tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33967822698575155782024-03-05T08:20:22.201-05:00Independent School Admissions MusingsA space for colleagues and friends in independent school admissions to share, think, learn, discuss.Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-8500265301216629092013-08-13T19:35:00.000-04:002013-08-13T19:48:22.793-04:00West Wing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
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As I have the opportunity to chat, commiserate, compare
notes, and engage fellow admissions directors and deans this summer, there has been a
growing theme in those communications. It’s the desire to do “more”. I don’t mean additional work! But to take our current work to the next
level. Some, because it’s a necessity:
their enrollment isn’t quite where they’d like and they need to be changing
things up. But more often, it’s because
a colleague is looking to stretch personally and professionally, trying to find
a way to grow without having to leave education or at least our profession.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But change is inherently risky; the unknown and all of
that. The greatest struggle my friends
seem to have is a willingness—if not ability—to let some things go and let
others on their staff take them over in order to free them up for the “more”
they crave. It means letting others put
their own stamp on something you’ve owned and built. It means allowing for a different path to the
same successful outcome, although maybe not the exact path you might have chosen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this challenge are some complementary opportunities, if
not obligations. The first is to allow
yourself to think on a higher, more strategic level. Find a blog or buy a book about the power of
word-of-mouth or social media marketing in schools and allow yourself to sit in
your office and read and think. It’s
okay. It’s still working on behalf of
your school if you’re not at your keyboard or on your phone. Additionally, allow your staff to take some
ownership of the operation and success of the office. They, too, need “more” and desire to be
nurtured and mentored, challenged and encouraged. By you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In doing this, you need to create a “safe space” for you and
your staff to work differently, to create a new paradigm. As they venture into new territory and take
some work off your desk for you, they need to know you have their back. Once clear goals, outcomes and expectations
are set, they need to try things their own way and they need to be okay not
nailing it right each and every time.
Likewise, you need to allow yourself to stumble as you redefine your
role and how you prioritize your time.
There’s a relevant, wonderful scene from “The West Wing” that has stayed
with me all these years. I commend it to
you as an application for both yourself and for your staff. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(You had to be living under a rock at the start of the 21<sup>st</sup>
century if you never saw “The West Wing”.
It was on for seven seasons and won a record 26 Emmy awards. I mean, really!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leo McGarry, the Chief of Staff, is trying to convince
President Bartlett to allocate funds for a missile defense system. Needless to say, it’s an expensive missile
defense system and it needs some investment to perfect it. The hesitant president, fearful of a bad
investment and not inclined towards defense spending, interrogates McGarry
asking why he should spend so much money on something that is not guaranteed to
ever work as promised. Why? Why?! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Because</i>, McGarry passionately notes, <i>there’s been a time in the evolution of
everything that works, when it didn’t work.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indeed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br /></div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-89226808345292223962013-08-01T21:12:00.001-04:002022-10-30T16:41:07.311-04:00Human Interaction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Living in Canada for almost four years,
it’s been a while since I stepped foot in a CVS. I did so for the first time recently while back
in the USA on holiday. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">My process was downright efficient: Enter
store. Select items. Pay the machine. Self-serve bag. Leave.
I managed the entire transaction without a single human interaction. Not only that, I managed my entire visit to
the store without a single human interaction.
I suppose that is the point of such newfangled self-serve registers: no
human interaction means no need for humans.
And like schools and most everywhere else, the cost of labor is the
largest expense in almost all organizations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This is not new. Think ATMs.
I had my first ATM card in high school.
Who needed those pesky tellers and their passport savings books? (Let’s not put a year on that, shall
we?!) This is from where we got EZPass
in 1991. If you could drive through the
lanes and pay your own toll, who needed expensive toll takers? Think printing your own online boarding pass
for the airlines and the success of Amazon.com: the world’s largest bookstore
without one…yup…store.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">So, what is the loss? First, possibly money. Have you ever shopped at a Wegman’s grocery
store? What are the first two things
every cashier is trained to ask you: “How are you?” and “Did you find
everything today?” Those seemingly lazy
employees just milling around the registers are actually there to leap into
action and go fetch exactly what you couldn't find before it’s time to pay the
cashier, thereby providing marginal additional income to the store. But multiply that marginal income by the
number of customers each day times the number of stores. Ka-ching!
I can tell you at CVS that nobody cared if I found everything and if I
hadn't, nobody was seemingly available to help me do so, thereby facilitating
me spending more money.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I praise the efficiency, the cost savings,
and the spirit of independence it gives the consumer. But, I am cautious about letting them run
around—or worst, running out—on their own.
So, how does this look in schools?
Online report card viewing, web-based applications for admission, internet
textbook shopping, and third vendor credit card payments for tuition are just a
few examples. When they work, they
work. But when they don’t, you better have
an easily found FAQ, email link for assistance, or a phone number to call.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Let’s not make it hard for our families
paying a lot of money to be served. And
let’s not make it a hurdle for them to possibly spend more. After all, is it us or them who are craving
the absence of human interaction?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“How are you? Did you find everything today?”</span></div>
</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-27343571522705329282013-05-29T08:16:00.001-04:002013-05-29T08:16:27.249-04:00Board Reports<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Spring sports, AP exams, flowering trees, and the final
Board of Trustees meeting: the close of the school year is rapidly
approaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you report; what do
you share?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are many factors,
including the leadership and goals of your head, the culture of your board, and
the health of your enrollment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is
no simple formula but there are several things to consider.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s start with Stephen Covey’s famous quote from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People</i>,
“Begin with the end in mind.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
training tour guides, we talk about the goal for the tour before it even
starts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do we want the family to
walk away with?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the key messages
we want a family to receive?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then plan
the tour accordingly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You should be
thinking similarly about your board report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This might even be a good question for your head as you prepare, “When I
walk out of the Board meeting, what do want me to have accomplished, what
message should I have delivered?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me, my “end in mind” for any board meeting can be summed
up in one word: confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I leave
the room, I want my board to feel confident that the enrollment of our school
is safe in my hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then when I
might need something from them or have a crazy idea for consideration or
even—gasp—stumble, they will embrace it all because I have given them
confidence in me, my staff, my direction, and my strategy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What and how I present is all decided based
on leaving them confident in the school’s admissions operation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And by doing so, I take one more possible
headache off the desk of my head and hopefully make him look good and feel
proud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, I work for him but he
works for them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Second, it’s important to remember the role of the
board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It serves a strategic, long-term
function, not a day-to-day, management function.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As noted in NAIS’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trustee Handbook</i>, trustees, “…plan for the future of the school for
which you care.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our role, as Leo
Marshall of the Webb Schools wrote on this ALC blog last month, is to provide, “information
that will help them make important strategic decisions.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If all we are doing this month is giving a
historical report of the past with a pile of statistics, then we are failing to
fulfill our responsibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Tommy
Adams, Assistant Head of School for Enrollment at Mercersburg Academy says, “In
order to be sustainable over the long haul, we must be strategic.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What you should do with your historical data,
is use it to inform trends and thinking that you should be engaging with your
board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Use what has happened in the past
to help you understand what might happen in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You best serve your board and your head if
you can address where your admission is headed and where it should be headed.
