Ken chats with Liz Cheron, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment & Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Northeastern University, and former chair of NACAC's Admission Practices Committee. Liz shares a ton of great insights, including integrating design thinking into work, mastery of 24-hour trips to the West Coast and back, and why "admissions leadership and motherhood are not mutually exclusive."

Also, there is a reference to a duck.

Shout-outs & Links

• David Burge, former NACAC president who tapped Liz on the shoulder to lead the Admissions Practices committee. 
• Ronné Patrick Turner, former AVP for Enrollment at Northeastern
• "How I Built This with Guy Raz : NPR" podcast 

Rapid Descent

• Liz's walkout song: Shake it Off by Taylor Swift
• Best thing she's read lately: 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam
• What she's eager to read next: The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath
• Favorite thing to make in the kitchen: The Barefoot Contessa's Spicy Turkey Meatballs and Raisin Pecan Oatmeal cookies
• What she uses to take and keep notes: Plum Planner, but still looking for the right pen. 
• Memorable bit of advice: "What are the glass balls and rubber balls in your life? The rubber balls will always bounce back, but you need to keep the glass balls in the air."
• Bucket list: Running the Boston Marathon.

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment

Ken chats with Cornell LeSane, Vice President for Enrollment & Dean of Admissions at Allegheny College (Meadville, PA), and newly elected NACAC board director. We learn what a higher ed, a croquet match, and Downton Abbey have to do with each other, and also why you never turn around in racquetball.

Shout-outs & Links

• Nancy Beane and Ellen Deitrich, who "voluntold" Cornell to run for NACAC board.  
• Mike Steidel, Dean of Admission at Carnegie Mellon
• Bill Elliot, VP emeritus at Carnegie Mellon
• Sue Stuebner, former EVP at Allegheny now President at Colby-Sawyer, who asked Cornell to join her in a HUGE presentation early in Cornell's tenure at Allegheny.
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Rapid Descent

• Cornell's walkout song: Happy by Pharrell
• Best thing he's read lately: Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
• What he's eager to read next: The Years That Matter Most by Paul Tough
• Favorite thing to make in the kitchen: Pancakes.
• What he uses to take and keep notes: Paper and pen agnostic: whatever notepad or journal book is available.
• Memorable bit of advice: "It's easier to catch bees with honey." (Bonus: "In God we trust. All others bring data.")
• Bucket list: Continue traveling and remain open to the possibility of where he might go. Russia was a wonderful surprise that happened that way.

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment

Ken chats with Heath Einstein, Dean of Admission at TCU about his circuitous journey to his current role, and learns the power of working as hard in your personal life as you do in your work life.

Shout-outs & Links

• Former George Washington U colleagues Rhonda Leshman and Rafi Blumenthal.  
• Jan Goldstein, formerly of Solomon Schechter in Long Island who referred him to his first counseling gig at Solomon Schechter in Westchester.
• Carol Wasden, who hired Heath at Hockaday
• Ray Brown, Ken's and Heath's former boss
• The Power of Moments, by Chip and Dan Heath.

Rapid Descent

• Heath's walkout song: Hunger Strike by Temple of the Dog
• Best thing he's read lately: The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students by Anthony Jack
• What he's eager to read next: Beloved by Toni Morrison
• Favorite thing to make in the kitchen: Omelettes that sound suspiciously like a scramble.
• What he uses to take and keep notes: Moleskine notebook for big ideas; simple spiral-bound non-Trapper Keeper for meetings and conversations. Purple   Uniball pen.
• Memorable bit of advice: "Return your voicemails first thing in the morning." Also, "Keep reading."
• Bucket list: Wrigley Field, much to the chagrin of the host, a devoted Milwaukee Brewers fan.

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment

Ken chats with Suzanne Lepley, Interim Dean of Admission at Kalamazoo College, and learns the power of positivity and sweating out stress, as well as what cookies have to do with good interview questions.

