Purpose Built: Building Today’s Highly Effective Marketing Department

Aired September 26, 2017

Presented by Rob Westervelt, Vice President for Innovation & Empowerment, Chief Innovation Officer, George Fox University
Joseph Brennan, Vice President for Communications & Marketing, Clinical Professor of Business, University at Albany – State University of New York
Bob Sevier, Senior Vice President of Strategy, Stamats

This webinar will help college and university senior teams shape their broad marketing strategy and build a highly effective marketing department.

We will look at why political support for marketing is so essential and examine the importance of having a clear vision for what marketing is and how it works in higher education. We will then look at how to identify critical capabilities and explore staffing, budgets, and marketing return on investment (mROI). Finally, we will examine critical workflow and trends in organizational design.

We will conclude with a brief discussion of marketing best practices.

Watch this Webinar On Demand

 


 

About the Presenters

Rob Westervelt, Vice President for Innovation & Empowerment, Chief Innovation Officer, George Fox University

Rob Westervelt has 19 years of higher ed marketing experience. For the last five years, he served as executive vice president for enrollment and marketing and chief brand officer at George Fox University. During this time, the university achieved five consecutive record-breaking freshmen enrollments, all during down markets. As chief brand officer, Rob centralized all marketing and branding dollars at the university in 2008 and led the development of the university’s Be Known brand promise in 2010. Beginning last May, Rob took on the role of chief innovation officer and vice president for innovation and empowerment at George Fox. This newly created role aligns HR, IT, Data Analytics, Strategic Planning and Innovation at the university.


 

Joseph Brennan, Ph.D., Vice President for Communications and Marketing and Clinical Professor of Business, University at Albany – State University of New York

Joseph A. Brennan, APR, Ph.D. has more than 25 years of experience as a chief communications officer, serving higher education institutions in New York, Iowa, Ohio, California and Louisiana. His portfolio includes executive leadership of PR and marketing, communication research and planning, media relations, advocacy and public affairs, marketing and brand strategy, employee communications, digital and social media, issues management and crisis communications.

He is currently VP Communications and Marketing at the University at Albany – SUNY, where he has reinvigorated the institutional brand, dramatically increased earned media coverage, and created an innovative internal communications program. He also holds a faculty appointment in UAlbany’s highly-regarded School of Business, where he conducts research and teaches advanced courses to MBA students.

Widely-respected in higher education public relations, Brennan is past chair of PRSA Counselors to Higher Education, a national network of some 675 practitioners. His work has been recognized with more than 25 professional awards from PRSA, IABC, CASE and more. Brennan has published many professional and peer-reviewed articles and case studies and is a sought-after presenter at national conferences.


 

Robert A. Sevier, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Strategy, Stamats

With more than 35 years of leadership experience in strategic thinking and planning, integrated and brand marketing, market research, and student recruiting, Bob’s innovative work has been featured at hundreds of professional conferences as well as in higher education’s major marketing publications, including Currents, Trusteeship (AGB), The Presidency (ACE), University Business, and College & University. He holds a PhD in policy analysis and higher education administration from The Ohio State University, and he has authored nine books and more than 200 articles on strategy development, strategic planning, integrated marketing, brand marketing, and leadership.

In addition to his work at Stamats, Bob serves as the executive director of the Center for Strategic Change at George Fox University.

Bob joined Stamats in 1988 after teaching and working as an administrator at The Ohio State University, Denison University, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, and Oregon Health Sciences University.