The Higher Ed Marketer

This Fall Season of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proudly sponsored by NextGrad.

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Great enrollment leaders don't develop by accident. Somewhere along the way, someone invests in them, challenges them, and gives them an opportunity to grow.

After 40 years at Biola University, Greg Vaughan knows what it takes to develop the people who will lead enrollment teams into the future. Now leading NACCAP's Leadership Development for Enrollment Professionals (LDEP) program, Greg shares why ongoing coaching matters, how to recognize and retain promising talent, and why giving someone a chance to step beyond their comfort zone might be the most important investment a leader can make.

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What We Cover in This Episode

🔘Why professional development deserves as much attention as enrollment goals.

🔘How ongoing coaching helps employees grow beyond their daily responsibilities.

🔘The importance of developing leadership competencies and retaining top performers.

🔘Practical ways to invest in professional development with limited budgets.

🔘How NACCAP's LDEP program is preparing the next generation of enrollment leaders.

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Episode Highlights

03:29 - Why leaders need guidance at every stage of their careers

05:43 - The importance of investing in people, not just enrollment numbers

08:03 - The difference between managing employees and developing leaders

11:21 - Retaining top talent and embracing courageous leadership

15:35 - Making professional development part of everyday work

19:17 - Building leadership competencies on a limited budget

25:43 - Inside NACCAP's Leadership Development for Enrollment Professionals program

33:08 - Creating career-defining opportunities for emerging leaders

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NextGrad helps colleges and universities reach students where they already are, inside the high school itself. With a network of over 2,500 schools across North America, NextGrad puts your institution's message in front of future students every single day. Be the school they remember when it's time to decide.

Nextgrad.com, Where students see you first.

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The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is powered by Caylor Solutions—your go-to partner for higher ed mission-fit marketing strategies, enrollment, AI expertise, and branding needs. 

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for The Higher Ed Marketer in your favorite podcast player.

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The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proud to be a part of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast Network. 

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

This Fall Season of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proudly sponsored by NextGrad.

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New leaders often feel pressure to make their mark quickly, but listening can be the most strategic first move. Dr. Aly Williams, President of Midland University, shares how 25 years at Indiana Wesleyan University and a decade in athletic training prepared her to enter a new community with curiosity. She explains how listening becomes strategy, how vocation shapes institutional distinctiveness, and why strong campus and community relationships require intentional time.

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What We Cover in This Episode

🔘 What athletic training taught Aly about pressure, decisions, and creativity

🔘 How an institution can intentionally develop future leaders

🔘 Why a new president chose listening before major change

🔘 How personal stories help leaders uncover institutional strengths

🔘 Why mission, vocation, and community sharpen a college’s distinctiveness

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Episode Highlights

02:29 - Lessons from making decisions on the athletic sidelines

05:21 - How Indiana Wesleyan intentionally developed leaders

08:54 - Learning a campus through several different roles

11:22 - Recognizing the call to leave a familiar institution

13:12 - Why Aly devoted her first year to listening

20:21 - Two practical rules for a productive listening tour

23:09 - Connecting Midland’s success to the Fremont community

25:46 - Turning mission and vocation into meaningful distinction

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NextGrad helps colleges and universities reach students where they already are, inside the high school itself. With a network of over 2,500 schools across North America, NextGrad puts your institution's message in front of future students every single day. Be the school they remember when it's time to decide.

Nextgrad.com, Where students see you first.

___

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is powered by Caylor Solutions, your go-to partner for higher ed mission-fit marketing strategies, enrollment, AI expertise, and branding needs. 

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To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for The Higher Ed Marketer in your favorite podcast player.

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proud to be a part of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast Network. 

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

This Fall Season of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proudly sponsored by NextGrad.

Long-term leadership depends on knowing what each moment requires. Dr. Todd J. Williams, President and CEO of Cairn University, reflects on 18 years in the president’s chair and explains why leaders must sometimes push, pull, or pause. He shares how trust, honest self-examination, restorative practices, and patience help leaders act with wisdom without being ruled by urgency or morale alone.

