Higher Ed Pulse

Welcome to our latest Pulse Check - Personalizing Prospective Student Journeys, hosted by Mallory Willsea.

In Part 2 of this series, Creating Community Before College, Dustin Ramsdell, Community Engagement Lead at Pathify, joins Mallory Willsea to explore the critical phase in the student journey post-application but pre-enrollment. They discuss strategies for higher education institutions to build a sense of community with accepted students, emphasizing the importance of engaging digital experiences, personalized interactions, and showcasing campus life. The episode covers how technology, like AI chatbots and digital experience platforms, and human connections can ease student anxieties and assist in making informed decisions.

Key Takeaways:

• Engaging Prospective Students: The importance of engaging students during the decision-making process and providing a compelling option for them to choose your institution.
• Building Community: The role of community in a student's decision, including insights into peer groups, campus life, and student success stories.
• Addressing Key Student Questions: The crucial concerns of students at this stage, such as pricing, resources, and program specifics.
• Role of Technology in Decision-Making: How digital tools enhance the student experience and provide seamless support.
• Importance of Community for Graduate Students: Building community is equally critical for graduate students, with a focus on faculty engagement and peer connections.

This Pulse Check miniseries has been brought to you by Pathify. Gone are the days of clunky interfaces, disjointed systems, and massive (unhelpful) link farms. Centralize all your systems with Pathify so that students see the information that matters to them in a digital experience that actually makes sense. From prospective students through alumni, it’s about time the student experience started looking and acting like a consumer app from this century. Visit Pathify.com for more.

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode of The Higher Ed Pulse dives deep into the evolving landscape of standardized testing in higher education, sparked by recent policy reversals at institutions like Dartmouth and Yale. Mallory and Seth discuss the implications of these changes, not just for admissions but also for marketing and recruitment strategies. The conversation covers the potential impact on student diversity, list buying challenges for marketers, and how institutions are navigating these uncertain waters.

• Dartmouth's reversal on test-optional policies raises questions about the role of standardized testing in admissions, particularly for marginalized students.
• The shift towards test-optional and test-flexible policies among elite institutions might signal a broader trend, with significant implications for admissions strategies across higher education.
• The decline in SAT participation and the changing landscape of list buying present new challenges for higher ed marketers, necessitating innovative approaches to student recruitment.
• The importance of clear communication with prospective students about admissions requirements and the use of test scores in the decision-making process.
• The discussion extends to the broader impacts on marketing strategies, including the shift away from list buying towards digital marketing efforts and the need for institutions to adapt to these changes.

https://home.dartmouth.edu/sites/home/files/2024-02/sat-undergrad-admissions.pdf

https://admissions.yale.edu/test-flexible

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/dartmouth-and-yale-are-backtracking-on-test-optional-admissions-why-that-matters/2024/02

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2024/02/26/no-emerging-consensus-standardized-test-policies

https://podcasts.enrollify.org/talking-tactics/ep-1-maximize-your-prospect-data-with-a-two-step-rfi-process

Dayana Kibild’s Viral LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7166088254771965953/

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to our latest Pulse Check - Personalizing Prospective Student Journeys, hosted by Mallory Willsea

In Part 1 of this series, Helping Students Make Informed Choices, Dustin Ramsdell, Community Engagement Lead at Pathify, joins Mallory Willsea to discuss the complexities of the college selection process. They discuss the challenges posed by the overwhelming number of options and the noise in higher education marketing. Key insights revolve around the importance of creating a distinctive institutional brand and leveraging digital platforms to personalize the student experience.

Key Takeaways:

• The overwhelming number of options and marketing noise in higher education makes it challenging for students to make informed choices.
• Importance of a distinctive institutional brand to stand out and attract the right students.
• The role of digital experience platforms in personalizing and streamlining the college selection process.
• Behavioral economics and the emotional aspects of student decision-making.
• Future-focused approach: preparing institutions for the evolving landscape of student recruitment.