(Admittedly, not always the same thing!)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, in considering your board report and presentation, consider
your audience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A good resource for this
(and for all our work in admissions, actually) is Michael Thompson’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Understanding Independent School Parents</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While many on your board may not be current
parents, in my experience many of them will nonetheless have the same profile:
highly successful, well-educated, wealthy, and others often defer or report to
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thompson offers some great
insights and some great suggestions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
a good read. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This isn’t addressing the
faculty or an open house group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
isn’t speaking with your staff or meeting with your administrative
colleagues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Know and understand your
audience and plan your presentation and messaging accordingly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Your final board report of the year is your opportunity to
tell the admissions narrative of the year just finishing and to show your
expertise and competence in helping the board think strategically about your
school’s enrollment, appreciate your and your department’s accomplishments, and
understand the importance of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Engage
them professionally and thoughtfully and you will be valued and taken seriously.</div>
<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-13533860336319336112013-05-22T23:17:00.000-04:002013-05-23T11:09:29.243-04:00The Last Step<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two whole comments: my last post on where to put the
communications/marketing office took off!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually, I had several calls, a few emails, and it was picked up in the
weekly newsletter from AISAP, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Funnel</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m actually quite honored—and have since subscribed
to their newsletter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But all this has
had me engaged in some interesting conversations and thinking more on this
topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And ducking my advancement
colleagues—someone ratted me out to them!)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once upon a time and early in my career, there was no
internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>GASP—imagine that my younger
readers!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was, therefore, no
Facebook or Google or Kayak.com.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
marketing consisted of print advertising, paying for a listing in printed publications
such as Peterson’s (yes, it was a book before it was a website!), and a lot of direct mail and postcards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Word of mouth was still key, if not more so,
because families had such fewer other resources for information.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, what did a prospective family do for more thorough
information?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They called us!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The admissions office was close to the first step in the
school inquiry process and our friendly office receptionists performed magic on
the phone and we followed up with our mailings and newsletters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a communications strategy, beautiful
printed materials, a calendar of contact points throughout the process, and
calling campaigns with coaches, faculty, and student and parent volunteers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had Avery labels and bulk mail by zipcode,
and banks of phones staffed by student callers stuffed with pizza and soda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ah, the good old days…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today the admissions office is the last step in the
process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a family wants information
about your school, they will turn to friends, your website, and depositories of
information such as Rate My Teacher and Boarding School Review.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>They will Google you long before they ever
call or email you.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your communication
strategies and viewbooks are the last step in the process and you only actually
get to engage with a prospective student once they’ve completed all the other
steps and still found you desirable.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, you better have strong communications and
marketing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You better have an awesome
website (fully coded for SEO), updated and current social media, and accurate
data on the various school search engines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You better be advertising in all the appropriate spots, sponsoring the
right events, attending all the fairs, and building the best network possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your marketing and communications and
recruitment efforts are of paramount importance to families actually and
finally contacting your admissions office for information.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Accordingly, you better have all the necessary
communications and marketing resources you need from your school and your
head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, the admissions office
is now actually the last step in the process.</div>
</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-20391515517609286242013-05-11T10:15:00.000-04:002013-05-17T11:43:54.291-04:00Communications and Marketing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shhhh…don’t tell any
of your advancement and development colleagues about this.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been prompted recently to think about the role of
communications/marketing offices (herein “c/m office”) in our work, and their
proper placement in a school’s organizational chart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To start, there are two schools of thought (no pun
intended!) on where in an organization to place this office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historically—and I think still the case at
the vast majority of independent schools—the c/m office is seen as a support
function to other offices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some cases
this office stands alone but often it is a branch of the
development/advancement office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a
very limited number of schools, I have seen it elevated to the level of
administration, with the director of communications (or some such title) at the
big table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s still uncommon.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For now, I’m not inclined to think outside the box and look
at the less conventional model and, instead, am giving thought to the support
function model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But within that model,
I’d like to propose the idea of moving the c/m office out from under the
development/advancement office and into an independent office of its own or as
a branch of the admissions office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have two rationales and hopefully they might help facilitate or further some
conversations you have had with your head of school.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, it’s about money, plain and simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>90% or more of the operating budget at
most any independent school comes from tuition revenue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No doubt the work done by advancement is
critical to a school’s long-term survival, especially around the growth of an
endowment and ability to raise funds for construction of facilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The operating budget will never be able to
pay for such things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But in the year-by-year operation of a school, all schools
are tuition-dependent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, if you’re a
day school charging about $25K in upper school tuition, how much easier
(relatively speaking!) is it for the admissions office to enroll four more
students for an additional $100K in revenue than it is for the advancement
office to find an additional $100K in donations?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we shouldn’t forget that the $100K in
tuition revenue repeats itself for the next four years, assuming the child
stays through graduation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If advancement
can find an additional $100K in donations, what are the chances they can repeat
that the next four years?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So,
essentially, if a school is looking to increase revenue for the annual
operating budget, they are going to turn to admissions, not fundraising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Accordingly, the c/m office has to at least be
equally available to the admissions office, if not part of the admissions
office.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Second, the fundraising people are working with those who
already know about the school or with organizations/foundations that are
interested in education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are tapping
alumni, parents of alumni, current parents and grandparents, etc. etc.
etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are not expecting or hoping
that perfect strangers who may know nothing or very little of your school are
going donate money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, that’s
exactly what the admissions office is doing!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are hoping that through our communications and marketing efforts (and
outreach and recruitment and travel and networking) that we will convince total
strangers with no affiliation with the school that they should give over both
their child and their money to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
We
are engaging in a very steep, uphill battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Accordingly, we need to commandeer and muster as much communications and
marketing resources as we possibly can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“You don’t know much about us but we’d like you to trust us with your
child and pay us a lot of money to do so” is a bigger challenge than, “You know
us and love us, and we’re asking you to give back and support us.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Our work is disproportionately dependent on communications and marking whereby advancement capitalizes on and depends more on a potential donor's existing ties to the school and personal relationships.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again, relatively speaking!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not saying it’s easy to raise money from friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just saying that it is a bit easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, let’s make sure the admissions office has
at least equal access to and priority within the marketing and communications
resources of our schools.</div>
</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-31411320201737762772013-03-27T07:37:00.000-04:002015-11-15T05:46:19.095-05:00Gay Marriage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
As the national debate has hit a penultimate moment this
week with two cases regarding gay marriage being argued in front of the United
States Supreme Court, it seemed an opportune moment for me to write about the
LGBT community, my experience, and independent school admissions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I worked in a day school in Philadelphia, we had great
success in this market, after a lot of work and a bit of stumbling about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, as soon as one LGBT family arrived and
was willing to be the pioneer, many more followed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From these dad/dad and mom/mom families, I
learned a number of things, a few of which I’ll share here:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>This is a close-knit community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initial success will quickly lead to greater
success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a family is happy at your
school, they will tell everyone in their circle about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The LGBT community is very steadfast and when
they feel valued and safe, they will reward you with their support and
business.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>These parents are happy to educate and help,
especially the early arrivers, and are not there to judge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we asked them to let us know how they
can be made more comfortable or to tell us where we were being ignorant in a
practice, they welcomed the request to provide feedback and offered it kindly
and without criticism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Does your
application still ask for mother and father or does it ask for Parent 1 and
Parent 2?)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Parents are seeking a safe, welcoming community
not only for their child but for themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s important their child feel safe and not be the subject of bullying
but the parents are also seeking a place where they feel safe and where they
can comfortably be themselves and take part in all aspects of what it means to
be an independent school parent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Together.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>LGBT parents are proudly LGBT and welcome
marketing and communication targeted to their particular profile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They want to see their community and causes
supported and they want to find you where they are, not have to migrate over to
where you can usually be found with your marketing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the rest of us are exhausted over being
targeted and identified in some way, this community welcomes it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Must Google slam with me travel ads because
I visited Kayak.com?)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, why am I telling you this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why should this be a target market worth your
effort and consideration?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll give you
some information I have learned over time although a quick search on Google and
you will find more quantifiable statistics for yourself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>This community is wealthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vast majority (more than 75%) earn above
the national average.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Similarly, this community has above the national
average for college graduates.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>This community has a higher percentage of
homeowners.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>This community is highly employed, and well employed
(see #1).</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>This community is very philanthropic and supportive, and
give willingly of their time, talent and treasure.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, this community is fiercely loyal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are loyal to each other and they are
loyal to institutions that support them and where they feel not just welcomed
in but feel they are on the inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In referring to
my school, one set of moms exclaimed to me, “We found it!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then they told everyone and they became
champions on our parent volunteer admission committee. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Who wouldn’t want more parents who fit this profile? </div>
</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-74442309730051160542013-02-02T11:00:00.004-05:002013-02-02T11:00:44.808-05:00Larry vs. Piers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m catching up on the news and on my thinking: forgive
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But before the holidays Larry King
finally spoke up on his thoughts regarding what Piers Morgan has done with his
former time slot and show on CNN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Larry
had two criticisms; I’ll tell you both but focus on one
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First (and not my focus) is that Piers has opinions and he
shares them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you care about such
things and follow them (and sadly, I do, on both accounts), CNN leans to the
left and can be (and has been) accused of being bias towards politicians of the
Democratic party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not shocking news, to
be sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they are certainly more
subtle than the likes of MSNBC or Fox News, who beat you over the head with
their excessively and exceedingly political biases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, Larry faults Piers for being too