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What We Cover in This Episode

🔘 How long-term leadership creates room for iterative change

🔘 Why restorative interests are part of sustaining a calling

🔘 How to recognize when a moment calls for a push, pull, or pause

🔘 Why trust and character matter more than a leadership formula

🔘 How patience and honest motives strengthen difficult decisions

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Episode Highlights

01:48 - What 18 years at one institution makes possible

06:45 - Integrating restorative interests into a leader’s life

12:40 - Reading the moment before choosing how to lead

18:43 - Why inviting input does not guarantee agreement

22:41 - Knowing when a pause serves the outcome

26:01 - Recovering when a leader misreads the moment

38:41 - Learning that patience can be its own reward

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NextGrad helps colleges and universities reach students where they already are, inside the high school itself. With a network of over 2,500 schools across North America, NextGrad puts your institution's message in front of future students every single day. Be the school they remember when it's time to decide.

Nextgrad.com, Where students see you first.

___

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is powered by Caylor Solutions,  your go-to partner for higher ed mission-fit marketing strategies, enrollment, AI expertise, and branding needs. 

___

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for The Higher Ed Marketer in your favorite podcast player.

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proud to be a part of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast Network. 

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

This Fall Season of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proudly sponsored by NextGrad.

Purchased-name lists are shrinking, but the right students are still out there. Dr. Donald K. Egle, Founder + Managing Director of The Kyer Group, explains how colleges can build stronger enrollment pipelines by identifying the communities where mission-fit students already gather and committing to a meaningful presence there. Drawing on 26 years of higher education leadership, Don shares why marketing, recruiting, and institutional strategy must work together. He also challenges colleges to clarify who they are, understand what their audiences truly value, and build relationships over a multi-year horizon.

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What We Cover in This Episode

🔘 Why clarity, a compelling case, and conviction shape student decisions

🔘 How admissions teams can build relationships across a multi-year student journey

🔘 Why marketing and recruiting need coordinated strategy and boots on the ground

🔘 How colleges can earn trust within homeschool and other student communities

🔘 Why institutional alignment is essential for sustaining a multi-year enrollment strategy

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Episode Highlights

04:16 - What families want from colleges: clarity, a compelling case, and conviction

07:03 - How to make a college fair conversation about the student

11:11 - Why traditional enrollment structures struggle to keep pace

18:22 - Finding more of the right people through consistent presence

23:30 - Why LeTourneau invested deeply in homeschool networks

32:22 - Preparing your institution before searching for new watering holes

36:47 - The difference between value and appreciative value

41:35 - Building alignment around a multi-year enrollment strategy

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NextGrad helps colleges and universities reach students where they already are, inside the high school itself. With a network of over 2,500 schools across North America, NextGrad puts your institution's message in front of future students every single day. Be the school they remember when it's time to decide.

Nextgrad.com, Where students see you first.

___

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is powered by Caylor Solutions, your go-to partner for higher ed mission-fit marketing strategies, enrollment, AI expertise, and branding needs. 

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for The Higher Ed Marketer in your favorite podcast player.

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proud to be a part of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast Network.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

This Fall Season of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proudly sponsored by NextGrad.

Leadership is more than hitting targets. Greg Aden, Owner/Founder of Aden Leadership, explains why lasting leadership depends on serving the people who follow you and helping them take ownership of shared goals. Drawing from decades in hospitality, financial services, and executive coaching, Greg shares practical ways to create alignment, build accountability, and approach difficult conversations with courage. His advice gives higher education leaders a clear place to begin: stay curious, prepare well, honor your word, and make time for people.

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 What We Cover in This Episode

🔘 How servant leadership shifts the focus from personal performance to team success

🔘 Why alignment and communication must come before accountability

🔘 Why leaders must model the accountability they expect from others

🔘 How agreements create clearer commitments than unspoken expectations

🔘 A practical framework for preparing for courageous conversations

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Episode Highlights

01:45 - Why success and leadership are not the same thing

04:41 - Making time for people when teams are stretched thin

06:28 - Why alignment must come before accountability

09:12 - The difference between expectations and agreements

14:52 - How to prepare for a courageous conversation

21:05 - Integrity, accountability, and honoring your word

23:07 - Curiosity and empathy as practical leadership tools

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NextGrad helps colleges and universities reach students where they already are, inside the high school itself. With a network of over 2,500 schools across North America, NextGrad puts your institution's message in front of future students every single day. Be the school they remember when it's time to decide.

