SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE - Ruffalo Noel Levitz · 2019-12-18 · 2 2019 RNL NATIONAL CONFERENCE |...

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SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE2019 RNL National Conference

July 24-26 | Nashville | RuffaloNL.com/Conference

Wednesday, July 24

9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Conference Check-In

10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Exhibit Area Open

12:30-1:30 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions

24A80: Marketing to the Adult Online Market—Competition, Resource Challenges, and A Changing Landscape[Marie Power-Barnes]

24A81: Centralized or Decentralized: Enrollment Management in Graduate and Professional School Environments [Daniel Thompson; Matthew Sluzinski]

24A82: The CRM Challenge: Tips to Successfully Select, Implement, and Utilize a CRM [Sarah Keating; Adam Brown]

24A83: Engaging Gen Z on the College to Career Pathway [Alicia Monroe; Ruben Britt, Jr.]

24A84: Developing Strategic Enrollment Strategies in Response to the Current Environment [Kevin Crockett]

24A85: Using Student Satisfaction Data for Retention, Strategic Planning, Accreditation and Recruitment [Julie Bryant]

24A86: The RNL Certificate in Enrollment Management: Get Certified and Advance Your Career [Lauren Way; Janene Panfil]

24A87: Shifting the Student Success Paradigm: Performance Outcomes in Two-Year Colleges [David Trites]

24A88: Financial Aid for Rookies [Derek Flynn]

24A89: Get Social by Acting Real [Chad Cooper; Kristin Linnell; Matt Barnes]

24A90: Crowdfunding Success [MaryGrace Baldo; David Jakielo]

24A91: Building a Culture of Innovation [Chris Brooks]

24A92: Getting to Know Your Prospects [Shad Hanselman; Chris Bingley]

24A93: RNL Proven Financial Aid and Yield [Ale Sosa Pieroni; Wes Butterfield]

24A94: Crossing the Streams: How Tampa and UCSB "Connect the Plumbing" Between Online and Offline Events [Gil Rogers]

1:30-2:00 p.m. Refreshment Break

REGISTER AT RUFFALONL.COM/CONFERENCE SESSIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

For descriptions of the conference sessions, see p. 11

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2019 RNL NATIONAL CONFERENCE | SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

(Wednesday, July 24 continued)


24B80: The Political Climate and Impact on Recruitment of International Students [John Baworowsky]

24B81: Student Success: Increasing First-Year Student Engagement for Males of Color [JÃ Hon Vance]

24B82: Developing a One-Stop-Shop: Combining Multiple Divisions to Better Serve Students [Breanne Simkin; Sara Wiedman]

24B83: Emerging Content Strategy Solutions in Recruitment Marketing [Aaron Blau; Kayla Manning]

24B84: The Fundamentals of Strategic Enrollment Planning [Lew Sanborne]

24B85: Transform Your Academic Advising Program: Move Beyond Course Registration [Stephanie Miller]

24B86: Before They Leave: Designing and Implementing Effective Recruit-Back Strategies [Brenda Williams]

24B87: Putting the Pieces Together: Supporting the College Student in Experiential Learning[Monica Kimbrell; Meghan Jester]

24B88: When Less Is More: Successfully Competing Against Larger Institutions [James Steen]

24B89: From High School to College Graduation, What Do Students Think About College Financial Aid? [Ale Sosa Pieroni; Raquel Bermejo]

24B90: Direct Facts About Direct Mail [Paul Barry]

24B91: The Data-Driven Program: From Analytics to Actionable Strategy [Sarah Kleeberger; Dayna Carpenter]

24B92: Storytelling for Impact: Helping Donors Understand the Value of their Dollar [Andrew Buck]

24B93: Using IPEDS to Understand Your Position in the Marketplace [Wes Butterfield]

24B94: RNL Enrollment Marketing Solutions [Matt Krov; Andrea Gilbert]



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(Wednesday, July 24 continued)


24C80: Retenton for Rookies [Tim Culver]

24C81: How to Get Into the Adult/Online/Graduate Market [Ann Oleson; Sarah Coen; Scott Jeffe]

24C82: No Surprises Revisited: Assessing What’s Essential for Enrollment Success [Gary Fretwell]

24C83: The Role of Faculty in Recruitment, Retention, and Mentoring [Laurie Fluker]

24C84: E-Expectations 2019 [Stephanie Geyer; Lance Merker]

24C85: So You Want to Text. Now What? What You Need to Know to Create the Most Impactful Strategy [Jeff Meece; Matt Krov]

24C86: Build a Parent Engagement Strategy to Reach Your Enrollment Goals [Dave Becker; Bart Herridge]

24C87: Creative Trends We Love: Inspiration to Invigorate Your Campus Communications [Matthew Barnes]

24C88: Creating a Healthy Goal-Driven Culture [Michael Ritter; John Massena]

24C89: Financial Aid and Affordability: College/Guidance Counselor Panel [Candice Mackey; Kelly Bowling; Melanie Hildebrandt; Chris Wood]

24C90: Direct Mail Strategy: Looking at Annual Giving from Your Donor’s Perspective [Paul Barry]

24C91: Turning Beer Money Into Scholarships: Leveraging Campus Relationships [Jamie Hurst]

24C92: Building an Integrated Multichannel Program [Chris Bingley]

24C93: RNL Fundraising Consulting and Research [Sarah Kleeberger; Brian Gawor; Miranda Hickman]

24C94: The Transformation of Career Development in Higher Education: It's About Time! [Mari Normyle; Jenny Pate]

5:30-7:00 p.m. Opening General Session

Conference Welcome—Sumit Nijhawan, President & CEO, RNL

24D01: KEYNOTE—Wes Moore, Best Selling Author of The Other Wes Moore

7:00-8:30 p.m. Opening Reception



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Thursday, July 257:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Conference Check-In


7:00-8:00 a.m. Hosted Continental Breakfast

8:15-9:15 a.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions

25E80: What's Next in Non-Traditional Marketing [Nick Boyd]

25E81: The Art & Science of College Financing [Arden Mitchell; James Anderson; Alejandra C. Sosa Pieroni]

25E82: Program Level Recruiting—Soup to Nuts [Bridget Jones]

25E83: A Campuswide Commitment to Student Retention Through the Introduction of Digital Media [Edna McCulloh; Rebecca Coneglio]

25E84: Reaching Gen Z: Creating Emotional Content that Authentically Connects [Corie Martin; Kayla Bitner]

25E85: Four Keys to Attract Students at Community and Technical Colleges [Craig Engel]

25E86: Navigating Strategic Enrollment Planning and Management at a Large, Complex, Urban University[Alain Malette; Lew Sanborne]

25E87: How a College Embraced Relational Advising & Innovative Outreach Practices to Drive Student Success [Cassie Tenorio; Lauren Bieler]

25E88: Creating a Living Learning Community for Men of Color That Helps With Retention and Persistence [Said Sewell]

25E89: Determined to Graduate: How Adult Undergraduate Students Define Persistence and Success[Nereida Iles-Wasserman]

25E90: Multichannel Fundraising Innovation [Gillian Locke]

25E91: Fundraising Misconceptions [Shad Hanselman]

25E92: Digital Philanthropy—It’s Not Just One Day [Kellie Sullivan]

25E93: RNL Student Success: An Integrated Program of Assessment, Analytics, Planning, and Implementation [Gary Fretwell, Shannon Cook, Brandi Phillips]

9:15-9:45 a.m. Refreshment Break



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(Thursday, July 25 continued)


25F80: 360-Degree View of Student Engagement [Gil Rogers; Matt Krov]

25F81: Grand Ole OPpoRtunitY: Synchronizing Community College Student Expectations With Best Practices[Thomas Iwankow; Ann McCalley; Barbara Keener]

25F82: The Power of Expectations: An Imperative for Improving Student and Institutional Performance [Charles Schroeder]

25F83: Digtial or Bust [Kayla Manning]

25F84: Student Self-Advocacy: Four Areas to Help Students Help Themselves [Steve Piscitelli]

25F85: Keeping Up With the Internationals: A Marketing & Communication Action Plan for Driving Enrollment Success [Vedika Taunk; Svetlana Balaba]

25F86: What's Really Working? Data-Informed Assessment of Student Services [Cynthia Pemberton; Tina Donahoo]

25F87: We Increased Our Web Leads by 189%. Great! Now What? Our Struggles With Success [John Wilburn]

25F88: Transfer Advising and Recruitment Are Working Together Now, Didn’t You Know That? [David Tofel; Andrew Armstrong]

25F89: Four-Year Public Colleges’ Use of Enrollment Projections and Program Demand Research to Aid Strategic Planning[Pamela Lee; Kevin Halle; Boyd Bradshaw]

25F90: Building a Strong Partnership That Impacts Results [Karen LaMalva; Brooks Hull]

25F91: Chatbots in Higher Education [MaryGrace Baldo]

25F92: 60 Giving Day and Crowdfunding Ideas in 60 Minutes [Kellie Sullivan]

25F93: The Ultimate Recipe for Productive Cycle Planning (for Graduate Admissions Professionals) [Reena Lichtenfeld]

25F94: What to Measure and When to Track It? Top FA Metrics to Follow [Wes Butterfield; Adam Connelly]

11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. General Session

25G01: KEYNOTE—Michael Sorrell EdD, President, Paul Quinn College

12:30-1:45 p.m. Hosted Lunch



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25H80: Completed: Top Site Tasks—How to Build Your Site for Prospects Needs [Matt Herzberger]

25H81: The 2019 RNL Discounting Report: How Does Your Discount Rate Stack Up? [Galen Graber]

25H82: The Sophomore Slump: Strategies for Supporting and Retaining Second-Year Students [Julie Tetley]

25H83: Mentoring and Mentoring Programs: Powerful Tools to Engage and Retain Students [Rod Fluker]

25H84: Boot Scootin’ Boogie: What Country Music Says About the Campus Visit [Trent Gilbert]

25H85: Social (Media) Unrest [Sasha Peterson]

25H86: Leveraging College Student Inventory Data to Enhance the Support for First-Year Student-Athletes [David Graham]

25H87: Recruitment Challenges: Enrolling Out of State & Traditionally Under-Served Students [Alicia Ortega; Candice Mackey; Melanie Hildebrandt ]

25H88: Student Success by Every Means Necessary: Malcolm X, Belonging, and High Impact Practices [Monique Guillory; Michele Yurecko]

25H89: Strategic Enrollment Planning: Three Institutional Perspectives [Brad Goan; Dennis King; Mary Kreta; Kay Bales]

25H90: Advancements in Leadership Giving [Gillian Locke; Chris Brooks]

25H91: Building a Mobile-First Fundraising Strategy [Josh Roberston]

25H92: How to Create Donor Surveys That Improve Your Fundraising [Rachel Clemens]

25H93: From Inquiry to Enrollment Using Digital Marketing to Recruit Graduate, Adult, and Online Students[Aaron Blau; Scott Jeffe; Jay Kelly]

25H94: Using Market Data to Inform New Program Decisions [Scott Jeffe]




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25J80: Warning: “Demographic Cliff” Ahead [Scott Smith; Pete Sison]

25J81: The TIP Method for Online Student Engagement and Retention [Molly Mott]

25J82: Building Capacity for Engagement in Successful Strategic Enrollment Planning [Susan Elrod; Matt Aschenbrener; Greg Cook]

25J83: Improve Your Graduation Rates by Focusing on Your Second-Year Students [Mari Normyle; Julie Bryant]

25J84: First-Generation Students’ Success from High School to College Graduation [Raquel Bermejo; Omar Correa]

25J85: Records Will Be Made in Nashville by Stemming the Tide of Summer Melt [Sarah Keating; Chris Wood; Kelly Bowling]

25J86: You Have a Brand. Now What? [Chad Cooper; Kristin Linnell; Alex Vawter]

25J87: Explain This to Me (Again) Like I'm a 16-Year-Old [Ann Cools; Erin Ervin Smith]

25J88: Next-Gen Texting Strategies for Increased Yield and Staff Wellness [Joseph Madigan; Amanda Torrelli]

25J89: Digital Marketing Channels: Which One Is Right for You? [Nikki Currier]

25J90: The Fundraising Throwdown! [Brian Gawor; Shad Hanselman]

25J91: Admissions and Financial Aid Strategies for Transfer Students [Roberto Santizo; Jen Wick]

25J93: The RNL Platform—The Most Comprehensive Solution in Higher Education! [Sarah Coen; Josh Robertson; Todd Abbott]

25J94: Adult Learning: Vital Industry Partnerships That Fuel the Nontraditional Student Pipeline [Lisa Braverman]

5:00 p.m. Open Evening to Enjoy Nashville



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Friday, July 267:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Conference Check-In


7:00-8:00 a.m. Hosted Continental Breakfast


26K80: Narrative: The Art of Digital Storytelling [Danielle Ford]

26K81: The Financial State of Higher Education and How to Leverage Your Position as Institutional MVP [Michael Williams]

26K82: The Refinement of a Case Management Advising Model and the Development of an Advising Scorecard [Becerra Gilbert; Michael Ximenaz]

26K83: Driving A 5% Improvement In Student Retention In Less Than A Year [Steven Mauro, Taylor Riggs]

26K84: Eight Steps for Creating a College Marketing and Communication Plan [Anne Monroe]

26K85: Eight Fundamental Issues to Understand for Graduate/Professional Enrollment Planning [Craig Engel]

26K86: Disadvantaged Before Birth: The Journey from Disadvantaged to Significance [Steven LeMons]

26K87: Win, Grow, Retain: How Admissions and Financial Aid Impact Athletic Recruitment [Chris Pesotski]

26K88: SEM at Community Colleges: Why and How? [Michele Brown]

26K89: Student Success: A Shared Responsibility [Gary Fretwell]

26K90: Transforming Your Millennial Giving Engagement [Brian Gawor]

26K91: Hack the Mind: Using Psychology to Boost Fundraising [Andrew Buck]

