Faculty and staff at Muskegon Community College in Michigan used to avoid George Maniates, knowing the campus official would ask them to call students as tuition deadlines approached. Now, a new automated phone program let the college place more than 1,000 calls to those students this summer, proving far more effective than the antiquated manual system.
Muskegon is one of about 90 colleges and universities nationwide that uses the phone alert system that calls students, leaves messages if they don't answer, and gives them an option to speak with a campus representative about when tuition payments are due. This has trimmed schools' "melt rates" -- that is, the number of students who place deposits on college courses but don't attend classes, because they missed crucial payment dates.
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