transparent in his beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
probably an old school journalism versus a new school journalism thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally, it’d be nice to think that all
journalists are neutral but I suppose that’s against human nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if it is, I rather they be upfront and
transparent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where my thoughts have focused on this topic is regarding
preparation for the interview.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Larry did
no preparation and did not have a research staff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently he approached every interview
truly clueless about the subject and used his questions for the purpose of
revealing for himself—and his audience—the story behind the subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wanted no bias going onto the set and
truly approached each guest with a sincere wonderment and curiosity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was known for sometimes even asking the
most basic of questions, leaving his audience wondering if he was the only
person left on earth that didn’t know something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what you saw was genuine and real and for
those in the audience who didn’t know much of the guest, Larry was asking the
questions they would ask if they had just such an opportunity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Piers, on the other hand, has a full research team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He goes in fully armed and prepared with his
questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tries to find out things
that everyone else doesn’t already know and attempts to pick up where other
interviews or questions left off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This all got me thinking what might make an appropriate
approach for interviewing applicants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
always review whatever we have on a student before I meet them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we don’t have much, I request we try to
gather some basics when the appointment is scheduled or at least have a full
inquiry form completed upon their arrival.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Doing this allows me to pick up on a theme in an essay they wrote or to
inquire about the community service projects they have listed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is as though I’m entering the conversation
already half begun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, of course, I
expect the same of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t waste my
time asking if we offer soccer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
that’s important to you, you should have figured out long before your visit to
campus.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But what if I went the route of Larry King?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if I read nothing in advance and
approached each applicant interview genuinely curious and sincerely in need of
starting at square one?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would it seem I
didn’t care enough to prepare or would I appear truly interested?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interviews would certainly be longer as I
tried to gather the basics but maybe they’d be more engaging, the two of us
truly learning about each other, from the beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As always, I don’t know.</div>
</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-22672491224978870352012-10-25T08:42:00.000-04:002012-10-25T08:42:52.233-04:00Parents<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A number of years ago at NAIS, I paid to attend one of those
pre-conference workshops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, my
school paid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michael Thompson was the
presenter and I think he is simply amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have heard him numerous times; you may have, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You probably know the name: he’s a guru in
the independent school world and a god in the boys’ school world for his
expertise as a school psychologist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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His workshop was aimed at teachers about how best to
understand and work with independent school parents, particularly around the
all-important parent/teacher conference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I assumed there was something I could extrapolate to our world and to
the all-important parent/admissions meeting and relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was excellent!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>23 years in education and it remains one of
the best things I have ever attended.</div>
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<br /></div>
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For all of you who haven’t heard Thompson speak about this,
he has now co-authored with Alison Mazzola a small book on this very topic:
Understanding Independent School Parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s less than 100 pages with big font and I read it cover-to-cover in
less time than it took to fly from London to Moscow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I highly recommend it and now the entire
administrative team at my school is reading it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The book is in roughly three sections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1. Understanding independent school
parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working with the 95% who are sane and
rational.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tips for working with the insane and
irrational!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it behooves all of
us and our offices to understand in particular who are our parents and what is
their perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less helpful but
still worth the read is the strategies for working with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teachers simply have different relationships
than we do with parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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So, some highlights:</div>
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<br /></div>
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Thompson reminds us that our parents make up the smallest,
wealthiest, most successful people in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are highly educated and one, if not both, is highly
successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They exercise a great deal
of control, are often the smartest person in the room, and others typically
report to them or defer to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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And then they show up at our schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And on the topic of children, education,
developmental readiness, and curriculum, they are no longer the smartest person
in the room, we are in control, and they must defer to us to help them
understand their child in the context of education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is unfamiliar territory for them, they
can easily become uncomfortable, and they may struggle with news or decisions
they don’t like (e.g. denied admission, doing poorly in school).</div>
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<br /></div>
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What can we do?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Thompson recommends three steps for the 95%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1. Engage them about their child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ask them about their hopes and fears and then
be a good listener.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you invite them
and successfully get them to speak intimately with you about their child, you
will create a bond and forever alter the dynamic of your relationship with
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2. “Claim the child.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we all know from the research of NAIS, a
good deal of the value added independent schools provide is that each child is
“known”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Demonstrate that you have read
the application and supporting documents and that to you their child is a
person and you “know them” (as best you can at this point), not just another
applicant or a number in your database.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be professional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These parents are professionals and so are
you so don’t let them forget it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just
because they may make exponentially more money, doesn’t make you less a professional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Start and end on time, be prepared, and
follow up as needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Lower School
admissions folks or teachers, Thompson goes so far as to suggest you be sure to
dress the part of a professional and not like someone who spends their day
sitting on the floor leading reading circles or playing with dragons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Again, that was Thompson, not me!, saying
that, dear Lower School admissions colleagues.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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At the end of the day, Thompson reminds us that these are
parents we want: they have chosen to allocate their resources for their child’s
education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have all worked with
wealthy parents who could afford our schools but who won’t give up the shore
house or the boat or the annual family ski trip to Switzerland and their kids
remain in public school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Our parents made a different choice, a better choice.</div>
</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-36858381116475393512012-10-07T04:37:00.000-04:002012-10-08T17:18:35.575-04:00Diversity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</style> Diversity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hate the
word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong: I’m not
anti-diversity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just the opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I proudly helped bring the Steppingstone
Foundation to Philadelphia when I worked there and I think boarding schools are
the best opportunity for diversity and it’s why I work in one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe in the broadest sense of the word
and feel it is our moral obligation to be sure it’s a cornerstone of any proper,
thoughtful education.<br />
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<br /></div>
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But I hate the word diversity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d like to rid it from the vernacular and
require everyone to articulate exactly what they mean instead of hide behind
this catchall word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen far too
many charts and reports and accountings under the umbrella of diversity that are
either insufficient or superficial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or
both.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And what does that look like?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, first of all, it doesn’t look like
anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you think you can look
through the window of a classroom door and count the number of diverse
students, then you need to get your head out of the early 1990’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students who appear different can be very
similar and students who look similar can be very different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is only in opening that door and spending
time in that classroom that you can truly appreciate the kaleidoscope of experience
made rich by the students found therein.</div>
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<br /></div>
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You can check off the easy categories that jump to mind:
race, religion, economic means, sexual orientation, and geography (by zipcode
for day schools or by countries and states for boarding schools).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what about sexual orientation of
parents?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But why do we assume parents to
be plural?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A student from a
mother/father home brings a different perspective than a student from a
father/father home or a student who was raised by only one parent or no parent
at all and has been raised by another relative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How about students whose family emigrated from another country?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe their parents don’t speak English at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How about the white, urban kid who wakes at
6am in order to take two busses and a subway to get to school who sits next to
the white, rural kid who wakes at 6am to work on the family farm before coming
to school?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there are differences in
learning styles, personalities, abilities, interests, passions, etc.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The list goes on and I’m sure as you read this a category
jumps to your own mind that did not cross mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But isn’t that the point?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isn’t
the diversity of diversity the challenge?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It requires a school and an admissions dean to determine exactly what
they desire and what they value, and then what they will measure.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Students and education and all of us are made better, made
stronger by finding our voice and vocabulary to share our unique perspective,
and our values and faith and beliefs are made stronger when we must explain if
not defend them to others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are made
further better and stronger by an openness to “other” and not simply to hear or
even appreciate but to be willing to be shaped and changed by other, such that
other is now part of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The exchange
must be two way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a strong school
setting, each student will find their own voice so that they may share and help
others learn as well as develop their capacity to change so that they my learn
from and be developed by others.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As ones who have the opportunity to orchestrate the social
engineering of our schools, we are obligated to do more than fill charts and check
off boxes of diversity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are obligated
to generate and perpetuate the discussion of what a 21<sup>st</sup> century
school and education should reflect and to be sure we are doing so from within
the classroom and not simply through the looking glass of the classroom door.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-68478090903516706882012-09-05T15:52:00.000-04:002012-09-05T15:52:18.377-04:00Awesome<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Welcome to the new year!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The start of school is always
so exciting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For families and for the
whole community but I would suggest especially for those of us staffing the
admissions office at our schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
work from the last 12 months is literally walking through the front door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These new students are beaming with pride, proudly
sporting our uniforms or maybe a school hoodie they grabbed in our
bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are anxious and nervous
and hopeful and excited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so are
their parents!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">They walk through those doors
for the first time with grand plans of what they will accomplish, excited by
dreams and goals they will chase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
scan their faces in the opening assembly, remembering when you interviewed them
in your office, or maybe half way around the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You remember the endless questions and emails
from their parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You remember the
discussions and debates of the Admissions Committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s all behind you now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are here and you are here and it is the
start of school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Welcome to the new
year.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">And then you do what you
rarely allow yourself the time to do: you remind yourself—just quietly and just
to yourself—that you have changed the trajectory of every kid’s life anxiously
sitting in that room listening to new student orientation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of you, they now have immeasurable
opportunities found in your school’s programs, offerings, facilities and
campus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have teachers and
administrators who will put them at the center of their lives and challenge,
encourage, support and mentor them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
have peers and classmates who share their academic drive, their commitment to success
and accomplishment, and their seriousness of purpose.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">In the truest sense of the
overused word, what you have done is awesome.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">And it doesn’t stop
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any school—actually, every
school—is shaped by the students who attend it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The culture, the tenor, the ethos, the character of the place comes from
the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may have an amazing campus
and a dedicated faculty and a strategic thinking administration but all of that
is for naught if you don’t have the right kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’re the one who recruits and admits and enrolls those kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the school moves in the direction of
those students and with their boundless momentum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The ones who are there because of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Before you reset the admissions cycle and your spreadsheets back to zero
and launch a new season, stop and take a look around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take pride in your work, in your kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will affect the school for generations to
come.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">You change the lives of
children and you shape the future of schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You are awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are an
admissions professional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Welcome to the
new year.</span></div>
</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-87759049921377741482012-08-17T11:45:00.000-04:002012-08-17T11:45:45.833-04:00St. Thomas Church<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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If you like flawless liturgy and heavenly music, then you
should visit <a href="http://www.saintthomaschurch.org/" target="_blank">St. Thomas Church</a> on Fifth Avenue in New York City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is “the” Episcopal church in Manhattan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was founded—and funded—by Rockefellers, Vanderbilts,
Astors, Morgans and the rest of the American aristocracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, all those people with places in
Newport!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also has a small, 5<sup>th</sup>-8<sup>th</sup>
boarding school for boy choristers, with around a dozen graduates each year.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I have recently finished reading “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Priest-New-York-Victor-Austin/dp/057807107X" target="_blank">Priest in New York,</a>” by
Father Austin, who is the Theologian-in-Residence at St. Thomas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a collection of short essays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s good pick-up/put-down airplane
reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Being in NYC, St. Thomas must deal with it’s share of
homeless, uncertain, dangerous, and, frankly, questionable people who show up
off the street, not seeking God but seeking money or food or shelter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do you decide whether to serve or turn
them away but still fulfill the mission of the Church on earth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes their behavior impacts others,
threatens others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Father Austin writes
in his book, <i>Nonetheless, our welcome cannot mean indifference to behavior
that undermines the gift it is our mission to offer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it is the hardest thing of all to say
to someone, “If you do X, you cannot come here.” And yet, discipline is necessary
and is the heavy responsibility of those who care for institutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no identity without boundaries.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Sound familiar?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
should.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our role requires
discipline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our role is a heavy
responsibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our role is to ensure
identity by providing boundaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
role is to say, “If you do X, you cannot come here.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I’ve written on this before but it is
because I think it is the most important work that we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shape, future, tone, and culture of our
schools are completely reflective of the students we enroll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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I had two telephone calls yesterday asking about space for
next month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was for a day
student.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can always squeeze in
another day student if we want them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was a student who has been looking at us for 9<sup>th</sup> grade
in 2013 but now suddenly wants to join 8<sup>th</sup> grade next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s a great kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure we can work it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other kid I don’t know and haven’t met
but he’s looking for a boarding space and it would be hard to make it
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My initial radar has also pinged
some possible red flags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, after
all, mid-August and they don’t know where he’s going to school in three weeks.</div>
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Both want to be here, in part, because of our identity; or,
put another way, our reputation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
sure how it will play out for each student but I do know I’ll be thinking about
the importance of “…no identity without boundaries.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the land of my school, I’m the border
guard.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So what evidence do we have to support this thesis of the
importance of identity and boundaries?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is subjective perception and there is fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Subjective perception: I travel a great deal
for work and after two decades in admissions, I have seen the inside of a lot
of Episcopal churches on Sunday morning across the U.S. and around the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My subjective perception is that
the Church is in decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s nothing
like my childhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fact: the membership
of the Episcopal Church has gone below 2 million for the first time, from a
one-time high of 3.6 million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Subjective
perception: St. Thomas seems packed, no matter when I go: Easter, of course,
but then all the other Sundays as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fact: the St. Thomas annual fund for 2012 hit an all time high of over
$1.3 million in pledges for the year.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The dots I’m connecting and the conclusion I’m drawing is
that despite national trends to the contrary, St. Thomas is thriving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People are drawn to its identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No doubt, St. Thomas has some controversial
positions that they don’t hide but that seems to have only helped sharpen and
brought clarity to their identity and has not impacted attendance or
finances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the contrary, St. Thomas,
with it’s clear sense of self, is ahead of it peers.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It’s not the first and it won’t be the last time I write
about the importance of clarity of mission, knowing who we are, and being the
gatekeepers who set boundaries for our schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>St. Thomas is a good exemplum of the success that can be enjoyed.</div>
</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-35458517399761598592012-07-29T18:02:00.001-04:002015-11-15T05:58:46.147-05:00Paris<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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[This is long and rather personal so be forewarned or just
skip it altogether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a
professional connection at the end if you make it that far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, yes, the picture was taken by me.]</div>
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<br /></div>
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If you’re a regular reader then you know I’m tackling French
this summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I’m starting French
this summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will take a good deal of
time and effort to actually tackle it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Right now I’m in Paris.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
Sunday night and I’m on day five of my 16-day trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m here by myself; I arrived not even
knowing one to ten in French; I know nobody over here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I meet with a private tutor each morning for
three hours and am expected to do three hours of drills and study each
afternoon/evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In between, I’m free
to be a tourist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scene is set.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s set another scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t have a particular film or television show in mind but we’ve all
seen this storyline play out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
patient is in a coma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason why
doesn’t matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She can hear everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her mind is 100% and she is in command of her
intellect and her emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What she has
no control over is her body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is
fully aware but can’t communicate in any way—no blink, squeeze of the hand,
wiggle of the ear, zip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People in the
room talk around, about and over her as though she is not there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has things to say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wants to let them know she’s alive in
there somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is pained by the
misery her condition has caused her loved ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She is desperate to know what decisions might be made on her behalf, in
which she can’t contribute or participate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She wants to live.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It is maddening, possibly literally. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could drive a sane person insane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s frustrating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s angering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s heartbreaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s even infantilizing.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It’s lonely.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It’s Paris July 2012 and it’s me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I first got here, I could barely manage
a bonjour and a merci.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone taught me
how to say my name so I could say it to the passport guy, the front desk clerk,
the receptionist at school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even then,
whatever was said to me I did not understand and could not respond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With my little dictionary in hand, I could
stammer out some nouns: “me, taxi, hotel”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After three days of lessons, I can accomplish most anything if it can be
started with, “I’d like…,” “I am…,” or “My name is…,” or involves counting to
ten or pronouncing the vowels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still
can’t understand any reply and can’t engage in a response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a hard time even engaging in a
conversation with my tutor because her English is so lacking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been here five days and I’ve had no
significant, longer than a minute, meaningful human contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t even argue with the television.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve got no English language channel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God Bless the few people (typically in their
20’s and 30’s) who have had patience with me and/or knew a bit of English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One taught me how to ask for a receipt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’ll please the Business Office.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It’s maddening, frustrating, angering, heartbreaking,
infantilizing…lonely.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I don’t post this seeking your sympathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the surface, what an absurd
expectation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Oh, poor Andrew, in Paris
for two weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rough life.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a matter of fact, when I get back, I’m
sure I’ll just tell my family, friends and co-workers things like, “What a
beautiful city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me show you my
pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can we talk about the food and
champagne?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, who dare complain
about being in Paris for two weeks?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I go
where others only dare to dream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll
dazzle them with my two weeks’ worth of French: surely I’ll know a few more
verbs, can complete a sentence, and maybe even count to twenty by that
point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll go back to the solitude of
my Rosetta Stone and look forward to it.</div>
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No, I post this in solidarity with and empathy for our
international students at our schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They come over with varying degrees of academic and social English,
based on our admissions criteria and the level of ESL support our individual
schools can offer them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But without a
friend who is also from Germany or Korea or Spain or Brazil, how lonely their
life might be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m here for only two
weeks; they’re with us for nine months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s a long time to possibly go without a significant, deep,
substantial, authentic exchange with another human being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No wonder they sit together by country over
dinner and speak in their own language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I got it before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really get it
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Surely, not all are so lonely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But surely not none.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These last five days have entirely changed my
perspective on them.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Je m’apelle Andrew.</div>
Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-15126974878472973702012-07-17T09:22:00.003-04:002012-07-20T18:13:11.241-04:00Show me the money!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mitt Romney has endorsed Congressman Paul Ryan’s budget
plan. No surprise. In turn, Vice President Biden has attacked
the plan, and by extension, Mr. Romney for endorsing it. Again, no surprise. Here’s what the Vice President said to the
candidate (via the media), “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget and I’ll tell YOU what you
value.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Interesting point. My
first thought was to go down the road about our institutional budgets and how
much of it goes to the admissions/marketing function and question if that mirrors
the importance, if not pressure, our institutions put on our admissions. But I often find myself telling my staff we
need to focus on what is in our control to fix.
We may not like how other people or offices do things so, instead, let’s
focus on our office and operations, where we can affect necessary change and improvement,
and strive for excellence. And then
hopefully lead by example.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So instead of the possible depressing exercise of looking at
how much resources our schools allocate to our work, I decided to give some
thought to how we allocate within our operation those resources we are
given. I don’t know a colleague who
doesn’t value having a family visit campus.
Don’t we all believe (don’t we all know??) that we exponentially
increase the chance of enrolling a family if we get them to visit? I also don’t know a colleague who doesn’t
think the school’s website isn’t the primary source of information for a
prospective family. Sure, they may learn
about us from word of mouth or maybe from an internet search but once our names
are on their lips, isn’t their first stop at our own homepage?</div>
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<br /></div>
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“Show me your budget and I will tell you what you value.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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So, how much of our budget and human resources are allocated
to the campus visit? Is there someone
dedicated to insuring a successful visit for each family? Do you have funds for training, rewarding,
appreciating your tour guides? And how
about that homepage? Do you have
thousands of dollars for newspaper advertising but none to add that key button
or functionality to your website? Can’t
find $3000 to reward and retain that awesome young recruiter but spending $5000
per annum on food and beverages for admissions events?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Show me your admissions budget and I’ll tell you what it
says you value. But is that what you
really value? As we go into another
admissions year in just six weeks, hopefully it’s not too late to think twice
about how and where we deploy our dollars and our staff.</div>
</div>Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-56879868418592005442012-06-25T05:50:00.000-04:002012-06-25T05:50:45.420-04:00Sun. 1pm-10pm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Bonjour. I live in a
bilingual country and that’s all the French I know. Shame on me.
Well, I do know a few other key survival words: champagne, croissant,
brie, quiche! So it’s about time I
learned French and so I now own the complete <a href="http://www.rosettastone.com/" target="_blank">Rosetta Stone</a> French programme.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My package arrived last Friday and on Saturday I went to
install the software on my computer.
Being somewhat of a tech idiot, I, to no surprise, had problems. No worries.
There’s a 1-800 support number I can call. I called it.
They were closed. You feel my
pain. You, like I did, think I’m doomed
to wait until Monday. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Think again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rosetta Stone tech support is closed on Saturdays but open
from 1pm to 10pm on Sundays. I just had
to wait 24 hours. I spent those 24 hours
being very curious about these odd hours.
So once I called tech support and got my issue resolved (shocking: I was
inserting the dvd’s in the wrong sequence, despite their being clearly labeled!),
I inquired about their support schedule.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know where this is going: people buy the software while
running errands on the weekends and then attempt installation on Sunday
afternoon. So 5pm on Sunday and not 9am
on Saturday is when RS support is needed and so that’s when they’re available!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When are we needed?
It was something we discussed at this year’s <a href="http://www.essexinstitute.com/" target="_blank">Essex Institute</a>. Shouldn’t day schools have evening open
houses for busy two-income parents? Maybe
even interviews a few times at night during the busy season to accommodate
those parents? Boarding schools work with
students from around the world and from many time zones. Why do we force them all into our 9am to 5pm
workday? Or maybe we don’t and we’re
losing families because we’re not available to support them when they need us. Is it so crazy to ask a staff member to take
a 4pm to midnight shift once and a while to be available on the phone or maybe
an online chat?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I read something related just recently about social
media. (I apologize I don’t recall the
source but I fully confess this isn’t my own idea.) The advice was to look and see when our blogs
and Facebook accounts are the most active and to post then. Not to do so during our own 9am to 5pm work
hours when our prospective students are in school. Like good teaching, we have to meet them
where they are.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My last post was about thinking what’s at the center of our
offices. I guess this one asks us to
think about what time to be there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Au Revoir!</div>
</div>Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-17483543744600436092012-06-10T17:32:00.000-04:002012-06-10T17:32:24.568-04:00At the center<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Living in Canada, it’s been a while since I was in a <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/" target="_blank">Barnes& Noble</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And given with what haste
big bookstores are closing, it’s no surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They’re not easy to find.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
what was a surprise was when I walked in and found that the <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/nook-simple-touch-with-glowlight-barnes-noble/1108046469?ean=9781400501717" target="_blank">Nook</a> display and
sales area had taken over the center of the floor, replacing what had
traditionally been the spot for Barnes & Noble customer service.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You remember customer service, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Helpful folks who would look up books for you
and then walk with you into the stacks to find the book, as though you couldn’t
manage the convoluted alpha-by-author’s-last-name filing system of Barnes &
Noble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those friendly book geeks were
eventually supplemented by kiosks, on which you could look up your own book,
thank you very much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if you waited
just a moment, someone would be right back from helping a customer over in 14<sup>th</sup>
Century Danish War and Religion and be able to help you next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazon couldn’t touch this!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So imagine my surprise when there was no longer a customer
service center in the middle of the store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I write this as I head off to the <a href="http://www.essexinstitute.com/" target="_blank">Essex Institute for Enrollment Management</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve lost track of how many
years I have gone. 12?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>14 maybe?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I am suddenly remembering a conversation
from last year’s meeting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were
looking at school taglines or admissions mottos and were challenged to ask
ourselves if the mottos were about the school or the student.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where was your focus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an insightful, interesting exercise
and conversation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Essentially, it asked what we had at the center of our
schools: the school itself or the students?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nooks or customers?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And this reminded me of an early post by Fran Ryan,
Assistant Headmaster at <a href="http://www.rumseyhall.org/" target="_blank">Rumsey Hall School</a>, on SSATB’s “<a href="http://www.admission.org/news/alc-blog/index.aspx?linkid=831&moduleid=75" target="_blank">Right On Time: the ALCBlog</a>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fran is a veteran at helping
families navigate the waters of secondary school admissions but has recently
had to “self-navigate” his family as they went through the process for his son.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fran challenges us from his new perspective by stating, “<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
schools, admission processes seem to generally serve the efficient running of
the office. That does not necessarily translate into creating a meaningful
experience for a family examining a school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Make sure that your process makes sense for your prospective families.
Make sure that it is efficient and easy to manage, which is different from
being easy.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In other words, make sure that service, and not sales, is in
the center of your “store”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-7865639350143381342012-05-26T15:03:00.002-04:002012-05-26T15:03:31.905-04:00Electronic Toolbox<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
I have a meeting with the Board of Governors in less than
hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why wouldn’t I be working on a
blog post??<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, frankly, my head and
my notebook are so full of stats, charts, quaint stories, tales of woe, and
predictions for the future that my brain needs a rest before I go in the big
room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But one of the things I will be addressing
today is our plan to step back and do a serious communications audit this
summer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have certainly jumped with reckless abandon onto the
social media and in-bound marketing wagon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the last two years we have launched a very active Facebook and
Twitter account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are updated almost
daily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have launched a new website,
built for maximum SEO. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have an
equally active blog up and running and we have over 100 videos on our YouTube
Channel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even have a full-time
employee dedicated to the maintenance of all these media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our proverbial toolbox is full.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our proverbial cup overfloweth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But two statements in the last month have been ricocheting
around in my head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first comes from
the famous columnist Peggy Noonan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whether or not you agree with her politics, she is a brilliant writer
and her books are wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other
comes from my dear friend JT Hanley at <a href="http://www.mitty.com/" target="_blank">Archbishop Mitty High School</a> in San
Jose, California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He does not have the
fame of Peggy Noonan but he should.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
is an educator and a coach without peer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4-VCLcPniCguOLTekEtQ3hVSGbKoSOB5f8KCh0EEQo1xOFpHC__-7fv6a0-iYXFDNWEdWY-jCDPGwfDXGmcYuVHtzbdxr5DUSvyWMGDDXDV65QFrczBqVhH4GxNdV6c35lmyt2Z5Ig1D/s1600/Toolbox" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4-VCLcPniCguOLTekEtQ3hVSGbKoSOB5f8KCh0EEQo1xOFpHC__-7fv6a0-iYXFDNWEdWY-jCDPGwfDXGmcYuVHtzbdxr5DUSvyWMGDDXDV65QFrczBqVhH4GxNdV6c35lmyt2Z5Ig1D/s1600/Toolbox" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Talking about President Obama and how his campaign has
become expert at mining the internet and the data to be found therein, Noonan,
who is not a fan of the president, asks in <a href="http://peggynoonan.com/article.php?article=621" target="_blank">this column</a>, “If you have fabulous
new ways to reach everyone in the world but you have little to say, does that
really help you?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then my friend JT,
speaking on a topic I honestly don’t remember (we were a few martinis and
glasses of wine into dinner at that point!), asked, “If you don’t have focus,
isn’t your camera just a plastic box?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All this got me thinking of our electronic arsenal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that we have built up these resources and
filled our toolbox, what do we do next? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have spent the last two years creating and
staffing for this 21st century world of recruitment in which we must be
successful but I will admit we have not figured out exactly what to do with it
now that we have it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or more accurately,
we have not figured out the best use of what to do with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we harness their power, craft the
messages, maximize the potential, and build a strategy?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ask me in September what we accomplished this summer.</div>
</div>Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-36955215447295916722012-05-15T21:13:00.000-04:002012-05-15T21:13:50.361-04:00Relationships.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
I had the personal and professional pleasure to have dinner with a favourite consultant at IECA this month. The real treat was she invited me to dinner—what an honour. You would know her. We all know her. And we all love her. She is kind, patient and has immeasurable time for all of us, all while running her own practice and helping mentor new consultants in the profession.<br />
<br />
Around April 10th when we all constantly vacillate between celebration and frustration, I lost one kid each from two key feeder schools to the same boarding school. I’d heard of this boarding school but, frankly, it wasn’t on my radar and I never had reason to think it was in the same league. (To be honest, I knew so little of it, I didn’t have any reason to think it wasn’t in the same league either.) So, I told this to our consultant friend and asked her what she knew of the school.<br />
<br />
She loves the school. She has sent a number of clients there over the years. She had great things to say about it and said her clients had all been quite happy there. She respected their mission and felt they held true to who they were, something very important to her. No complaints.<br />
<br />
But then the admissions director left.<br />
<br />
And she’s sent nobody since.<br />
<br />
She doesn’t know the new admissions director. She doesn’t have a contact, doesn’t have someone with whom she can have a frank conversation about a client, someone with whom she can test the waters. There is nobody at that school who will roll out the red carpet for her clients when they visit, nobody to give them an extra bit of attention and to recognize who sent them. She still thinks very highly of the school but her relationships are the key to her confidence in recommending a school. And she has none there now.<br />
<br />
Four days later I had the professional privilege to stand next to Pat Gimbel from Deerfield at a fair in California. Pat has been doing this forever and is a role model and mentor to so many of us. And if you haven’t heard, she’s retiring next year. What a loss for us. But Pat and I got chatting, making note of who was attending the fair. Directors? Other staff? Local parent or alumni volunteers? I noted with admiration and congratulations that she’s enrolled five kids from this prestigious feeder school out of 13 graduates who were continuing onto boarding school. We then talked about the importance of relationships and why someone of her stature from a school like hers still hits the road and travels the world. Pat doesn’t pawn off Asia on someone else. She’s there in the trenches in Korea like the rest of us. And after a grueling admissions year, just weeks after April 10th, she was on that long 6 ½ flight from Boston to San Francisco to attend this fair, at this school where Deerfield is so beloved that they got over 33% of the boarding-bound graduates. She was on the 6am flight back to Boston the next morning to get back to her office. Why does she do this? To maintain her ties and relationships. They are key to her and to her success.<br />
<br />
As she prepares to walk out the door, Pat still teaches us by her words and deeds that it is still all about the relationships.
</div>Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-4185775929607803352012-04-09T22:18:00.005-04:002012-05-16T08:39:29.919-04:00International versus Global<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So if you’re one of the original readers of my blog—and Bless You! if you are—you might remember I’ve written on the movie “The Blind Side” before, <a href="http://independentschooladmissionsmusings.blogspot.ca/2010/10/blind-side.html">here</a>. Now, picture it: the Sunday before the return to school after March break. I’ve got about four loads of unfolded laundry piled on the bed. I turn on the television in the bedroom for some background entertainment while I fold, sort, and put away. I happen upon the opening scene of “The Blind Side” and three hours later the laundry is folded, sorted, put away, and I’ve accomplished nothing else whilst I watched this entire movie…yet again. And the irony is I own the DVD so I don’t have to watch it on television, where it gets dragged out almost an hour longer due to commercials. But I do.<br />
<br />
If you’ve seen the movie, now picture this scene: Leanne is at lunch with the other “mothers who lunch”. We know the type: our schools are filled with them. And thank goodness, as they’re not the ones asking about financial aid. She has shared with her shocked friends the tales of taking in Big Mike and giving him a home. One of them says, “Why Leanne, you have changed this boy’s life.” She replies, “No. He has changed our lives.”<br />
<br />
I had the pleasure of attending the inaugural <a href="http://boardingschools.com/for-schools/professional-development/global-symposium.aspx">TABS Global Symposium</a> over March break. More than the pleasure of attending, I had the privilege of helping think about its creation. It involved mostly schools from the USA but there was certainly a respectable representation from other countries, especially for the first time attempt.<br />
<br />
In my mind (although I don’t attempt to speak for TABS), this was about the transition I think is necessary of taking American schools with international students and turning them into global schools with global student bodies. I have been at this a long time and I certainly remember and perpetuated the idea of bringing international students to the USA so that we could change them, help them become and understand and appreciate and embrace American values and education. And then help them into American universities. Isn't that their goal and dream? After all, if that wasn’t what they wanted, they shouldn’t have chosen us. "They" could have gone anywhere else instead.<br />
<br />
But I think the symposium as well as 21st century schools are about tearing down the “us” and “they” concepts. Like Big Mike and Leanne, they are no longer about the international student being changed by being in our schools but, rather, about our schools open to being changed by the presence of our international students. It's not unlike the movement of the 1990's to change the curricular/departmental title from "foreign" languages (implying an "otherness" to the primacy of English) to modern and classical languages. Or just, simply, languages. <br />
<br />
In my free time (as if—ha!), there’s a longer paper in me to write on this topic. My perspective has certainly changed greatly by being in Canada and by observing America and American education from over the border. No matter how long I’m here, that change will be permanent and I will be forever grateful for it. But for now, I’m honored to have played the smallest of roles in thinking about this topic and having participated in TABS’s effort to bring it to the forefront of our collective conscious.<br />
<br />
It’s a big idea and a big topic to wrestle to the ground and it means fundamental changes in essentially very traditional and change-averse institutions in how we view our schools, how we view education, how we view our role on the world stage. It’s not easy but I’ve been impressed by those I have seen tackling the concept. <br />
<br />
But isn’t that what the 21st century calls and encourages and challenges us to do?</div>Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-79710042718909475862012-03-28T21:42:00.002-04:002012-03-28T21:45:01.879-04:00Lessons from MaryNOTE: this post is based in politics but is not political. Please continue to read without fear of partisanship. As well, no animals were harmed in the production of this post!<br /><br />Question: what is more entertaining than Mary Matalin? Well, Mary Matalin when she appears with her husband, James Carville. But this past weekend on “This Week” it was just Mary. Being the Republican talking head that she is, she was sharing the many reasons why she believes that President Obama will lose and the public will choose the yet undetermined alternative, whoever he might be.<br /><br />But one of her arguments was a very clear articulation of the concern I have been expressing for the last three years during our post-Lehman Brothers collapse economy. Her point: the voter in the election booth this fall won’t care about the employment rate, the participation rate in the national labor force, the stock market, or the growth of the GDP over the last three quarters. They will care about what is in their checking account, whether there’s money leftover at the end of the month, and their anxiety over every bill that arrives in the mail.<br /><br />Her visual: the mom at the gas pump with the SUV watching the pump and the price escalate and escalate. As she talked about this mom, the admissions professional in me saw car seats in the back and lacrosse equipment in the cargo area. She maybe had one of those round, white stickers on her back window and she could be on her way to the meeting of the volunteer parent auction committee. She’s not voting on 8.8% versus 8.3% unemployment. She’s voting on the fact that the pump now reads $84 to fill her SUV’s tank and she knows it won’t be her only visit to the gas station this week.<br /><br />And those are our parents and our worries. As inflation goes up around 1% and our tuition rates go up 3-6%, we have to worry about those prospective families with their SUVs. They aren’t choosing an independent school because the market recently closed up over 13,000 points or because unemployment has come down slightly. Whether or not they can comfortably afford our schools is determined by what’s in the bank, what’s in the checkbook, and what bills show up near the end of the month. It’s determined by what it costs to fill the SUV and what it costs at the grocery store to fill the family at dinner.<br /><br />Until any recovery trickles down into the bank accounts of the individual citizen, we are going to have to factor in their daily reality and not the national trends. After all, they pay their tuition from their checkbook, not from the 12 month trailing average of national import/export ratios.<br /><br />It’s a great and comforting thing to see the economy slowly—oh so very slowly—recovering but it’s not trickling down into the checkbooks. Not yet. Like it or not, like her or not, there’s a few things Mary can teach us about consumer behavior and consumer reality. We should listen.Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-60432553053694755532012-02-14T10:14:00.004-05:002012-02-14T10:23:31.404-05:00Starting from scratch<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj25HeQ0lmFF1pdBEOxSYQXS-MXbCqlkRod4b7xK9Lykit0q3sg-bxJZ2GnAIfVpgwQRrTo68TQAeWGSMrajKQJ-eiEKuhHtm7GQ4_RgaO_OnYD_RR2ILY3oODOzZiCcluRbf06Up3iwqPu/s1600/ebsb-logo.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 49px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj25HeQ0lmFF1pdBEOxSYQXS-MXbCqlkRod4b7xK9Lykit0q3sg-bxJZ2GnAIfVpgwQRrTo68TQAeWGSMrajKQJ-eiEKuhHtm7GQ4_RgaO_OnYD_RR2ILY3oODOzZiCcluRbf06Up3iwqPu/s200/ebsb-logo.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709011657234436946" /></a><br />Through a professional connection from my friend Sam Herrick at <a href="http://liveoaksf.org/">Live Oak School</a> in San Francisco, I was introduced to the <a href="http://www.ebsfb.org/">East Bay School for Boys</a>, also known as e.b.s.b.. (And, yes, their graphic is done with that e.e. cummings look.) This is a brand new, single-sex middle school. They opened last year with 17 students; this year they have 90. And as of my visit earlier this month, they were investigating new, larger facilities to meet the continued demand they foresee.<br /><br />What really struck me about my visit is the incredible thought that went into the design of this school. I had a wonderful tour from the head of school, Jason Baeten, who shared with me the considerations, thoughts, and ideas behind every bit of the space, program, curriculum, philosophy and even their motto: <span style="font-style:italic;">empowering the engaged, thoughtful and courageous men of tomorrow…</span>. We had a great exchange about their choice of “courageous” and he told me about the other words with which they wrestled and why they landed on courageous.<br /><br />It was a real privilege to think and hear about how a 21st century school was carefully crafted from scratch, how nothing was taken for granted or done “because it’d always been done that way”. They were unencumbered in their construction of this new school, limited by only their imaginations. How daunting. But how exciting! <br /><br />And then I returned from my trip to the disappointing news that I was losing my wonderful assistant director. With her pending departure this summer and a year-long maternity leave I need to fill in the next six weeks (you read that right: maternity leaves are a year up here!), that’s half the Upper School recruitment team of four! If anyone from the Lower School office or my support staff tells me they’re also leaving, I just may lose my marbles!<br /><br />But then I thought of e.b.s.b. and paused. They inspire me. And as I type this, I am giving serious consideration to what a 21st century admissions team and office might look like. How has our practice and profession evolved? How, what and why should we be doing things differently than we did ten years ago, fifteen years ago? Two years ago? While staff changes are never easy and the process of hiring is arduous and takes up a tremendous amount of time and energy, when will I next have the gift of considering two full-time positions at once and designing how I might re-allocate those 80 hours a week?<br /><br />I don’t have any answers yet and I certainly welcome anybody’s input. In the meantime, I’m going to try and tackle this living up to the inspiring and challenging ideals of e.b.s.b.: engaged, thoughtful and courageous….Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-77692875966143650832012-01-27T08:43:00.004-05:002012-01-27T08:47:41.937-05:00Lucky us<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiar7GUF56I9_v5QQXQ8IG7EhbpS_NqQUC8kKq82Qn4OAkXFul-O8FjrY2yZz4v8P3GiFM5pxKTp8jUY8AgwtupU0eGUNME3-sM92ecNNHAR0nLz0AoElOoSWLzhKy4RtKPEoPJdYyQKq39/s1600/lake-sunrise-997-ga.