26K92: Structuring a Data-Driven, Donor-Focused Major Gift Program [Richard Perry; Jeff Schreifels]

26K93: Institutional Strategic Planning in a Fiercely Competitive Environment [Lew Sanborne]

26K94: From Silos to Bridges: Building a Partnership Between Admissions and Athletics [Lisa Meyer; Erica Johnson; Shana Levine]

9:45-10:45 a.m. General Session

26L01: KEYNOTE—Kimberly Lear, Researcher, Speaker, Millennial Behavior Expert

10:45-11:15 a.m. Refreshment Break



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(Friday, July 26 continued)

11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions

26M80: Recruiting International Students—Strategies for Success [Deborah Pierce; Ale Sosa Pieroni]

26M81: GREAT Outcomes for Students: Reverse-Engineering Strategic Enrollment Management [Boyd Bradshaw; Stephen Hundley]

26M82: Adult Student Satisfaction: Targeting Initiatives to Improve Nontraditional Student Success [Julie Bryant; Amia Foston]

26M83: Providing Quality Student Service in Higher Education [Stephanie Miller]

26M84: Using a Multichannel Approach to Reach Gen Z [Scott Burke; Joel Lee; Ryan Hogan]

26M85: Should My Institution Consider a Tuition Reset? Quantitative Evidence From Over 100 Examples [Robert Van Cleef]

26M86: Rethinking Web Governance: One Size Does Not Fit All [David Morton]

26M87: The Efficacy of Success Coaching Within Higher Education at a Historically Black College or University[Brandon Haskins; Ashanti Chunn; LaKetta Rollins; Kiana Hughes]

26M88: Do’s and Don’ts for Partnering with OPMs [Lisa Braverman]

26M89: Employer Demand: A Look at Emerging Skills Requested [Shay Galto]

26M90: Incorporating Text in Your Fundraising Program [Gina Fiorillo]

26M91: New Innovation With Traditional Channels [Meg Weber]

26M92: Conquer Your Next Giving Day [Katherine Halvorson; Emily Sell; Rachel Clarke]

12:15-1:45 p.m. Lunch on Your Own

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(Friday, July 26 continued)


26N80: First Things First: Increasing the Success of First-Generation College Students [Mari Normyle]

26N81: Student Withdrawal Data at New England Community Colleges & Institutional Actions in Retention [Robyn Butterfield; Lauren Way]

26N82: It's a Family Affair: Parents' Role in College Planning and College Success [Raquel Bermejo; Dave Becker]

26N83: Re-Imagining Student Success [Steven Neilson; Jeff Barnes; Michael Osadchuk]

26N84: Making Your Marketing ROI Business Case With Marketing Performance Metrics [Michael Lofstead]

26N85: Generation Z Paradox—The Most Connected, Yet Loneliest Generation[Dustin Manocha; Christopher Quinn]

26N86: Same Program New Market: Going Rural [Breanne Tepler]

26N87: Fear of Student Loan Debt: Reframing College Worth to Regain Lost Prospects [PJ Woolston; Jonathan Shores; Sylvia Ewell]

26N88: Built to Plan: Do-It-Yourself Strategic Enrollment Planning [Sara Wiedman; Erin Mann]

26N89: The Complete Outreach Model for Two-Year Schools [Kathleen Perales; Art De La Cruz; Greg Reents]

26N90: Breaking the Fundraising Mold: Using Donor-Centric Storytelling to Build Effective Appeals [Amer Hoy; Rachel Weeks]

26N91: Three Keys to Successful Annual Giving Programs [Joanne Meredith; Meredith Labs; David Padilla]

26N92: Making the Student Phoning Program the Best Job on Campus [Clare Mcleod; Iliana Paleva]

26N93: RNL Digital Giving: Platform Demo and Roadmap [MaryGrace Baldo; Stephanie Soscia]

3:00-4:00 p.m. Closing General Session

26P01: The Water Coolers Award-winning sketch comedy about the challenges we all face at work, direct from NYC!

4:00-5:00 p.m. Closing Reception

5:00 p.m. Conference Adjournment



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EnrollmentStudent Recruitment and Campus Marketing

360-Degree View of Student EngagementGil Rogers—Senior Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships, PlatformQ

Matt Krov—Associate Vice President for Product Management, Enrollment Marketing, RNL

The way students and schools connect and engage continues to evolve. Of course, savvy enrollment managers understand that no single channel or tactic is going to fill their class. It takes a multi-channel, multi-touch, multi-platform approach to reach and support prospective students and their key influencers. This presentation will discuss how enrollment marketing and management professionals should consider layering online engagement strategies like digital marketing, social media streaming and live chats with tried and true recruitment plans that include legacy channels like print, email, and phone to support conversion and yield at each phase of the process.

Adult Learning: Vital Industry Partnerships that Fuel the Nontraditional Student PipelineDr. Lisa Braverman—Dean, Petrocelli College of Continuing Studies, Fairleigh Dickinson University

As the traditional high school student market declines and universities increasingly look to recruiting adult learners, more and more colleges are seeking to partner with employers to yield solid enrollments and revenue. Employees within companies and corporations represent a rich target market for colleges and universities that, when recruited skillfully, can provide a boost to institutional enrollments. In this session, participants will discuss how industry partnerships yield students, extend the reach of the university into the business sector, and advance business-university relations in a way that can yield significant rewards for both the institution and the regional economy for years to come.

CONFERENCE SESSIONS2019 RNL National Conference

July 24-26 | Nashville | RuffaloNL.com/Conference

Click to go to the conference trackEnrollment• Student Recruitment and Marketing

• Strategic Enrollment Planning

• Financial Aid and Affordability

Student SuccessFundraising


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2019 RNL NATIONAL CONFERENCE | CONFERENCE SESSIONS


Boot Scootin’ Boogie: What Country Music Says About the Campus VisitTrent Gilbert—Vice President for Enrollment, Birmingham-Southern College

Just like how country music is the heartbeat of Nashville, the campus visit is the heartbeat of your enrollment efforts. We don’t want visitors leaving campus with an “Achy Breaky Heart,” so we will explore methodologies, ideas, and tips to make your campus visit the star of the show. You will leave this session with a toolkit (and playlist) toward staging an experiential campus visit experience that connects with today’s visitors, all without having to lose your truck, wife, or dog.

Build a Parent Engagement Strategy to Reach Your Enrollment GoalsDave Becker—CEO, CampusESP

Bart Herridge—Dean of Student Engagement and Retention, Abilene Christian University

The average parent interacts with their college student over 13 times a week. Parent involvement is increasing. While some schools view this as a problem, successful institutions are leveraging parent engagement to turn parents into partners for student success.

Join Abilene Christian University and CampusESP to learn how parent engagement can positively impact enrollment, including:

• Understanding today’s modern parent, what drives their involvement, and how to meet their expectations.

• Implementing parent engagement strategies to help strengthen your admissions efforts and boost student yield up to 30 percent.

• Drawing from best practices, including FERPA management, to increase student retention up to 15 percent.

Centralized or Decentralized: Enrollment Management in Graduate and Professional School EnvironmentsDaniel Thompson—Administrator for Enrollment Management, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

Matthew Sluzinski—Director of Digital Experience, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

In the graduate and professional school markets, faculty member involvement, accreditation requirements, and other forces often call for models that result in enrollment-related activities happening in a decentralized manner. Is this the best model? As with most things, it depends. The session will focus on discussing the benefits and challenges of both centralized and decentralized models, as well as a hybrid model. Special attention will be paid to the role of digital strategies and web governance as a part of the enrollment management mix.

Completed: Top Site Tasks—How to Build Your Site for Prospects’ NeedsMatt Herzberger—Executive Consultant, Digital Marketing Services, RNL

How easy can people accomplish what they want to do on your site? The user experience on most .edu websites is painful. Finding important information can be frustrating to prospects and campus audiences alike. Your site visitors don’t care about most of your site’s content, except the information that aids in accomplishing a specific task at a specific time. Learn how to build your site around top tasks. This session will increase the satisfaction and engagement of potential students in search of key content.

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Creating a Healthy Goal-Driven CultureMichael Ritter—Senior Consultant, RNL

John Massena—Enrollment Consultant, RNL

The admissions office is one of the most measurable (and measured) offices on campus, which can be both a blessing and a curse. Goals are a part of life in admissions, so we will discuss that reality and how best to leverage it to create a positive, productive culture in the office. We’ll discuss the best strategies for setting and tracking goals to positively impact long-term performance and include a framework for using different types of goals to keep staff motivated, regardless of the time of year and whether you are on target.

Creative Trends We Love: Inspiration to Invigorate Your Campus CommunicationsMatthew Barnes—Copy Director, RNL

The creative and marketing worlds are constantly evolving, so we’re back this year with new trends and updated takes on previous trends that will send a jolt through your recruitment communications. In this engaging and informative session, we’ll discuss creative trends from other industries that can be applied in higher education. We’ll also demonstrate why they’re relevant to your prospective students and how they can be implemented within your communication plan.

Crossing the Streams: How Tampa and UCSB ‘Connect the Plumbing’ Between Online and Offline EventsGil Rogers—Senior Vice President, Marketing & Strategic Partnerships, PlatformQ Education

The way students and institutions engage and interact continues to evolve. Leading institutions understand this and adapt—not by simply dumping the old down the drain for the new, but rather doubling down on what works and using new technologies to amplify their voice to the right audiences. This presentation will uncover how the University of Tampa boosted admitted student yield by as much as 35 percentage points and how the University of California Santa Barbara developed a multichannel and multiplatform strategy that is both measurable and actionable.

Developing a One-Stop Shop: Combining Multiple Divisions to Better Serve StudentsBreanne Simkin—Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management, Lindenwood University

Sara Wiedman—Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management, Lindenwood University

Learn how Lindenwood University, a mid-size private university in St. Charles, Missouri, developed a one-stop shop that included the services of admission, international student services, financial aid, academic services, and student financial services—while at the same time undergoing a complete overhaul in the financial aid office and being involved in a significant space renovation. The presenters will address the challenges they faced, including turf wars, space considerations, and leadership and management problems, plus how a new student service initiative helped pull everything together. The panel intends for this to be an interactive discussion with the audience.

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Digital Marketing Channels: Which One is Right for You?Nikki Currier—Director, Paid Media, RNL

Let’s demystify the differences between digital marketing channels. Find where your audience is and how to improve success by choosing the right blend of channels to meet your goals. No matter your budget or ad message, your marketing success depends heavily on choosing the right digital marketing channels.

Digital or BustKayla Manning—Vice President, Digital Marketing Strategy, RNL

If you aren’t talking digital, you should be. In a world constantly connected to digital, your marketing strategy should be connected as well. But where to start? What to budget? What channels do what? SEO? PPC? Social? Display? What does it all mean? We tackle the fundamental building blocks to setting a strategy to tackle your marketing recruitment needs.

Do’s and Dont’s for Partnering with OPMsDr. Lisa Braverman—Dean, Petrocelli College of Continuing Studies, Fairleigh Dickinson University

Over the last several years, partnering with OPMs has been a very strong trend among colleges and universities seeking to get into the online education space with limited resources, and low levels of appetite for risk. More recently, institutions of higher ed have begun to reconsider whether or not building their own internal capacity to mount online programs—everything from instructional design to digital marketing—makes more strategic sense in the long run than the wholesale outsourcing of these functions. In this session, attendees will discuss best practices in making these strategic decisions, what to look out for when considering this type of partnership, and how to work with OPMs in a way that best supports the long-term strategy of your institution.

E-Expectations 2019Stephanie Geyer—Vice President for Digital Marketing and Creative Services, RNL

Lance Merker—President and CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.

Entering its 14th year, E-Expectations is a national research study focused on prospective students and their use of digital resources as they develop their understanding of college choices and engage directly with schools using websites, email, social media, AI, texting, and website search engines. Comparisons to previous study data and new questions will give attendees a broad view of the best investments for their digital budget.

Eight Fundamental Issues to Understand for Graduate/Professional Enrollment PlanningCraig Engel—Senior Vice President, RNL

Today’s graduate and professional school enrollment professionals can no longer play the role of gatekeepers as they manage their programs’ enrollments. Programs with well-developed, strategic, and actionable recruitment plans will thrive in the coming years. In this session, we will discuss eight of the key fundamental issues that are important to graduate and professional school new student recruitment programs—ranging from funnel management to coordination of graduate program managers.

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Eight Steps for Creating a College Marketing and Communication PlanAnne Monroe—Vice President, Recruitment Consulting, RNL

With the emergence of new trends in student search behavior, campuses have more options than ever for reaching prospective students. Finding the right mix of communication methods is crucial for success, but as we shift away from the traditional funnel, which strategies are most effective for reaching the right students? Attend this session and learn how to construct a marketing and communication plan while staying true to your institution’s brand. You’ll learn more about:

• Creating a communication flow that keeps students interested.

• Choosing the right message for your audience.

• Strategies for building a compelling web presence.

• How to mix new and traditional marketing methods for a cohesive campaign.

Emerging Content Strategy Solutions in Recruitment Marketing Aaron Blau—Business Development Director, Converge Consulting

Kayla Manning—Vice President, RNL

Your target audience’s world is changing. You’ve spent the time developing a technical recruitment strategy, but does your content provide the answers to your audience’s questions?

With information at our fingertips and a world always connected, today’s students expect instant gratification and personalization when it comes to their educational pursuit. Gone are the days when you could easily convert a prospect with a single form of contact or a simple email series. Today’s students want more specific content, geared toward their specific interests, on the channels they are using. The most successful institutions embrace a radically different approach to student recruitment that meets this generation on their terms—where they are, when they are there.

How will you meet evolving enrollment goals? Explore successful recruitment marketing strategies including:

• Targeting the right students with the right messaging at the right time.

• Engaging prospective students with data-driven content strategies proven to drive engagement.

