MPR STRATEGIES MODELING FOR INCREASING STUDENTS’ INTAKE AT PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN CENTRAL JAVA- INDONESIA.

Abstract

The competition among private universities in this globalization era is getting much tougher. Each university tries every effort they could possibly do to achieve their set goal, which is generally a higher student intake in each academic year. This phenomenon also happens in Central Java. This study tries to investigate the potential Marketing Public Relations (MPR) strategies in private universities in Central Java along with their strategies implemented and the average increase of their students intake in one academic year. Lastly, it tries to propose an MPR modeling for increasing students’ intake at private universities in Central Java. This study employs interview and literature study for data collection. The data are then analyzed qualitatively to answer the posed research questions. This study involved 8 private universities in Central Java. The result of the study shows that the Public Relations unit in each private university has carried out their function though not maximum yet. However they emphasize their strategies for promoting and image building for the institution. They have all the stages in MPR strategies; planning, implementation and evaluation. Besides, they have innovation each year as their effort to increase the students’ intake. The average increase for each university is around 10 -20% each year. This study proposes an MPR model named innovative-star network with the PR unit functions as the center of the network and all related stake holders serve as the tie of the network.