Archive for 'Leadership'

A president’s perspective

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Coker College’s singular ambition, Redefining Ready, was not intended as an institutional mission. Rather, it was something of a personal mantra for chapter one. It crystalized my work when, just after the college’s 100th anniversary, the Board of Trustees voted to appoint me, an accountant and business school dean, as the school’s 16th president.

Despite the good effort of loyal alumni, faculty and staff, a decade or more of economic decline in South Carolina before I arrived had taken a heavy toll. Enrollment had dipped below 600. Faculty had been asked to teach heavier loads without additional pay. Our athletic teams slumped. Over time, our once-elegant campus, with its wonderful Georgian-style architecture and impeccable landscaping, ...

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Professional development is not your employer’s responsibility

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Whoa!  If you’re an employer reading this, I can already hear your exhales of relief.  But we’ll get back to you in a moment.  If you’re an employee, I feel your anger directed toward me right now.  So, let’s focus on you first.

Let me repeat.  ”Professional development is not your employer’s responsibility.”  If you have decided that the job you are in is the basis of your career, then why on earth would you put the ownership of your growth in the hands of someone that might not care or might not give it the priority it deserves?  It is your responsibility to manage and pursue your professional (and yes, personal — they are in fact connected) goals.

But it’s not ...

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CRM tools don’t recruit students.

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CRM technology can help you save money, track key metrics, fire comm-flows and become a much more efficient operation.  But good luck if you think CRM tools recruit students.

“Wait…what?!” you say? Can the VP of Marketing — for a CRM company — actually be telling you that our main recruiting product isn’t going to recruit students?

My friends, that is exactly what I’m saying.  Because CRM tools don’t recruit students.  People do.

Today I’d like to offer this important reminder to clients, prospective clients, colleagues and our industry at large.  Yes, CRM is the “hot” technology upgrade du jour — but it’s the people behind the tool that ultimately determine its usefulness and overall success.

Allow me ...

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A little less conversation

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Change.

It’s an emotionally charged word in higher education, if not a dirty one.  And it’s been the war cry here at TargetX since day one.

When I joined the company back in 2005, I was quickly immersed into a culture of higher ed professionals trumpeting the need for industry change.  Defects from a world of cushy benefits and questionable accountability, they struck out on their own to become a voice of change in an industry sliding desperately into denial.

Together the team here wrote blog posts and email newsletters outlining how colleges needed to engage a new generation and operate more efficiently.   We spent years speaking at conferences about the impending shifts in technology, generations, demographics and more.  We even created our ...

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Unless.

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“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” – Dr. Seuss

I’ve been doing some research for an upcoming set of conference presentations called “If I ran the zoo (and your admissions office too)” based on the lessons we can learn from the wonderful Dr. Seuss books. My timing couldn’t have been better with the recent release of “The Lorax” in theaters. We had a free Sunday night with my daughter and so it was time to grab some overpriced popcorn and snacks and nestle into our seats for the show.

I left the theater an hour and a half later with my mind racing with ideas to share. ...

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