• Communicating effectively via multiple channels on the student’s expected timeline.

Four Keys to Attract Students at Community and Technical CollegesCraig Engel—Senior Vice President, RNL

A great strength of community and technical colleges is the diversity of the students they serve. However, that strength becomes a challenge when developing marketing and recruitment plans and the various ways to communicate with students who have very different motivations for enrolling and staying in school. In this session, I will share marketing and recruitment funnel management techniques, how to generate sufficient demand, communication strategies, and national benchmark data.

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From Inquiry to Enrollment Using Digital Marketing to Recruit Graduate, Adult, and Online StudentsAaron Blau—Business Development Director, Converge Consulting

Scott Jeffe—Senior Director of Market Insights, Converge Consulting

Jay Kelly—President, Converge Consulting

The use of paid digital media platforms should be an integral part of your omnichannel approach to student recruitment. This session will explore how Converge’s digital strategy team uses research, platforms, strategy, and measurement to impact your overall results from inquiry to application—starting with solid research using EMSI and other tools to define who your target audience is and where you should spend your time and put your dollars. Utilizing the best platforms from Google search, display, paid social, retargeting, and geofencing to reach your students across the funnel and drive that next action.

The team will share new and next platforms and the best placements for specific audiences based on program/major. The session will end with a deep dive into measurement and how to utilize full-funnel reporting to measure results across the recruitment funnel. The reporting will focus on website traffic, paid digital efforts, and CRM data to prove out an attribution model. This session will be chock full of case studies and specific university examples to showcase best-in-class thinking and to help you take your efforts to the next level.

From Silos to Bridges: Building a Partnership Between Admissions and AthleticsLisa Meyer—Vice President and Consultant, Witt/Keiffer

Erica Johnson—Vice President for Enrollment Management, Westminster College

Shana Levine—Senior Associate, 3 Fold Group

Lewis & Clark College’s enrollment and athletic department leaders built an active partnership to support team, department, and college-wide enrollment goals. Through shared technology and increased transparency, the departments improved relationships, information sharing, and efficiency in student recruitment. The significant culture change resulted in stronger relationships and collaboration between the two departments where silos previously existed. This session focuses on the creation and benefits of campuswide partnerships, tools to support shared goals, and how this collaboration can assist in meeting enrollment goals.

Generation Z Paradox: The Most Connected, Yet Loneliest Generation—A Review of the Impact of Isolation on Enrollment and OutcomesDustin Manocha—Founder and CEO, NearPeer

Christopher Quinn—COO, NearPeer

“The College Dropout Crisis” is the headline of a recent New York Times article that explores the underlying reasons why one-third of students who enroll in college never earn a degree. In this session, we will review the root causes of this challenge with a focus on how loneliness and isolation adversely affect incoming student enrollment (yield and melt), engagement, and success. This pervasive problem not only affects Gen Z, but is a major challenge in online degree programs and courses. We will explore the best practices and successful interventions that are essential to improving the connectedness that drives up enrollment, student satisfaction, retention, and graduation.

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Get Social by Acting RealChad Cooper—Senior Copywriter, RNL

Kristin Linnell—Graphic Designer, Enrollment Management, RNL

Matt Barnes—Copy Director, RNL

FACT: Prospective students are looking at your social media pages. Is what they’re seeing sparking joy or that special kind of teenage scorn? Discover why being “real” resonates, how it pays off with more interaction, and how it can aid your recruitment messaging.

Using examples from higher education and the retail space, you’ll discover implementable strategies to help inform students, communicate authentically, and make your accounts worth following.

How to Get Into the Adult/Online/Graduate MarketSarah Coen—Senior Vice President, Consulting, RNL

Ann Oleson—CEO and Founder, Converge Consulting

Scott Jeffe—Senior Director of Market Insights, Converge Consulting

As demographics continue to pose challenges to growing traditional undergraduate classes, more and more institutions are seeking to start—or reinvigorate—programs focused on adult undergraduates, working professional graduate students, and subsets of these populations seeking online study. In the 1980’s, this was a matter of offering some programs on evenings and weekends. In the early 2000’s, this was offering some high-demand programs. Today, successful institutions must offer high-demand programs in formats and schedules that work for their students, and with services that they need. Institutions must also successfully recruit in an era with unprecedented competition and little growth in the student population.

In this session, we will walk participants through a “scorecard” approach to understanding what you need to do—and what you need to have in place—in order to successfully attract and retain these nontraditional student populations. Among the topics that we will discuss are:

1. What organizational structure works best?

2. How to select programs that balance institutional mission/expertise with market demand.

3. What formats and schedules do they need?

4. Marketing 101: We are not in the “build it and they will come” era anymore, so how do you reach these students?

5. What cultivation? Today’s non-trads need to be cultivated throughout their experience. How do you ensure that, once you recruit them, they enroll?

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It’s a Family Affair: Parents’ Role in College Planning and College SuccessRaquel Bermejo—AVP for Market Research and Planning, RNL

Dave Becker—CEO, CampusESP

From counselors to colleges, parents receive guidance and information from a variety of sources. What do they need to know? What do they value? Who do they trust? And most importantly—what works?

Research conducted by RNL and CampusESP shows how parents are more involved in their students’ education. Understanding parents’ needs and attitudes can be a difference maker to your enrollment strategy and institutional success!

Learning Objectives:

1. Gain perspective on the increased burden being placed on families and how it results in increased parent involvement.

2. Understand the sources of college planning information trusted by parents.

3. Strategies to support parent involvement that will positively impact student enrollment and success.

Keeping Up With the Internationals: A Marketing and Comms Action Plan for Driving Enrollment SuccessVedika Taunk—International Marketing and Communications Manager, Humber College

Svetlana Balaba—International Admissions Manager, Humber College

Recruiting Millennial and Generation Z students is not easy. They want information that is quick and to the point, they respond to storytelling, they prefer visuals, and most importantly, they want authentic experiences.

This session will help you get results toward your international enrollment goals by demonstrating how your institution can find its authentic voice and develop a clear communications strategy that underpins your marketing and admission efforts. Go from being one of many institutions around the world on a student’s mind to their first-choice institution by creating a genuine bond with them and humanizing their admissions experience.

Making Your Marketing ROI Business Case With Marketing Performance MetricsMichael Lofstead—Associate Vice President, Digital Marketing, RNL

Email marketing, paid search advertising, and social media marketing have become the cornerstones of any modern student recruitment marketing plan. In this session, we will explore the key interactive marketing best practices, tracking tools, and measurement approaches that can become the foundation of a data-driven marketing analysis program at your school. The presentation will offer a balance of top-line information of interest to senior enrollment personnel as well as managers of web and marketing teams. It should also provide experienced interactive marketers with a few new ideas to beef up online marketing and performance analysis efforts.

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Marketing to the Adult Online Market: Competition, Resource Challenges, and a Changing Landscape. Where DO You Start?Marie Power-Barnes—Director, Marketing Research and Assessment, Thomas Edison State University

The landscape of the adult and online higher education market has changed dramatically over the past decade, as have the perceptions, expectations, behaviors, and demographics of the adult student. Who is this person? How do you know who your competition is in the online space, how do you define your target markets within that space, and how do you compete with limited resources in a market where odds are you are outspent before you begin? Understanding this audience and its specific nuances as they relate to YOUR institution is key to building your marketing and recruitment strategy. Learn about how Thomas Edison State University has evolved its data driven marketing strategy to respond to this changing environment; why utilization of data is critical, especially when resources are limited; sources you can utilize at your institution; and garner an understanding of the complexities of this exploding market.

Narrative: The Art of Digital StorytellingDanielle Ford—Marketing Communication Strategist, Kean University

Today’s content creators work at the intersection of data and storytelling to create compelling brand narratives. Learn how to effectively crowdsource your campus culture, leveraging institutional data and Google Analytics to develop stories that will drive enrollment and resonate with your core audiences.

Next Gen Texting Strategies for Increased Yield and Staff WellnessJoseph Madigan—Senior Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Florida Southern College

Amanda Torrelli—Director of Client Success, Mongoose

It’s 2019—we get it. Text messaging makes complete sense to include in our overall campus communication strategies. But how can we keep prospective students and parents engaged when they’re undoubtedly flooded by all other communications? Florida Southern College has gradually increased yield and staff retention over the past four years by developing a sound texting strategy and fueling an admissions team that works smarter, not harder. In this session, you’ll get an exclusive look at methods, processes, texting comm plans, and technology integrations that result in:

• Yielding stronger academic students.

• Engaging parents during the decision-making process.

• Increasing staff efficiency.

Program Level Recruiting—Soup to NutsBridget Jones—Associate Director of Undergraduate Recruitment, College of Business, Oregon State University

This presentation will explore the components necessary for establishing and executing a college or program-level recruitment strategy within a larger university. Presenters will provide insights on those areas where program-level recruitment is most effective and pitfalls to avoid. We will examine how this type of outreach serves to extend the influence of the university admissions office and, ultimately, bolster enrollment. Information in this session is relevant to those looking to take a team approach to recruiting and those looking for ways to engage students as solo representatives of their programs.

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Reaching Gen Z: Creating Emotional Content That Authentically ConnectsCorie Martin—Director, Web Services and Digital Marketing, Western Kentucky University

Kayla Bitner—Digital Media Marketing Coordinator, Western Kentucky University

This session will break down the expectations of Generation Z students and how to reach them using transparent, authentic content. We will provide you with details about what the new generation expects from us, how to create content based on emotion that corresponds with the recruitment cycle, and how to use your current students to tell your story in a way that will truly connect.

Records Will be Made in Nashville by Stemming the Tide of Summer MeltSarah Keating—Associate Vice President, RNL

Chris Wood—School Counselor, Cedar Falls High School

Kelly Bowling—Department Chair, School Counseling, Braden River High School

Over the last decade, admissions office efforts concentrating on minimizing summer melt have become a growing priority for colleges and universities. The 2018 Discount Report from NCES recently noted that institutions lose one out of 10 students before they enroll, and four out of 10 students do not graduate in six years. Some reasons for melt may be obvious, financial hardship and ever-increasing competition for students late in the game, to name a few. These realities may not be on the radar of high school counselors, but they should be.

This session is meant to be a collaborative discussion between high school counselors and admissions professionals to discuss summer melt trends, evaluate the use of both National Student Clearinghouse and FAFSA completion data. Additionally, this session will provide some solid examples of how collaboration between key prospective student influencers, high school counselors, and college admissions officers may, in fact, be the key to not only stemming melt but for providing answers on how to improve long-term persistence in college.

Recruiting International Students: Strategies for SuccessDeborah Pierce—Associate Consultant, RNL

Alejandra Sosa Pieroni—Associate Vice President, Financial Aid and Affordabilty Product Management, RNL

The international student population is expected to grow to 7 million by 2025. As institutions face more and more challenges in meeting enrollment and revenue goals through traditional recruitment initiatives, many are looking beyond the United States to recruit international students to diversify and fill their classes. Come join industry experts to learn current trends and challenges, best practices, and strategies to successfully engage and recruit international students to your institution. This session is designed for enrollment managers interested in growing or shaping their international student population.

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Recruitment Challenges: Enrolling Out-of-State and Traditionally Underserved StudentsAlicia Ortega—Enrollment Consultant, RNL

Candice Mackey—UCLA College Counseling Extension Instructor, UCLA Admissions Reader

Melanie Hildebrandt—Counseling Department Leader, Peter Johansen High School

As competition to recruit students increases, it can be especially difficult to target and prioritize specific populations. The pressure to attract out-of-state students, especially diverse and traditionally underserved students, can make the recruitment process even more complex. Institutions must develop strategies to help students feel included and supported while they transition to college, despite distance and cultural differences.

This session will review data related to recruiting out-of-state and underrepresented students, including advice on how to facilitate conversations with families on topics such as financial aid considerations, student life in a new state/region, and other potential barriers students may face.

Rethinking Web Governance: One Size Does Not Fit AllDavid Morton—Sales Engineer, OmniUpdate

Have you sat through presentations in the past and thought to yourself, “That would never work on my campus?” Or perhaps you’ve read pie-in-the-sky plans to revolutionize the way you run your campus website, only to feel defeated when you tried to execute them?

Discover easy-to-implement strategies and policies that have been successful on both small and large campuses throughout the country. Come learn proven techniques to increase your productivity, streamline your processes, and get the most out of your website.

RNL Enrollment Marketing SolutionsMatt Krov—Associate Vice President for Product Management, Enrollment Marketing, RNL

Andrea Gilbert—Vice President, Consulting Services, RNL

This session will provide a detailed overview of RNL’s most advanced Enrollment Marketing products that build genuine demand from students who convert. We will review our industry-leading analytics, effective multichannel marketing, digital marketing, and robust student engagement techniques. Case studies of our campus partners will be discussed as examples.

Same Program, New Market: Going RuralBreanne Tepler—Assistant Director, The College of St. Scholastica

Administrators in higher education are facing more competition and shrinking resources. This environment has created the need for new strategic recruitment tactics to grow enrollment. One such tactic is to deliver currently existing programs offsite from the main campus building—more specifically, using a cohort model program for adult learners in rural communities. These types of distance learning programs work best when several factors are considered. In 2012 and 2016, MBA cohorts were launched by The College of St. Scholastica in rural communities outside of the main campus. In 2017, an MBA cohort failed to launch. This presentation will explore what to consider when launching a new on-ground graduate cohort in a rural market.

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Social (Media) UnrestSasha Peterson—CEO, TargetX

It’s no secret that this new generation of prospects is the most marketed-to group in history. This means they see through your carefully crafted social media strategy. Last year’s Social Admissions Report found that “fake news” and events like Cambridge Analytica have sparked a general distrust of social media outlets. In fact, social media was rated among the least trusted sources of information!

With students more skeptical than ever of information shared via social, how can your institution rethink its social strategy and engage in the way they want to be engaged on the platforms they’re looking at most?

