultivate a relationship with a variety of stakeholders. We are
always engaging with elementary school principals and elementary teachers to help us
with recruitment and think of us as their school for their students. We also maintain
relationships with families that inquire about the school through the admissions season to
make sure that they receive the best personal care for them to follow through with the
application process, as well as the enrollment process. We do a variety of things from gift
drop offs to elementary schools, marketing materials for students, and personalized tours,
and personalized admissions events, along with amazing acceptance packages for
students.
Madhlangobe (2009) noted that culturally responsive leaders show determination to create a
welcoming school environment for all students and their parents. Thus, this admissions director
exuded CRSL by creating a safe and welcoming relationship from the time they first interacted
with the prospective family.
Enrollment management software is also tied to CRM. Admissions Director A spoke
about its importance and mentioned,
It has really made the transparency, the consistency, and the momentum, it’s elevated all
of those things for us. So, I can go into my dashboard, and I can see a conversion yield, I
can see my numbers, you know, March 25, 2020 versus March 25, 2021 exactly where
we are, to see if that that yield has improved or decreased.
According to the participants in this study, as the director of admissions recruits
prospective families, the utilization of an enrollment management software system allows for
customer service efficiency. The software provides the director with a dashboard to track the
38

touchpoints the director has with each prospective family and, therefore, maximizes the customer
service between the director and the prospective family.
Financial Aid/Tuition Assistance
The second theme to emerge from the data collected for Research Question 2 was the role
of financial aid/tuition assistance programs at each of the secondary schools. According to the
participants in this study, admissions directors in Catholic secondary schools in Southern
California often use the financial support of nonprofit foundations as a financial aid strategy for
student recruitment. The Catholic Education Foundation (CEF) is one such foundation that was
mentioned by participants. According to Litton et al. (2010), the CEF was founded in 1987 to
provide tuition assistance to students who would otherwise not be able to attend Catholic schools
due to financial limitations. The CEF supports students in 167 of the 225 elementary schools and
30 of the 50 high schools in the ADLA. Admissions directors can promote the financial aid
provided by CEF to attract families who are considered low income. One admissions director
stated,
Financial aid is probably the second question is being asked, you know, how much will I
pay, you know, they know that they're going to get a quality education, they're going to
get offered different sports programs, but financial aid is one of the biggest hurdles, if
you don't have a healthy financial aid program or Merit Scholarship Program. I think you
know it's become that competitive, to the point where it's you know families might start
looking at a different option.
Another admissions director also provided information on her secondary school’s
reliance on financial assistance for prospective families. Admissions Director B stated,
39

Oh 100% I mean 98% of our students at our school receive some sort of financial aid. So,
it really does have we, I mean for instance in this admission season we have a parent that
wants to transfer students from another Catholic high school, because their tuition is just
too high so ours is a little bit more affordable, and so that really helps our families, so I
mean it plays a big role at our school and we are always trying to help our families.
In addition to speaking about the importance of financial aid, both admissions directors
also remarked on the competitiveness between Catholic secondary schools, particularly
regarding the specifics of the value of Catholic secondary schooling. Because private schools
typically receive little to no public funding and depend almost entirely upon revenue from tuition
to remain open (Maddaus, 1991), free public and charter schools remain the biggest competitors
for private schools (Buddin, 2012). This makes financial aid even more important for Catholic
schools.
Survey participants were also asked about the importance of financial aid to enrollment
management. Specifically, they were asked, “What role does the admissions director play in the
financial aid endeavors at their school?” Admissions Director 5 stated, “I am the liaison between
our principal and financial team as to the families need and/or expectations financially. I do not
make any tuition decisions just relay information. I promote tuition assistance form submission
and discuss the process.” Similarly, Admissions Director 7 stated, “I guide families to our
financial aid process information and try to structure the information on our website in a clear,
non-intimidating way. We have a dedicated financial aid person who works with families
through this process.”
Culturally responsive school leaders use official school structures and resources to
promote inclusive school environments (Davis & Jordan, 1995; Gooden, 2005; López et al.,
40

