Edutrending Preso From Bay Area Keynote

Ian presented at the Bay Area Directors of Admission Symposium today in Los Altos, California. The PDF file from his keynote is available for download here from our Dropbox account at the following link:

 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/n9dr776uksen5x8/AAA0LOrba0hMAv-WhPJvi62Za?dl=0

This content is copyrighted material from Ian Symmonds & Associates and is available for downloading and sharing for professional use.  Feel free to share it with others that attended the conference, or with fellow members of your school.   

Ian and Dana to Speak at Bay Area Directors of Admission Symposium

Ian is giving a keynote at the Bay Area Directors of Admission annual symposium this week in Los Altos, CA. His topic will be "#edutrendingnow".

Ian and Dana will speak together during the conference on using demographic trends to steer strategic enrollment management. They will also discuss marketing and messaging to millennial parents.

The Bay Area Directors of Admission (BADA) is a 501c6 consortium of approximately 75 San Francisco Bay Area schools. By having principles of good practice, common mailing dates, and common recommendation forms, they help families to navigate the admission process more smoothly. BADA is an extremely collegial group, known for supporting each other and working together on behalf of families.

Dana is the consortium's year round coordinator, and she is thrilled to be presenting there with Ian this year.

The Importance of Research in Strategic Enrollment Management

Most schools and skilled enrollment managers have a lot of very good hunches. They may even have data sets from parent satisfaction surveys or from demographic research. However, most enrollment managers are severely lacking in real, applicable data that can and should inform enrollment strategy.

So, what research is being done in the most successful enrollment management offices?

1)   Demographic research that reflects the current family population, to understand who is currently in your school.

2)   Demographic trending research to allow you to predict who is coming in the next 5 years or so.

3)   Market segmentation analysis of the current student body as well as the projected student body. This data is often not readily available, but ideally, you get your hands on it.

4)   Survey research of current parents, families who were admitted but didn’t enroll, and families who left your school (attrition).

5)   Research regarding public perception of your school.

That’s a lot of research, and at most schools, it’s simply not feasible to keep up with all of it annually. There are several obstacles to frequent research. One we see commonly is the lack of strong information management systems. Without an effective system to gather data and organize it, staying on top of research can lead to further overwhelm.

So, what is a harried enrollment manager to do? Consider cycling through the research inputs we are suggesting here, so that you always have something current to work with. Alternately, plan to devote significant time and resources every three years or so to do a larger amount at once. Remember that most institutions of higher education have an office of institutional advancement that is not only responsible for data gathering and interpretation, but ties together information systems and parses out information and insight to various departments. It is extremely rare to see that function in an independent school.

Staying on top of the data that supports your enrollment strategy will make your daily work so much easier. Carving out the time to do this important work, while difficult to do, can only serve your higher level goals.

Two Wyoming Independent Schools Collaborate

Two Jackson, Wyoming-based independent schools have selected ISA to complete some collaborative research to benefit each institution.  We are excited to welcome Journey's School and Jackson Hole Community School to the ISA client community.  We will commence our work together in May 2016.

Journeys School of Teton Science Schools is a Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade independent school in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Fundamentally, Journeys is about preparing students to make a difference in our ever-changing global community. To do this, the school ensures academic excellence, model and teach relational skills, provide authentic, place-based problem-solving opportunities, and challenge their students to think globally. Journeys School students learn about the world around them, think deeply about connections between what they find, and act to make the world a better place.

Jackson Hole Community School prepares students to succeed in college and life, through challenging academics and excellence in teaching, in a community founded on personal relationships, student initiative, and integrity.  Jackson Hole Community School delivers an exceptional educational experience that prepares students to be independent thinkers who demonstrate personal integrity and moral purpose. Their commitment to service and our curricular focus on the global human experience encourage every student to be a responsible and contributing member of society.

Pillars of Strong Recruitment Strategy

A robust admissions program has to include an active recruitment strategy. Depending on your market, your school configuration, and the current status of your enrollment, your strategy needs to match where you are and where you need to go.

However, there are a few “pillars” of strong recruitment that apply to every school, regardless of the variables.