So You Want to Text. Now What? What You Need to Know to Create the Most Impactful StrategyJeff Meece—Vice President, Strategy, Mongoose

Matt Krov—Associate Vice President, RNL

We know that texting is not seen as just a channel by students, but rather as their natural preferred way to communicate. In this session, you will discover what that means for enrollment management. Join us in looking at data obtained from prospective students regarding their preferences and expectations in using texts in the admission process. We will also cover the most effective ways to make texting a part of your engagement strategy and reveal the questions you should consider when assessing and aligning your strategies with your goals. Whether you have yet to incorporate text, have dabbled, or consider yourself a pro, you’ll come away with some great insights and new practices to consider.

The Complete Outreach Model for Two-Year SchoolsKathleen Perales—Associate Dean, Community Outreach and Enrollment Development, Mesa Community College

Art De La Cruz—MCC College Advisor, Mesa Community College

Greg Reents—Director of Recruitment and Outreach, Mesa Community College

Now more than ever, community colleges are being called upon to engage more strategically when developing comprehensive recruitment models. However, limited resources, staff, and knowledge sometimes hinder our outreach professionals from reaching their recruitment goals.

This session will provide a holistic approach to developing a complete outreach model inclusive of five critical areas: Cultivation, Connection, Communication, Coordination, and Collaboration, utilizing the existing resources available at most community colleges, and within an arm’s reach through community and K-12 partners.

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The CRM Challenge: Tips to Successfully Select, Implement, and Utilize a CRMSarah Keating—Associate Vice President for Enrollment, RNL

Adam Brown—Dean of Student Success, Kettering College

Given the complexity of recruiting today’s students, enrollment managers cannot thrive without a strong multichannel communication plan and a CRM to support that plan. The challenge, however, is that CRM implementations and transitions are one of the most costly endeavors (budget- and human resource-wise) that any campus will undertake. Based on the consultant’s firsthand experiences and a research study conducted in spring 2017, this session will focus on practical ways to get the most out of your CRM, including:

• Factors to consider when choosing a CRM;

• Preparation and implementation best practices; and

• Meeting the needs of end users.

Adequate time will be provided for audience Q&A.

The Political Climate and Impact on Recruitment of International StudentsJohn Baworowsky—Vice President for Enrollment Management, Marquette University

Since the 2016 election, the political climate for recruiting international students has changed considerably. During this session, we will discuss the political headwinds facing international student recruitment, look at recent international student enrollment data, and discuss strategies to overcome recruitment obstacles. Plus, we will take a look at effectively using agents to support our recruitment efforts.

The RNL Certificate in Enrollment Management: Get Certified and Advance Your Career Lauren Way—Director, Master of Science in Higher Education Administration Program, Bay Path University

Janene Panfil—Senior Vice President, RNL

Are you looking to advance your career by increasing your knowledge of enrollment and student success strategies? Attend this session to learn how to earn your professional enrollment management credentials online with the Degree and Certificate Program in Enrollment Management through Bay Path University and RNL. Continually changing student communication preferences, evolving student academic and career needs, advances in technology and data analytics, and institutional accountability requirements throughout higher education call for sophisticated enrollment management personnel. Join this discussion on ways you can grow your and your team’s skill set through this masters-level curriculum. We’ll explain the online technology, program requirements, cost, financial aid, and how the programs can support your institutional and individual professional career goals.

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The RNL Platform—The Most Comprehensive Solution in Higher Education!Josh Robertson—Senior Vice President, RNL

Sarah Coen—Senior Vice President, RNL

Todd Abbott—Senior Vice President, RNL

Over the past two to three years, RNL has revolutionized services to meet the needs of today’s competitive higher education environment and is pleased to introduce the RNL Platform, a comprehensive solution for campus leaders. This new platform includes RNL’s most trusted products and services, as well as enhanced digital capabilities, new services for the adult and international markets, expanded fundraising and student success solutions, state-of-the-art technical platforms, and access to RNL industry experts and channel partners. Join us for this demo to learn more about the RNL Platform and how it can work to transform your institution!

The Role of Faculty in Recruitment, Retention, and MentoringLaurie Fluker—Associate Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication; Associate Professor, Texas State University

This presentation challenges the traditional paradigm that faculty members’ primary interactions with students should be limited to their offices and the classroom. Faculty members who regularly interact with students in various settings play a vital role in attracting and retaining students. This workshop will explore the historical overview of the faculty role, the paradigm shift for faculty, key features of faculty involvement, and successful case studies. In addition, the workshop will suggest strategies and activities for improving faculty involvement. Having worked in public, private, two- and four-year institutions, as well as historically black and predominantly white institutions, the presenter will share insights into effective strategies for student recruitment and retention that are, and can be, used by faculty. She has won dozens of awards from student groups over the years for her leadership and mentoring and has been recognized by university, state, and national organizations for her outstanding teaching.

The Ultimate Recipe for Productive Cycle Planning (For Graduate Admissions Professionals)Reena Lichtenfeld—Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management, Peabody College at Vanderbilt University

“War room” style cycle planning sessions means bringing your inter-office teams of admissions, marketing, and communications together to strategize and make the magic happen in order to hit your next year’s targets. This session will equip you with a roadmap to get the most out of your cycle planning. We will discuss communication, audience, funnel management, social media, advertising, print, and more. If you are an admissions professional for an MBA program, graduate education, or nearly any other discipline, consider this session as your one-stop shop for actionable takeaways to jump-start and/or reinvigorate your annual cycle planning sessions.

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Transfer Advising and Recruitment Are Working Together Now; Didn’t You Know That?David Tofel—Associate Director, Texas A&M University

Andrew Armstrong—Director, Texas A&M University

The office of admissions at Texas A&M University and the College of Liberal Arts are working to increase the number of transfer students enrolling at the university while continuing to improve their recruitment and advising efforts. Despite popular belief, transfer and freshman applicants do not fit a one size fits all model to meet their recruitment and advising needs. Come learn how Texas A&M has improved access to campus engagement with their transfer course sheets while centralizing transfer messaging to future applicants, establishing transparent admission requirements to increase graduation and retention rates among transfer students, and adopting a new university timeline for future enrollment planning to help make Texas A&M #transferfriendly.

Using a Multichannel Approach to Reach Gen ZScott Burke—Associate Vice President and Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Georgia State University

Joel Lee—Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management, Winston-Salem State University

Ryan Hogan—Director of Admissions, Valdosta State University

Meeting the on-demand expectations of Generation Z is challenging. They are the most active generation on mobile and social media. They have the ability to sniff out the inauthentic and irrelevant. And their attention span is short. Learn how three university leaders effectively adapted their communication and outreach strategies to better target Generation Z. This included the introduction of an artificial intelligent (AI) virtual assistant to engage them via text message, doing everything from guiding them to complete their applications to gathering their feedback on campus events. As students develop connections to our virtual assistants and our institutions, they’re also receiving answers to their questions within seconds, 24/7.

Warning: ‘Demographic Cliff’ AheadScott Smith—Director, Higher Education Services, The College Board

Pete Sison—Director, Higher Education Services, The College Board

WICHE’s high school graduation projections have long detailed the coming “demographic cliff” in the 2025-29 timeframe—a national decrease of nearly 10 percent. While your current focus is on classes that will enroll before this timeframe, the edge of this cliff is a lot closer than you think. The class of 2022 is finishing its first year in high school, and you will begin recruiting these students shortly if you haven’t already done so. Now is the time for current and emerging enrollment leaders to more fully understand this “demographic cliff” and to be prepared to navigate it. This session will detail the WICHE data as well as new, more detailed higher education demand projections by Nathan D. Grawe from his recent book, “Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education,” to help you and your institution plan for these changes.

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We Increased Our Web Leads by 189 Percent. Great! Now What? Our Struggles with SuccessJon Wilburn—Online Marketing Manager, Kentucky Community and Technical College System

In marketing and recruitment, we often hear that we need more prospective students in the pipeline. In 2018, we redesigned our web presence and saw an enormous increase in lead generation by 189 percent. Now what? In a higher education world of limited resources, it will take everyone from the president down to understand this change and the resources we need to generate revenue. We’ll discuss how we achieved this increase, the struggles that came with it, and where we go from here.

When Less Is More: Successfully Competing Against Larger InstitutionsJames Steen—Vice President of Enrollment Management, Houston Baptist University

Those who serve at small to mid-sized institutions regularly compete for students with other universities that are significantly larger and have seemingly infinite resources. With a goal to grow, enrollment managers are a facing increasing pressure to increase the number of inquiries, applicants, admits, and enrollees each year—often against seemingly insurmountable odds. While we are often expected to do more with less, we do not always have to spend more money, hire more personnel, or double our efforts to grow the funnel. By working smarter (not necessarily harder) and being more strategic about approaches to recruiting students, smaller college and university campuses can achieve their enrollment goals in a market that is becoming more and more competitive. In this session, the presenter will explore techniques you can implement to maximize your funnel metrics and ultimately do more with less.

Participants will come out of this session with several practical ideas, strategies, and potential action items to implement on their campus.

You Have a Brand. Now What?Chad Cooper—Senior Copywriter, RNL

Kristin Linnell—Graphic Designer, RNL

Alex Vawter—Graphic Designer, RNL

You have a captivating logo, a bold tagline, and beautiful photos. Now what? It’s time to tell your unique story. Discover how to create a narrative that bridges the gap between your institutional branding and authentic communication. Hear a copywriter and graphic designers describe their process for expanding a brand beyond taglines and sleek viewbooks. We’ll cover our five steps of engaging storytelling in this original session and focus on the most important aspect: conveying your institution’s distinctive qualities to your desired audience.

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Strategic Enrollment Planning

Building Capacity for Engagement in Successful Strategic Enrollment PlanningSusan Elrod—Provost, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Matt Aschenbrener—Associate Vice Chancellor, Enrollment and Retention, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Greg Cook—Vice Provost, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

UW-Whitewater began an RNL-guided strategic enrollment planning (SEP) process in February 2018. In order to build capacity for a successful and impactful process, we established an inclusive and dynamic SEP structure that has successfully engaged over 100 faculty, staff, students, and administrators in eight working groups and 16 action planning teams. Campus leadership has used three principles to guide our planning efforts: Responsiveness, Inclusion, and Transparency. In this session, we will describe how we put these principles into action to effectively engage all stakeholder units and groups of people. While still early in the process, new gains in retention and graduation rates have already been realized.

Built to Plan: Do-It-Yourself Strategic Enrollment PlanningSara Wiedman—Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management, Lindenwood University

Erin Mann—Associate Provost, Academic Operations, Lindenwood University

Strategic enrollment planning is crucial, but it can be a daunting and costly commitment for schools with already-limited resources. This interactive session will provide enrollment and academic administrators a blueprint for constructing their own customized strategic enrollment planning process designed to address the specific needs and challenges of their individual institution. We will study the details of a mid-sized comprehensive university’s first-time SEP process including missteps, triumphs—both deliberate and accidental—and ongoing revisions to gain practical tips for process development, change management, and compelling communication strategies. University leaders will learn how to maximize resources and get results.

Developing Strategic Enrollment Strategies in Response to the Current EnvironmentKevin Crockett—Senior Executive, RNL

Higher education professionals are currently dealing with the most turbulent environment in decades. Characterized by stagnant enrollment, ongoing demographic shifts, rapid technological change, and constrained resources, the pressure is on to attract, retain, and graduate students in greater numbers than ever before. This session will explore some of the prevailing strategic enrollment growth strategies that colleges and universities are using to thrive in the current environment.

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Employer Demand: A Look at Emerging Skills RequestedShay Galto—Market Research Consultant, RNL

Often students want to know, “If I pursue this degree, will I get a job? Will I have the skills employers want? Does the job pay enough to live?”

We will highlight occupational areas with the largest numbers of postings and related programs, degree levels, and salary information nationally and regionally in the U.S. Within the employer postings, we will discuss emerging skills in highest demand (including those with the highest projected growth). Aided by a literature search, we will uncover skill gaps and provide recommendations for how colleges can nurture employer relationships and begin to fill the gaps.

Four-Year Public Colleges’ Use of Enrollment Projections and Program Demand Research to Aid in Strategic PlanningPamela Lee—Market Research Consultant, RNL

Kevin Halle—Director of Admissions, Wayne State College

Boyd Bradshaw—Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Chief Enrollment Officer, IUPUI

In their efforts to both grow enrollment and identify the right mix of academic programs, Wayne State College has relied on data to drive decisions. In 2016, the college began engaging in a strategic enrollment planning process involving a return on investment and action-item approach to planning. Data was used to guide development of action plans for potential strategies, including enrollment projection models, program demand research, and market intelligence research on competitor websites. Successful implementation of action plans have led to its largest class of new students since 1995, a 15 percent increase in new transfer students and a 24 percent jump in graduate students. This session will go over how institutions can develop and successfully implement action plans that lead to increases in both enrollment and revenue.

GREAT Outcomes for Students: Reverse Engineering Strategic Enrollment ManagementBoyd Bradshaw—Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Chief Enrollment Officer, IUPUI

Stephen Hundley—Senior Advisor to the Chancellor, IUPUI

GREAT is an acronym that stands for Graduate, Retain, Engage, Admit, and Tell. It is an organizing framework that reverse-engineers the strategic enrollment management process by beginning with the end in mind and working backward to develop activities supporting student success outcomes. This session will equip participants with strategies for an integrated and aligned approach to strategic enrollment management, including developing action plans that focus on GREAT outcomes for students.

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Institutional Strategic Planning in a Fiercely Competitive EnvironmentLew Sanborne—Vice President, RNL

Colleges and universities face increasing pressure to adapt their business models in a fiercely competitive market. We can no longer assume that enrollment growth and tuition increases will help us balance the budget. Location, reputation, and surrounding demography all influence which institutions will continue to grow, necessitating the development of a sustainable approach to combat pressing challenges. RNL’s approach to Institutional Strategic Planning (ISP), by design, helps higher education institutions address these competitive and fiscal challenges through a research-driven, data-informed approach to vision development, mission fulfillment, realistic revenue planning, and fiscal discipline and sustainability. In this session, we’ll explore the RNL approach to ISP and how its action orientation and emphasis on sustainability set it apart.