2001; Morris, 1991). Therefore, using resources like strong financial aid programs to allocate
financial resources to a diverse population marks the admissions directors in this study as
culturally responsive.
The data revealed, however, that the role of the admissions director is limited to
consulting in the financial aid process. In other words, the admissions directors inform
prospective secondary school families about financial aid and guide them through the program
but do not make decisions about the financial aid packages for each prospective family. In other
words, while the directors of admissions in Catholic secondary schools are responsible for
enrollment management, they do not have a role in making financial aid decisions for
prospective families—even though the availability of financial aid plays a large role in their
ability to enroll students. The data further showed that there was a lack information between the
director and the financial aid office due to the admissions director’s lack of involvement in the
disbursement of financial aid.
Catholic Faith
The final theme that emerged in response to Research Question 2 was the Catholic faith
aspect of secondary schools. The USCCB (2006) asserted that the purpose of Catholic schools is
to provide a “sound education, rooted in the Gospel message, the Person of Jesus Christ, and rich
in the cherished traditions and liturgical practices of our faith” (p. 315). The data collected for
this study supported the importance of marketing the Catholic part of a Catholic education to
prospective students.
Admissions Director A reflected on this question about Catholic education and stated,
41

I think school choice is a very positive thing for all. I think that it helps Catholic schools
because it opens the idea, it opens parents to the possibility of maybe your neighborhood
school may not be the best fit for your child.
Similarly, Admissions Director C stated, “Obviously, they know what they expect out of a
Catholic, private education. They know that they're going to get those values, you know, maybe
even for some most of our families, you know, their religion.”
Admissions Director E agreed that most parents enrolled their children in Catholic
schools to further their religious education. She stated, “The parents they do come in, are
attracted to the Catholic system. These parents are because their Catholic faith is very important.
And developing their children with a strong and religious foundation is very important.”
Admissions Director 1 agreed and stated,
I also let my prospective families know that daily exposure to the Catholic faith is
important to developing a strong religious foundation. Daily lessons in the Catholic
faith create a strong foundation for children/young adults and graduates of Catholic
high schools are statistically more likely to continue church involvement as an adult.
Admissions Director 5 shared their own educational history with prospective families. This
participant stated,
I try to highlight all the positive aspects and benefits students can receive by attending
a Catholic HS. I share that I attended a Catholic school from 1st–12th with families. I
focus on the relationship building aspect of attending a smaller school vs. attending a
public school with thousands of students.
The participants presented Catholic school as a viable option for prospective families by
highlighting its benefits for those who desired a faith-based education rooted in Catholic values.
42

Survey participants stated that they also highlighted Catholic values and the school’s ability to
strengthen their students’ foundation in Catholicism when recruiting prospective families. For
example, some of the admissions directors indicated that they themselves attended Catholic
schools. They shared that, when trying to recruit new students, they shared personal anecdotes
about the positive effect Catholic schools had in their lives. In addition, the data collected for this
study showed that, when recruiting prospective families, admissions directors highlighted the
importance of the mission of the secondary school, which is rooted in their Catholic faith.
Discussion for Research Question 2
I conducted a thorough analysis of the data presented in the surveys and interviews.
Three key themes emerged from the data collected for the second research question. First, the
directors of admissions utilize CRM for effective enrollment management. The process of CRM
places the prospective family as the customer and the admissions director as the relationship
manager between the school and the prospective student. To improve the efficacy of their
enrollment management practices, many directors of admissions use enrollment management
software to track their various touchpoints with prospective students.
Second, the directors of admissions rely on the secondary school’s financial aid/tuition
assistance program to attract prospective students to the school. Each of the remote interview
participants acknowledged that part of their success in their role depends on the amount of
financial aid/tuition assistance available to prospective families. However, the survey and
interview responses also indicated that the directors of admissions had no role in appropriating
the funds or allocating them to prospective families.
Third, the directors of admissions in this study stated that, as part of their enrollment
management practices, they highlighted the importance of a Catholic, faith-based secondary
43