1)   Relationship, relationship, relationship. We know that word of mouth is our best source of referrals. What are you doing to nurture, support, and enhance relationships with the constituencies of your community, both inside and outside your school?

2)   A willingness to think creatively and out of the box

3)   Brand clarity and recognition

4)   Invitations to experience your school in a variety of ways

5)   Effective follow up

Schools are typically doing “fine” in most or all of these areas, or, they are completely ignoring one or more pieces. Rarely do we see a school doing everything well, and that’s ok. The catch is to know your school, your market, and the specific needs of your enrollment plan. Depending on your stake in the marketplace and the strengths and deficiencies in recruitment, your need to focus on particular elements will change. 

Francis Parker School Selects ISA - Again

Francis Parker School in San Diego has selected Ian Symmonds & Associates to assist the school in the continuing implementation of initiatives developed for their strategic plan.  ISA completed their research-based and highly collaborative and innovative strategic plan in 2013-14.  Our work will commence in May 2016.

Established in 1912, Francis Parker School is one of the premiere independent day schools on the West Coast, providing an exceptional college-preparatory education.  Their mission is to create and inspire a diverse community of independent thinkers whose academic excellence, global perspective and strength of character prepare them to make a meaningful difference in the world.  A Parker whole-child education complements a rigorous academic curriculum with vibrant programs in arts, sports and global studies.

Applewild School Selects ISA

Applewild School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts has selected Ian Symmonds & Associates to complete research and strategic marketing planning.  Applewild School is an independent, coeducational school centrally located in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Founded in 1957, it has approximately 180 students aged 4 to 15.  The school is accredited by the Association of Independent Schools of New England and belongs to the National Association of Independent Schools.

Transparency and Trust

We live in a time that values transparency.  Citizens call for transparency in government, employees seek it at work, parents want it in schools. Transparency is often a good thing, since it allows people to better understand and act on information that they need.  Easy access to policies allows citizens to better manage their affairs, understanding of a company’s strategy empowers employees to be more effective, clarity about a school’s goals and curriculum helps parents ensure that students learn.

But when school leaders hear calls for transparency, or when they consider heightening it themselves, they need to think carefully about how they respond.  The typical ways to increase transparency--sharing more information, adding representatives to governing bodies, changing policies to allow greater constituent oversight--may all be good things.  And they may increase transparency.  But they may not improve outcomes or satisfaction.

Here is why.  When people seek transparency they often want trust.  They want to know that leaders are acting in the interest of the students and the school.  They want to understand that decision-makers weigh all of the options before making a decision. They want to sit down and be heard. They want to have confidence that the common good, not self-interest drives the actions of people with whom they have entrusted their children, their money, or their futures.

Building trust is different from expanding transparency. Transparency is one-way and one-time. Sharing minutes from the governing board doesn’t mean the governing board also gets more insight into individual employees. Once a decision is made to add representatives to a governing board, that decision is made.

Trust is two-way and ongoing.  It comes from the back-and-forth of conversation, from the sharing of visions, aspirations, and frustrations, from working side-by-side on a common project. It demands and grows from empathy. It emerges from emotion. It is as much the result of eating lunch together and solving problems together as it is from policies, documents, or meetings. It grows in private but blooms in public.

A call for transparency, then, may signal a need for new policies and more information and changes in structure.  But those things should follow the hard work of building, or rebuilding, trust.

Retention (Seven Spokes of Successful Enrollment Management)

It is tempting to focus on the admission funnel and to be very concerned that your schools inquiry base is strong. In fact, it is among the most common concerns we hear at ISA: “we need more people at the top of the funnel”. This absolutely might be true. However, keeping your current students, keeping them satisfied, and stewarding them into being spokespeople for your school is among the most fruitful and important uses of time and resources. If retention is weak or marginal, it is unlikely that the other spokes of the wheel are going well. I might go so far as to say that it is unlikely they even have the potential to go well.  

We live in the age of relational marketing. This has always been true to some extent in independent schools, and is even more true as millennial parents care less about viewbooks and websites and increasingly rely on trusted individual sources of information, like current or recent families. In other words, there is a direct correlation between the willingness of your current families to spread the word about their experience at your school and the success of your enrollment efforts for new families.