Navigating Strategic Enrollment Planning and Management at a Large, Complex, Urban University: The Case of the University of OttawaAlain Malette—Senior Director, Recruitment, Admissions, and Market Development, University of Ottawa

Lew Sanborne—Vice President, RNL

Following a decade of growth, 2010 brought increasing challenges for universities in Ontario, including changing demographics, increasing flows of international students, and increasing oversight. To respond to these challenges and others, starting in the winter of 2016, the University of Ottawa embarked on a strategic enrolment management (SEM) process. This presentation will describe the main phases undertaken by the University of Ottawa, including definition of project scope; identification of key performance indicators and situation analysis development; strategy development and measurement of impact; and institutionalizing the process and linking SEM to the institutional strategic plan. The project is yielding clear results, and the cyclic nature of the process suggests those results will continue.

No Surprises Revisited: Assessing What’s Essential for Enrollment SuccessGary Fretwell—Senior Vice President, RNL

The higher education landscape is changing very rapidly. Institutions are being challenged to make strategic and tactical decisions by accessing key data. The answer is not just in having data but determining if it is in a form that becomes actionable information. This presentation will guide you through key data you must use to both forecast and impact your future enrollment results. Do you ever wonder if you have the right data? Do you really know the impact of marketing, recruitment, financial aid, and retention initiatives on your overall enrollment results? Are you confident that your data provide a clear picture of your enrollment situation and an accurate forecast of your institution’s enrollment? This program will address these questions and recommend the data/metrics you should monitor throughout the enrollment process.

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SEM at Community Colleges: Why and How?Michele Brown—Director of Student Recruitment and Outreach, Oakton Community College

If you are from a community college and interested in learning how to implement strategic enrollment management (SEM) on your campus, this session is for you! Learn how national trends and changing student demographics are impacting community college enrollments and why now, more than ever, it is crucial for community colleges to engage in SEM planning. Leave with some ideas and best practices regarding beginning or continuing SEM planning at your community college.

Strategic Enrollment Planning: Three Institutional PerspectivesBrad Goan—Assistant Vice President, RNL

Dennis King—Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Fort Hays State University

Mary Kreta—Associate Vice Chancellor, Enrollment Management, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Kay Bales—Vice President for Enrollment Planning and Management, Ball State University

Strategic enrollment planning (SEP) done well is an intentional, dynamic, and data-informed process that engages multiple perspectives from across campus and aligns an institution’s mission, its current state, and its changing environment to create institution-specific strategic initiatives. This interactive session will explore a framework for SEP and the experiences of three institutions at different stages in the SEP process. How has SEP taken shape at their institutions, how is it creating lasting change in the way the institutions approach enrollment opportunities and challenges, and what important lessons have they learned along the way?

The Financial State of Higher Education and How to Leverage Your Position as Institutional MVPMichael Williams—Founder, The Austen Group

Your role as chief enrollment officer has never been more crucial for keeping your institution on a course of financial sustainability. This session will provide a sector by sector review of the impact recent demographic and economic changes have made on higher education. As schools consider what to cut, what to add, and how to adapt to new financial realities, no one is more in the center of the action than you. We will talk about practical ways to work with your chief academic officer and chief financial officer to maximize your value to your institution.

The Fundamentals of Strategic Enrollment PlanningLew Sanborne—Vice President, RNL

The higher education landscape continues to change at a rapid pace, and the competition for students is fierce. Strategic Enrollment Planning (SEP) provides a disciplined approach to monitor the environment and to develop institution-specific strategic responses. Learn the absolute must-do’s for an effective SEP project, how to distinguish strategic initiatives from annual planning efforts, the steps to take for an effective SEP, and common pitfalls to avoid. We’ll explore these questions and those from participants in this interactive session.

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Using Market Data to Inform New Program DecisionsScott Jeffe—Senior Director of Market Insights, Converge Consulting

Colleges and universities see launching new programs as a route to enrollment growth. But what programs? And how should various proposals be screened in an objective and quantitative way? Hard data can be used to determine new programs—or to reposition struggling existing programs—without breaking the bank. In this session, we will explore the resources that are available, where to find them, and how to use them in a manner that can infuse programming decisions with market data. We will explore what the most important demand and supply indicators are for your institution—and these may be different than for another institution. More specifically, we will evaluate the number of existing programs, number of degrees produced, density of graduates by program, number of jobs and annual openings in the region, average salaries, and typical hard and soft skills required for jobs in field.

Financial Aid and Affordability

Admissions and Financial Aid Strategies for Transfer StudentsRoberto Santizo—Senior Consultant, RNL

Jen Wick—Vice President, RNL

National and regional trends for transfer students will be explored in this session to help understand why transfer recruitment has become so challenging. It is more important than ever for four-year private and public institutions to use their historical data effectively to get the best results. Colleges and universities also need to be more strategic about leveraging institutional aid in order to increase yield and revenue. This session includes enrollment and financial aid strategies campuses have used to remain competitive.

Explain This to Me (Again) Like I’m a 16-Year-OldAnn Cools—Senior Consultant, Enrollment Consulting, RNL

Erin Ervin Smith—Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management and Communications, Florida Southern College

More than 70 percent of high school students say they know nothing about financial aid. That’s, um, not good. Let’s talk about using communication, copywriting, and design to effectively explain financial aid to students and their families while also establishing compelling value statements. Explore the current regulations that impact how financial aid is marketed and communicated to families. Learn best practices, emerging trends, and how to craft messaging while complying with federal requirements. Best of all: We’ll have visuals! See examples that illustrate the most effective ways to cut through the jargon and get to the point.

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Fear of Student Loan Debt: Reframing College Worth to Regain Lost ProspectsPJ Woolston—Vice President of Enrollment Management, Marian University

Jonathan Shores—Senior Vice President of Client Service, LRAP Association

Sylvia Ewell—Associate Vice President, Advanced FinAid Solutions, RNL

Explore data-driven examples from your peers who will demonstrate their experiences with deploying solutions to reframe the discussion of worth with prospective students and families who have concerns about cost or managing student loans after graduation. Identify warning signs that the fear of student loans is driving away prospective students and families, and discover best practices to re-engage potentially lost prospects.

Financial Aid and Affordability: College/Guidance Counselor PanelCandice Mackey—UCLA College Counseling Extension Instructor, UCLA Admissions Reader

Kelly Bowling—Department Chair, School Counseling, Braden River High School

Melanie Hildebrandt—Counseling Department Leader, Peter Johansen High School

Chris Wood—School Counselor, Cedar Falls High School

Ale Sosa Pieroni—Associate Vice President, Product Management, RNL (Panel Facilitator)

According to RNL’s 2018 High School Seniors’ Perceptions of Financial Aid survey, 94 percent of students expressed that financial aid is important in their college decision, and 87 percent think paying for college is going to be difficult. Such statistics make it imperative for colleges to take a proactive approach in how they articulate aid and how they assist students through the financial aid process. Come and learn from our panel of experienced college counselors working directly with students and families in high schools across the nation, the do’s and don’ts, best practices, and keys to success in communicating and helping students navigate the financial aid process.

Financial Aid for RookiesDerek Flynn—Associate Vice President, RNL

Understanding the many moving parts of financial aid is daunting enough, let alone taking this information and building a strategic plan to use these dollars. This session will introduce attendees to the basics of financial aid (Financial Aid 101) while also introducing some basic fundamentals when building your own strategy. This session is geared toward professionals who may be new to financial aid and professionals wanting to learn the basics of building an aid strategy.

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From High School to College Graduation, What Do Students Think About College Financial Aid?Ale Sosa Pieroni—Associate Vice President, Financial Aid and Affordability Product Management, RNL

Raquel Bermejo—Associate Vice President for Market Research, RNL

Come learn from RNL’s financial aid and research experts the latest results from the High School Parents’ Survey, the High School Seniors’ Perceptions of Financial Aid Report, the Freshman Motivation to Complete Survey, and the National Student Satisfaction and Priority Survey results. Not only will you leave this session knowing what is important to parents and students, but you will also learn strategies and practical recommendations to help you achieve your recruitment and student success goals.

RNL Proven Financial Aid and YieldAle Sosa Pieroni—Associate Vice President, Financial Aid and Affordability Product Management, RNL

Wes Butterfield—Vice President, RNL

Learn RNL’s approach to optimizing yield including our proven industry-leading financial aid strategy. Starting with your current position in the market, student perception, and price sensitivity assessment to creating a financial aid awarding plan, implementing impactful multichannel yield campaign, and now adding the power of financial aid videos, this session will address RNL’s 10 powerful components to develop the optimal financial aid strategy for your institution. RNL Class Optimizer is more than a financial aid strategy; it is a pathway to meeting your enrollment and revenue goals.

Should My Institution Consider a Tuition Reset? Quantitative Evidence from Over 100 ExamplesRobert Van Cleef—Market Strategy Analyst, RNL

In recent years, an increasing number of institutions are considering the tuition-reset strategy in response to increasing price sensitivity, negative publicity regarding high tuition costs, and college access. This session will offer institutions considering this strategy an opportunity to consider the evidence from IPEDS and other public data sources (focus on four-year privates) to assess opportunities and risks associated with the strategy. The presenter takes the viewpoint that tuition resets are a market repositioning tactic that may (or may not) be useful to any specific college/university. Institutions considering a reset need to do the research, understand their context, and plan accordingly.

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The 2019 RNL Discounting Report: How Does Your Discount Rate Stack Up?Galen Graber—Vice President, RNL

This session will take a deep dive into the RNL Discounting Report to go beyond the numbers to discuss why discount rates are rising and why simply comparing to a national metric is not advisable. We’ve sliced and diced our campus-partners’ data to produce a wonderfully rich set of data and analysis. Are you curious to understand how your campus tuition discount rate stacks up against others institutions like yours? Have you wondered if discount rates vary by region and asked yourself, “What if my campus was located in the western part of the U.S.?” You’ll learn the answers to these sort of questions and more. This year’s report also includes breakouts by school selectivity and athletic affiliation. Whether your school is a four-year public or private institution, this session is for you.

The Art and Science of College FinancingArden Mitchell—Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Florida Southern College

James Anderson—Vice President of Strategic Enrollment Management, University of Toledo

Alejandra C. Sosa Pieroni—Associate Vice President, Financial Aid and Affordability, RNL

Failure to properly leverage financial aid dollars and articulate financial aid effectively is bad business for both an institution and the students it serves. During this session, we’ll explore how both a private and a public institution have navigated the “art and science” of college financing by optimizing their aid-awarding strategies and implementing effective and innovative financial aid communication practices. This session is designed for enrollment managers, admissions, and financial aid professionals seeking to understand the complexity of today’s financial aid environment to better recruit and graduate students.

Using IPEDS to Understand Your Position in the MarketplaceWes Butterfield—Vice President, RNL

How many times have you been told, “You can get that information from IPEDS?” You go to the IPEDS website, fumble around, and think to yourself, “Now what?” If you’ve run into this problem and want to learn how to retrieve meaningful information from the IPEDS site, this session is for you. Bring your list of overlapping or aspirant institutions and your computer, and step by step we will help you leave the session with a completed dataset for analysis in hand.

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What to Measure and When to Track It? Top FA Metrics to FollowWes Butterfield—Vice President, RNL

Adam Connelly—Vice President for Enrollment, Coker College

The work of enrollment services officers is becoming increasingly challenging. If there is a successful cycle, you’re thinking about replicating everything that you did the previous year. But, if you missed your targets, you’re rethinking everything.

We’ve identified our most favorite top 10 metrics we believe are critical for success. The work we do is hard, but not keeping your eye on the right metrics makes it even more challenging. If you’re looking for a list of repeatable metrics to monitor, this session is for you.

Win, Grow, Retain: How Admissions and Financial Aid Impact Athletic RecruitmentChris Pesotski—Assistant Vice President, RNL

Institutional goals include the maximization and enhancement of recruitment, enrollment, retention, and graduation of students. Athletics is in the unique position to impact these results not just for athletes, but for the entire institution.

This session will discuss the importance of student-athlete recruitment in meeting overall enrollment and revenue goals. Examine the role of roster size, JV programs, and new programs for potential growth. Look at examples of tools and strategies you can use to include athletic student recruiting goals in overall enrollment goals. Review strategies to deliver and monitor merit and talent scholarship cost for student-athletes.

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Student SuccessA Campuswide Commitment to Student Retention through the Introduction of Digital MediaEdna McCulloh—Associate Vice President and Dean of Academic Administration, Walsh University

Rebecca Coneglio—Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management, Walsh University

The Walsh University Cavalier Connection program is committed to student success through campuswide collaborations. The program consists of administrators, faculty, and staff representative of all areas of the university who are dedicated to fostering a holistic experience for students. The program encompasses a team approach to retention and utilizes digital storytelling and digital badges in the first semester of enrollment. Dedicated to supporting the university’s mission, individuals collaborate year-round to retain first-generation, working class, and ethnically diverse populations.

Adult Student Satisfaction: Targeting Initiatives to Improve Nontraditional Student SuccessJulie Bryant—Associate Vice President, Retention Solutions, RNL

Amia Foston—Strategic Impact and Research Officer, The Lumina Foundation

How do the student satisfaction levels of nontraditional students compare with more traditional students? What do campuses need to know about the unique experiences of students 25 years of age and older? How do various demographic variables (institutional choice, class load, race/ethnicity) impact the student perspective at four-year private and public institutions as well as community colleges? Highlights from a 2019 research project partnership between RNL and the Lumina Foundation will be shared during this session. The discussion will center on ways to create success pathways that enhance the graduation rates of adult learners.

