Many application processes do not assess for persistence and grit, yet these qualities are often a better predictor of success than academic ability. Traditional admissions processes that focus solely on academics put some students at a disadvantage – especially first-generation or low-income students. Incorporating the right questions into your application processes will help you better predict success for students who might not meet traditional requirements. Join us online to learn how to enhance your own admissions processes. This webcast will provide strategies and tools to help you assess non-cognitive variables by rethinking: The questions you ask in applications How you phrase essay prompts The reviewal process of extra-curricular activities and recommendations
Campuses continue to struggle with coordinating and solving campus-wide retention and enrollment challenges. Yet, the University of Tennessee used a problem-solving approach to pull together key partners to address an enrollment challenge. This approach worked so well that they have continued to meet to solve enrollment and retention challenges across campus, such as: Understanding why students leave Increasing low-income student success Balancing enrollment targets with financial goals. Join us to explore an alternative approach to solving enrollment and retention challenges. Using a case-study framework, this event will walk you through several different enrollment and retention challenges to demonstrate how your campus can make a case for rethinking key collaborations, success goals, and decision-making.
As Customer Relations Manager, Katie manages all correspondence with our customers and Subject Matter Experts, and coordinates various internal procedures for our Operations Team. She enjoys problem solving and finding a way to meet the needs of everyone we work with. Katie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from Washington University in St. Louis. Before making the move to Denver and Academic Impressions, she spent the last few years in the Washington, DC area working in performing arts and arts education. She is excited to explore all that Denver has to offer! When she isn’t working, you can usually find Katie on a hike, doing yoga, going to a concert, or trying a new recipe or restaurant.
Molly serves as the primary lead on many SimpsonScarborough projects, working with each college and university to develop recommendations and strategies that meet their unique branding, recruiting, and fundraising objectives. She has built her career on sound market research and translating complex data into strategic findings. As a science junky in college, Molly learned the foundations of solid research and hypothesis testing. Combining that with her interest in psychology helped her find a profession that puts her inner nerd to good use. Molly has worked in market research for over 16 years – she knows the field inside and out. Before joining SimpsonScarborough, Molly worked in the research departments of WBA Research, Kantar Health, Community Analytics, and Court TV (now truTV).
As vice president of communications, Debbie Williams leads a team whose work provides fundraisers and the foundation with communication strategy; editorial and creative services; digital engagement; and video production as tools to meet fundraising goals. Williams was previously an integral part of Penn State’s communications efforts, where she served as editor of The Penn Stater magazine—a full-color, bi-monthly publication distributed to the largest alumni association in the United States. She was later tapped to direct campaign communications for the university’s Grand Destiny Campaign, a billion-dollar fundraising effort that surpassed its original $1 billion goal by more than $400 million.
Most college faculty behave in a professional manner, take their responsibilities seriously, work hard at their jobs, and value their relationships with colleagues. In fact, a recent survey found that college professors are the fifth most satisfied group of employees in the U.S, following pediatricians, singers, aircraft assemblers, and professional fire fighters. The flexibility and ability to control one’s time and tasks makes the career very rewarding. Unfortunately, a few faculty members don’t fit this profile. They may treat colleagues, staff or students with rudeness or harassment, may shirk their teaching, research or service obligations, and may make life generally difficult for their department chairs, deans, and departmental colleagues. If such a “difficult colleague” has tenure, many academics shrug and say there is nothing to be done. That could not be farther from the truth! Tenure is designed to protect academic freedom, not bad behavior. Academic freedom clearly gives faculty members the right to conduct research and teach as they choose, within the bounds of professionalism and institutional requirements for curricular content. But academic freedom also brings responsibilities—to behave with respect toward colleagues and students, to refrain from harassment or discrimination, and to use care in speaking out as a […]
“I’ve been a remote, work-from-home fundraiser for five years now, for a school 2,000 miles away from my home office. I see so much worry out there in higher education advancement, and I’m here to tell you, it’s going to be okay. You may have to give up some of your ideas about what’s possible and not possible, but if you’re willing, let’s explore the opportunities and reframe our fundraising practices.” So much of the debate about whether and how to engage donors right now is coming from a place of fundraiser discomfort. This discomfort needs to be examined and reframed to continue to do our jobs with compassion and effectiveness. This reframing is an important practice during traumatic situations; it can help us bring meaning to events and give us the resilience necessary to move forward. We can and should reframe the COVID-19 situation as an opportunity that will lead us to: I’ve been a remote, work-from-home fundraiser for five years now, for a school 2,000 miles away from my home office. I see so much worry out there in higher education advancement, and I’m here to tell you, it’s going to be okay. You may have to give […]
Higher education does a great job educating others, but seldom do we work on ourselves. We don’t take the time to ‘sharpen the saw.’ As a result, colleges and universities are filled with very sharp people who possess rather dull blades. In a classic video vignette entitled “Big Rocks,” from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the late Stephen R. Covey invited an audience member to join him onstage for an experiment. Most know the concept of Big Rocks, but I encourage you to watch this video if you haven’t already. In the experiment, Covey asks the young female executive to fit in all the big rocks he has provided into a bucket that is over half-filled with pebbles. The pebbles depict the day-to-day tasks, emails, meetings, and emergencies that we are all faced with and that fill up our lives. At one point, the participant looks at the rock labeled “Sharpen the Saw,” rolls her eyes, and places it back onto the table. Covey, who never shied away from a teachable moment, picks up the same rock asking the audience, “Who feels they don’t have time to ‘Sharpen the Saw’?” As several hands are raised, Covey then follows with a […]
Chuck spent the first twenty years of his career in the commercial and investment banking sectors honing his financial analysis skills. In 2002, Chuck transitioned to a tenured faculty position teaching Finance to undergraduate students at Bethel University. He has a passion for the integration of strategic decision making, financial forecasting, and the allocation of financial resources to meet strategic objectives. For the last seven years, he has served as the Chair of the Department of Business and Economics, the largest, by enrollment, department at Bethel University. He has been a member of the Faculty Leadership Council, the Budget Committee, and has provided financial management insights and support to the Provost, fellow faculty members, and members of the Board of Trustees. Chuck earned his B.A. in Economics from Wheaton College and his M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota.
Determining if your fundraising professionals are meeting their dollar goals is relatively easy. However, your prospect research and management positions are fundamentally different, requiring an evaluative approach that balances front-line needs with production timeframe realities. Join us online to learn how to develop prospect research and management staff metrics for your shop. Our expert instructor, Marianne M. Pelletier, Senior Consultant, Cornell University, will share three evaluation models for both prospect researchers and managers, and you will leave knowing which model will work best for your shop. We will also discuss: Setting realistic expectations around performance metrics Specific metrics for both prospect researchers and managers Effectively tracking your solution and graphing results Building buy-in for your solution