When thinking about marketing, schools focus on potential new students but really the focus should be on current families. Telling the story of your school, especially it’s unique points of impact (see this article for more info), is a vital way to keep current families engaged and excited about your school.

Do the math. It is likely you are losing one class in your school to graduation, and you have one or two (or perhaps several) significant entry points each year to fill. In the middle are all of your current families. Somewhere around 80% of your student body needs to re-enroll, yet admission officers are spending much more of their time focused on the 20% who are new.

It is easy to fall into the trap of focusing the majority of your energy on creating incredible experiences for prospective families. This is important, naturally, but providing a red carpet treatment for your current families is equally, if not more, vital for healthy enrollment.

Image courtesy of Business Insider AU.

Seven Spokes of Successful Enrollment Management

As you are undoubtedly well aware, we are long past the days where admission directors were gatekeepers, simply receiving potential families, reading their admission files, and filling classes. Now, admission directors and enrollment managers have the increasingly complicated role of strategist.

We believe enrollment management has seven “spokes”, and that the strongest departments are doing all seven well. And, at the heart of all seven is good data and continual research.

We’ll be running a series of blog posts about these seven spokes, and, as always, welcome your comments and questions!

Columbus School for Girls Selects ISA

Columbus School for Girls in Columbus, Ohio has selected ISA for strategic planning consulting. Our work will commence this spring.

Columbus School for Girls was founded in 1898 and serves girls from age 3 through high school. CSG offers an exceptional academic experience along with arts and athletic offerings, as well as a unique health and wellness curriculum. 

The mission of CSG is "to educate and empower girls to discover their distinct potential as learners and leaders."

We are thrilled to welcome CSG to our family of clients. 

Enrollment managers as key pipelines of information

It may seem obvious, but a key element of your role as an enrollment manager, and especially as a strategic enrollment manager, is to help your school understand the intersection of market conditions and school goals. This is very difficult to do without regular, meaningful interaction with decision makers about vision, budget, and curriculum or programmatic changes. As you create or contribute to agendas for meetings with the senior team, the Head of School, or board members, it is wise to be sure to include significant time for discussion on these issues. You can advance the conversation by being prepared with data that supports your claims, concerns, and ideas.

Most admission officers and enrollment managers have a seat at the senior administrative table (please tell me you do!), and some have a seat at the finance committee of the board, but few attend regular board meetings, leading to the proverbial “telephone” game to learn about big picture institutional goals. The lack of your presence there means that you are essentially implementing the vision of the board, rather than partnering with them to create it. Your responsibility to share information regarding the external marketplace risks being lost in translation or not being given the time or weight it deserves, unless you are lucky enough to work with a Head of School or board chair who really “gets it”. The good news is that we do see an increase in those who “get it”. The bad news is that you may not be working in one of those institutions. 

Setting meetings at key times of year with your Head of School to share data and competitive landscape information will help him or her do their job well and will assist in advancing enrollment goals that serve the institution at large. The majority of people on campus are focused on what’s happening inside the institution.  You are one of the few people who’s eyes and ears are focused both inside and outside, therefore providing a balance of information that is essential for smart, responsible strategic enrollment planning.

Strategic Planning or School Improvement?

Independent schools and colleges often mistake a strategic planning process with a school improvement plan. What's the difference?There are significant differences between the two processes, their purposes, and the potential outcome of each. They actually lead to different outcomes and rely on a different set of data.  Here are three of the most important differences between school improvement and strategic planning.

• Change Produced - School improvement produces tangible change that is typically incremental and evolutionary, while strategic planning often results in more dynamic and revolutionary change.
• People Involved - School improvement is most often an annual, highly operational, and management-led process while strategic planning is reserved for generative thinking on a systematic basis involving the most strategic thinkers the institution can get their hands on.
• Research Used - School improvement relies more on internal feedback generated by stakeholders, such as the "strengths" and "weaknesses" of a SWOT analysis or general "customer satisfaction" surveys.  Strategic planning, on the other hand, is more interested in the external environment, such as the "opportunities" and "threats" of a SWOT analysis or environmental and trend scanning.  

