Instagram
[fts_instagram instagram_id=256737344 super_gallery=yes image_size=100px icon_size=50px space_between_photos=1px hide_date_likes_comments=yes center_container=yes image_stack_animation=yes type=user]
Twitter
[fts_twitter twitter_name=elliance]
A familiar Chinese proverb instructs: “To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.” The current situation in higher education defies that enduring wisdom. Change arrived suddenly, with little regard for institutional history or might. In this respect, all colleges stand on relatively common ground. All college presidents, to a degree, have become new college presidents. It might be tempting in this moment of great uncertainty to think that successful colleges/presidents will be those that summon deeper reserves of managerial will or command with greater “corporate turnaround” intensity. More likely, how you and your college navigates this public health crisis and its aftermath will come down to something as fundamental — albeit elusive — as how effectively and artfully you communicate. Every college has crisis communications plans in place, and these plans have served everyone — especially students — well through the initial weeks and months of this crisis. We know that eventually, the urgency of this moment will give way … Continue reading
Posted in: digital communication, Higher Ed Marketing, higher education, Higher Education Branding, liberal arts, Storytelling
Leave a comment
As the product of a liberal arts education and the mother of a college senior studying political science and history, I get a little defensive about the singular focus on STEM and the perceived lack of value in more generalized studies. In this economy, demand is high for graduates with specialized talent in science, math and engineering and, undeniably, jobs in those fields top the list for attractive starting salaries. However, as recent reports illustrate, the outlook for college graduates across all fields of study is promising. According to the Washington Post, for the first time, graduates of four-year colleges comprise a larger share of the workforce than those with just a high school diploma. Of the 11.6 million jobs that have been created in this post-recession economy, 11.5 million went to prospects with at least some college education with the lions share, 8.4 million, going to workers who held a bachelor’s degree or higher. However, while liberal arts majors … Continue reading
Posted in: higher education, Liberal Arts Degree
Higher education institutes are generating data from a variety of sources: CRM data, web analytics, enrollment data, student data, LMS data and alumni data. All this information is causing a data glut where data is being gathered, stored and forgotten due to a variety of reasons. According to EDUCAUSE, data in numerous cases is only being used to satisfy reporting requirements and neither being actively used for strategic purposes (this includes marketing, enrollment and resource optimization) nor is it being used effectively for making predictions or triggering proactive decisions on imminent issues. Purchasing a few tools for data analytics is easy however the real value lies in having the curiosity to ask the right questions and the skill to delve into data to find answers. Here are a few strategies when looking into higher ed data. Social Media Look at the insight dashboard of your social media platform. Analyze which posts had the most engagement rate (a combination of likes, … Continue reading
Posted in: Analytics and Metrics, higher education
As the world of higher education settles in after a frenzied first few weeks of new faculty introductions, last minute dormitory re-assignments and opening football weekend, there is that lingering question: what should we do about our brand? Whether you’re stuck in avoidance or racing headlong toward action, it’s worth considering a pause. Maybe past attempts at brand cohesion have failed. Maybe the current administration has lost its will to move forward. Maybe the ink just dried on a statement of work. Whatever your situation, relax. Your brand issues did not arise overnight. They won’t magically resolve any time soon. It may well be the single most important thing you orchestrate in your career as a vice president of marketing or college president. And it can wait. Great brands, in the end, depend on good soil to take root. And when I say soil, I mean smart, authentic, surprising, delightful story telling. Show me a college bold enough to tell … Continue reading
With Thanksgiving just behind us, like many nonprofits, colleges and universities, you’re probably getting ready to publish the annual “year-end giving” information on your website or send out an email appeal to prospective donors. If so, that’s great. If not… you’re missing a huge opportunity. Consider the following statistics: “The average person makes 24% of his/her annual donations between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.” Giving USA “One third (33%) of the donations made in the month of December occur on the 31st of the month.” Network for Good To get things going, here are my top 5 tips to jumpstart year-end giving… Plan ahead. Start your “ask” in November. Put that year-end giving information on your nonprofit website now. Thanksgiving starts the ball rolling. Don’t wait. Don’t hold it for December. Do it now. Mix it up. With everyone relying on email appeals, don’t forget to ask for a donation on social media, like Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere. Incorporate social links … Continue reading
Posted in: higher education, philanthropy marketing
The question of whether MOOCs pose a threat of extinction to brick-and-mortar institutions is akin to the argument of whether digital music destroyed, is destroying, or will destroy the music industry. The answers to the latter questions are no, no and no, while the answer to the former is still no. MOOCs are goosing the educational landscape today the same way Napster and mp3s roused a coasting music industry in the early aughts. “The paint is barely dry,” wrote Laura Pappano about emerging MOOCs in 2012, “yet edX, the nonprofit start-up from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has 370,000 students this fall in its first official courses. That’s nothing. Coursera, founded just last January, has reached more than 1.7 million — growing ‘faster than Facebook,’ boasts Andrew Ng, on leave from Stanford to run his for-profit MOOC provider.” The appeal of MOOCs, much like the appeal of Napster and other music-sharing sites, is affordability (sometimes free), access, speed, … Continue reading
Posted in: higher education, MOOCs, mp3, music, online education, vinyl
Today marks the one year anniversary of Steve Job’s death. Apple’s created a wonderful video tribute, which, incidentally, makes the case for a liberal arts education better than any I’ve ever heard. “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough. It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our hearts sing.”
Posted in: Apple, higher education, liberal arts, Steve Jobs