Cathy Brigham, Ph.D., Director of Academic Programs and Dean of the Faculty,CAEL

 

Cathy Brigham, Ph.D., is the director of Academic Programs and Dean of the Faculty at CAEL, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. She has over 15 years of experience in the field of educational and non-profit administration. Cathy served as the Dean of the College of Adult Education at Concordia University Texas where she overhauled the college’s curriculum, policies, procedures, and customer service levels to better meet the needs of adult learners. In her current work, she oversees the academic offerings and faculty roster for LearningCounts.org, CAEL’s new online Prior Learning Assessment center. She also works directly with colleges and universities to help them improve their academic programs and co-curricular services for adult learners. She has her Ph.D. in Folklore and Ethnomusicology from Indiana University (Bloomington).

 

 

Kimberly Campbell, Marketing Strategist, MidAmerica Nazarene University

 

As a Marketing Strategist at MidAmerica Nazarene University, Kim Campbell is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the university’s marketing office and staff. With a primary interest in understanding and engaging various student audiences, she collaborates with MNU’s Graduate & Adult Admissions team on a daily basis. In addition to assisting with the implementation of targeted marketing communication plans to support recruitment efforts, Ms. Campbell also oversees the university web presence, print materials and publications, photography and videography.

Ms. Campbell received a B.A. in business communication & marketing from MidAmerica Nazarene University, and is completing a M.S. in marketing communications at the University of Kansas.

 

 

Todd Gibby, Managing Director of Higher Education, Hobsons

 

Todd Gibby brings a rare combination of business experience and higher education technology expertise to Intelliworks. Under Todd’s leadership, Intelliworks has emerged as a player to watch in the relationship management for higher education space. Todd has established Intelliworks as an industry thought leader, to ensuring clients’ success with our solutions, and to building a world-class team of cohesive professionals.

Prior to Intelliworks, Todd served as executive vice president of operations for another higher education technology company, Blackboard. In seven years at Blackboard, Todd held several key executive roles across the company's operations and sales departments and helped grow the company from $2 million in revenue to over $180 million.

Before helping Blackboard become a leader in e-Education, he also worked on business development efforts at Campus Pipeline (now part of SunGard Higher Education). Todd also has held strategic planning and finance positions at Dole Food Company, Lehman Brothers, and Viking Graham, a boutique private equity firm.

A frequent presenter at higher education conferences, Todd has also spoken at UCEA West 2008, UCEA New England 2008, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning 2008 and US Distance Learning Association 2009.

 

 

Dr. Brenda Harms, Associate Vice President for Client Services, Stamats

 

Dr. Brenda Harms is an experienced higher education administrator with a diverse marketing and admissions background. Her primary interest is the recruitment and retention of adult students, and she leads Stamats' adult student marketing initiative. Dr. Harms is active in the higher education community, serving as the secretary/treasurer of the National Association of Branch Campus Administrators executive committee. Dr. Harms received a B.S. in allied health and an M.A. in educational psychology and counseling from the University of South Dakota. She received her Ph. D. in human services with her dissertation focused specifically on adult student retention.

 

Read the latest review of Dr. Brenda Harms' new book, Up to Speed: Marketing to Today's Adult Student.

 

 

Katie Miller-Smith, Director of Catchfire Media

 

As the former director of New Media for Colorfx and Rock Communications, Katie brings over five years of experience in social media and marketing communications to the team. Her previous work experience includes marketing, e-commerce, and content management in both B2B and B2C environments.

Most recently, Katie worked at First National Investment Banking where she managed all marketing, communications, and web-based initiatives for the firm. Katie graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a B.A. in English.

 

 

Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Mark Milliron, Chancellor, Western Governors University Texas

 

Dr. Mark David Milliron was recently named Chancellor of Western Governors University Texas, the nonprofit online university founded by the state of Texas. Prior to taking this position, he served as the Deputy Director for Postsecondary Improvement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, leading efforts to increase student success in the US postsecondary education sector. He is an award-winning leader, author, speaker, and consultant well known for exploring leadership development, future trends, learning strategies, and the human side of technology change. Mark works with universities, community colleges, K-12 schools, corporations, associations, and government agencies across the country and around the world. In addition, he serves on numerous other corporate, nonprofit, and education boards and advisory groups; guest lectures for educational institutions nationally and internationally; and authors and moderates the Catalytic Conversations Blog. To read more on Dr. Mark Milliron, click here.

