Enrollment Edge by enrollmentFUEL

Enrollment Managers have to be skilled in so many areas—data analysis, technology, marketing strategy, staff development, and predicting the future. One skillset that is often overlooked, but is so important to an enrollment manager's success is the ability to Build Institutional Buy-In. We'll talk with Dr. Chris Romano, an enrollment veteran of 14 years about how he builds buy-in with constituent groups on and off campus, the most and least important metrics to present to those groups, and how to educate the campus constituent groups in order to build and maintain a strong understanding of enrollment at a college.

About Our Guest
Dr. Christopher Romano, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, joined Ramapo College in 2007. His portfolio includes leadership of the College’s Strategic Enrollment Management Plan and the recruitment and retention initiatives therein. Dr. Romano oversees College Admissions, the Center for Student Success (which is inclusive of career and academic advisement, first-year experience, the Educational Opportunity Fund, the Center for Reading and Writing and placement testing), marketing and communications, Athletics, Intramurals and Recreation, degree completion, specialized services, financial aid, student activities, student conduct, health and counseling services, public safety, and residence life operations. Prior to serving as Vice President, Dr. Romano enjoyed roles with Ramapo as Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management and as Special Assistant to the College President. Dr. Romano’s research has focused on strategic enrollment management, the College presidency, and executive leadership. He has presented nationally on strategic enrollment management, student engagement, marketing/branding in the context of enrollment management, and developing institutional models for student success as well as presenting to both new and advanced chiefs of staff on the role within the context of higher education and leadership development. He earned his Ed.D. in Interdisciplinary Leadership from Creighton University, his Ed.M. in Higher Education Administration from Harvard University and his B.A. in International Relations from Saint Joseph’s University. Dr. Romano’s high energy level is routinely noted by his colleagues– to this end, he is no longer permitted to consume caffeinated beverages during the work day.

Community colleges have traditionally focused resources to support student success and completion by providing services and delivery models that are responsive to the needs of their student body. As universities look to the future of their delivery design, community colleges can provide best practice and strategic models that could be adaptable to other educational sectors. Our community colleges can provide valuable lessons for the rest of the industry.

About Our Guest
Evan Ray is currently the Director of Student Success for two campuses associated with Ozarks Technical Community College located in southwest Missouri. Serving in public and private Higher Ed for over 14 years in various enrollment management and student services positions, Evan’s professional interests include exploring the boundaries of data in knowledge-creation enterprises and analyzing the cultural markers of teams that successfully galvanize change.

Susanna Mayo has spent the past 15 years of her career dabbling in almost every aspect of admission at Capital University. She found her passion for building Capital's CRM when she started her current role as Director of Admissions Operations and Technology. In her own words, Susanna has served as an IT adjunct within her own university as well as other who have tapped her on the shoulder for her CRM expertise. She is the first one to remind her database partners to think outside of the "status quo" or the "way we've always done it" mentality. Susanna clearly articulates the critical attributes that a great CRM must have so that your CRM will work for you and not you working for it. 

For questions, suggestions, or comments, please email us at [email protected]

Trust in higher education, trust in the systems, trust in the value of degree outcomes and trust in the return on the investment in a college degree is in question. Consequently, a pandemic and a beleaguered economy have accelerated these concerns. 

David Horsager is an author and speaker on the subject of the importance of building and maintaining trust throughout the organization in order to remain healthy and vibrant. We will discuss how essential it is to build trust among the wide span of constituent groups surrounding a university and the cost of losing that trust among those groups.

If you have feedback, questions, or insights, we'd love to hear from you at [email protected].

About David

David Horsager, MA, CSP, CPAE is CEO of Trust Edge Leadership Institute and a global authority on helping leaders and organizations become the most trusted in their industry.

He is inventor of The Enterprise Trust Index™, director of the annual study—The Trust Outlook™, and national bestselling author of The Trust Edge.

With clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to professional sports teams and global governments, David has taken the platform across the United States and on 6 continents.

Trust in higher education, trust in the systems, trust in the value of degree outcomes and trust in the return on the investment in a college degree is in question. Consequently, a pandemic and a beleaguered economy have accelerated these concerns. David Horsager is an author and speaker on the subject of the importance of building and maintaining trust throughout the organization in order to remain healthy and vibrant. We will discuss how essential it is to build trust among the wide span of constituent groups surrounding a university and the cost of losing that trust among those groups.

About David

David Horsager, MA, CSP, CPAE is CEO of Trust Edge Leadership Institute and a global authority on helping leaders and organizations become the most trusted in their industry.

He is inventor of The Enterprise Trust Index™, director of the annual study—The Trust Outlook™, and national bestselling author of The Trust Edge.

With clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to professional sports teams and global governments, David has taken the platform across the United States and on 6 continents.

Under normal circumstances, Strategic Enrollment Planning can be challenging. Effective planning relies on predictable elements, like graduation rates, demographics, stable discount rates, brand strength, academic distinctives, and so on. Yet, with so many factors impacting the college search process, enrollment planning can be even more difficult. In our conversation, Tim Fuller will point out what enrollment leaders should focus attention and resources on to make the biggest impact at their school.  We hope that you enjoy our two part series with Tim and walk away with actionable insight to help you along the way.

If you have questions or comments about this episode, please contact us at [email protected] or visit our website.