This Pulse Check miniseries has been brought to you by Pathify. Gone are the days of clunky interfaces, disjointed systems, and massive (unhelpful) link farms. Centralize all your systems with Pathify so that students see the information that matters to them in a digital experience that actually makes sense. From prospective students through alumni, it’s about time the student experience started looking and acting like a consumer app from this century. Visit Pathify.com for more.

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of The Higher Ed Pulse, hosts Mallory and Seth dive deep into OpenAI's latest innovation, Sora, and its groundbreaking implications for video production in higher education marketing. They explore how Sora, an AI capable of generating video from text prompts, might revolutionize content creation, offering both challenges and opportunities for higher ed marketers and video production companies. They ponder the future of personalized video messaging, SEO strategies, and creative campaign testing in the higher education landscape.

Key Takeaways:

• OpenAI's Sora: A new AI model capable of generating up to one-minute videos from text prompts, potentially revolutionizing higher education marketing and video production 
• Impact on Video Production: Insights into how Sora could alter traditional video production methods, emphasizing the increasing value of authentic, real student content.
• Staffing and Budget Solutions: Discussing how AI-enabled content creation, like Sora, can address higher education's staffing and budget limitations by augmenting content production capabilities.
• SEO and Personalization Opportunities: Exploring the potential of Sora to enhance SEO strategies with video content and create highly personalized student communications.
• Creative Campaign Testing: The potential for using Sora to pressure test creative campaigns, providing a valuable tool for non-creatives involved in the marketing process.

Related Links: 
https://openai.com/sora
https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/11-mind-blowing-sora-shorts-that-show-why-its-a-chatgpt-moment-for-ai-video
https://www.datacamp.com/blog/openai-announces-sora-text-to-video-generative-ai-is-about-to-go-mainstream

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the final episode of this Pulse Check series on Graduate Marketing, host Shane Baglini is joined by four of the industries most passionate graduate professionals to discuss all things GEM. This episode provides insights from a director of graduate admissions, a 15 year GEM pro turned agency strategist, graduate marketing pro and a view from the cabinet as we discuss post-COVID graduate marketing and enrollment, current trends, marketing to graduate students and how graduate enrollment is supplementing the undergraduate enrollment cliff. 

Guest Names:
Kittie Pain, Director of Graduate Admissions, Kutztown University
Marcus Hanscom, Director of Enrollment Marketing, DD Agency
Brett DiMarzo, Director, Graduate Enrollment Digital Strategy, Boston College
Keith Ramsdell, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing, Ashland University

Guest Social Handles:  
Kittie Pain:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kittiepain/
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/kittpain

Marcus Hanscom:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcushanscom/
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MarcusHanscom

Brett DiMarzo: 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-dimarzo-1a135262/ 

Keith Ramsdell: 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-ramsdell-06784945/

Kittie Pain Bio: Kittie Pain serves as the director of graduate admissions at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and has over twenty years of experience in graduate enrollment management (GEM). She holds a bachelor’s degree from McDaniel College and a master’s degree from Drew University. She is a member of the NAGAP Publications and Marketing committees and serves on the McDaniel College Alumni Council.

Marcus Hanscom Bio: A purpose-driven, higher education enrollment management and marketing leader, Marcus Hanscom is the Director of Enrollment Marketing at DD Agency, a full-service digital marketing agency focused on inbound marketing for higher education. Prior to joining DD Agency in October 2023, he worked in progressive roles in enrollment management at Roger Williams University and the University of New Haven, predominantly working with graduate students. He also recently served as a higher education consultant for Dutcher LLC, supporting clients in academic program analysis and development, market research, digital marketing strategy, staffing assessment, and more.

Marcus has presented widely on enrollment management and marketing strategies at national and regional conferences for Academic Impressions, Aslanian Market Research, Carnegie, NAGAP, NEGAP, Stamats, TxGAP, and others, and completed his third term on the NAGAP Board of Directors in 2020. He was awarded the NAGAP Distinguished Service Award in 2023 and is co-host of the official NAGAP podcast, The NAGAP Report. He was the founding president of NEGAP, the New England Association for Graduate Enrollment Management.

