Enrollment Insights Podcast

In this episode, you'll hear from Andrew Weller. Andrew is the Dean of Enrollment and Strategic Marketing at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School, a private Episcopal day school serving students in grades JK-12 in Alexandria, VA. Andrew was previously Director of Admissions for Avenues: The World School, Executive Director of Advancement at Ridley College in Canada, and Director of Admissions at Chestnut Hill Academy.

He was a board member of the East Bay School for Boys, served on the inaugural Admissions Leadership Council, served four years on the planning committee of the TABS/NAIS Global Symposium, and now serves as an advisor to the Admission Directors Institute of the Enrollment Management Association.

He has a bachelor’s degree from Alfred University, a master’s degree from Marymount University, and a doctor of education from the University of Pennsylvania.

:30 - Intro

1:58 - Something Andrew tried that didn’t work and what he learned (Sometimes innovation isn’t a good thing)

4:50 - How Andrew brainstorms and brings new ideas to his work

5:55 - Bringing together “comparative peers” to solve problems

8:20 - Sometimes the best professional development comes from your peers at other schools

10:02 - Asking for “feedback” vs. asking for “advice”

11:33 - Three key points for admissions offices to consider when thinking about yield

14:40 - “Hand to hand combat” yield

15:31 - How schools are changing their approach to yield

17:14 - A key data point about families’ decisions during yield

20:53 - Once parents have checked the “big boxes” about your school, pay attention to the little ones

22:55 - Be aware of the barriers that exist for families that can’t be moved - and be okay with them

25:05 - Are your new families in a three-year cycle with you before they head for the door?

26:25 - How the “COVID bump” changes the way we can think about yield

30:51 - Strategies admissions leaders can use to engage the broader community in yield

32:05 - Admissions professionals as matchmakers

34:15 - Don’t wait until after families have enrolled to give them access to teachers!

36:06 - Balance what you want families to hear and know about your school with what they want to hear and know

38:24 - Questions to ask and data points to consider as you plan for next year

39:22 - “Survey early and survey hard”

41:20 - Be sure to steal this question for your applicant surveys this year

42:17 - An exercise for evaluating your admissions tactics

44:28 - Applying “moves management” to admissions

48:15 - How to connect with Andrew and continue the conversation

Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.

This is a podcast version of a Niche Screenside Chat with Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed. We chatted about what trends Scott is seeing emerge for 2022 and how to address them and answered audience questions.

Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.

In this episode, you'll hear from Niche's Chief Product Officer Athena Meyers as she shares a peek behind the curtain at how Niche's product development organization approaches brainstorming, understanding our users, and continuous optimization for the Niche platform, as well as lessons enrollment marketers can learn from these processes.

Athena is on a mission to modernize the school search and enrollment process. Athena joined Niche with over 15 years of experience leading digital product strategies and has a strong passion for growing two-sided marketplaces. Prior to Niche, she led The Knot's global wedding marketplace and was recognized in 2019 as one of DC's "50 on Fire" in tech innovation. She's also had impactful roles at Time Magazine/TIME.com and asmallworld.com(a social network start-up when she joined). She is especially motivated to build products that make it easy for people to navigate hard and important life moments, like planning and wedding and finding a school!

:25 - Introduction

:57 - Something Athena tried that didn't work and what she learned

3:12 - The importance of clearly defining success in testing

4:12 - How Athena brainstorms and brings new ideas into product development work

5:00 - "Brainstorming is not an independent activity."

9:33 - Turning brainstorming into action

12:32 - How Athena's perspective on education has changed since she joined Niche

16:43 - Looking for inspiration from outside the education industry

17:51 - The dynamics in the education industry that are driving the product development organization's plans for 2022

22:58 - Companies that are demonstrating authenticity and transparency

25:57 - The product development team's approach to continuous optimization

27:48 - How to collect feedback and make it actionable

30:31 - Making sure the right people are communicating and sharing user feedback across functions

33:36 - How Niche's product development team uses user research

36:18 - The role of personas in product development

37:25 - How we're expanding personalization and relevance on the Niche platform

40:39 - How we're looking to refine the Niche platform to further reduce friction for students and families in the school search process

44:39 - How schools can remove friction from their own processes

48:19 - How to continue the conversation with Athena

Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.

