2020 UPCEA Annual Conference

Marketing, Enrollment, and Student Services Network Track

Sponsored by

A Community Conversation on Mental Health Support for Online Learners
Commonwealth AB | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Applied | Format: Presentation | Tag: Diversity & Inclusion
Increasingly faculty and student services providers working closely with online populations at our institutions have voiced concerns regarding: identifying and working with “students of concern” (SOC) in online populations; perceived increases in SOC in online populations without close or easy access to physical campuses; apparent gaps in university documentation, guidelines, and training related to SOC in online populations; and a lack of clarity in student and faculty facing materials and resources on the availability of mental health services to online populations. Mental health services and wellness programming are commonly offered to students on campuses, but what about online students? Join a participant-driven discussion on the challenges, limitations, and opportunities for designing mental health services for online learners. Participants will be encouraged to share their research, their models, their challenges, their differences of opinion, etc. With consent of the group, notes and other contributions to collaborative documents will serve as a takeaway item for participants as well as a basis for future conversations. This presentation on transferable strategies and tips and not a particular model or service.

• Mitchell Farmer, Indiana University
• Tiffany Peterson, University of Maine
• Andrea Carroll-Glover, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

Moderator: Heather Chakiris, University of California, Los Angeles

Choose Your Own Adventure Approach to Program Growth
Grand Ballroom E | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Strategic | Format: Workshop
With no shortage of strategic decisions facing enrollment management leaders, making sense of the shifting opinions on best practices among colleagues, thought leaders and agencies requires data, context and effort. This interactive, choose-your-own-adventure-style workshop will have you charting a course toward enrollment success as you make key decisions such as: Resource allocation: Should we invest in internal resources or outsource select services?; Scale: Will we target markets for this program regionally or nationally?; Promotion strategy: How much budget should we divert to video asset development for the promotion strategy?; Lead nurturing and conversion: Should we overhaul our lead nurturing approach?. This highly interactive session will involve small group discussion, enabling participants to develop their own action plans, followed by insights on the four key decision points every enrollment marketing leader faces.

• Stacy Snow, University of Missouri
• Eric McGee, Education Dynamics

Moderator: Heather Codner, Harvard University

Finding Your Audience and Executing an Effective Lead Management Strategy in an Evolving Digital Marketing Landscape
Commonwealth AB | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Applied | Format: Presentation
Digital marketing is increasingly important to generate leads and enroll new students, but how do you know your ads are reaching the right audience? And once you have the leads, how will you implement a successful lead management strategy? Join us as we delve into the ways that audiences should shape your digital marketing strategy and then learn an approach to determining lead qualification and interest using three metrics: speed-to-lead, lead grading and scoring.

• Regina Ramirez, University of Washington
• Megan Lindell, University of Washington
• Eliot Olson, Chair 10 Marketing
• Katie Vesbach, Chair 10 Marketing
• Erick Watt-Udogu, The George Washington University
• Cyrus Homayounpour, The George Washington University

Moderator: Cyrus Homayounpour, The George Washington University

Improving the Human Experience with AI
Commonwealth C | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Applied | Format: Presentation
Meeting the changing and diverse needs of today’s students has become increasingly challenging and requires our creative attention. Student behavior and expectations have changed dramatically in recent years, leaving many institutional leaders struggling to find ways to connect with and support their students. Students have been “swiping” and “pinching” screens their whole lives.  In fact, many of them probably swiped before they crawled. It’s no surprise they don’t want to read emails, answer phone calls, or wait in line! In this session, you will learn how we can leverage the very technology they love to improve our ability to predict and meet student needs while also improving our ability to build strong trusting relationships - on a human scale.

• Karen Ferguson, Colorado State University Global Campus
• Mary Frances Coryell, Ivy.ai

Moderator: Gary Matkin, University of California, Irvine

Optimize Recruitment Efforts: How to Create and Foster Collaborative Relationships for Enrollment Growth
Commonwealth AB | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Foundational | Format: Workshop | Tag: Best in Show Super
In 2018, Ball State University purchased an institution-wide admissions CRM, Slate. This system required us to step outside of the box and think about how we engaged with prospects as well as how we collaborated with internal partners. Our Ball State Online marketing and learner experience teams did more than just collaborate. We interacted daily to develop a communications, training, and recruitment model. Not only did we implement a new system, we revolutionized the way we worked together for the greater goal: optimizing recruitment efforts to grow student enrollment. During this session, we will discuss lessons learned such as prioritizing collaboration, building a recruitment marketing foundation, defining short-term and long-term goals, and being flexible to make adjustments along the way. Attendees will use what we learned to evaluate their current processes and craft their own recruitment models.