Brett DiMarzo Bio: Brett DiMarzo has been in the field of higher education for over 18 years and is currently the Director of Graduate Enrollment Digital Strategy at Boston College. After graduating from his bachelor’s degree program at Stetson University, he initially spent time as part of the management team within the Walt Disney Consumer Products division, enhancing his customer service and leadership skills. Returning to the field of higher education in 2003, he began his professional career in Financial Aid at MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, later moving to the Office of Admission as the Assistant Director of Admission. He also spent several years as Associate Director of Graduate Admission at Suffolk University and led the recruitment and admission efforts as Director of Graduate Admission for the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Simmons University prior to coming to BC. He received his Master of Education degree in Higher Education Administration from Northeastern University in 2011, has served in several positions in the New England chapter of NAGAP, has presented at both national and regional NAGAP conferences, and currently sits on the NAGAP Leadership Cultivation and Elections Committee and the Education Committee.

Keith Ramsdell Bio: Keith Ramsdell serves as Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing at Ashland University in Ohio where he provides strategic leadership and vision for undergraduate, graduate, international and online admissions, enrollment operations, financial aid, military and veterans services, marketing and communications. Keith is currently chair of the NAGAP External Relations and Partnerships Committee and a member of the NAGAP Experts Bureau. He has 25 years of progressive leadership experience in higher education and enrollment management, with nearly 15 years focused exclusively on graduate enrollment.

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mallory and Seth dive deep into the world of Hollywood's advertising strategies and Disney's unique approach to storytelling. With insider insights from HBO MAX and Disney's latest campaigns, they explore how contextually relevant and emotionally charged content can dramatically enhance audience engagement. Listen in for actionable tips on how to apply these big-budget strategies to higher education marketing, making your campaigns more memorable and impactful.

Key Takeaways:

• Contextual Relevance in Advertising: Insights from HBO MAX on the effectiveness of short, upfront ads to improve the viewing experience without interruption. And the importance of making ads contextually relevant and the positive impact on brand awareness and website traffic.
• Disney's "This is Magic" Campaign: A shift in marketing strategy focusing on real, emotive moments captured at Disney parks, moving away from fast-paced excitement to genuine, heartwarming storytelling. The power of using real people and authentic experiences to connect deeply with the audience, and how this approach can be adapted for higher education marketing.
• The Role of Emotion in Marketing: Emphasizing the impact of making viewers feel something significant, drawing on the Maya Angelou quote about people remembering how you made them feel. And strategies for capturing and sharing micro-moments that resonate on an emotional level, whether through high-quality production or simple smartphone videos.

Watch Disney’s “This Is Magic” Campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWyOgXKNCic

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ed tech is an ever evolving landscape, and in the case of graduate enrollment managers, one that is difficult to keep up with at times. In this episode, Shane Baglini is joined by Ardis Kadiu, Founder and CEO of Element451, to take a deep dive into the world of CRMs, ed tech and AI in graduate enrollment management. We’ll look at the various options available to GEM professionals, what to look for in your CRM and tech stack, and how AI is changing the GEM game. 

Guest Name: Ardis Kadiu, Founder and CEO, Element451

Guest Social:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ardis/
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/ardis

Guest Bio: Ardis Kadiu is the Founder and CEO of Element451. After graduating from NYU with an MS in Digital Media and an MBA, Ardis helped found Spark451, a higher-ed communications company, and began realizing his vision to transform traditional and outdated student recruitment with the tools of the future. With more than 15 years of higher education experience, he designed what is now known as the Element451 student engagement CRM. In 2018, Element451 broke away from Spark451 to focus solely on the business line of developing intelligent, modern CRM solutions for higher education professionals, combining his extensive technology and higher ed experience.

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode of Higher Ed Pulse offers a dive deep into the concept of direct admissions in higher education. Our hosts, Mallory and Seth, explore how this approach is reshaping the college application process, with the promise of a simpler and more accessible process, particularly for first-gen and diverse student populations. They dissect the potential impacts, benefits, and challenges of implementing direct admissions strategies at institutions.