This is a podcast version of a Niche Screenside Chat, where we talked about emerging trends in school storytelling for 2022 and ways that schools across segments can proactively and effectively engage current and prospective families in uncertain times.

Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.

In this episode, you'll hear from Andrea Gribble, the owner of #SocialSchool4EDU. Andrea's passion is helping schools recognize their daily awesomeness and sharing that story with the world. She’s built a team that celebrates hundreds of schools across the country! #SocialSchool4EDU provides full social media management, offers an intensive Social Media Bootcamp, and runs a vibrant online community that provides ongoing professional development for school social media champions.

:30 - Intro

1:30 - What Andrea has tried that didn’t work and what she learned

3:32 - “You either win or you learn.”

3:45 - How Andrea brainstorms and brings new ideas into her work

5:40 - Andrea’s podcast recommendations

7:22 - Resolution #1: Start doing Instagram and Facebook Reels

12:02 - Resolution #2: Stop doing Information-only posts

14:25 - The impact of informational posts on reach

14:45 - Posting to celebrate your community vs. information and logistics

17:10 - Resolution #3: Start telling real stories about students and staff

20:58 - Resolution #4: Stop managing too many social media channels

21:37 - Facebook is still where it’s at for families

22:00 - Your location can impact which channels make sense for your school

25:00 - Resolution #5: Start batching your features ahead of time

28:10 - Tools for making scheduling posts easier

28:55 - Find what works for you and use it

29:25 - Resolution #6: Stop posting on weekends and thinking everything has to be posted immediately

32:48 - Resolution #7: Start doing more video

37:49 - Resolution #8: Stop worrying about perfectly-edited videos

40:05 Where to connect with Andrea to learn more

Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.

It's the end of 2021, so it's time for our annual December shift of topics. This month you'll get to know our hosts better. Will Patch is Niche's Senior Enrollment Insights Leader for Higher Education. Prior to coming to Niche in 2019 Will served 9 years at Manchester University in roles as an Admissions Counselor, Associate Director for Admissions Operations, Social Media Coordinator, and ultimately as Digital Strategist. Will surfaces tactical insights from user behavior and surveys to help higher ed build recruitment strategies. In addition to the Enrollment Insights blog, webinars, and podcast; Will is a frequent conference speaker and podcast guest. He has presented at NACAC, AACRAO-SEM, AMA Higher Ed, CASE V, EduWeb, and EMA. Will's work has been featured in Forbes, Inside Higher Ed, CNBC, CNN, the LA Times, and The New York Times among other outlets.

:30 - Introduction

1:05 - Things Will has tried that didn’t work and what he learned

1:45 - Will’s experimentation with engaging high school students as a physics/chemistry teacher

2:31 - “It never matters what you want to say. It mattes what your audience needs and wants to hear.”

6:30 - Will’s experience with productive brain dumps

8:03 - How Will brainstorms and brings new ideas to his work at Niche

13:45 - How Will “devours” information

15:42 - Will’s podcast recommendations and must-follow Twitter accounts

19:19 - What keeps education fresh and interesting for Will (after growing up as the child of two teachers and spending his career in the industry!)

23:16 - What Will thought he’d grow up to be

28:10 - How Will’s perspective on enrollment marketing has changed since he joined Niche from working in-house

30:12 - Will’s favorite topic on the Enrollment Ingishts podcast thus far

35:54 - Will’s higher education heroes

41:55 - What surprised Will the most about college enrollment and marketing and 2021

Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.

It's the end of 2021, so it's time for our annual December shift of topics. This month you'll get to know our hosts better. Angela Brown is Niche's Senior Enrollment Insights Leader for PK-12 Schools. Before joining Niche, Angela was the director of marketing and communications at Flint Hill School, a PK-12, co-ed day school outside of Washington, DC. Angela joined Flint Hill in 2014 after spending 10 years focusing on B2B marketing communications for AmLaw 100 firms, IT consulting and digital marketing agencies, and a leading commercial real estate information and analytics company.