Nextgrad.com — Where students see you first.

___

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is powered by Caylor Solutions, your go-to partner for higher ed mission-fit marketing strategies, enrollment, AI expertise, and branding needs. 

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for The Higher Ed Marketer in your favorite podcast player.

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proud to be a part of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast Network.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

How do you build a higher ed creative team that produces great work without burning out the people behind it? Paul Bross,  Director of Creative Operations at Oklahoma Baptist University and brand-new host of The Higher Ed Creative Podcast, shares what he’s learned moving from filmmaking and television into higher education creative leadership. Paul explores how clear expectations, protected creative time, and stronger collaboration can help small marketing teams do better work while staying connected to enrollment and institutional goals. He also shares how his team is using AI to reduce administrative tasks, why higher ed creatives need greater support, and the vision behind The Higher Ed Creative, a new podcast for the photographers, videographers, social media professionals, and other makers shaping higher education.

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What We Cover in This Episode

🔘How Higher Ed creative teams can align requests, expectations, scope, and institutional strategy. 

🔘Ways leaders can protect creative time and reduce burnout on small marketing teams

🔘How AI can reduce administrative tasks so creative professionals have more time to create.

🔘Why we are launching The Higher Ed Creative Podcast

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Episode Highlights

04:59 – Moving from content creator to leading a higher ed Creative Studio

08:06 – Why good creative work gets lost between concept, approvals, and completion

17:40 – The idea behind The Higher Ed Creative podcast

18:47 – Creative burnout, isolation, and retaining talented higher ed makers

21:38 – What’s on Your Desk? Paul shares the projects currently demanding his team’s attention

24:57 – Using AI to reduce administrative work instead of replacing creativity

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NextGrad helps colleges and universities reach students where they already are, inside the high school itself. With a network of over 2,500 schools across North America, NextGrad puts your institution's message in front of future students every single day. Be the school they remember when it's time to decide.

Nextgrad.com — Where students see you first.

___

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is powered by Caylor Solutions—your go-to partner for higher ed mission-fit marketing strategies, enrollment, AI expertise, and branding needs. ___

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for The Higher Ed Marketer in your favorite podcast player.

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proud to be a part of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast Network. 

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

This Fall Season of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proudly sponsored by NextGrad.

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A strong institutional brand matters, but sometimes the most powerful voice belongs to the person leading it. Jerra Toms, Founder & Principal Consultant at Blue Iris Consulting, shares how presidents, deans, and other higher ed leaders can use LinkedIn to build authentic connections with students, alumni, donors, and industry partners.

Jerra breaks down how to create consistent executive content, capture a leader’s authentic voice, and turn everyday interactions into opportunities that strengthen both personal and institutional visibility.

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What We Cover in This Episode

🔘Why personal leadership content can outperform institutional messaging

🔘How busy executives can build a consistent LinkedIn presence

🔘Ways communications teams can capture a leader’s authentic voice

🔘How to find content opportunities in a leader’s existing calendar

🔘Why executive visibility can support enrollment, advancement, and reputation

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Episode Highlights

06:43 - Starting a LinkedIn strategy with just 20 to 30 minutes a week

09:48 - Finding content opportunities in an executive’s existing calendar

13:11 - Capturing an executive’s authentic voice and using AI to support the process

15:28 - Why a strong LinkedIn profile comes before a posting strategy

18:12 - A practical approach for leaders without a communications team

28:03 - The first steps leaders can take today

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NextGrad helps colleges and universities reach students where they already are, inside the high school itself. With a network of over 2,500 schools across North America, NextGrad puts your institution's message in front of future students every single day. Be the school they remember when it's time to decide.

Nextgrad.com — Where students see you first.

___

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is powered by Caylor Solutions—your go-to partner for higher ed mission-fit marketing strategies, enrollment, AI expertise, and branding needs. 

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for The Higher Ed Marketer in your favorite podcast player.

___

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proud to be a part of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast Network. 

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

This Fall Season of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proudly sponsored by NextGrad.

NextGrad helps colleges and universities reach students where they already are, inside the high school itself. With a network of over 2,500 schools across North America, NextGrad puts your institution's message in front of future students every single day. Be the school they remember when it's time to decide.