education to prospective families. For example, one director shared with prospective families
about their own Catholic faith and how it related to the school’s values. Directors of admissions
who attended Catholic secondary school themselves provided their own lived experiences of the
value of Catholic secondary schooling by informing the prospective students of their own
successes.
Results for Research Question 3
The third research question was this: What indicators do admissions directors use to
determine successful enrollment management? This question explored the role of the admissions
director in relation to the metrics used to determine whether enrollment was successfully
managed. An analysis of the data revealed two themes in relation to the metrics used by
admissions directors. The first key metric was comprised of admission recruitment activities and
the attendance of prospective students at admissions recruitment events. The second metric was
the development of ongoing relationships with prospective families made by the admissions
director throughout the recruitment process.
Admission Recruitment Activities and Attendance
The first theme that emerged was that the director of admissions is responsible for
creating various recruitment events to attract prospective students. These recruitment activities
include high school information nights, school day visits, high school placement tests, and open
houses.
High School Information Nights and School Day Visits. The first admission
recruitment activities mentioned by participants were high school information nights and school
day visits. High school information nights are recruitment activities that take place in the evening
and in which the director of admissions travels throughout the region, in this case Southern
44

California, to recruit families and students. School day visits are recruitment activities in which
the director of admissions travels to middle schools during the day to recruit students. Whereas a
high school information night attracts parents and students, the school day visit is geared
primarily toward middle school students.
Admissions Director B spoke about these recruitment activities and the information they
supply. She stated,
We look how many presentations we do at elementary schools, we also kind of look at
those numbers, and that really kind of gives us an idea, more or less, of what we're going
to look at for the fall semester.
The data collected in this study showed that there was a correlation between the number of
school presentations hosted by the admissions directors and the level of success achieved in the
enrollment management process for the subsequent school year. The greater the number of
schools visited by the admissions director, the greater the number of freshmen enrolled at their
school in the upcoming year.
Open House. The second admission recruitment activity mentioned by participants was
the open house. An open house allows prospective students and families to tour the secondary
school’s campus and meet with various stakeholders to learn more about the school. Admissions
Director B stated, “We look at our admissions events like an open house—we're looking at the
numbers of families that came in.” The participants in this study shared that the number of
prospective families and students who attended the open house was another indicator of how
successful they were going to be in their enrollment management.
High School Placement Test (HSPT). The third admission recruitment activity
mentioned by participants was the HSPT. According to Scholastic Testing Service (2021), the
45

manufacturer of the HSPT, the test was designed specifically to deal with the selection and
placement of students entering high school from various elementary schools.
Admissions Director B explained that the school uses the HSPT this way:
“When we have the high school placement exam, HSPT workshops, we look at that number of
how many students are taking the HSPT at our school; we look at that which then translates to,
applications and then enrolled.” The quotation illustrates that prospective students who register
for the HSPT also tend to apply to the secondary school and are then part of the applicant pool.
The data collected for this study illustrated the various activities that admissions directors
use to attract prospective families to their schools. Foskett (2002) wrote that marketing may be
seen as an operational process, involving, for example, promotional, sales, and public relations
activities. Alternatively, it may be regarded as a holistic approach to the management of an
organization, which encompasses its mission, strategies, and operations, and in which the whole
ethos and purpose of the organization is focused on the needs and wants of its clients, partners,
stakeholders, and customers.
Attendance of Prospective Students. The participants in this study highlighted a
connection between the various admission events they hosted and the total attendance of
prospective students. Based upon the responses of the admissions directors, three specific
attendance metrics were utilized during the admissions season in the fall: (a) the number of daily
school visits and high school nights the admissions director attended, (b) the number of
prospective secondary students who registered for the HSPT or other entrance exams, and (c) the
total number of applications the secondary school obtained by the start of the first day of school.
The applicant pool translates to the applicant/registration yield for the incoming freshman class
for the fall semester.
46