Advance Your Career: Get Certified With the RNL Certificate in Enrollment Management Lauren Way—Director, Master of Science in Higher Education Administration Program, Bay Path University

Janene Panfil—Senior Vice President, RNL

Are you looking to advance your career by increasing your knowledge of enrollment and student success strategies? Attend this session to learn how to earn your professional enrollment management credentials online with the Degree and Certificate Program in Enrollment Management through Bay Path University and RNL. Continually changing student communication preferences, evolving student academic and career needs, advances in technology and data analytics, and institutional accountability requirements throughout higher education call for sophisticated enrollment management personnel. Join this discussion on ways you can grow your and your team’s skill set through this masters-level curriculum. We’ll explain the online technology, program requirements, cost, financial aid, and how the programs can support your institutional and individual professional career goals.

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Before They Leave: Designing and Implementing Effective Recruit-Back StrategiesBrenda Williams—Senior Associate Consultant, RNL

Retaining students once they have made the decision to leave an institution is difficult, so what actions can you take before they make their decision? During this session, you will: a) learn primary recruit-back strategies to identify students before they leave and effective ways to increase their persistence rates, b) design secondary recruit-back strategies through advising and re-engagement that target students who have recently left the institution (e.g., “stop-outs”) and who are making decisions to return for degree completion, and c) learn how to implement the elements of successful recruit-back programs that assure measurable student success and completion outcomes.

Creating a Living Learning Community for Men of Color That Helps With Retention and PersistenceSaid Sewell—Vice President of Student Affairs, Morehouse College

For more than 10 years, Dr. Sewell has been traveling around the country helping colleges and universities understand and address issues of retention, especially regarding males of color. This presentation will not only help institutions understand why males of color are being retained/graduating from postsecondary institutions, but will also provide attendees with a practical insight for developing a student-centered academic initiative along with models that have been successfully implemented at many postsecondary institutions.

Determined to Graduate: How Adult Undergraduate Students Define Persistence and Success in Accelerated Degree Completion ProgramsNereida Quiles-Wasserman—Director of Compliance and Title IX, Concordia College of New York

This session presents unique and engaging findings from a recent study of adult undergraduate students enrolled in accelerated degree completion programs. These adult students defined what they think of as persistence and success in an accelerated program, shared their experiences of the program and how the programs addressed the barriers nontraditional students often encounter in college study. Participants will engage in a discussion about how degree completion programs can proactively foster an environment of persistence and success. Additionally, participants will learn the attributes of a successful accelerated degree completion program from the students’ perspective.

Developing a One-Stop Shop: Combining Multiple Divisions to Better Serve StudentsTerry Whittum—Vice President for Enrollment Management, Lindenwood University

Breanne Simkin—Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management, Lindenwood University

Sara Wiedman—Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management, Lindenwood University

Learn how Lindenwood University, a mid-size private university in St. Charles, Missouri, developed a one-stop shop that included the services of admission, international student services, financial aid, academic services, and student financial services—while at the same time undergoing a complete overhaul in the financial aid office and being involved in a significant space renovation. The presenters will address the challenges they faced, including turf wars, space considerations, and leadership and management problems, plus how a new student service initiative helped pull everything together. The panel intends for this to be an interactive discussion with the audience.

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Disadvantaged Before Birth: The Journey from Disadvantaged to SignificanceSteven LeMons—Director/Coordinator of the Writing and Learning Center, Tarrant County College-Trinity River Campus

The academic and economic journey from disadvantaged to significance is treacherous. Are your students prepared? For some, being trapped in generational poverty with a lack of ancestors who possess and transmit the intellectual, social, cultural capital, or financial resources needed for success can sometimes kill a college dream before it materializes.

Steven LeMons, the creator of The Journey workshop, engages and empowers underprepared students with techniques that help them do just that. How? By addressing root causes, meeting students at their point of need, and building pathways that strengthen non-cognitive and critical thinking skills. By igniting students’ passions, they create their own brand of excellence.

Driving A Five Percent Improvement in Student Retention in Less Than a Year Steven Mauro—Vice President of Academic Administration, Gannon University

Taylor Riggs—Data Wrangler, GlyphEd

In just one year, we increased student retention by five percent, the equivalent of $2 million in tuition revenue over a four-year period. Come learn how we accomplished this and how we are continuing to refine the process to make it more efficient and drive further improvement.

Engaging Gen Z on the College to Career PathwayAlicia Monroe—Assistant Director, Rowan University

Ruben Britt, Jr.—Assistant Director, Rowan University

This session will inform participants of persistent barriers affecting Generation Z’s journey to self-efficacy, career readiness, and self-authorship. Highlighted will be college-to-career pathway programs implemented at Rowan University that have a proven track record of success with post-Millennials. These programs thoughtfully integrate student engagement best practices in project-based, collaborative, and experiential learning. The program model is versatile, as it has been scaled up or down to meet the unique and diverse needs of Gen Zers. The community of care and coaching frameworks are designed to connect students with employers in the early stages and inspires them to sustain these partnerships throughout the college-to-career journey.

First Things First: Increasing the Success of First-Generation College StudentsMari Normyle—Assistant Vice President, RNL

About 30 percent of students enrolled in higher education are the first in their families to go to college. And at many institutions, that percentage is even higher. What do we know about first-generation students? What are the strengths they bring with them to college, and what are some of the most common challenges they face? And, most importantly, what are examples of effective programs and services that have increased the likelihood of first-generation students completing their undergraduate degrees?

This session will provide national data that will help participants understand the strengths and challenges of first-generation college students. In addition, examples of best practices that are making a difference in increasing first-generation student success will be shared and discussed.

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First-Generation Students’ Success From High School to College GraduationRaquel Bermejo—AVP for Market Research and Planning, RNL

Omar Correa—University of Nebraska at Omaha, Associate Vice Chancellor Enrollment Management

Candice Mackey—College Counselor, Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies

This session will concentrate on best practices for supporting first-generation students’ journeys through college planning to success in college.

Drawing on data from multiple national surveys, we will show how first-generation students gather information for their college planning, what sources they use online and offline, and how they respond to communications. We will share best practices for campuses to reach this population.

We will examine the recruitment process from the enrollment management perspective and share best practices to successfully work with this group and to engage and support their families throughout the enrollment process.

We will conclude the session by examining the issues first-generation students face on campus. Based on national survey data, we will show barriers that can get in the way of incoming first-generation students’ motivation to complete their degrees. What are the academic, financial, and social barriers and opportunities these students experience? We will share best practices to help colleges understand their first-generation students and plan for their success.

Generation Z Paradox: The Most Connected, Yet Loneliest Generation—A Review of the Impact of Isolation on Enrollment and OutcomesDustin Manocha—Founder and CEO, NearPeer

Christopher Quinn—COO, NearPeer

“The College Dropout Crisis” is the headline of a recent New York Times article that explores the underlying reasons why one-third of students who enroll in college never earn a degree. In this session, we will review the root causes of this challenge with a focus on how loneliness and isolation adversely affect incoming student enrollment (yield and melt), engagement, and success. This pervasive problem not only affects Gen Z, but is a major challenge in online degree programs and courses. We will explore the best practices and successful interventions that are essential to improving the connectedness that drives up enrollment, student satisfaction, retention, and graduation.

Grand Ole OPpoRtunitY: Synchronizing Community College Student Expectations with Best PracticesThomas Iwankow—Northeast Regional Manager, RNL

Dr. Ann McCalley—Director of Student Learning Support, Community College of Denver

Dr. Barbara Keener—Graduate Faculty, College of Education, University of Florida

How can community colleges synchronize services to better meet student expectations? This presentation focuses on Willie Nelson’s message, “You are always on my mind,” through a community college best practice lens. We explore the community college students’ perceptions to success. Key strategies for meeting and exceeding community college students’ expectations via impactful services and proper service delivery will be examined. Participants and presenters will discuss, as Kenny Chesney would say, “The Good Stuff.” Community college degrees and transfer processes will be emphasized, in addition to implications for four-year institutions.

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How a College Embraced Relational Advising and Innovative Outreach Practices to Drive Student SuccessCassie Tenorio—Academic Advisor, Lorain County Community College

Lauren Bieler—Academic Advisor, Lorain County Community College

This presentation will inform attendees on how Lorain County Community College’s advising redesign and other student success initiatives changed the game in terms of persistence and completion. By moving from a generalist-transactional model to a specialist-relational approach, LCCC advisors forged impactful bonds with their advisees, which created better student-focused service, quicker interventions, and more meaningful work. The session will also highlight current student case studies and best practices for creating a positive outreach and initiatives with students, the work of which ultimately earned Lorain County Community College the American Association of Community Colleges’ 2018 Award for Student Success.

Improve Your Graduation Rates by Focusing on Your Second-Year StudentsMari Normyle—Assistant Vice President, RNL

Julie Bryant—Associate Vice President, RNL

With more national emphasis on increasing graduation rates, we need to expand our scope beyond first-year initiatives on our campuses. Our second-year students need attention, too! In fact, improving the second-year experience is key to improving graduation rates. But what do we know about our sophomores, beyond our assumptions about the “sophomore slump?” How satisfied are they with their college experiences, and what are they telling us they need as they move through their second year of enrollment? We will share research and best practices from the “second-year experience” movement and ways in which investing in your second-year students will help you improve graduation rates and revenue for the institution.

Leveraging College Student Inventory Data to Enhance the Support for First-Year Student-AthletesDavid Graham—Assistant Vice Provost, The Ohio State University

Ohio State welcomes approximately 250 student-athletes every year in an entering class with over 7,000 first-time-in-college (FTIC) students to the Columbus campus. As part of their summer orientation experience, all students are encouraged to complete the RNL College Student Inventory (CSI) self-assessment tool designed for FTIC students to self-reflect on their personal, social, and academic adjustment to college. In addition to well-known predictors such as high school class rank and standardized exam scores, Ohio State’s internal institutional models find that several CSI scales are highly predictive of our students’ one-year retention outcomes. In this presentation, we will discuss how we are using CSI data to optimize the impact of the resources available to support first-year student-athlete success.

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Mentoring and Mentoring Programs: Powerful Tools to Engage and Retain StudentsRod Fluker—Executive Director, Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education

The powerful impact of effective mentoring has been known by educators for many years. Most students can identify individuals or mentors who helped them during their college matriculation. However, many institutions have yet to organize successful mentoring programs in order to fully capitalize on this proven method of promoting student engagement and success. Student engagement, satisfaction, and success can be enhanced through mentoring, and this interactive workshop will provide a road map to developing an effective program with minimal resources. Specifically, the workshop will address:

• What is mentoring, and why “organize” for it?

• Elements of an organized mentoring program.

• Steps to building a successful program.

Providing Quality Student Service in Higher EducationStephanie Miller—Executive Consultant, RNL

Quality student service is a simple thing to understand conceptually, but one of the most difficult things to consistently do well. This session is designed to provide frontline staff, faculty, and administrators with the strategies, insights, and skills necessary for ensuring excellent student service. The session content will provide attendees with the concepts and strategies to make quality student service a conscious strategy. Topics will include basic student service needs, key indicators of a service culture, typical student service problems, and making quality service an institutional priority.

Putting the Pieces Together: Supporting the College Student in Experiential LearningMonica Kimbrell—Assistant Dean, Virginia Tech

Meghan Jester—Assistant Director, Virginia Tech

With a plethora of resources available on campuses, how do students know where to start discovering experiential learning opportunities? Learn about the usefulness of stop-in sessions connecting students with resources to study abroad, conduct research, and gain internship experience. Research shows the importance of experiential learning as a high-impact practice, yet many students fail to participate. Discover how we are engaging more students in these opportunities by piecing together the resource puzzle.

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Re-imagining Student Success: Using an Academic Course on Excellence to Change Your Student’s StorySteve Neilsen—Assistant Dean of Student Success, California Baptist University

Jeff Barnes—Dean of Student Success, California Baptist University

Michael Osadchuk—Coordinator of Student Success, California Baptist University

This workshop will look at the Academic Course on Excellence, a reimagined and highly effective academic success program at a four-year private university. We will introduce an intervention course and a method of delivery for students who have been academically struggling. This specific program incorporates academic coaching, student accountability, attendance, and academic engagement. The purpose is to create a pathway back into good academic standing for students who have had multiple failed semesters. The program focuses on effort rather than academic solutions for nonacademic problems. We will share with attendees the success of the program, including format, syllabus, curriculum, and outcome data.

Retenton for RookiesTim Culver—Vice President, Student Success, RNL

You have just been named coordinator of student retention at your institution—now what? This session on learning the keys to retention success is back by popular demand. Discover retention strategies that get results at two-year and four-year institutions and learn the best ways to plan for programs by laying the groundwork for success and gaining faculty support.

RNL Student Success: An Integrated Program of Assessment, Analytics, Planning, and ImplementationGary Fretwell—Senior Vice President, RNL

Shannon Cook—Senior Director, Retention Solutions, RNL

Brandi Philips—Director, Retention Solutions, RNL

The management of student retention outcomes should be integrated throughout your institution, data informed, technology enabled, and most certainly based upon your students’ needs. But where and how do you start? This session will explore the RNL approach to student success. The presenters will share ways to assess student motivation and satisfaction, the use of predictive analytics for early alert identification, and the integration of these and other data points into academic advising, planning strategies, annual retention, and completion plans. Examples from institutions that have developed an integrated student success program and improved the student experience will provide ideas for implementation on your campus. You will leave this session with the ability to assess your campus’ comprehensive student retention plan, and with strategies to move it to the next level.

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Shifting the Student Success Paradigm: Performance Outcomes in Two Year CollegesDavid Trites—Senior Associate Consultant, RNL

A profound transformation has been imposed on the vast majority of open enrollment colleges in the form of outcome-based funding. This session will focus on culture, practices, and leadership attributes that will allow two-year colleges to thrive in this new environment where the mantra is changing from a college-ready student to a student-ready college.