• Erin Drennan-Bonner, Ball State University
• Carolyn Duncan, Ball State University
• Michelle Morrison, Ball State University

Moderator: Kristin Hrynczuk, Western Michigan University

UPCEA Trail Stops hosted during Networking Break

Taking its cue from Boston’s historical journey, a “Freedom Trail” presentation is an opportunity to host a thematic conversation at a metaphorical “stop.” Supported by each of the six UPCEA Networks—affinity groups for the areas of practice that make up professional, continuing, and online education, these informal conversations are hosted around a specific topic in the Exhibit Hall during one of the various 30-minute Networking Breaks during the conference, offering a chance for engaging, thoughtful conversation between attendees and presenters. This experimental format is particularly designed to provide opportunities for attendees to expand both their professional knowledge as well as their individual networks, in low-risk, engaging, and likely small group dialogues.

The Syracuse University Orange Online Toolkit: Your Window to Online Student Success
Galleria | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Applied | Format: Workshop
This interactive workshop will explore the Syracuse University Orange Online Toolkit, a relevant and up-to-date catalog of resources and onboarding for online students, housed within the learning management system. The session will explore the goals of the Toolkit at its inception, how it has evolved over time, and strategies within the Toolkit to empower student success in the online environment.

• Liz Green, Syracuse University

Moderator: Jack Rodenfels, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Actionable Results from the 2020 UPCEA Marketing Study
Commonwealth AB | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Strategic | Format: Presentation
As new marketing technologies evolve and competition for the learner increases, strategies for resourcing marketing efforts has become increasing complex—demanding better metrics in order to make strategic decisions. UPCEA surveyed its membership in late 2019 to better understand and refine those critical metrics, including what is better done in-house or outsourced, uses of social media and paid search, actual metrics in use (CPC, CPL, lead source, lead quality, open rates, etc.) for funnel development, use of marketing automation (or not), and how might information be distributed within the unit. This presentation will also have a reflection from marketing and programmatic leaders in the field, as well as engage the audience on their interpretation and next steps in terms of research dissemination.

• Jessica Dupont, Oregon State University

Moderator: Jim Fong, UPCEA

Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services Network Meeting Spotlight: Preparing for Strategic Growth: A Case Study of Peer Evaluation as a Tool for Marketing Unit Transformation
Commonwealth AB
Level: Applied | Format: Newtork Meeting Spotlight
The University of Wisconsin’s Integrated Communications Unit (IMC) organized an external review panel of marketing and communications executives from several well-known, deeply online, public institutions to provide an objective assessment of the unit’s  strategy, staffing, structure, processes, and culture. In this brief but deep case study, presenters will share tools and resources, key insights, and lessons learned during the process, as well as the transformative effects of the evaluation– from a significant restructuring and staffing effort to a major rebranding campaign for the unit and the division.

• Maya Evans, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Donna Gastevich, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Kelly Fellerman, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Moderator: Victoria O'Malley, University of Denver

Evolving our Credentialing Ecosystems for the Future of Work
Commonwealth C | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Strategic | Format: Presentation
While universities have made increasing numbers of credentials available to learners in recent years, the university credentialing ecosystem has evolved little over the last century while the world around us has evolved at an exponential pace. A leap forward in our alignment of credentials with modern societal needs is needed to verify learning, skills, and competencies. Adapting to the future of work demands evolved postsecondary credentialing ecosystems, built on responsiveness to change and learner-centricity. Employers are trying to address significant skills gaps, but learners are unable to communicate the value of their qualifications leading to under-employment and unemployment. This “Quiet Crisis,” requires universities to act now to develop and deliver learning opportunities that transparently lead to competencies and job skills that help learners achieve their career goals and advocate for a national strategy to support these learners. Fundamentally, credentialing ecosystems need to evolve to serve the needs of lifelong learners and employers. As the economy and labor market continue to evolve, the need for a unified credentialing ecosystem will only amplify. A paradigm shift is needed to ensure postsecondary institutions remain at the center of credentialing. And it’s the role of continuing and professional education leaders to drive this shift. This presentation will highlight the need for diversified, integrated, transparent credentials, including digital credentials. Recognizing the specific roles of government bodies, employers, and educational institutions, the presenters will highlight the work that’s already happening to create credential transparency and clarity, and share their insights on the work still to come in evolving our credentialing ecosystems.