 

 

Dan Noonan, Vice President for Enrollment, Goodwin College

 

Dan Noonan serves as the Vice President for Enrollment at Goodwin College in East Hartford, CT. Having worked for Goodwin for the past 15 years, Dan has seen the college grow from a small for-profit, non-collegiate business school to a nonprofit baccalaureate degree granting institution. Today, Goodwin is Connecticut’s fastest-growing college and home to the largest nursing school in the state. His professional passions are in the areas of business strategy, competitive differentiation and market segmentation.

 

 

Karl Siebrecht, President and CEO, AdReady

 

Karl is a veteran of the digital marketing technology industry, and joined AdReady as its President and CEO in 2009. Prior to AdReady, he was the president of Atlas at aQuantive, and helped facilitate its $6B acquisition by Microsoft – the largest purchase in Microsoft’s history. After, Karl served as general manager in charge of ad platform product management, search and display marketing, and mobile and gaming advertising at Microsoft. Before his time at aQuantive, Karl was a manager at the strategic consulting firm Bain & Company. Karl earned his BA in Economics from Duke University followed by a MBA with honors from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College. He also spent four years in the United States Navy as a Diving Officer. Currently, Karl serves on the Board of Directors of KING FM and EnergySavvy.com in Seattle.

 

 

Bob Sevier, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Strategy, Stamats

 

Bob offers more than 25 years of leadership experience in strategic thinking and planning, integrated and brand marketing, market research, and student recruiting.

Each year, Bob directs more than 100 research studies and helps more than a dozen colleges with their integrated marketing, brand marketing, and strategic plans. He has also written more than 125 articles for CASE Currents, The Journal of College Admissions, Trusteeship, Communication World, Admission Strategist, College and University Journal, and other publications. Beyond his writing, he has conducted more than 500 seminars, workshops, and presentations for the AAU, CASE, NAICU, NACAC, ACT, AACRAO, CIC, CCCU, NACCAP, AMA, NCMPR, College Board, and others. In addition to his U.S. clients, Sevier also works with clients in Canada, the UK, Mexico, Poland, and Trinidad. His writing has been reproduced extensively in ERIC, and he writes a regular column on marketing for University Business magazine.

 

 

Monday, February 27, 2012

1:00pm	Pre-Conference Registration
2:00-4:30pm	Pre-Conference #1($149) Google Analytics 101 Katie Miller-Smith, Director, Catchfire Media To improve the ROI on your digital presence, it’s crucial that your institution is measuring traffic and visitor behavior, and turning this data into actionable improvements. This pre-conference session will teach you what analytics are, how they're important, and how to interpret analytics data from your site. We'll focus on web analytics strategy, approach, opportunities and limitations, a walk-through of how Google Analytics works with institutional sites and other data, a demo of the user interface and potential applications, and an overview of advanced features. Participants in this session will be able to set up and leverage Google Analytics for their institutional websites and various other sets of data, and will understand the power of analytics and results-based decision making as they move forward in evolving their digital presences.	Pre-Conference #2($149) Developing an Effective Adult Student Marketing Plan Dr. Robert A. Sevier, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Stamats This session begins by outlining a basic integrated marketing communication (IMC) model that includes brand marketing, direct marketing, and internal communication. We will examine the pitfalls and possibilities of IMC and explore how integrated marketing communication differs from simple promotion. We will review the basic steps for writing and managing an integrated marketing communication plan. Information on conducting a situation analysis, setting goals, developing a marketing strategy, evaluating marketing effectiveness, and options for increasing faculty support of marketing will be presented. We will conclude with a review of different short- and long-term budgeting models.