Shout-outs & Links

• Colleges That Change Lives—"Any group that works in higher ed together has more power than any individual institution for the betterment of higher education."
• Jeff Rickey, former enrollment chief at Earlham College who was an early mentor to Suzanne 
• Marty O'Connell—former executive director of CTCL and mentor to Suzanne. 

Rapid Descent

• Suzanne's walkout song: No Sleep Till Brooklyn by Beastie Boys
• Best thing she's read lately: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• What she's eager to read next: Becoming by Michelle Obama
• Favorite thing to make in the kitchen: Superhero muffins (for her swimmer daughter)
• What she uses to take and keep notes: Shinola notebooks made in Detroit, written with the Pilot Precise V5RT. Also, for color-coding, Paper Mate Flair felt tips.
• Memorable bit of advice: "People first. Put people first."
• Bucket list: a yoga retreat in Italy (combines her three favorite things, yoga, food, and Italy)

Episode sponsor

• Many thanks to RHB, a marketing and design consultancy serving higher education and helping great causes succeed since 1991.

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment

Ken's all by himself at the ALP studio, getting ready for the NACAC conference... as well as what comes after the big vote at the conference.

We'll have new episodes again after the conference, but for now, you can enjoy a few additions to the ALP media empire (he says ironically):

ALP: The Admissions Leadership Playlist
Walkout songs of all ALP guests are available on Apple Music and Spotify playlists.

Also, you can find a list of good reads and nifty things on Amazon.

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment

Ken chats with Todd Rinehart, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment at the University of Denver, former chair of NACAC's Admission Practices Committee, and candidate for NACAC president.

Shout-outs & Links

• Roger Campbell—Admission Dean Emeritus at University of Denver, and one of Todd's mentors. (passed away in 2009)
• Tom Willoughby—Vice Chancellor Emeritus at University of Denver and Todd's longtime colleague
• Nancy Beane—Associate Director of College Counseling at the Westminster Schools and former NACAC president (2016-17) 
• Joyce Smith—as Todd describes her, "NACAC's powerhouse CEO" who will be retiring in 2020.
• @ToddRinehart, @NACAC
• This podcast has an elevation gain of 4490' between Appleton, Wisconsin (where Ken is) and Denver.

Rapid Descent

• Todd's walkout song: Don't Stop Believin' by Journey
• Best thing he's read lately: The Power of Privilege by Joseph A. Soares
• What he's eager to read next: Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges and Universities by Gina Ann Garcia
• Favorite thing to make in the kitchen: chocolate-chip pancakes with his daughter
• What he uses to take and keep notes: nifty DU-branded portfolio, available at the University of Denver bookstore
• Memorable bit of advice: "Life is for the living." (Tom Willoughby)
• Bucket list: Golfing at Augusta National... with Ken... after riding there on a bike.

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment

Ken chats with Marie Bigham, founder and co-leader at ACCEPT: Admissions Community Cultivating Equity & Peace Today, and one of the masterminds behind Hack the Gates, whose goal is to "Radically Reimagine Admissions." Learn about the power of learning, listening, enjoying the ride—and also how Pearl Jam, Prince, Self-Care Sundays, and carrying a file folder confidently can make all the difference.

Shout-outs

• Nanette Tarbouni—former director of admissions and Marie's boss at Washington University of St. Louis, now a college counselor at John Burroughs High School.
• Marjorie Jacobs—former college counselor at Scarsdale HS in New York who invited Marie to be on a panel early in her career. Now a college counselor at SAR.
• Jim McLeod—was Marie's champion at Wash U when he was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. (He passed away in 2011.)
• Brandi Smith and Steve Frappier, co-leaders of ACCEPT.
• @ACCEPTGroup, @HackTheGates

Links and lists

• ACCEPT was featured in a Chronicle of Higher Education article by Eric Hoover: The Admissions Activists are Here to Make You Uncomfortable. (Aug. 11, 2019).
• Marie referred to Amy Poehler's "Smart Girls Ask Amy" series on YouTube, specifically this episode about courage in the face of a risk.
• She's loving the NYT 1619 Project