The quotations that follow were gathered via an electronic survey, which asked, “What
metrics do you use to have a successful admissions season?” In response to this question,
Admissions Director 2 stated, “When looking at a successful admissions session, we are always
looking at number of inquiries, number of school visits, number of applications, and numbers of
applications to enrollment . . . mainly among other things.” Admissions Director 8 stated,
“Combination of a few variables: Conversion percentage of applications submitted, increase in
the number of schools we are receiving applications from, more 9th grade registrations than our
2 closest Catholic HS competitors.” Admissions Director 11 added, “ADLA budget and
enrollment projected metrics. Department planning meeting goals and Strategic Plan
benchmarks.”
The data collected clearly identified two important metrics that admissions directors use
to determine whether they have successfully managed enrollment. The two metrics used by
admissions directors were the number of prospective applications per year and the number of
inquiries for each recruitment activity. Another metric used by the directors was the number of
students registered for the fall of each school year.
Throughout the year, the admissions director employs a number of strategies to ensure
successful enrollment. One such strategy is marketing. School marketing expresses to students,
parents, school staff, and the community that the school is dedicated to serving the educational
needs of the community to the highest degree possible. Marketing includes activities and
materials that consistently and effectively promote the school as the best education choice for
students and parents, an asset within the community, and a responsible administrator of
taxpayers’ or supporters’ money. Marketing also includes all the things the school does to
develop, implement, and maintain effective marketing, public relations, and communication
47

strategies. Materials include brochures, videos, newsletters, prospectuses, websites, and social
media applications that support marketing activities. However, marketing is more than activities
and materials; it is a way of thinking, a state of mind, and an attitude. Believing in the value of
marketing, especially in the early stages of the marketing effort, is a critical element for success.
Some marketing views often found among school administrators and staff can sabotage a
marketing effort (Lockhart, 2016).
Another strategy the admissions directors employed was tracking. It is important for
admissions directors to keep an accurate count of how many applications they receive and in
what region the applicants live. This makes it possible for admissions directors to be culturally
responsive as they provide input to the school leaders regarding effective planning for the
upcoming school year. Khalifa et al. (2016) stated that, if situated correctly, policy requirements
for collecting school data can affect school equity, inclusivity, curriculum standards, and climate.
Development of Ongoing Relationships With Prospective Families
The second theme to emerge in response to Research Question 3 was the development of
ongoing relationships with prospective families throughout the recruitment process. Throughout
Southern California, the fall semester is the recruitment season for directors of admission.
According to Voss and Zomerdijk (2007), education can be classified as an experiential service
because it is a journey that spans a long period of time and consists of multiple touchpoints. For
directors of admission to gauge their enrollment management throughout the fall semester, they
use touchpoints with prospective families. Admissions Director A, for example, mentioned the
importance of the touchpoints that follow: “That having parents from an early interaction,
knowing exactly what your school culture is about knowing exactly what the expected outcomes
are, and the transparency of admissions reporting back.”
48

The data collected for this study showed that by fostering an open, transparent dialogue
with prospective families, the admissions directors maintained effective enrollment management
from the first touchpoint of the recruitment process to the time when students became part of
their student body. Admissions Director D mentioned some of these touchpoints and said,
We break down to, to, number of applicants, number of applications that we're receiving
from these areas—we continually funnel, the number of students, so that's what we utilize
our success—because you've created that relationship and that rapport, they feel open to
contact you again.
As previously mentioned, the recruitment season for directors of admission in Southern
California is during the fall semester of each year. The data clearly identified the various ongoing
relationships between the admissions directors and the prospective families as critical to
successfully managing enrollment each year. Admissions Directors A and D identified the steps
taken by the admissions director to secure the attendance of prospective students. Admissions
Director D focused on the fact that touchpoints of communication take place as early as the
prospective student’s sixth-grade year, or just as the prospective applicant begins their middle
school journey. The admissions directors then continued their touchpoints with the prospective
families over the course of their middle school years to ensure successful enrollment their
freshman year of secondary school. This finding supported Khanna et al.’s (2014) statement that
the contact between the consumer (student) and the service provider (school) is of very high
intensity and occurs through multiple touchpoints throughout the journey of the consumer.
Discussion for Research Question 3
Research Question 3 focused on the indicators admissions directors used to gauge the
success of their enrollment management. I identified two themes based on an analysis of the data
49

collected in five remote interviews and a survey sent to directors of admission in Southern
California. First, admissions directors used various admission recruitment activities to attract
prospective students to their secondary school. These recruitment activities included elementary
school visits, high school nights, shadow days, open houses, and the HSPT. Related to the
admissions activities, directors of admission tracked the attendance of prospective students at
each of the different admission recruitment activities to gauge their level of success in enrollment
management for the upcoming year. Second, the development of ongoing relationships with
prospective families required a number of touchpoints from the admissions director throughout
the recruitment season. This recruitment process of the admissions directors started as early as
the prospective student’s sixth-grade year.
Summary
An analysis of the data collected in five remote interviews and 14 surveys revealed some
key findings related to the research questions that guided this study. The key findings for
Research Question 1 included that the director of admissions is the person responsible for the
genesis and development of the marketing plan. Also, knowingly or unknowingly, they utilized
CRSL as a framework for their role in admissions.
Research Question 2 focused on how admissions directors experienced their role in
recruitment for effective enrollment management practice. The data revealed that the directors of
admissions utilized CRM for effective enrollment management. CRM positions the prospective
family as the customer and the admissions director as the relationship manager between the
school and the prospective student. Second, within their role, the directors of admission relied on
the secondary school’s financial aid/tuition assistance program to attract prospective students.
50

Third, within their role, the directors of admissions highlighted the importance of a Catholic,
faith-based secondary education as a tool to recruit students.
Research Question 3 focused on the specific indicator the directors used to determine
whether their enrollment management was successful. Two key themes emerged from the
collected data. First, admissions directors created various admission recruitment activities to
attract prospective students to their secondary school. They also tracked the attendance of
prospective students at each of the different admission recruitment activities to gauge their level
of success in enrollment management for the upcoming year. Second, the admissions directors
maintained a number of touchpoints with the prospective families over the course of the
recruitment season. For some admissions directors, the recruitment season began as early as a
prospective student’s sixth-grade year.
Discussion
Chapter 4 presented the findings from this qualitative study. The interview participants
included directors of admissions from Catholic secondary schools in Southern California. A total
of five participants completed a survey as well as a one-on-one interview with me. Another nine
participants completed an electronic survey. The data collected were used to identify the role of
the admissions director in Southern California.
The data that were collected aligned with the three research questions that guided this
study. Several themes emerged from the data. One theme was that the marketing/outreach plan
was ultimately the responsibility of the director of admissions. As part of this theme, I explored
the relationship between the admissions directors and the leadership of their secondary schools.
As part of this study, I identified if the admissions directors and the school leadership utilized
CRSL in enrollment management at their school. Three findings emerged: (a) Some directors of
51

admissions utilized CRSL with intentionality, (b) some directors of admissions utilized CRSL
without knowing the theory, and (c) some directors did not use CRSL in their role as directors of
admission in Catholic secondary schools. Regarding CRSL, Vergara (2017) stated that students
need educators who are culturally proficient in order to learn and succeed. It is the responsibility
of the administration and teachers to work toward cultural proficiency and to use culturally
responsive practices. Therefore, admissions directors should have a better understanding of the
culturally responsive practices that may lead to success in their role.
The data further highlighted that the degree of effective enrollment management practice
by the admissions director was related to CRM. As part of CRM, the admissions directors valued
using an electronic database to track their various touchpoints with prospective families. In
addition to the practice of CRM, the data highlighted the strategic recruitment practices utilized
by the admissions directors. These strategic practices included, but were not limited to, guiding
prospective families on how to access financial aid and marketing the Catholic, faith-based
education in comparison to a nonfaith-based secondary education.
Last, the data collected for this research uncovered the metrics that the directors of
admissions used to determine whether they successfully managed enrollment for the upcoming
year. One of the metrics used by the directors was the number of recruitment activities held for
the Catholic secondary school. Further, according to the participants, a clear indication of
whether or not the admissions director successfully managed enrollment was the number of
prospective families who attended the various recruitment activities they strategically planned
throughout the year.
Chapter 5 will include a further discussion of the findings as well as information on the
limitations of the study, implications for practice, and recommendations for further study
52

relevant to the topic of the role of the admissions director in relationship to enrollment
management.
53

Chapter Five: Discussion
Chapter 5 provides a summary of the study. The chapter restates the purpose of the study
and the research questions that helped to guide it. The chapter also provides a discussion of the
key findings from the research and is organized according to the three research questions that
guided this study. The chapter concludes with the limitations of the study, implications for
practice, and recommendations for further research.
Statement of the Problem
Catholic K-12 enrollment reached an all-time high of 5.6 million pupils in the 1965-1966
school year. This figure represented 87% of nonpublic school enrollment and accounted for 12%
of all K-12 pupils in the United States (Hunt, 2005). However, the number of families choosing a
Catholic secondary education has declined across the nation since that time (Hunt, 2005; Meyer,
2007). The number of families choosing a Catholic education in Southern California has
similarly declined, potentially because families throughout Southern California have numerous
options for schooling.
In the Los Angeles area, declining enrollment may be due to the wide availability of
tuition-free options. Public schools, whether traditional or charter, are a direct competitor for
Catholic secondary schools. In LAUSD alone, there are 254 public high schools (LAUSD, n.d.).
According to Lauen et al. (2015), charter schools, in particular, are a threat to Catholic school
enrollment because their founders position their organizations to favorably vie for students in
relation to the position, mission, and reputation of nearby traditional public and private schools.
In response to this threat, Catholic schools, including those in the ADLA, have directed
resources to maintaining and increasing enrollment. One major strategy common in Catholic
schools has been to employ a director of admissions who is dedicated to overseeing all aspects of
54

enrollment management. However, though research exists on the role of admissions directors in
higher education, few studies have focused on their role in Catholic high schools.
This research provides policymakers within Catholic secondary schools a framework and
a toolkit to assist directors of admissions in their outreach and recruitment efforts with
prospective families
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to examine the practices of directors of admissions in
Catholic secondary schools and their role in relation to enrollment management.
Research Questions
The research questions that follow helped guide the study.
1. How does the work of the admissions director impact the other school leaders at the
secondary school?
2. How do admissions directors experience their role in recruitment for effective
enrollment management practice?
3. What indicators do admissions directors use to determine successful enrollment
management?
Discussion of Findings
Research Question 1
The findings from this study revealed two key themes for the first research question.
First, the director of admissions is the person responsible for the genesis and development of the
marketing plan. Upon completion of the marketing plan, the admissions director consults with
the president or principal of the school for final approval before implementing it. It is in this
manner that the director of admissions supports the other school leaders.
55

The second finding was that secondary school leaders utilize CRSL as a framework for
their role in the admissions process without knowing CRSL theory. For example, the participants
in the interview process acknowledged that they worked with diverse populations However, the
admissions directors could not define CRSL as a structure for their role. Their leadership
approaches suggested that they wanted school leaders to clearly identify with the population they
represented. According to Khalifa et al. (2016), given the spiritual positionalities of many
minority communities, this pragmatic prophetic expression of school leadership is responsive to
their cultural needs. As admissions directors in Southern California recruit prospective students,
they enact CRSL because they market the benefits of being a Catholic secondary school that
welcomes diverse faiths.
There were a few limitations to the findings for Research Questions 1. The first limitation
to this study was that the directors of admission did not have a clear understanding of how CRSL
could be applied to their role as a director of admissions. The second limitation to this study was
that I was only able to capture survey responses from 14 of the 24 directors of admissions who
were eligible to participate. The survey went out during registration season, which is a time when
directors of admissions have limited availability. Thus, I primarily relied on the rich data that
were supplied by the one-on-one interviews conducted for this research.
Research Question 2
Three key themes emerged from the data collected for the second research question. First,
within their role, the directors of admissions utilized CRM to ensure their enrollment
management practices were effective. CRM places the prospective family as the customer and
the admissions director as the relationship manager between the school and the prospective
student. Second, the directors of admissions relied on the secondary school’s financial aid/tuition
56

assistance program to attract prospective students to the school. Each of the remote interview
participants acknowledged that part of their success in their role depended upon the amount of
financial aid/tuition assistance prospective families received to attend their respective Catholic
secondary school. Third, within their role, directors of admissions highlighted the importance of
a Catholic, faith-based secondary education as a tool in recruitment. For example, one director
shared how the values of their own Catholic faith were related to their school’s values. The
limitation of the findings for Research Question 2 was that only one research method was used in
this study. This study was based upon a qualitative approach and excluded a quantitative or
mixed methods approach.
Research Question 3
Research Question 3 focused on the indicators admissions directors use to determine
whether they have successfully managed enrollment for the upcoming year. I identified two
themes based on an analysis of the data collected through five remote interviews and an
electronic survey that was sent to directors of admissions in Southern California. First,
admissions directors used various admission recruitment activities to attract prospective students
to their secondary schools. These recruitment activities included elementary school visits, high
school nights, shadow days, open houses, and the HSPT. Related to the admissions activities,
directors of admissions tracked the number of prospective students at each of the different
admission recruitment activities to gauge their level of success in enrollment management for the
upcoming year. Second, admissions directors developed ongoing relationships with prospective
families by initiating a number of touchpoints throughout the recruitment season. Admissions
directors began this recruitment process as early as the prospective student’s sixth-grade year.
57

The limitation for the findings from Research Question 3 was that it did not take into
account that the responses of the admissions directors were gathered during the fall of 2021
recruitment season. The research discussed a normal recruitment school year in secondary
schools. From March 2020 to April of 2021, Catholic secondary schools in Southern California
pivoted to remote learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the admissions directors
in Southern California needed to pivot to electronic means for recruitment activities.
Potential for Future Research
Given that this study involved the role of the admissions director in Southern California
Catholic secondary schools, there is great potential for continued inquiry to support Catholic
secondary schools throughout the country. First, future research could be conducted to see if the
most effective recruitment practices in other areas of the nation mirror those from Southern
California.
Similarly, future research could focus on how CRSL impacts the recruitment practices of
admissions directors in Catholic secondary schools. This path may help alleviate the declining
enrollment in Catholic secondary schools. Involving CRSL in enrollment management praxis
may lead to an increase in total enrollment in Catholic secondary schools.
Implications for Practice
The findings from this study hold several implications for Catholic school leaders across
the nation who are seeking to attract a more diverse population. Archdioceses throughout the
country would benefit if they were to utilize CRSL as foundation for their recruitment efforts.
The findings in this study suggest that, while CRSL is primarily focused on principals of schools,
the CRSL framework can be applied to leaders across Catholic secondary schools. I posit that if
CRSL is utilized in secondary schools by leaders across the nation, the relationship between the
58

school leaders and the prospective families may grow and thereby increase enrollment in
Catholic secondary schools.
The findings also suggest the importance of the admissions directors’ involvement in the
financial aid and scholarship disbursement process. Admissions directors maintain a relationship
with prospective families throughout the enrollment process. It would be wise to involve the
director in the decision-making around how much aid is awarded to each family given that the
director might have background knowledge of a family’s financial circumstances.
The findings also suggest that the HSPT is a metric for overall enrollment management.
However, although the HSPT is a metric for enrollment management, it would be wise to begin
to research the potential of Catholic secondary schools removing the HSPT for admission. For
example, Catholic secondary schools might utilize existing student data from their middle school
career for admission to the secondary schools. Eliminating the HSPT from the admissions
process might allow for a larger number of applicants at the secondary schools as the HSPT may
be a barrier for entrance.
The findings also suggest that the role of the admissions director goes beyond the scope
of their department. Mathis (2010) stated that admissions counselors can provide valuable
information to prospective students about the nature of the institution’s programs of study,
research endeavors, and academic values. As admissions directors relay information about their
school to the prospective families, the families also relay important information to the school
about their children. Thus, the admissions director then takes on the role of a project manager to
facilitate the communication of vital information through various departments of the secondary
school. As a result, the admissions director can connect the business side of the school, which
falls under the president’s purview, to the school operations, which falls under the control of the
59

