Two hot-potato terms that higher ed leaders would just as soon not handle are “sales” and “marketing.” Many colleges and universities avoid them all together, doing their best to disassociate with anything from the world of business. In days still available to recent memory, it was possible to not engage those terms at all. Higher…Read more
Author: Rick Bailey
RHB Reconfigures Leadership Structure
“I’ve been looking forward to this announcement and it brings me great satisfaction to share some of my responsibilities with these two remarkable colleagues. Their expertise, experience, commitment and passion for our work will unquestionably influence our path forward to an even greater extent. Our future with their elevated leadership looks very bright.” Rick Bailey,…Read more
Getting Real About Population Decline, Part 2
A few weeks ago we posted an insight about the projections for high school graduation population decline inspired by Nathan Grawe’s book, Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education. By the way, Nathan, thanks for the work you did on that tome. It’s been helpful and terrifying, and we’re grateful for the thoughtful analysis you’ve…Read more
Getting Real About Population Decline
You’ve likely read Nathan Grawe’s Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018). If you’re an RHB client and part of the RHB book club, you should have read your copy by now. You perhaps have lost a few nights’ sleep over the data he presents. For some, the reality of…Read more
Holding On During the Summer
The summer is flying by. Besides hoping those deposited students show up at registration or orientation, what are you doing to ensure they all show up this fall? Realizing the overdone-ness of this analogy, I intend to use it to make a point. Don’t rule me out yet. The process of recruitment has load of similarity…Read more
Dealing with Dissenters
Change is good, right? Then why is it that new ideas and fresh approaches are met with disapproval? We’ve had opportunity to observe hundreds of campus communities in our work. Our site visits allow us deep familiarity with many campuses enabling us to note with confidence that no campus is without its share of dissidents,…Read more
How to Get Criminals to Seek a Side Door
I vowed I’d not write about Varsity Blues, but this thought keeps nagging me and I feel a little guilt for not pointing it out to you. You might not have a greedy coach or a side door into your admissions office, but here’s the horrifying part you played in the VB debacle. Granted, VB…Read more
The Role of Empathy in Campaign Design
While listening to Holly Morris, Director of School Incubation of the Washington State Charter School Association, speak about design thinking at the recent UCDA Design Summit in Savannah, my mind zeroed in on her comments about giving priority to empathy. She was reminding the roomful of designers that before offering solutions, we need to understand…Read more
Addressing the “Parent Factor” in Enrollment Marketing
I’m thinking about the importance of parents. I have good friends who just became first time parents. They’re young and energetic and the birth of Olive Kay thrills and amazes them. In this first week of parenthood, the exhaustion and weight of responsibility is just starting to show itself. They have a lot of that…Read more
If I Had a Few Minutes With Your Board…
Securing an excellent relationship with your board may be the most valuable investment you can make. Of course, relationships with major donors may yield worthy substantial results, yet developing shared understandings with board members will advance the institution toward a successful future. We are called upon from time to time to present to trustees about…Read more