Rapid Descent

• Marie's walkout song: Rollout (this one's the PG version) by Ludacris
• Best thing she's read lately: How Does It Feel, a 2016 New Yorker article by Patti Smith
• What she's eager to read next: Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia
• What she uses to take and keep notes: Lechturm 1917 A5 Hardcover notebook with dot grid (find it here) with notes written in black ink with a Pilot G2 Ultrafine .38mm pen
• Memorable bit of advice: "Walk with confidence and carry a file folder... people will think you know what you're doing."
• Bucket list: Alaska. It's the only state she hasn't visited.

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment

Ken chats with Rick Clark (Twitter, LinkedIn), Director of Undergraduate Admission at Georgia Tech and the voice behind the Georgia Tech Admission Blog. Learn about the power of a midnight run, what an English Premiere League soccer player has to do with a rising admission staffer, and where he and his team get their best ideas for staff engagement and renewal.

Links and lists

• The Truth About College Admission by Rick Clark and Brennan Barnard (published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019)
• Rick also mentioned a video they were working on that plays on the Delta pre-flight safety video. He was kind enough to share it with me so I can share it with you. (Spoiler: it’s genius.)

Rapid Descent

• Rick's walkout song: We Ready by Archie Eversole
• Best thing he's read lately: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story by Donald Miller
• What he's eager to read next: The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile
• What he uses to take and keep notes: voice records into his phone, also "a ton of flip paper"
• Memorable bit of advice: We don’t have to do this; we get to do this… The interruptions are your job—when the problems come, we should be excited about tackling them. They’re not a disruption.
• Bucket list: Hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro—he was on his way there to do it, but contracted malaria in Botswana

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment

Ken chats with Jennielle Strother (Twitter, LinkedIn), VP for Enrollment Management and Chief Enrollment Officer at Concordia University Texas. Learn the origin story of #EMchat, which she co-founded with Alex Williams, as well as the way she approaches her daily work... and why "pressure is a privilege."

Links and lists

• "Pressure is a privilege" (Pep Guardiola) which Jennielle heard while watching All or Nothing—Manchester City. As Jennielle says, "I was watching the show with my husband one night, and there was a scene when he was talking to his team in the locker room and he very nonchalantly said, 'pressure is a privilege' (which I’m sure was in between a few curse words) and I emailed the four words to myself at that moment."
• Dream On by Aerosmith
• Texas Women in Higher Education: Acting, Reflecting, Transforming (TXwHEART) on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Rapid Descent

• Jennielle's walkout song: Bidi Bidi Bom Bom by Selena
• Best thing she's read lately: Pivot: A Vision for the New University by Soliday & Lombardi
• What she's eager to read next: Dr. Josie Ahlquist's next book
• What she uses to take and keep notes: writing with her favorite Tul pen in pretty notebooks. (Also One Note.)
• Memorable bit of advice: from her volleyball coach, who said, "All you need to do is show up and I'll get you where you need to be." She adds, "And by 'show up,' he meant 110% of me in practice and games: heart, mind, body."
• Bucket list: travel to Rome, Italy

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment

Ken chats with Angel Pérez, VP for Enrollment and Student Success at Trinity College (CT). This interview took place just a couple of days after Angel published his article, What Is a Chief Enrollment Officer? which gave them a perfect launching point for the conversation.

Other links and lists:

• Angel's 2009 John B. Muir Award-winning article: Struggling Between Two Worlds: How College Affects Identity Construction (NACAC Journal, Winter 2008)

Rapid Descent

• Angel's walkout song: We Are the Champions by Queen
• Best thing he’s read lately: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
• What he wants to read next: several Maya Angelou books he wants to catch up on
• Favorite thing to make in the kitchen: Arroz con Gandules and Chuletas
• What he uses to take and keep notes: Notes on his iPad
• Memorable bit of advice: “The only thing you can control is your reaction"
• Bucket list: Go to Antarctica and check off that 7th continent

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment