News

The Biggest Opportunities in Digital Marketing for Colleges and Universities

by Kristen Ingels (opens in new tab), Jason Simon (opens in new tab), Sarah Seigle Peatman (opens in new tab)

As more marketing/communications offices at colleges and universities supplement traditional market research/brand benchmarking data with new digital marketing analytics, they are seeing opportunities to gather more powerful and actionable insights. It is a lot of data and can be overwhelming, but when overlayed and considered holistically, this data provides more insight for both long-term and short-term strategy. To learn more about some of the best tools and most significant opportunities ahead, we reached out to Kristen Ingels (senior brand strategist) and Jason Simon (vice president and partner) at SimpsonScarborough, who have also presented our two-part, recorded webcast Connecting Market Research to Strategy in Higher Ed. They also shared some practical tips with us in the following interview: Significant Opportunities: An Interview with 2 Digital Marketing Experts Sarah Seigle. In your experience, what is the primary barrier or challenge that institutions face when trying to turn the insights they gain from their market research into meaningful marketing strategy or tactics? Kristen Ingels and Jason Simon. There’s a natural tendency for people to rely on anecdote or gut instinct when forming opinions; schools are no different. According to a 2016 SimpsonScarborough study with higher ed marketing leaders (the full report will be released in January), anecdotal […]

Building Leadership Resilience in Higher Ed

This paper by Patrick Sanaghan of The Sanaghan Group will: Share the most recent research on resilience Identify critical characteristics of resilient leaders Suggest practical strategies for developing your own leadership resilience Share resources that will be helpful guides as you continue to learn about and practice resilience Download Your Free Paper See Upcoming Leadership Workshops

What is Space Flexibility? How Do You Balance It with Efficiency?

by Bruce Denis (opens in new tab)

Funding for higher education ebbs and flows based on government support and tuition revenue. When the dollars flow, we have the tendency to spread our wings. New capital infrastructure adds valuable square feet that are filled quickly, whether they are needed or not. These periods of space affluence are generally short but they favor a high degree of space and timetabling flexibility for faculty. In some cases, this flexibility lends value to teaching and learning but in many others, it is simply a case of hoarding, serving wants more than needs. So, what is space flexibility? Space flexibility is more than just adding square feet to a school’s footprint.  Flexibility can include scheduling two spaces at once to be able to move fluidly between two types of lessons (such as lab and lecture). It can include a space that is designed for both classroom lecture and student project work. It can also involve flexibility in faculty schedules, such as not teaching before 10:30 am or not teaching on Friday afternoons. Any behavior that contributes to lower room or seat utilization rate can be attributed to space flexibility. Space flexibility can provide value but it comes at a cost that few […]

Looking at 2017: How is Annual Giving Changing?

by Gwen Doyle Herbert (opens in new tab)

As we contend with “dollars up, donors down,” it is time to go beyond the basics of annual giving to comprehensively assess your annual giving program and develop actionable strategies that will help you grow your program for long-term success. To help get a fresh look at how annual giving is changing and how those charged with growing the annual fund need to respond, we reached out to a panel of three development veterans: We have also invited these three to serve as the faculty for our Integrated Strategy for Annual Giving conference, where they will lead participants through an intense three-day curriculum. The capstone sessions will help participants incorporate their learning from the event to develop preliminary strategies to take back to your shop for immediate implementation. Interview: What’s Changing, and How Do Annual Giving Operations Need to Change with It? Gwen Doyle. How is the landscape of annual giving changing? Molly Robbins. Annual giving programs are among the first to feel the effects of challenges to the higher education business model. Many schools and programs have already experienced staff reductions and operating budget reductions – both in development and across the campus. Where there may once have been budget “fluff,” now schools are […]

The Naming Opportunities Plan and Donor Stewardship

Even as more institutions look to launch new campaigns — often increasingly ambitious ones in terms of their dollar goals — donors are increasingly interested in attaching their names to philanthropic projects representative of their values. In fact, Vincent Duckworth, Partner at ViTrēo, advises that recognizing major gifts with naming opportunities has become so prevalent not only in higher education but across other nonprofit sectors, that it has become an expectation for many donors. To capitalize on this trend, institutions must develop proactive procedures and policies for establishing, managing, and marketing naming opportunities. We asked Vincent Duckworth, who will also be exploring the topic further in a webcast on “Developing Institutional Naming Plans and Policies,” to offer his suggestions for approaching a naming opportunities plan responsibly and effectively. Here’s what he shared with us. Watch a Recorded Webcast from Vincent

SEM for Community Colleges: Practical Steps

by Sarah Seigle Peatman (opens in new tab)

Recently, I had the chance to speak with Dr. Monique Perry, dean of enrollment services at York Technical College, who will also be facilitating our two-part, recorded webcast series Strategic Enrollment Management for Community Colleges, where she will help participants learn how to make the case for, plan, and implement a strategic enrollment management model at their community colleges. We wanted to ask Perry, an expert on the topic, how shifting enrollment trends are changing recruitment practices for two-year institutions, and how their enrollment managers can be more strategic and data-informed as they move forward. Here is a transcript of our interview. Shifting Trends, Shifts in Focus Sarah Seigle.  How have community college enrollment trends affected recruitment practices at the community college level? Monique Perry. Shifting funding sources for public institutions, demographic changes, and more entities competing in the 2-year space all influence enrollment management. Of these, the decrease in funding for community and technical colleges has been the most impactful trend, as that sets the context for much of our work. And while funding can be out of the average enrollment officer’s circle of control, a college’s ability to transform and adopt EM principles in theory and execution is within our control, and is an […]

What’s Next for Data-Informed SEM?

by Sarah Seigle Peatman (opens in new tab)

More institutions are using small and big data sources across the prospective and current student lifecycle to inform key decisions related to enrollment and retention. To take a look at how Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) is changing and to get ideas for how institutions can better leverage their data, we reached out to a panel of three prominent experts:*role=”document”, aria-multiline=”true”, aria-readonly=”false”**aria-label=”Block: Paragraph”* These three, joined by Laura Jensen (associate provost for planning and effectiveness at Colorado State University), will also be discussing this topic in more depth at our upcoming conference Effectively Leveraging Data in Enrollment Management. Here is what they shared with us today. What Advances are We Making? What are the Opportunities? Sarah Seigle. Real-time data and analytics have become more important across all stages of the student lifecycle. Looking at three of the biggest functions of a strategic enrollment management plan—student recruitment, financial aid, and retention—where have you seen many institutions make recent advances in incorporating data into their decision-making? John Dysart. I have seen more colleges bring analytics into financial aid. In recent years, financial aid leveraging has become nearly commonplace. It seems that the majority of colleges and universities are now using some type of leveraging formula, awarding […]

FERPA Checklist: What Can Never Be Shared

In Academic Impressions’ online FERPA training (you can order this online training here), FERPA expert Helen Garrett, the university registrar and chief officer of enrollment information services at the University of Washington, and recent president of PACRAO (the Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers), gave a thorough review of the fundamentals of FERPA regulations and how they apply to scenarios faculty and staff face daily on campus. During the webcast, Garrett also shared a short list of examples of student information that can never be released to a person other than the student. This is a useful checklist to share with faculty and staff across your institution, and to foreground in any FERPA training you offer. Here’s what Garrett had to say: “What information cannot be given out, ever? “What do I mean by this? These are things that cannot be part of your directory information and that you cannot give out. You cannot make it something that you say that you will give out. It’s really important that your staff are trained on this. “You need to make sure your staff are clear on all of these.” We encourage you to share this quick checklist with your faculty […]

Missed Opportunities: Why Private Universities Need to Partner with 2-Year Colleges to Create Better Transfer Pathways

by Sarah Seigle Peatman (opens in new tab)

For many private institutions, community college transfer students represent a viable and untapped opportunity for increased enrollment and tuition revenue. While developing a webcast to share practical strategies for partnering with community colleges to improve student recruitment and student success, I had the opportunity to talk with Mary Hinton, president of the College of Saint Benedict. Hinton, who also authored our recent article “Game On for the Liberal Arts” and participated in the Presidential Dialogues, has a forward-thinking approach and makes an eloquent and compelling case for partnering with two-year institutions – not only to boost enrollment objectives, but to address a growing need in society. Partnering for Better Transfer Pathways: An Interview with Mary Hinton Sarah Seigle. As private colleges look to recruit more transfer students, how would you describe the opportunity you see for four-year private institutions when it comes to partnering more strategically with community colleges? Mary Hinton. As we think about student demographics, and the desire for our institutions to be more inclusive, we know part of that equation will demand thinking beyond our current constituents. Partnering with two-year institutions provides viable opportunities to reach more students; to genuinely exhibit inclusion; and to recognize that for some, access […]

STEM: How Can Effective Facilities Best Enrich STEM Learning?

Recently, we gathered representatives from community colleges, undergraduate institutions, and Tier 1 research institutions in Orlando, FL for a groundbreaking dialogue on how to design and deliver modern STEM facilities on their campus. One of the highlights of our annual Designing STEM Facilities for 21st Century Learners workshop was a series of collaborative visioning exercises in which our participants were tasked with describing how the most effective facilities might enrich their STEM disciplines. The results were invigorating, and we want to share them with you. This is the vision for STEM facilities that our participants created: While final projects will certainly vary in size and scope, institutions with diverse academic missions and student populations were in agreement that these core principles must be accounted for in facility design. We hope that you can use this map of our participants’ vision for STEM facilities to start some vigorous conversations on your campus. See Other Topics in Institutional & Academic Planning

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