About Our Guest:
Tim Fuller is a higher education speaker, strategic planner, enrollment strategist, and data enthusiast. Tim will be the first to tell you that “it takes a campus to recruit a student,” and then give you not only the data you need, but the “so what?” behind it to set successful strategies for your institution’s health, stability, and sustainable culture in motion. After thirteen years with Credo as an Owner, Senior Vice President, and Executive Leadership Team member, Tim has returned to the affiliate status he enjoyed with Credo to found his own firm, Fuller Higher Ed Solutions. 

Tim’s heart for higher education took root during the years he spent serving at his alma mater, Houghton College. In 1980, Tim began serving as an admission counselor and spent the final 14 years of his 27-year tenure as the Vice President for Enrollment Management. He has conducted enrollment research on behalf of higher education association for more than 30 years. In 2003, the CCCU named Tim a Senior Research Fellow in appreciation for his ongoing commitment to enrollment research, and in 2015, the ABHE named him a Senior Fellow for his contributions to their professional development curriculum and conferences.

Under normal circumstances, Strategic Enrollment Planning can be challenging. Effective planning relies on predictable elements, like graduation rates, demographics, stable discount rates, brand strength, academic distinctives, and so on. Yet, with so many factors impacting the college search process, enrollment planning can be even more difficult. In our conversation, Tim Fuller will point out what enrollment leaders should focus attention and resources on to make the biggest impact at their school.  We hope that you enjoy our two part series with Tim and walk away with actionable insight to help you along the way.

If you have questions or comments about this episode, please contact us at [email protected] or visit our website.

About Our Guest:
Tim Fuller is a higher education speaker, strategic planner, enrollment strategist, and data enthusiast. Tim will be the first to tell you that “it takes a campus to recruit a student,” and then give you not only the data you need, but the “so what?” behind it to set successful strategies for your institution’s health, stability, and sustainable culture in motion. After thirteen years with Credo as an Owner, Senior Vice President, and Executive Leadership Team member, Tim has returned to the affiliate status he enjoyed with Credo to found his own firm, Fuller Higher Ed Solutions. 

Tim’s heart for higher education took root during the years he spent serving at his alma mater, Houghton College. In 1980, Tim began serving as an admission counselor and spent the final 14 years of his 27-year tenure as the Vice President for Enrollment Management. He has conducted enrollment research on behalf of higher education association for more than 30 years. In 2003, the CCCU named Tim a Senior Research Fellow in appreciation for his ongoing commitment to enrollment research, and in 2015, the ABHE named him a Senior Fellow for his contributions to their professional development curriculum and conferences.

Lisa Branson joins our podcast today to discuss her expertise on all things name buying and prospect mining. She pulls no punches, and provides insight on just what it takes to succeed in this space.

Lisa has over 22 years of experience in the higher education space, and has gained valuable insight along the way.

In this episode Lisa and Jay have a very engaging conversation on cross platform marketing, predictive modeling, the need for acquiring attributable data to make the right marketing decisions, and much more! Be sure to tune in and check out the entire episode. 

About enrollmentFUEL

enrollmentFUEL is on a mission to create more effective and efficient Student Search communications and cutting-edge digital strategies. The company has extensive expertise in geo-demographic research, predictive modeling, creative design and messaging, CRM implementations, and all aspects of digital advertising (IP targeting, retargeting, geotargeting, geo-framing, matchBACK™, etc.). With proprietary technology and innovative thinking, enrollmentFUEL provides successful outcomes and actionable insight to the people who recruit people. For more information, please visit enrollmentfuel.com.

Dr. Jim Fereira, Senior Vice President for Student Development at Anderson University in South Carolina discusses the changing college climate and effective strategies to retain students by building community and strong relationships across the campus. In this podcast we'll address how essential it is for universities to dedicate staff and resources to serve and retain as many students as possible. 

Dr. Jim Fereira has worked in college and university student development roles for over 36 years.  He currently serves as senior vice president for student development at Anderson University, SC beginning there in 2013.  Previously he served as dean of students at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN for 14 years, dean of students at North Central University in Minneapolis, MN for 8 years, and as a residence director at Evangel University in Springfield, MO for 7 years.  

Dr. Fereira earned a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Organizational Leadership and Policy Development in Higher Education where he studied the spiritual engagement of college students.  He also holds a Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Counseling from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary/Evangel University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Taylor University in Indiana.

During his student development career, Dr. Fereira has provided leadership to areas of student affairs including residence life, counseling and health services centers, career services, campus ministries, student leadership development programs, new student orientation and freshman programs, student engagement, student success programs, accessibility services, diversity and international student programs, athletics and intramurals, student retention, and student affairs program development and assessment.

Dr. Jacquelyn Elliott, President of enrollmentFUEL talks about building a healthy culture on your admissions team. Our podcast will provide enrollment managers with practical strategies to nurture a healthy team culture during a time of remote workers, stress about job security and overall anxiety about living in the realities of a pandemic.

Dr. Jacquelyn D. Elliott is a subject matter expert in recruitment and retention strategies, all things enrollment management, strategic planning, budgeting, organizational histories, women in leadership, and goal mapping. With over thirty years of experience in higher education, she brings expertise in many areas relevant to the challenges of today’s Chief Enrollment Officer as President of enrollmentFUEL.

Visit our website to contact enrollmentFUEL and keep an eye out for new episodes.