principal. By doing so, the admissions director becomes culturally responsive. Culturally
responsive school leaders use official school structures and resources to promote inclusive school
environments (Davis & Jordan, 1995; Gooden, 2005; López et al., 2001; Morris, 1991). When
admissions directors are part of the executive leadership of the school, they are able to promote a
more inclusive environment where they delegate vital information throughout the school.
Conclusion
While most Catholic schools typically view only the president or the principal as the
school leader, schools might benefit from including the director of admissions in the executive
leadership of the secondary school. Doing so would provide continuity in the relationship
between prospective families and the administration of the Catholic secondary school.

60

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68

Appendix A: Survey Protocol
1. What is your gender?
2. What is the gender of your secondary school?
3. Does your gender match the school’s gender demographic?
4. What is your ethnicity?
5. Does your ethnicity match the demographics of the school you work in?
6. What is your specific job title as it appears on your secondary school contract?
7. How many years have you worked at this secondary school?
8. How many years have you been serving in your current role at this secondary school?
9. How many years have you worked in the field of secondary education?
10. How many people work within the department of admissions at your school?
11. What metrics do you use to define a successful admissions season?
12. What recruitment strategies do you use when soliciting prospective families?
13. How do you use culturally relevant leadership in your admissions process?
14. How do you effectively market your school?
15. How do you maintain customer relationship management for your role?
16. In what ways do you convince prospective families to attend Catholic secondary school?
17. How do you outreach to prospective students and families?
18. What role do you play in the financial aid endeavors at your school?
69

Appendix B: Interview Protocol
1. How do you use marketing in your role?
2. What role do you play in the marketing and recruitment plan at your school?
3. How, if at all, do you feel public and charter schools have impacted your role in
admissions?
4. How, if at all, do you feel public and charter schools have impacted enrollment
management at your school?
5. How, if at all, do you feel your single gender or coed gender setting has impacted
enrollment management at your school?
6. How, if at all, do you feel financial aid plays a role in recruiting students to attend your
Catholic secondary school?
7. What strengths currently exist within your school’s marketing and/or outreach efforts to
the community you serve?
8. How, if at all, do you use culturally responsive school leadership when recruiting
prospective families to attend your Catholic secondary school?
9. What metrics do you use to define a successful admissions season?
10. Is there anything we have not talked about that you think I should know in order to
understand your perspective on recruiting for Catholic secondary schools?

Abstract (if available)

Abstract In the Los Angeles area, declining enrollment may be due to the wide availability of tuition-free options. Public schools, whether traditional or charter, are a direct competitor for Catholic secondary schools. In LAUSD alone, there are 254 public high schools (LAUSD, n.d.). According to Lauen et al. (2015), charter schools, in particular, are a threat to Catholic school enrollment because their founders position their organizations to favorably vie for students in relation to the position, mission, and reputation of nearby traditional public and private schools. In response to this threat, Catholic schools, including those in the ADLA, have directed resources to maintaining and increasing enrollment. One major strategy common in Catholic schools has been to employ a director of admissions who is dedicated to overseeing all aspects of enrollment management. However, though research exists on the role of admissions directors in higher education, few studies have focused on their role in Catholic high schools. The purpose of this study is to examine the practices of directors of admissions in Catholic secondary schools and their role in relation to enrollment management.

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Asset Metadata

Creator López, Adrien Anthony (author)

Core Title The role of the admissions director of a Catholic high school in Southern California

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Degree Conferral Date 2021-12

Publication Date 11/30/2021

Defense Date 11/30/2021

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Catholic school leadership,Catholic school recruitment,Catholic secondary school,culturally responsive school leadership,enrollment management,OAI-PMH Harvest,secondary school admissions

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Cash, David (committee chair)

Creator Email adrienlo@usc.edu,adrienlopez6@sbcglobal.net

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