We often find that schools and organizations that are involved in strategic planning will mistake the process for a school or college improvement process.  They misread tangible customer feedback as a sign that the organization must respond tactically to every negative theme from stakeholders in a survey, rather than seeing the larger theme and generating insight and opportunity from it. Some things identified in a research report or survey are better off left for the management team to address.

As your school or college discusses strategic planning processes, make sure everyone is on the same page and shares a common perspective on the process, purpose, and potential outcomes of each.  

Keynote from NBOA

Ian is keynoting on #edutrendingnow at the National Business Officers Association meeting at the JW Marriott at LA Live, downtown Los Angeles this morning.  A PDF of the presentation is available here for download.  Feel free to contribute your thoughts on any trends that you have witnessed shaping our schools and colleges at the social media hashtag #edutrendingnow. 

Soundview School Selects ISA

Soundview School in Lynnwood, WA has selected ISA for enrollment feasibility research and consulting. We are very pleased to welcome Soundview to our family of clients. Our work will be completed in May, 2016.

Soundview is an international baccalaureate world school serving early childhood through eighth grade students. 

The mission of the school reads as follows: "Soundview School educates intellectually motivated students to become knowledgeable, compassionate, and ethical citizens and leaders.

We cultivate international-mindedness, creativity, and passion for learning through inquiry, integrated projects, and meaningful assessment in academics, the arts, service, and self-expression.

We embrace diversity and work to build our school and local communities around reflection, caring, respect, and trust."

North Country School Selects ISA

North Country School and Camp Treetops has selected ISA for strategic planning services. Our work will commence in February.

North Country School  is an independent junior boarding and day school for boys and girls in grades four through nine. Its 200-acre campus is located in Lake Placid, NY in the High Peaks Region of the 6 million acre Adirondack Park.

North Country School strives to create a community that gives children the self-confidence, knowledge, skills, and values to lead satisfying and productive lives while contributing to their world.

In the summer, the campus is transformed into Camp Treetops, an Adirondacks summer camp for boys and girls ages 8-14. At Camp Treetops, children experience the natural world and an array of creative and challenging activities in a simple, unhurried, child-centered environment.

We are thrilled to welcome North Country School and Camp Treetops to our family of clients.

Baylor School Selects ISA

Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee has selected Ian Symmonds & Associates for strategic planning services. We are honored to return to Baylor, where we provided consulting services for the last strategic plan.

Baylor is a college preparatory school for students in grades 6-12. The mission of the school is to foster in its students both the ability and the desire to make a positive difference in the world. To help students gain independence and responsibility, Baylor sets certain expectations from the very beginning. Each boy and girl who enrolls at Baylor School must sign, and live by, the Baylor Honor Code. The Honor Code has been the cornerstone of school values since 1916.
 

Westside School Selects ISA

We are thrilled to announce that Westside School in Seattle, WA has selected ISA for a research-based strategic marketing program. Our work will commence in February.

As an accredited NWAIS Independent School, Westside School prepares students for the world by challenging them to achieve academic success and by connecting their human spirit and imagination to learning.

Westside School is recognized as West Seattle’s premier, accredited Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8 independent school program. Westside helps students develop essential skills for the 21st century, including conceptual thinking, communication, and cooperation. Students thrive in the safe, caring, inclusive community environment Westside provides.

Point of Impact

In preparation for his presentation at the National Business Officers Association Annual Meeting, the organization just ran a fantastic interview with Ian where he discusses several relevant points regarding strategic planning and enrollment management. You can take a look at the article here.

The NBOA Annual Meeting will be held in Los Angeles in late February. 

Currey Ingram Academy Selects ISA

Currey Ingram Academy in Brentwood, TN has selected Ian Symmonds & Associates for enrollment feasibility research.  Our work will commence in February.  We are thrilled to welcome Currey Ingram to our client community.

Currey Ingram Academy is a K-12 independent, college-preparatory day school for students with unique learning styles and/or learning differences. The school has welcomed families from 32 states and eight countries who cite the school as their primary reason for moving to Middle Tennessee.