Key Takeaways:

• Direct Admissions Explained: Simplifies the college application process by allowing students admission based on predetermined criteria, such as GPA and test scores, without essays or lengthy interviews.
• More Sizzle Than Steak? While it’s celebrated for its potential to streamline the college application process and enhance accessibility, its actual impact on enrollment growth might not meet expectations. They emphasize that direct admissions tend to generate a lot of excitement (the sizzle) but may not substantially change enrollment numbers (the steak).
• Application Volume vs. Enrollment Starts: A critical examination reveals that an increase in application volume, spurred by direct admissions, does not necessarily correlate with an increase in students actually enrolling. 
• Direct Admissions as Expensive Lead Gen: The conversation shifts to describe direct admissions as an expensive form of lead generation rather than a surefire enrollment strategy. This viewpoint challenges the perception of direct admissions as an end-to-end solution, instead framing it as the beginning of a longer engagement and conversion process.
• Future Directions and Innovations: The hosts consider how direct admissions could evolve and what it means for higher ed marketing and student engagement strategies.

New York State Direct Admissions Initiative: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/01/11/new-york-state-launches-direct-admission-initiative

NICHE Direct Admissions Outcomes: https://www.niche.com/about/enrollment-insights/niche-direct-admissions-beta-outcomes-data/

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In Part 2 of this Guide to Graduate Marketing in 2024 Pulse Check, Shane Baglini is joined by Charles Whitaker, dean and professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications and Danielle Robinson Bell, assistant professor and director of Medill’s Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Professional master's program to discuss the graduate student experience. Whitaker and Bell share their unique and varied experience in the graduate landscape, offering both a high level view of the graduate student experience, as well as a deep dive into the motivators, behaviors and expectations of graduate students in 2024.

Guest Names:
Charles Whitaker, dean and professor at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications

Danielle Bell, assistant professor and director of the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Professional master's program at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications

Guest Social Handles:
Charles Whitaker LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-whitaker-b106b59/
Danielle Bell LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellerobinsonbell/

Guest Bio:
Charles Whitaker: Charles Whitaker is dean and professor at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Whitaker, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Medill, is the first alumnus of the school to serve as dean. Before joining the Medill faculty, Whitaker was a senior editor at Ebony magazine, where he covered a wide range of cultural, social, and political issues and events on four continents, including two U.S. presidential campaigns, and the installation of the first black members of the British Parliament.

 Danielle Bell: Danielle Robinson Bell is an assistant professor and director of the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Professional master's program. Bell's area of expertise is strategic communications and its impact on business outcomes for organizations, brands and executives. She specializes in work that advances efforts related to culture, equity, inclusion, women, and BIPOC in the workplace. Bell spent more than 15 years on the agency side of advertising and branding creating integrated marketing campaigns for some of the world's most recognized brands. Prior to joining Medill, she served as a trusted adviser to business leaders on matters related to crisis communications, reputation management, public relations and inclusive communications. She earned her bachelor of science in journalism from Northwestern University Medill School, and here MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Managament.

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mallory and Seth dive into a new Dentsu Consumer Navigator study on the American Mindset. They explore the potential impact of economic uncertainty on higher education enrollment and the rise of alternative credentials. The conversation then shifts to the Pennsylvania governor’s proposed tuition reduction plan, its implications for different types of institutions, and the need for equitable implementation.

Takeaways:

• Consumer confidence in the economy is declining, despite the stock market performing well.
• Historically, higher education enrollment increases during economic downturns, but this time may be different due to decreased confidence in the value of a college degree.
• Marketers should focus on increasing scholarship opportunities and positioning on value rather than price.
• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro recently unveiled a tuition reduction plan for low- and middle-income students. But is the plan fair and will it undercut the cost saving value prop for the state’s community colleges? 

Dentsu Reports: https://www.dentsu.com/us/en/navigator

Pennsylvania Higher Ed System Restructuring Plan: https://www.chronicle.com/article/pennsylvanias-governor-seeks-to-consolidate-most-of-its-public-colleges-and-make-them-more-affordable

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.