By Dr. Harry Bloom, Senior Vice President, Client Solutions, Measuring Success
Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting two sessions at the Association of Independent School Admissions Professionals (AISAP) conference in Nashville. The event brought together admissions and enrollment management professionals from a diverse array of schools — large and small, all geographic areas of the United States and Canada, religious and non-religiously affiliated, and boarding and day schools.
Despite the diversity, they all shared one thing in common: A hunger for information systems, research, and data to enable them to compete more effectively in an increasingly challenging environment.
Both sessions I presented were centered around using data-driven solutions to solve the most pressing enrollment problems at independent schools. In the second session with my co-presenter, Geordie Mitchell, Director of Enrollment Management & Director of Strategic Initiatives at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols, we had an interesting group discussion about the ways in which admissions professionals are seeking to better align their work with the marketing communications professionals at their schools.
Not infrequently, an in-house communications shop will report to the head of school or advancement director — and not be fully aligned with admission needs. But, with the new transparency around school-specific prospect lists that Measuring Success’ new lookalike demographic analysis can produce, there was wide consensus that aligning the work of admissions and marketing can now be a reality.
To learn more or begin a no-cost consultation, contact Dr. Harry Bloom.
Dr. Harry Bloom is Senior Vice President, Client Solutions at Measuring Success. Dr. Bloom has conducted and published independent school and nonprofit governance research that has identified practices that predict financial and educational success. Dr. Bloom has been a featured presenter at conferences for the National Business Officers Association, the Independent School Association of the Central States, the New York State Association of Independent Schools, and the California Business Officers Association. Bloom has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and a Doctorate of Education from Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Education and Administration.