 

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

7:30am	Conference Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:15am	Welcome, Introductions, and Conference Overview Dr. Brenda K. Harms, Associate Vice President for Client Services, Stamats
8:30am	Stamats’ 2012 Adult StudentsTALK™ Research Dr. Brenda K. Harms, Associate Vice President for Client Services, Stamats Hot off the presses! For the fourth consecutive year, Stamats has conducted research with your primary audience—the prospective adult and graduate student. Unveiled at this conference for the first time, the results of the 2012 Adult StudentsTALK ™ research will help colleges and universities prioritize their services, course delivery modes, course acceleration, and marketing messages based on what is most important to the prospective adult student. With the ongoing push at most institutions serving adult students to increase enrollment, this research will provide a framework of what influences the decision making of this student audience.
10:30am	Break
11:00am	Making Your Digital Marketing Pay Off Karl Siebrecht, President and CEO, AdReady Consumers today spend 30% of their media consumption time on the Internet, more than print and radio combined. Yet less than 15% of total advertising spend is allocated to Internet media, and this ratio is even lower for smaller to mid-sized organizations because of the complexity and difficulty of doing digital marketing well. For higher-ed organizations with limited marketing budgets and staff, and increasingly diverse target audiences, making digital marketing pay off can be a significant challenge. In this session, you will learn about important market dynamics and key best practices for effectively reaching and converting your adult student prospects.
12:15pm	Lunch on your own
1:30-2:30pm	Attracting Adult Learners through Expanded Prior Learning Assessment Cathy Brigham, Ph.D., Director of Academic Programs and Dean of the Faculty, LearningCounts.org Institutions know they need to offer employable degrees through alternative formats in order to address the needs of adult learners. But how can you distinguish yourself from other institutions offering similar benefits? And, how can you ensure that the students who are most likely to retain and complete will choose your campus? One proven way is by offering flexible options for accelerating degree completion; data shows that students who complete PLA credits are 2½ times more likely to graduate. See how CAEL’s new online PLA service, LearningCounts.org, can help you attract, retain, and graduate the best adult learners.	Creating a One-Stop Shop—Using Support Services as a Competitive Differentiator Dan Noonan, Vice President for Enrollment, Goodwin College In today’s fast-paced electronic world, how are you differentiating your institution from your competitors? Do potential adult students see your institution as one that will help them manage the enrollment, registration, and financial aid processes, or must they complete them online? Will you help them cope with the stress of attending college while tending to their family responsibilities? This session will explore how one private college’s innovative approach to student services helps enroll and retain adult students. You will leave with proven concepts to take back to your campus.
2:45-3:45pm	Only the Beginning: Thinking Beyond the Enrollment Funnel Todd Gibby, Managing Director of Higher Education, Hobsons Building Long-Term Relationships with Adult Students through Strategic Communications Student relationship management is a lifelong proposition. As institutions work to refine their recruitment and marketing practices to better attract adult students, colleges and universities must not forget that these relationships do not end once prospects enroll in their programs. In order to deliver long-term value to both students and their institutions, higher education administrators must look to sustain their relationship management efforts to deliver optimal service before, during, and after enrollment. This session will focus on delivering best practices for building and maintaining relationships with adult students in order to facilitate recruitment and retention efforts. Learn how institutions ranging from University of Houston Continuing Education to SUNY Oswego Graduate Admissions are refining their customer service efforts to connect with adult students and not only to drive awareness and enrollment for their programs but to establish long-term connections with students and prospects.
3:45pm	Snack and Refreshment Break
4:00pm	Their Voices: Adult Student Panel Moderated by Dr. Brenda K. Harms, Associate Vice President for Client Services, Stamats One of the most valuable things we can do to expand our own knowledge of what it is like to contemplate a return to college in these challenging times is to talk to adult students. As part of the 2012 conference, Stamats has engaged a group of current adult students to attend our event and answer the questions you have always wanted to ask. How did they go about “shopping” for an institution, what motivated them to enroll at this point in their lives, what were the biggest barriers they had to overcome to attend, and what are they most concerned about as they move through their programs and get closer to graduation? These questions, as well as those from the audience, will be the topic of conversation as we sit down and prepare to learn from those our institutions are educating.
5:15pm	Day 1 Wrap-Up
6:00-7:00pm	Networking Reception

 