• Amrit Ahluwalia, The EvoLLLution
• Tracey Taylor-O'Reilly, York University
• Jeanne Kitchens, Credential Engine

Moderator: Stephanie Platteter, University of Minnesota

Leveraging Strategic Partners and Market Research to Build your Enrollment Funnel
Commonwealth AB | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Foundational | Format: Presentation
Through strategic partnerships learn how two institutions are building the needed support infrastructure and expanding their portfolios by working with the EAB and Blackboard Student Services respectively. Columbia University School of Professional Studies and Blackboard Student Services will discuss how they positioned for growth and developed a strategic plan to scale online programs in an increasingly competitive and demanding market. Muhlenberg College Division of Graduate and Continuing Education with the assistance of the EAB are applying market research findings of the future of graduate education to inform strategies to grow graduate programs in a highly competitive market. Topics addressed include actionable, innovative digital marketing and enrollment best practices for the online and continuing education space, as well as tactics to recruit students with highly personalized and data-driven marketing at scale.

• Debbie Lambert, Columbia University
• Jessica Sheehan, Student Services by Blackboard
• AJ Lemheney, Muhlenberg College
• Kevin Shriner, EAB

Moderator: Cynthia Perez, New York University

Social Proof and Feedback Loops: How Student Stories Can Drive Ongoing Growth
Grand Ballroom E | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Foundational | Format: Case Study | Tag: Noncredit/Alternative Credential
Harvard Medical School launched HMX Fundamentals, a series of online certificate courses on medical topics, to the public in 2017, aiming toattract students preparing for health care careers. Knowing that our brand  the word. Ongoing engagement with students has also provided a steady stream of content and feedback for our small marketing, business development, and even course development teams. This session will provide an overview of the process for finding and developing engaging student stories, including challenges along the way; show how we distribute and target student-centered content across marketing channels, including social  media, email, landing pages, and print collateral; dig into the data on how student stories impact conversions, and how we’re using that information to better understand our audience and drive new enrollment campaigns, and share the benefits of this ongoing student engagement for our growing learner community as well as internal teams.

• Ben Rubenstein, Harvard University

Moderator: Dana Cruikshank, Vision Point Marketing

How Small Schools Can Make a Big Impact: Implementing Strategies to Claim a Segment of the Non-traditional Higher Ed Market
Marina III-IV | Track: Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Services
Level: Applied | Format: Presentation | Tag: Noncredit/Alternative Credential
Many small liberal arts schools struggle to keep up with the rapidly evolving landscape of higher education, both in terms of resources needed to react quickly to new market demands, as well as the challenges to brand and the quality of education that growth may pose. In this innovative session, discover how two institutions have taken a stake in the future landscape of higher education. Wellesley College has expanded reach beyond its traditional undergraduate students and launched an Executive Education program focused on the adult learner, developed its first online classes for a broader undergraduate audience, and massively expanded the scale of a pre-college program. Lasell University reorganized its enrollment and advising teams, the results now support a continued relationship with an enrollment coach throughout a student’s tenure, and offers a multitude of academic advising opportunities through the utilization of Starfish, Salesforce, and Handshake. Through these initiatives, which focused on growth while capitalizing on existing and underutilized resources, will allow the mission and unique qualities of these institution to expand to meet today’s demands.

• Chris Gray, Lasell University
• Whitney Kuhnlenz, Lasell University
• Pamela Landis, Wellesley College
• Rob Haley, Wellesley College

Moderator: Jack Rice, Loyola University of Maryland