The presenter’s experiences as a consultant for some of the nation’s best two-year colleges, along with emerging evidence from RNL survey research, will be used to document promising approaches essential for two-year colleges that strive to be high-performance leaders in the next decade.

Student Self-Advocacy: Four Areas to Help Students Help Themselves Steve Piscitelli—Author and Retired Professor, The Growth and Resilience Network®

College life presents academic and non-academic challenges for students. Residential students confront physical separation from their support network back home. Commuter students have new logistical concerns to tackle. All students have to navigate the unfamiliar demands of higher education. Campus orientation introduces students to people, resources, and processes available for their benefit. Do we also spend time helping them develop strategies to advocate for themselves as they develop sustainable campus communities? When they feel disconnected and lost, do they have the tools to authentically speak up for what they need? This interactive session focuses on four critical dimensions to promote student self-advocacy: Connections, Disconnections, Future Me, and The Seven Core Values for Success.

Student Success: A Shared ResponsibilityGary Fretwell—Senior Vice President, RNL

Once a student enrolls at your college or university, preparing them for successful matriculation becomes a shared responsibility between them and your institution. It is clear that student success must now become your priority. As campus leaders, you must ensure that you are using all available resources to support students in the achievement of their educational goals. In this session, participants will learn the reasons this is such an immediate priority and be given recommendations on key initiatives and tools to effectively support student needs and expectations in today’s higher education environment. In addition, during the session we will discuss the impact of campus student success efforts and the central role it plays in your institution’s mission.

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Student Success by Every Means Necessary: Malcolm X, Belonging, and High Impact PracticesMonique Guillory—Vice President for Academic Affairs, College of Saint Elizabeth

Michele Yurecko—Director of Institutional Research, College of Saint Elizabeth

The 2019 Lee Noel and Randi Levitz Retention Excellence award winning program at the College of Saint Elizabeth integrates a literacy intensive summer bridge program based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Haley, 1964) followed by highly structured first-year programming. Closely aligned with Malcolm’s personal journey with education and literacy, the program imparts to students a heightened sense of belonging and self-efficacy, along with college-readiness skills in reading, writing and critical thinking. The past three years of implementation have yielded improved academic performance and increased year-to-year retention, particularly among the college’s most vulnerable students. Learn more about the program’s literacy-based curriculum for conditionally admitted students, which is producing semester grades, credit accumulation, and freshman-to-sophomore retention rates that, in some instances, rival those of regularly admitted students.

Student Success: Increasing First-Year Student Engagement for Males of ColorJà Hon Vance—Executive Vice President, JV Educational Consultants

This presentation will examine the critical factors—both external and internal—related to creating opportunities for success for minority males in higher education. The presenter will include a blueprint and user-friendly strategies for maximizing institutional readiness and capacity, as well as how to effectively engage minority males into the campus climate. Additional discussions will focus on creating faculty and staff involvement in minority male programs. Ultimately, the discussion will examine how to effectively strengthen the education pipeline for minority males via higher education policy.

Student Withdrawal Data at New England Community Colleges and Institutional Actions in RetentionRobyn Butterfield—Senior Associate Director of Financial Aid, MassBay Community College

Lauren Way—Director of the RNL Certificate in EM at Bay Path University, Bay Path University

Are New England community colleges collecting data from students who are officially withdrawing from the institution? Furthermore, if these data are being collected, are these institutions using these data to make data-informed decisions in strengthening retention programming? This study will make separate recommendations for the groups that emerged within this study to assist these institutions in conducting this valuable exercise to promote retention within the New England community college system.

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The Efficacy of Success Coaching Within Higher Education at a Historically Black College and UniversityBrandon Haskins M. Ed—Program Coordinator and College Completion Coach, Tennessee State University

Ashanti Chunn—Activity Director, Tennessee State University

LaKetta Rollins—Program Coordinator, Academic Success Coach, Tennessee State University

Kiana Hughes—Program Coordinator, Academic Success Coach, Tennessee State University

Each year, colleges work to determine the golden formula, which brings enrollment, student academic success, retention, and timely graduation together for maximum institutional effectiveness. At historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), this task has been even more daunting. In research highlighting the work being done to improve retention rates, Hurd (2000) states that colleges are considering many factors including the role that intrusive intervention plays, as well as many students’ reluctance to ask for help. This session will examine the use of Success Coaching (Robinson, 2015) in the lives of 20 students through a defined curriculum and assessed through various methods.

The Power of Expectations: An Imperative for Improving Student and Institutional PerformanceCharles Schroeder—Senior Associate Consultant, RNL

While strategies and tactics for improving retention and time to degree are proliferating at a rapid pace, they often overlook or discount the essential role that expectations play in performance improvement in all areas of the student experience—the classroom, co-curricular engagement, and campus services. Careful examination of admissions messaging, orientation programs, classroom syllabi, advising practices, and service delivery systems, among others, reveal that students often receive incongruent, contradictory, and confusing information about what matters most in their undergraduate experiences. This presentation focuses on a number of effective strategies for harnessing the “power of expectations” including focusing expectations on what really matters in success, communicating and reiterating high expectations, setting expectations early, and implementing policies and practices throughout the institution that are congruent with espoused expectations. Participants will also explore practical and proven strategies that they can use to improve the quality of student life and learning on their campuses.

The Refinement of a Case Management Advising Model (AlamoADVISE) and the Development of an Advising Scorecard to Support Student Persistence and Graduation RatesBecerra Gilbert—Vice President of Student Success, Palo Alto College

Michael Ximenaz—Director of Advising, Palo Alto College

Learn how Palo Alto College, one of the Alamo Colleges and a winner of a 2018 Lee Noel and Randi Levitz Retention Excellence Award, refined its case management advising structure and developed an advising scorecard to increase retention by 8 percent and the four-year graduation rate by 23 percent. Find out how this homegrown system offers a personalized pathway with a dedicated certified advisor to provide academic and career advising. A special focus was on developing a degree plan, completing milestones, and ensuring persistence to graduation with an additional focus on assessment of student learning outcomes. The program has been adopted by four schools within the district, impacting more than 60,000 students.

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The Role of Faculty in Recruitment, Retention, and MentoringLaurie Fluker—Associate Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication; Associate Professor, Texas State University

This presentation challenges the traditional paradigm that faculty members’ primary interactions with students should be limited to their offices and the classroom. Faculty members who regularly interact with students in various settings play a vital role in attracting and retaining students. This workshop will explore the historical overview of the faculty role, the paradigm shift for faculty, key features of faculty involvement, and successful case studies. In addition, the workshop will suggest strategies and activities for improving faculty involvement. Having worked in public, private, two- and four-year institutions, as well as historically black and predominantly white institutions, the presenter will share insights into effective strategies for student recruitment and retention that are, and can be, used by faculty. She has won dozens of awards from student groups over the years for her leadership and mentoring and has been recognized by university, state, and national organizations for her outstanding teaching.

The Sophomore Slump: Strategies for Supporting and Retaining Second-Year StudentsJulie Tetley—Chief, Academic Advising and Assistant Professor, The United States Air Force Academy

Over the past 20 years, colleges have developed extensive programs to support first-year students and, as a result, have witnessed a rise in first-to-second-year retention rates and improved academic engagement of first-year students. But what about the second-year students? While the “sophomore slump” is not a new phenomenon, institutions of higher learning have begun to pay greater attention to this population by means of increased resources, research, and specialized programs. This session focuses on the characteristics, needs, and issues of second-year students, drawing on various psychosocial and cognitive developmental models along with the latest sophomore-year research and best practices from across the nation. Participants will leave with ideas for implementation and knowledge about how to better support second-year students.

The TIP Method for Online Student Engagement and RetentionMolly Mott—Associate Provost and Dean of Academic Support Services, State University of New York at Canton

With more traditional students taking online degrees, the needs of online students are changing. Students are now looking for a fuller college experience beyond the usual links to campus resources and services. At the same time, institutions are struggling with the challenge to retain students in their online programs. Both traditional and nontraditional online students are more likely to drop out of their programs than their classroom counterparts due to feelings of isolation. To reduce isolation, campuses must use strategies that strengthen the connection online students have with their peers and their institution. Subsequently, this proposal seeks to increase the retention rates of fully online students through a campus life model that includes engagement strategies grounded in technology, innovation, and pedagogy, and mapped to the different dimensions of campus life (academic, social, and co-curricular).

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The Transformation of Career Development in Higher Education: It’s About Time!Mari Normyle—Assistant Vice President, RNL

Jenny Pate—Regional Manager, Purple Briefcase

Career services operations in colleges/universities are experiencing calls for transformation—fueled by demands for a return on the investment students (and their families) are making in the cost of college. In response, colleges and universities are challenged to reimagine the delivery of career development across the student lifecycle (from recruitment and early career focus to alumni engagement) and the systems that are necessary to provide effective career services. This session will emphasize national data that highlight the critical importance prospective and current students place on career services and the systems necessary for students to maximize their professional preparation and increase their engagement as alumni.

Transform Your Academic Advising Program: Move Beyond Course RegistrationStephanie Miller—Executive Consultant, RNL

Does your campus only provide academic advising as a process for registration and course selection? Is there a disconnect between what actually happens in the advising process and what your campus has established as critical missional core values and educational goals? In this session, we will discuss steps and concepts to help change the advising paradigm on your campus. Why is it important to transform your academic advising program? What are your personal beliefs regarding the overall purpose of academic advising? And, how can you change the way advising is organized and applied on your campus?

Using Student Satisfaction Data for Retention, Strategic Planning, Accreditation and RecruitmentJulie Bryant—Associate Vice President, Retention Solutions, RNL

Student satisfaction assessments are conducted regularly by hundreds of campuses, often as part of their retention/student success efforts. But to improve return on investment, more colleges are using satisfaction data to contribute to decision-making in multiple ways, including providing the student voice in strategic planning, supporting the self-study efforts for accreditation and assisting in recruitment efforts by offering campus-based market research on high performing areas. This session will highlight key data points for each of these activities and share examples of four-year and two-year institutions making the most of their student satisfaction data.

What’s Really Working? Data-Informed Assessment of Student ServicesCynthia Pemberton—Deputy Provost, University of Missouri-Kansas City

Tina Donahoo—Principal Consultant, Partner Outcomes, Civitas Learning

University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) began its HLC Quality Initiative Project in June 2014 and has since implemented a number of data-informed student success intervention strategies. In that time, UMKC developed an analytical system that made possible the implementation of in-time interventions designed to support key student subpopulations, including minority students, transfer students, and undecided majors. Learn how the leaders of the UMKC’s HLC Quality Initiative Project identified key research questions and used student data to implement significant institutional changes, including the optimization of budget policies, the deployment of new student engagement strategies, and the expansion of programs most positively linked to student success.

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Fundraising60 Giving Day and Crowdfunding Ideas in 60 MinutesKellie Sullivan—Assistant Director of Special Programs, TEXAS Development, The University of Texas at Austin

Get ideas for both giving day and crowdfunding programs. Ideas for promotion, training, ambassadors, toolkits, videos, emails, social media posts, timelines, and more! Everyone will leave this session with some ideas they can use, no matter the age of the crowdfunding or giving day at the institution they work at.

Advancements in Leadership GivingGillian Locke—Associate VP, Institutional Advancement; ED, Leadership Gifts, Austin College

Chris Brooks—Senior Director of Annual Giving, University of Colorado

Leadership giving is playing an increasingly important role in annual giving programs across the country. Teams are adding gift officers, virtual gift officers, and even training students to book meetings. With ever-increasing goals, tightening budgets, and declining contact rates, how can you ensure your gift officers are making the best use of their time? Join Chris Brooks and Gillian Locke as they walk through some of the tactics they’ve used to ensure that their staff are reaching out to the right donors. This will be a facilitated discussion for all to share what worked, what didn’t, and what we’re trying next. Please come ready to enrich the conversation with your own ideas and experiences.

Breaking the Fundraising Mold: Using Donor-Centric Storytelling to Build Effective AppealsAmber Hoy—Copy Director, RNL

Rachel Weeks—Creative Lead, RNL

As a fundraiser, you likely receive hundreds of appeals each year. Can you identify trends that stand out and are relevant or meaningful to you? How do the answers to these questions differ from the appeals you’re creating? In this interactive session, we will discuss how human behaviors influence content consumption and why this should matter to fundraisers. Together, we will put data-driven research to work, converting a sample appeal letter into an effective donor-centric story. From this session, you will leave equipped with quick tips and talking points to use in your next meeting on content creation!

Building a Culture of InnovationChris Brooks—Senior Director of Annual Giving, University of Colorado

Come join a lively discussion about how to get more out of your resources, team, and program. Chris Brooks will facilitate a conversation, share a few of his tips and tricks on how to find opportunities to try exciting new ventures, and how to generate ideas to test. We’ll also cover the obstacles that are holding you back from identifying new opportunities and talk through some ways to get past them.

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Building a Mobile-First Fundraising StrategyJosh Robertson—Senior Vice President, RNL

Nearly 80 percent of Americans own a smartphone. This single device has reshaped our world, yet most institutions don’t leverage its full potential as a driver for alumni engagement and fundraising success. Fundraising and innovation expert, Josh Robertson, will use this session to change that mindset, giving you the information you need to advance your fundraising program across channels and the data you want to convince your colleagues it’s time to make a change.

Building a Strong Partnership That Impacts ResultsKaren LaMalva—Vice President, RNL

Brooks Hull—Vice President, University Advancement, Louisiana Tech University

Let’s face it, managing a strategic annual giving program is a lot of work. How do you sift through statistics and trends to develop the best strategy on a budget? How do you ensure messaging synergy that drives results across a mix of marketing channels? Louisiana Tech and RNL have built a partnership to do just that. Working together, Louisiana Tech is leading the way with integrated multichannel outreach that is generating excitement and support from the Tech family. In this session, you’ll learn how to evaluate and grow a powerhouse annual giving program.

