This is a rough time to be in higher education or working alongside it, which means it is also the right time to keep doing the work. I am going to reflect on “diversity,” a word that covers a potentially massively large territory. All of that space may not be under your purview depending on…Read more
Tag: Executive Counsel
What Does Your Org Chart Say About Your Marketing Organization?
I’ve seen a lot of org charts. At RHB, we have the privilege of working with colleges and universities to help them maximize the effectiveness of their marketing function. As part of a recent Future-Ready Organizational Capability Assessment of marketing and communications at a large academic college at a public research university, we conducted a…Read more
The Next Best Thing
I’m guessing you don’t need one more person telling you how to manage through the COVID-19 pandemic or the economic downturn. I’m also guessing you’re close to your wit’s end wondering exactly what to do right now. The unknowns may be keeping you up at night. The knowns may be upsetting your stomach. My inbox…Read more
Commencement in the Time of Pandemic
There’s been a lot of discussion about postponing commencements ceremonies or moving them online during the current pandemic. The need for rites of passage is a real one, one all humans have. And, really, our campuses need them, too. The need for communal activities marking important moments doesn’t stop even when we have to remain separated. We might even need them more than ever.
Thinking Anthropologically About Faculty, Brand and Marketing
Anthropologists can drive people crazy (I’ll be telling you more about why an anthropologist is working at RHB soon!). People will ask us a question they imagine has a straightforward answer, and then we respond, “Well, it depends…” We respond that way because it’s true. It does depend. For my first Insight, I’m tackling something…Read more
You Don’t Know What You Have
I often refer to that classic story of the man who spent his life in search of riches only to discover that his own home sat over a diamond mine. The lesson from the story popularized in the late 19th century by Russell Conwell, founder of Temple University, suggests that what we seek, particularly in…Read more
The Dilemma of Determining Total Marketing Spend
It’s logical then that a university president or board of trustees would ask the following. “How much are we spending on marketing across the entire institution? Is it the right investment? What’s the outcome?” When expenditures are distributed across a college or university, these questions are not easy to answer. Central marketing leadership is held accountable for the institution’s total marketing activity but may only manage a quarter of the total marketing spend across the enterprise.
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
Common Obstacles Higher Education Must Work Around
One of the benefits of consulting is the opportunity to see patterns among a cross section of the industry. Higher education shares common opportunities and obstacles across the spectrum of institutions: public/private; two-year/four-year; liberal arts/vocational; colleges/universities and the like. I heard Howard Gardner, the Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard’s Graduate School of…Read more
Takeaways from the 2019 CIC Presidents Institute
Like every good learning experience, I walked away with questions. Here we are at the start of 2019. IMHO, 2018 passed entirely too quickly. Still, it’s great to have yet another opportunity to celebrate a fresh start. Assuming you are reading this on a college campus, you may celebrate “new year’s” more significantly on July…Read more