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

7:30am	Continental Breakfast
8:15am	Keynote Session: Reaching, Teaching, and Helping Adult Learners to Get across the Stage Keynote Speaker: Dr. Mark Milliron, Chancellor, Western Governors University Texas Dr. Mark Milliron has his focus on adult learners. But it is more than just getting them engaged with higher education; it is about seeing them walk across the stage. In this session participants will be challenged to think differently about key strategies to ensure that what they are offering to adult learners is truly meeting their needs and helping them to strive toward the ultimate goal—completion! Planning on helping your institution to innovate for the future? This session will allow you to walk away with a “short list” of the key areas on which to focus, and the tough questions to ask.
9:30am	Break
9:45am	Small Steps, Big Wins: Embracing an Integrated Marketing Approach Kimberly Campbell, Marketing Strategist, MidAmerica Nazarene University Take a look at one university’s journey of learning how marketing contributes to adult student recruitment. One year ago, MidAmerica Nazarene University had minimal marketing activities in place to engage their adult student audience. Learn how MNU took their adult student marketing efforts from good to better, and hear how it is already contributing to enrollment growth.
10:45am	Break
11:00am	Social Media for Adult Student Recruiting Katie Miller-Smith, Director, Catchfire Media Twitter and Facebook etiquette are not fantastical concepts—you must be prepared to appropriately and effectively manage and measure the impact of your institution’s public image on the world’s most-visited websites. This session will dive into the most popular social platforms, statistics on use and demographics, how to determine a strategic approach for leveraging various platforms, and showcase some of the best case studies of social media in use in higher education. Attendees will leave this session with the understanding of how to approach social media strategically, how it can support marketing initiatives, and will have a strong grasp of the benefits and best uses of each platform.
12:00-12:30pm	Session #9: Doing It Well: Your Efforts After the Conference Dr. Brenda K. Harms, Associate Vice President for Client Services, Stamats With all the outstanding ideas that have developed out of the Adult Student Marketing Conference, sometimes it is difficult to prioritize actionable items to execute upon returning to your campus. While gaining knowledge is what the conference is all about, the key to successful conference participation is in the changes you will implement based on what you have learned. This wrap-up session will highlight key tactics that have developed out of the sessions and provide a clear framework for keeping the momentum of the conference going long after the event concludes.
2:30-5:30pm	Adult Student Recruitment Workshop ($250) (Includes evaluation of marketing materials & communication flow)

 

Omni Austin Hotel Downtown
700 San Jacinto at 8th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 476-3700

The room block is FULL at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown. We are sorry for any incovenience this may cause. We have listed below some alternate choices.

Sheraton 701 E. 11th St. #512-478-1111
InterContinental 701 Congress #512-457-8800
The Driscoll 604 Branzos St. #800-741-5072
Hilton 500 E. 4th St. #512-482-8000

Sophisticated Luxury in Downtown Austin

The Omni Austin Hotel Downtown is a magnificently appointed luxury hotel that surrounds you with comfort and style. Enjoy our well-appointed accommodations with spectacular views.
With the heart of the thriving downtown business center at your doorstep, you'll be just steps away from the Austin Convention Center and the Texas State Capitol. The 6th Street Entertainment District is within walking distance from the hotel. Just 11 miles from Austin Bergstrom International Airport.

Hotel Highlights

• Heart of downtown location
• Available massage services
• Heated rooftop swimming pool
• Check-in: 3 p.m. Check-out: Noon

Don't forget to become an Omni Select Guest! With this you will receive complimentary perks the second you check in. To find out more, click here.

 

Have questions about the conference? Check out our Event FAQ page or call us at 800.553.8878.

Stamats Adult Student Integrated Marketing Post Conference Workshop

Cost: $250

In this highly interactive workshop, participants will develop their own roadmap for success in recruiting adult students. Through a series of individual exercises, as well as small- and large-group work, participants will be able to:

• construct their own informal script
• plan a typical adult-student recruitment communications flow
• establish their primary goals when engaging with a prospective student on the phone, via email, or in person

If you are interested in evaluating your institution’s recruiting process, breathing new ideas into seasoned and invested recruitment staff, or starting off right with new recruiters, I encourage you to attend this hands-on workshop. The afternoon will be filled with new ideas to assist you and your team to successfully recruit more adult students by working smarter, not harder.