Building an Integrated Multichannel ProgramChris Bingley—Senior Vice President, RNL

Traditional marketers have known the value of integrated marketing for years, tying messaging and branding in everything from simple package design to elaborate digital campaigns. So why are fundraising nonprofits still measuring success by single channels? Fundraising expert Chris Bingley will explore the key components of a multichannel approach and provide strategies you can implement right away to identify the best new donors, effectively analyze your efforts across channels, and boost your annual giving.

Chatbots in Higher EducationMaryGrace Baldo—Product Manager, RNL

How can you engage your constituents 24/7, any day of the year? Conversational AI (or AI chatbots) can be fully trained for a wide variety of conversation topics and serve as a support mechanism to your visitors and audience. Above and beyond that, a chatbot can also become a powerful additional communication and engagement channel.

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Conquer Your Next Giving DayKatherine Halvorson—Associate Director of the Concordia Annual Fund, Concordia College

Emily Sell—Associate Director of the Concordia Annual Fund, Concordia College

Rachel Clarke—Director of the Concordia Annual Fund and Advancement Services, Concordia College

Is a giving day part of your Annual Fund strategy? This interactive session will explore ideas, tips, and best practices for planning and executing a successful giving day. Learn about our omnichannel approach to engaging alumni and friends through targeted advertising, peer-to-peer connections, social media ambassadors, and other innovative and compelling ways to create a sense of urgency and inspire donors to give. Come ready to share your ideas, challenges, and success stories as we harness our collective wisdom to conquer this year’s giving blitz.

Crowdfunding SuccessMaryGrace Baldo—Product Manager, RNL

David Jakielo—Assistant Director, Annual Giving, Duquesne University

In 2019, crowdfunding has proven to be a mainstay when it comes to overall fundraising strategy. Go beyond traditional crowdfunding projects and learn how to leverage digital giving as a powerful tool to support campuswide initiatives and other important development and annual giving priorities.

Digital Philanthropy—It’s Not Just One DayKellie Sullivan—Assistant Director of Special Programs, TEXAS Development, The University of Texas at Austin

How can you use giving day and crowdfunding to run a year long program? You can’t just count on one day of digital philanthropy to get you to your goals. Digital is the way of the future and needs to be incorporated into your entire year long solicitation strategy. Learn how The University of Texas at Austin is planning crowdfunding and giving day in the future to grow digital as a channel, not just one day or set of projects. Learn how the university goal sets for digital and continues to grow in both dollars and unique donors each year.

Direct Facts About Direct MailPaul Barry—Annual Giving Direct Mail Strategist, Cape Cod Mail Group

Emerging technologies, staff limitations, and dwindling budgets require us to think differently about our mail programs, yet many institutions continue to make choices based on what their programs have traditionally done. Sound familiar? If so, please join us as we review the requirements for direct marketing success, discuss messaging and packaging techniques, and share case histories of appeals designed to strengthen the donor pipeline. Our goal is to provide you with several ideas you can easily introduce to improve your results.

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Direct Mail Strategy: Looking at Annual Giving from Your Donor’s PerspectivePaul Barry—Annual Giving Direct Mail Strategist, Cape Cod Mail Group

Direct mail continues to generate significant revenue for many institutions, yet many aren’t focusing on it, as they once did. The reason? They’re convinced that, in an increasingly mobile society, “No one reads mail anymore.” In this session, we take exception to the belief—“direct mail is dead”—by challenging you to see your program from your donor’s perspective. We’ll suggest strategic shifts in the way you engage current and prospective donors to ensure your mail program remains a viable (and cost-effective) source of annual giving revenue in FY20 and beyond.

Fundraising MisconceptionsShad Hanselman—Associate Vice President, Annual Giving Product Management, RNL

Have you ever had an “I feel…” or “I think we once tried…” followed by anecdotal fundraising advice someone was sure you needed to apply to your program? If so, then this is the session for you! Fundraising is full of one-off observations and gut feelings that ballooned from past hunches to present day folklore, and these myths are hurting more programs than they are helping. Join veteran fundraiser, Shad Hanselman, as he explores the FAQs and fiction of fundraising in this “no stone untouched” session with plenty of opportunities for you to ask questions and share your own fundraising misconceptions.

Getting to Know Your ProspectsShad Hanselman—Associate Vice President, Annual Giving Product Management, RNL

Chris Bingley—Senior Vice President, RNL

Generation Z is poised to flood your alumni population sooner than you think. At the same time, many fundraisers are still trying to figure out what to do with their millennials, not to mention declines in giving from Gen X and Boomers. As your donor populations grow and diversify, you need scalable solutions to engage your prospects on a more personal level. Join fundraising experts Chris Bingley and Shad Hanselman as they walk through the shift to an engagement-first mindset and provide practical solutions you can begin implementing in your program today.

Hack the Mind: Using Psychology to Boost FundraisingAndrew Buck—Content Strategist, Mighty Citizen

The mind is a trickster. It leads us wherever it pleases while we remain mostly unaware of its true motivations. But thanks to advances in psychology, fundraisers can better make the brain’s habits work for them.

In this entertaining, interactive, example-filled workshop, we’ll explore our minds’ most surprising tendencies, biases, and shortcuts. Then we’ll dive into how to employ the brain’s habits to boost our donor base and fundraising numbers.

You’ll leave with a new understanding of the subtle, predictable, and (often) irrational ways donors think. And you’ll have concrete ways to apply these great “brain hacks” to your organization.

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How to Create Donor Surveys that Improve Your FundraisingRachel Clemens—CMO, Mighty Citizen

If you don’t regularly survey your target audiences, your fundraising efforts are merely educated guesses. And if your surveys aren’t carefully crafted, you’ll end up receiving misleading data.

But done well, surveys can empower you with real, actionable, and surprising insights into what your current and prospective donors do, think, and need. Smart surveys can turn your fundraising strategy into a fine-tuned, sophisticated engine of revenue.

In this session, we’ll examine all of the components of a great donor survey project including how to build it, deploy it, and analyze the results. Perhaps more importantly, we’ll identify and help you sidestep the countless pitfalls that plague so many surveys.

Incorporating Text in Your Fundraising ProgramGina Fiorillo—Senior Director, Annual Giving, Rutgers

Gaining the attention of donors in today’s world of constant communication can be overwhelming. And the promise of “text to give” programs didn’t always meet the needs of higher education advancement shops. With emails having only a 19 percent open rate, how can you make your message be heard? How can you leverage personal communication on a mass marketing scale? Texting can help bridge the gap of modern technology and traditional relationship building while increasing your donor base. With this session, you’ll learn how programs are incorporating text messages into their overall fundraising campaigns to inform donors of programs, to invite constituents to events, and to ask their community to make a gift.

Making the Student Phoning Program the Best Job on CampusClare McLeod—Student Manager, Cornell University

Iliana Paleva—Student Caller, Cornell University

In this session, current students from Cornell University’s Annual Fund and student phoning program will discuss their perspectives on how to make student phoning an enjoyable and productive effort—for student callers, full-time program managers, and perhaps most importantly—the wider development ecosystem and university or college itself. By investing in the students involved in the operation from day one, you can ensure your program becomes one that students are excited about even outside of shift. Specifically, we will cover the best methods when it comes to training, retaining, and developing student callers.

Multichannel Fundraising InnovationGillian Locke—Associate VP, Institutional Advancement; ED, Leadership Gifts, Austin College

Advancement shops of all sizes face the same challenge: breaking through the noise of overflowing inboxes and mile-long social media feeds to deepen connections with alumni, parents, and friends. As a result, a multichannel approach to outreach is increasingly critical for annual giving programs. Join Gillian Locke for a conversation about ways Austin College has partnered with RNL to expand the channels through which the college executes its annual giving strategy.

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New Innovation with Traditional ChannelsMeg Weber—Executive Director, Annual Giving, Colorado State University

The fundamentals in annual giving don’t change too much over time. We will always need to focus on retention, reacquisition, and acquisition of new donors. However, the methods we use to deliver our messages are in constant flux. Using the traditional channels in the same way now as we did 10 years ago, five years ago, one year ago, or even last month won’t work. A successful annual giving professional will adapt and change their strategies and tactics to reflect the way our constituents are currently interacting with each channel. In this session, learn some new ways to make those old channels feel modern and engaging to your current and future donors.

RNL Digital Giving: Platform Demo and Roadmap Mary Grace Baldo—Associate Vice President, Annual Giving, RNL

Stephanie Soscia—Senior Vice President, Account Management, RNL

Learn how the right tools make it easy to plan, launch, and run successful giving days and crowdfunding projects with compelling online fundraising options. You’ll get a guided tour of our best-in-class platform and answer your questions live.

Get an in-depth look at:

• How to get the most from giving pages with flexibility and dynamic updates.

• The importance of customized branding to your donor experience—from planning to stewardship.

• How the RNL ScaleFunder platform offers real-time fundraising and social media analytics.

• Integration with your existing payment processor to streamline the checkout process.

• Fundraising events—including matches, challenges, leaderboards, etc.

• Plus, we’ll share our plans for the next generation of digital giving features that meet your donors’ changing expectations.

RNL Fundraising Consulting and ResearchSarah Kleeberger—Senior Vice President, Fundraising Practices, RNL

Brian Gawor—Vice President, Research, RNL

Miranda Hickman—Senior Data Scientist, Fundraising Consulting, RNL

Join RNL’s fundraising consulting team to hear about our new data-driven programs to transform your fundraising and engagement efforts. Our strategy-driven program assessments provide insights into how you can immediately grow donor engagement. RNL360 Report gets to core donor behavior statistics, and models out both short-term and long-term donor value. Actionable market research surveys help you determine where specific prospects want to give, so you can direct the best messages to them. Wrap it all up into RNL CX, the new donor profile-driven program to help you surprise and delight your supporters! Join RNL’s experts, and bring your tough questions to this high-energy session that will leave you thinking differently about consulting as an investment.

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Storytelling for Impact: Helping Donors Understand the Value of Their DollarAndrew Buck—Content Strategist, Mighty Citizen

If you want your donors to give more than once, you have to turn them into investors and not merely supporters of your mission.

Donors want to feel the impact of their gift. They want to see the concrete outcomes of their dollars. And they crave evidence that your institution is using their gift to make the world a better, fairer, safer, and happier place.

Storytelling compels your donors to stay engaged and to donate again. In this lively, example-filled session, we’ll examine how best to find, tell, and share your organization’s stories. Showcase your impact in both humble and grand ways, with a special focus on online communication.

Structuring a Data-Driven, Donor-Focused Major Gift ProgramRichard Perry—Founding Partner, Veritus Group

Jeff Schreifels—Senior Partner, Veritus Group

Too many institutions are struggling with their major gift program. And many nonprofit institutions think their major gift program is performing well. But when you actually examine the data, they’re losing 40 to 60 percent of their revenue due to donor value attrition every year—even though their bottom-line numbers say they are growing!

Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels, of Veritus Group, one of the country’s most successful major gift fundraising agencies, will identify the hidden problem of most major gift programs. They’ll outline for you a winning, donor-centered, major gift structure every nonprofit institution needs to be successful.

The Data Driven Program: From Analytics to Actionable StrategySarah Kleeberger—Senior Vice President, RNL

Dayna Carpenter—Vice President, Consulting, RNL

Over the past two decades, the fundraising landscape has experienced transformational change. New channels have emerged, donor expectations have increased, and competitive pressures from other nonprofit organizations have grown. How can you keep pace and succeed given these shifts, budget constraints, and goal-pressure? Join Sarah Kleeberger, RNL senior vice president and consultant, as she dives into how programs are turning the tide of donor decline by leveraging the data they have to build the annual giving program they need.

The Fundraising Throwdown!Brian Gawor—Vice President, Research, RNL

Shad Hanselman—Associate Vice President, Annual Giving Product Management, RNL

Get ready for our first ever LIVE “fundraising kitchen” competition! Teams of experienced fundraisers will cook up creations based on a secret fundraising ingredient revealed live on stage and then face audience elimination. The remaining teams will expand into a broader campaign to engage donors. While they are “cooking,” the audience will get live updates and be treated to mini-presentations and roundtables on special topics surrounding new fundraising tactics. You vote LIVE to see who reigns supreme in this interactive competition!

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Three Keys to Successful Annual Giving ProgramsJoanne Meredith—Director of Annual Giving, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

Meredith Labs—Director, Operations Fundraising Management, RNL

David Padilla—President, CorePro Data Direct

Your president wants more revenue, the vice president wants higher participation, and you want a successful program with industry-standard retention rates, acquisition, and overall growth. “Three Keys to a Successful Annual Giving Program” will provide you with information and tools you can implement to get the results you want.

Transforming Your Millennial Giving EngagementBrian Gawor—Vice President, Research, RNL

Three quarters of Millennials tell us they plan to give to their alma mater, but that same 75 percent also tell us they will give to other charities first. What’s different about Millennial cause engagement, giving preference, and charitable engagement? RNL worked with the Schuler Foundation, a transformative student scholarship program, to answer these questions at five of the top 10 U.S. colleges. We dove deep into the data and surveyed over 5,000 alumni. The goal was to develop actionable Millennial donor personas and drive strategy to increase young alumni giving. Join us to hear about the research and what worked to get more young alumni engaged and giving.

Turning Beer Money Into Scholarships: Leveraging Campus RelationshipsJamie Hurst—AVP Strategic Engagement, Metropolitan State University of Denver

Tired of the same old direct-marketing approach to annual giving? Come learn how MSU Denver leveraged its campus relationship with Tivoli Brewing Co. to endow a scholarship and change the face of campus engagement and annual fundraising for the university.

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE - Ruffalo Noel Levitz · 2019-12-18 · 2 2019 RNL NATIONAL CONFERENCE |...

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Transcript of SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE - Ruffalo Noel Levitz · 2019-12-18 · 2 2019 RNL NATIONAL CONFERENCE |...