Retro // Direct Transfer - May 2025 by Hilary Peterson Roberts

Increased Number of Applications to Partners

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:08:21 UTC

Increased DT partner portfolio

hilaryroberts — 2025-05-21 19:08:28 UTC

Increased experience/knowledge from onsite staff supporting DT app exploration, submission, and vetting

2025-05-21 19:09:16 UTC

Improvements across partner assets (website placements, referral campaign content, etc.)

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:09:37 UTC

Increased partner data share participation

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:10:21 UTC

Increased communication between DT/Enrollment/stakeholders

hillevi4 — 2025-05-21 19:10:24 UTC

Via Slack channel, extremely helpful to know what movement was happening, what SF uploads were happening, etc.

More personalized datashare comms to referrals

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:10:47 UTC

Increased student interest - not just referrals

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:11:26 UTC

Thorough partner pages on Verto's Website

hillevi4 — 2025-05-21 19:12:08 UTC

Our SACs use this resource every day, especially in FACs, to be able to quickly look up requirements for different DT pathways.

General partnership engagement (i.e. Partner Summit, collaboration on conference sessions, live events, ad-hoc recognition throughout cycle)

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:12:17 UTC

Acquisition-specific -- favorable updates to DT contract

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:13:31 UTC

Market-Appeal is Real

2025-05-21 19:14:21 UTC

Proof of concept from previous cycle has played out to be a "real" product with a strong value proposition; desirable by a number of Channel partners, and a clear ability to scale to more mid-tier places

Visibility on DT enrollment data via SF dashboards from Rev Ops

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:14:22 UTC

Partner Leads - more intuitive way to identify referrals & partner interest

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:19:10 UTC

Partner Compliance Is Strong

2025-05-21 19:19:33 UTC

Most partners are now meeting the required items (referral audiences, etc), which is great.

Public DT Partner Filters on the website!

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:21:09 UTC

Marketing ramp up was less than expected with the conversion to SFMC

2025-05-21 19:23:56 UTC

Tech bugs associated with Verto Partner Application & Partner Leads (Partner Portal/Salesforce)

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:24:01 UTC

Tech bugs: application delivery, partner leads, etc.

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:24:07 UTC

Lead attribution reporting in Salesforce

hilaryroberts — 2025-05-21 19:24:28 UTC

The value prop of what Direct Transfer is as an opportunity for (generally traditional) students is so hugely valuable to enrollment/our counselors as we speak to students and families. Even if they know where they are going and it’s not DT, just hearing about that is so valuable to build credibility for Verto and elevate us as a pathway for the student.

hilaryroberts — 2025-05-21 19:25:04 UTC

Continued partner nuances w/ student-specific scenarios

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:25:14 UTC

New Channel Partner confusion when adding DT

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:25:27 UTC

DT Team bandwidth, at times, during mat leave (Steph's fault ;) )

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:25:34 UTC

Referral Audiences Conversion is Low

2025-05-21 19:25:37 UTC

While to be expected from the UP side, this continues to be an area the broader org is only starting to understand (i.e., more financially needy, lower academic ability).

Limited bandwidth for SACs during channel season to provide active outreach (of almost any capacity) to DT datashare lists.

hillevi4 — 2025-05-21 19:25:44 UTC

Lack of CRM integration for Partner App

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:26:25 UTC

(Minor) Confusion that can arise in explaining the difference between channel and DT to different student/family (or even new staff) audiences!

hillevi4 — 2025-05-21 19:27:19 UTC

SF reporting & lack of sophisticated attribution capabilities (resources?) continues to understate DTs broader value

2025-05-21 19:28:12 UTC

COA for Verto is prohibitive to DT student enrollment (SAC feedback + loss reasons)

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:28:44 UTC

Low interest in certain schools

vertocommunity — 2025-05-21 19:29:12 UTC

Larger number of submitted applications leading to unanticipated/higher vetting needs

amandacummings — 2025-05-21 19:29:17 UTC

Increase in applications submitted is a GREAT problem to have! Just being mindful of lift, staffing, timing, experience, etc. (both onsite and HQ)

Manual processes/SF challenges continues to create a ton of reporting issues - hard to track w/o a bunch of manual intervention

2025-05-21 19:30:20 UTC

More channel students leaving pathway for DT

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:32:07 UTC

Robust Safety Net Needed

2025-05-21 19:39:33 UTC

Marketing Roadmap for DT Needed

2025-05-21 19:39:53 UTC

Reinforce DT’s value proposition and narrative, both internally and externally

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:40:11 UTC

How do we want to define ROI for DT? (top of funnel, post-Verto)

Sophistication of student interest in partners (evolving) and our ability to create custom marketing journeys that are relevant

2025-05-21 19:40:38 UTC

Modernizing Verto Partner App, continuing to enhance app features and UX

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:40:49 UTC

Closer cross-functional collaboration

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:40:56 UTC

How do we weave DT more clearly throughout the traditional student journey?

Integration with Slate

hilaryroberts — 2025-05-21 19:40:57 UTC

Increase partner exposure to students and staff

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:41:22 UTC

Collab with Marketing on Reimagined marketing roadmap

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:41:31 UTC

Website needs to continue to build out enhancements to better integrate DT into our core value prop

2025-05-21 19:41:41 UTC

More public information for students and families (and staff) on what factors students use to decide what Direct Transfer schools they apply to and ultimately enroll in

vertocommunity — 2025-05-21 19:42:03 UTC

Grow DT consortium with intentionality

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:42:05 UTC

Especially in relation to channel-adds

Creation of graphic/asset for internal training that highlights all differences between DT/channel

hillevi4 — 2025-05-21 19:42:06 UTC

Social media plan developed and executed-- both partner/prospective partner facing and student facing -- not leveraging the DT Value Prop

2025-05-21 19:42:20 UTC

Remaining a step ahead of other orgs who have interest in direct transfer space

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:42:28 UTC

Continuing to streamline partner collaboration experience (Verto comms, AM asks, updates, day-to-day operations etc.)

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:43:32 UTC

Lack of financial aid/scholarship training for on-site teams working with students -- often, #1 reason students pick a specific college is due to cost/scholarships

2025-05-21 19:44:11 UTC

More celebration of students that go with Direct Transfer partners? Like how high schools do graduation ceremonies + students are encouraged to share where they're going

vertocommunity — 2025-05-21 19:44:43 UTC

Regular DT Programming

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:45:14 UTC

For both enrolled and prospective students throughout the year, not just in the summer and on-site

Need broader national representation of new DT schools in states with the highest number of HS graduates (TX, NY, CA, etc)

2025-05-21 19:45:21 UTC

Financial incentive (while balancing NTR)?

hillevi4 — 2025-05-21 19:45:30 UTC

How do we balance low GPA students (therefore often not qualifying for Opp Grants or only low levels of the VSA) with the necessity for some financial support?

Invest in non-referral traditional student enrollment

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:46:07 UTC

International Strategy (both institutions and student recruitment) needs to be developed and agreed upon (and appropriately resourced)

2025-05-21 19:46:26 UTC

Ongoing staff trainings (whole and by team)

lakotabowen — 2025-05-21 19:47:02 UTC

Outcomes data -- DT stats vs national transfer benchmarks

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:47:30 UTC

More efficient ways for students to explore DT partner fit vs static resources

stephanieespina1 — 2025-05-21 19:49:59 UTC

More opportunities for students to get a head start on DT application in pre-departure

vertocommunity — 2025-05-21 20:00:09 UTC