Nextgrad.com — Where students see you first.

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Season 9 of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast starts next week. Zach Coffin previews the guests on deck this fall, including Jeff Selingo, Don Engle, Todd Williams, and Aly Williams and shares two pieces of news: president and author Jamie Caridi's new book The Terra Firma Way just hit #1 on Amazon, and the Higher Ed Marketer Network is adding a new show. Zach also has an invite to the ABHE Marketing & Enrollment Conference, October 6-8 in Orlando.

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What We Cover in This Episode

🔘Jamie Caridi's new #1 Amazon bestseller, The Terra Firma Way

🔘A first look at Season 9's guest lineup

🔘A brand-new podcast joining the Higher Ed Marketer Network this October

🔘Why the ABHE Marketing & Enrollment Conference is built differently, and why spots are limited

🔘Where to catch Bart on the road this fall

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The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is powered by Caylor Solutions—your go-to partner for higher ed mission-fit marketing strategies, enrollment, AI expertise, and branding needs. 

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for The Higher Ed Marketer in your favorite podcast player.

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The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proud to be a part of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast Network.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Encore Episode: Originally Aired October 2025

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Artificial intelligence is reshaping higher education and each generation is approaching it differently. AI Mindset’s founder and CEO, Conor Grennan, joined by his Gen Z son, Finn, to explore how AI is influencing academic integrity, workforce readiness, and the way students engage with learning.

Rather than approaching AI with fear or hype, Conor encourages institutions to engage with it from a place of curiosity, conviction, and intentionality. This episode challenges assumptions and offers a hopeful, practical framework for integrating AI into both academic and personal formation.

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Join us as we discuss:

🔘How AI is changing the way we teach, learn, and lead

🔘The role of discipleship in shaping tech ethics

🔘Why Gen Z students expect transparency, not perfection

🔘Creating campus-wide AI literacy with joy and curiosity

🔘Using storytelling to make tech feel less intimidating
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Inside the Episode 

06:14 – What it means to disciple students in the age of AI

08:50 – The danger of seeing AI as “just a tool”

13:22 – How higher ed should position itself as a moral compass

16:09 – The three pillars of AI literacy at NYU Stern

30:03 – Faith, imagination, and the opportunity ahead

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The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is powered by Caylor Solutions—your go-to partner for higher ed mission-fit marketing strategies, enrollment, AI expertise, and branding needs. 

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To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for The Higher Ed Marketer in your favorite podcast player.

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proud to be a part of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast Network. 

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Encore Episode: Originally Aired November 2025

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Every event tells a story, but only the most intentional ones help people feel your brand. At Biola University, Tracey Harrison, who now serves as Senior Advisor to the President, shares how she redefined campus events through a framework called Eventful Branding.. This philosophy turns events from logistical tasks into meaningful, mission-driven experiences that embody the heart of an institution.

Through storytelling, hospitality, and collaboration, universities can design moments that make guests feel seen, valued, and connected to something greater. Drawing from Biola’s innovative approach, this conversation explores how to transform everything from campus tours to groundbreaking ceremonies into living expressions of your brand identity. You’ll learn how to unite marketing and events under one story, foster emotional connection with Gen Z, and build brand belief through authentic, human-centered design.

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Join us as we discuss:

🔘What Eventful Branding means and how to apply it across campus

🔘Creating immersive events that communicate mission through emotion

🔘Why hospitality is a marketing strategy, not just an act of service

🔘Building cross-departmental alignment through shared storytelling

🔘How to surprise and delight students with purpose and creativity

🔘Practical ideas for smaller institutions to elevate their event experience

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Inside the Episode 

04:37 – Defining eventful branding and how it came to life at Biola

07:44 – How a film school groundbreaking became a storytelling moment

11:16 – Bringing “unreasonable hospitality” to higher ed

33:59 – How smaller schools can create big emotional impact

37:58 – Transforming campus visits into emotional brand experiences

46:48 – Building brand belief through meaningful human connection

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The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is powered by Caylor Solutions—your go-to partner for higher ed mission-fit marketing strategies, enrollment, AI expertise, and branding needs. 

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To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for The Higher Ed Marketer in your favorite podcast player.

The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast is proud to be a part of The Higher Ed Marketer Podcast Network. 

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.