0:30 - Introduction

1:13 - Which is worse: Saying you have no budget or no time?

3:48 - Angela's personal mission statement

6:28 - Something surprising that Angela works on improving

8:41 - Angela's relationship with education growing up

12:34 - What Angela thought she would do growing up, and how it changed

15:14 - Dreams of the agency lifestyle and the path to school marketing

19:24 - Angela's transition to podcast host

22:37 - Angela's podcast recommendations: marketing related and just for fun

26:32 - The shift in perspective from an institution to the wide view at Niche

30:20 - Angela's favorite topic that she's learned about

32:50 - Preparing for crisis communications and inclusive marketing

35:34 - Angela's Bold Predictions for 2022

38:40 - A fun conversation starter to chat with Angela (It's kind of a funny story...)

Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.

In this episode, you'll hear from Jan Abernathy, Chief Communications Officer at The Browning School, a K-12 boys' school in New York City. Formerly the director of marketing and communications at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, NJ, she has presented at conferences sponsored by the National Association of Independent Schools, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools, and the New York State Association of Independent Schools. At Browning, she is a member of the Health & Safety Team, responsible for managing COVID response, and co-chaired the school’s successful search for its new director of equitable practice and social impact. At EMS, she also chaired the Equity and Justice Task Force, managed the school’s participation in the NAIS’ Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism Survey, and led the school’s NJAIS reaccreditation. 

She is president of New York City Independent Schools Communications Professionals, a professional association of over 100 members from schools throughout the tri-state area, and the co-founder of Black Advancement Networking Group, which works to gain further representation and greater professional growth of Black professionals in advancement roles in independent schools. Jan is chair of CASE-NAIS 2022, the most prominent international advancement conference in the independent school sector. A journalist by training, she has written for NAIS’ Independent School Magazine on crisis communications (Winter 2019) and the "Black at" movement (Winter 2021). 

She is a trustee of Grace Church School, a JK-12 school in New York City, and was on the board of Stevens Cooperative School in Hoboken, NJ, for 13 years, spending six years as chair. Her consulting firm, Jan Abernathy Strategic Communications, provides communications and DEI counsel for educational institutions and non-profits.

3:10 - What didn't work for Jan? Podcasting!

4:38 - "If you're going to bite off more than you can chew, make sure you've thought about the workflows."

6:20 - The importance of looking outside your market (and industry) to brainstorm ideas

9:30 - What diversity is and what it isn't

12:14 - Diversity is a nuanced discussion

13:19 - "You can't sleep on it"

14:10 - Navigating the challenge of communicating DEI work

15:15 - You may have to catch up before you can communicate

16:09 - Aspirations and pitfalls

16:35 - There is no elevator pitch for DEI work

17:57 - Partnering with your school's DEI practitioner

21:35 - When you see something, say something

23:15 - What your students understand about diversity

26:05 - What Niche data is saying about how parents value student and teacher diversity

27:25 - Your loudest families may not be representative of how your community feels about diversity work

29:17 - How Millennials and Gen Xers differ on diversity

30:55 - "Sometimes a question is just a question."

31:22 - What to do when a crisis hits

35:44 - The communications director as a calming presence during a crisis

37:45 - You can't be all business when something goes wrong

39:25 - Have a plan and empower your communications leaders to take action

40:15 - The right way to partner with a crisis communications firm

41:16 - Effective school communicators must know how to navigate a crisis

45:04 - Tips for school leaders who are new to DEI work

48:00 - "If you don't understand the discipline, it's that much harder to communicate about it."

Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.

This is a podcast version of a Niche webinar in which we shared results from the 2021 College Searching Parent Survey and 5 ways you can use them to engage parents at your institution.

Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.

This is a recording of a Niche webinar to discuss key PK-12 insights from our 2021 Parent Survey and ways schools can use them to engage current and prospective parents.

Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.