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 138px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiar7GUF56I9_v5QQXQ8IG7EhbpS_NqQUC8kKq82Qn4OAkXFul-O8FjrY2yZz4v8P3GiFM5pxKTp8jUY8AgwtupU0eGUNME3-sM92ecNNHAR0nLz0AoElOoSWLzhKy4RtKPEoPJdYyQKq39/s200/lake-sunrise-997-ga.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702307384349995986" /></a><br />Recently I was visiting a junior boarding school and I had the rare privilege to surprise an applicant by handing him in person his offer of admission and a $10,000 academic scholarship. The timing worked perfectly (thanks to coordination with his current headmaster) that we were able to receive the necessary school documents and get him through admission committee ahead of my visit. <br /><br />Over my career I have had the opportunity on occasion to tell a student of their admission in person or over the phone before they got our packet, but this may well be the first time I have hand-delivered it. I have to say, it’s an impressive packet. We put a lot of time and effort in the design and presentation of our offer of admission and in our scholarship awards, and when they can be presented together, it looks darn good. After all, the greater the yield from your first round admits, the less you depend on your wait pool and the more selective you can be.<br /><br />But I think I will remember forever watching this boy open the folder, start to scan the letter, and, like the sun easing over the horizon in the morning, see a smile start to slowly spread across his face. When he hit the key line in the letter that confirmed where he thought this letter was going, his eyes got huge and his smile even bigger and his head shot up like a jack-in-the-box as he looked at me. And then he looked right back down to finish reading the letter. When he was done, he looked up and he said nothing, the bright glare reflecting off his braces sending the message of his delight. I simply smiled back, shook his hand, said congratulations, and went on my way. We had only a minute for this transaction but it was a wonderfully powerful, simple minute.<br /><br />By complete coincidence, his parents were up visiting that Sunday afternoon. I had the opportunity to speak with them and congratulate them on his offer of admission and his scholarship. When I saw them, they had not yet seen their son or his packet but they later wrote to me, “we were unable to pry the folder from our son’s fingers over lunch.” I love picturing that lunch in my head! It will carry me through some of the inevitable frustrations that always accompany this time of year in admissions.<br /><br />We are in the business of changing lives by giving students the remarkable opportunities that come with admission to our schools. What a privilege. <br /><br />Lucky us.Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-18029024410255077602012-01-14T18:22:00.006-05:002012-01-14T20:01:50.397-05:00Tebow<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGlxDXPntPQVya67_oDbbCNDtkXb5ir9jbScxhnZ9l-ieZAGqDBq0xrrAZocqLnBTG5V4wC1OfPtQPthxH5_fFcnF4CTeyuePKimE7IqTv1zzH6f-2BIWnYlMEuEIGQdJfw7TNs-PA1Wz/s1600/tim-tebow-pictures+%25288%2529.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGlxDXPntPQVya67_oDbbCNDtkXb5ir9jbScxhnZ9l-ieZAGqDBq0xrrAZocqLnBTG5V4wC1OfPtQPthxH5_fFcnF4CTeyuePKimE7IqTv1zzH6f-2BIWnYlMEuEIGQdJfw7TNs-PA1Wz/s200/tim-tebow-pictures+%25288%2529.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697632837868582418" /></a><br />So what does Tebow have to do with independent school admissions? I’m not sure I know. But one can’t help but to be caught up in Tebow-fever. It’s the day of the big game: Tebow vs. Brady. (Actually, Denver vs. New England.) And there is not one but two Tebow articles in today’s <span style="font-style:italic;">Wall Street Journal</span>. That’s right: I’m not talking about the <span style="font-style:italic;">Denver Post</span> or the <span style="font-style:italic;">Boston Globe</span>. I’m talking about the country’s leading newspaper on business and economics. Two articles on professional football and on one particular player. And there’s an article in today’s <span style="font-style:italic;">New York Times</span> and probably numerous papers around the country I did not have the time peruse. And there’s a good one posted to ESPN.com I read earlier today.<br /><br />Personally, I abhor the excess of professional sport. Individual players make more than the payroll of teachers of most schools and probably some small school districts. And they seem to attract fans who would die before they approved a school board budget that would have an annual impact of $100 in taxes but they pay ten times that amount for season tickets to their local pro team. These premier and famous and overpaid athletes are more often than not—much more often than not—poor role models, have questionable values, and fail to use their influence and fame for good. There are exceptions, of course. Cal Ripken comes to mind. Tebow is currently the most well-known of them at the moment.<br /><br />Did you know he wasn’t even the starting quarterback for Denver this season? That he saw little play at all last year? And now look how far and fast he has come. Impressive everyone is now talking about him given that he spends so much of his time helping the poor, dying, underprivileged, and downtrodden. He flies the suffering and hurting to every Denver game, home or away. And it’s not just a token. He spends time with them before and after the games, and attempts to corral others to do the same. He speaks of his faith, virginity, Baptist parents, and personal values without shame or hesitation. More than without shame or hesitation, he speaks of them with conviction, humility, sincerity, and power.<br /><br />He’s a one-man brand and he attracts fans and haters alike. (Yup, sadly one of today’s articles was on those who have grown to hate him and anxiously, sadly await some fall or stumble, personal or professional.) But he is very clear in who he is, what he stands for, and in what he believes. He has won countless fans with his clarity and drawn many followers. <br /><br />If he were an independent school, he’d be full with waiting lists. Long waiting lists. So what can we learn? Yes, many seem to dislike him and can’t wait for him to fail tonight but many adore him. And isn’t that the compelling argument for a strong brand: to strengthen the loyalty of those you seek and help those who are not a good match to go find their own Tebow elsewhere? Good luck to them. <br /><br />Know who you are. Own who you are. Share who you are. And do it like Tebow: proudly and genuinely. And the right matches will be lining up at your admissions office door.<br /><br />The great thing about tonight’s game is that whether or not Denver marches forward, Tim Tebow isn’t going to change.<br /><br />Thank goodness.Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-79467877238244774392011-12-30T15:02:00.007-05:002011-12-30T15:10:27.193-05:00A Christmas giftSo I wrote in my last post about the need to make sure we carefully steward our profession and make sure it gets the recognition that it deserves, particularly when compared to our colleagues in the world of advancement and development.<br /><br />And then the <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/nyregion/brearley-names-jane-foley-fried-as-head-of-school.html?_r=3&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y">New York Times</a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/nyregion/brearley-names-jane-foley-fried-as-head-of-school.html?_r=3&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y"></a></span> announces that Jane Fried, Dean of Admission at <a href="http://www.andover.edu/Pages/default.aspx">Andover</a>, has been named the new head at <a href="http://www.brearley.org/">the Brearley School</a>, a most prestigious Manhattan girls’ school. It is a good thing for Jane and a good thing for all of us that a school of Brearley’s stature found an admissions dean worthy of a headship.<br /><br />Don’t get me wrong: I have zero desire whatsoever to be a head. Except for one year, my office has always been in close quarters with the head’s office and I’ve always had good relationships with my heads. So between conversation with and observation of the head, I know it’s not a job for me. A wonderful friend and head once told me if it’s not burning in your belly, don’t pursue it. It’s not worth it. But if I wanted to be a head, I would want to know that I wouldn’t be immediately discounted because I was coming up through the ranks of admissions. <br /><br />As admissions deans and directors, we work with all sorts of students and families, spanning ages, grades, races, backgrounds and circumstances. After all, any family a head must work with, we worked with first. Like a head, we understand the business side of a school. We manage sizeable admissions and financial aid budgets, navigate Board politics, work with outside vendors and contractors, and closely track institutional revenue and understand its role in the overall budget. We juggle demanding schedules, keeping evening and weekend hours, and are more intimate than we’d probably like with human resource law and policy. <br /><br />And, like no other than the head, we know the entire school community, programme, curriculum, and campus. No other job than head or admissions dean is expected to know pretty much all there is to know about an institution. Can your third grade teacher speak to your AP offerings and results? Can your accounts receivable clerk detail fine motor skills appropriate for kindergarten? Does your English chairperson know how many varsity sports you offer—and in what league(s) you play? Thankfully, they don’t have to know the answers. But you do! And you, your staff, and the head are probably the only ones who do.<br /><br />So, I give thanks to Jane and to other admissions directors before her who have made the transition to head for forging the path for those who wish to travel it. Admission dean is a great proving ground for a headship and it is gratifying to see a school like Brearley agrees.<br /><br />Congratulations, Jane. Thanks for the Christmas gift.Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-88303446787505512982011-12-13T10:03:00.001-05:002011-12-13T10:07:58.928-05:00The next generationWhat happens if you get hit by a bus this afternoon? Or, more realistically, hit by a Volvo station wagon driven by the parent of a child to whom you denied admission? Is there a member of staff remotely ready to step into the office of the dean or director? If you were to leave tomorrow—via ambulance or of your own choosing after winning the lottery—would there be any internal candidates for your post?<br /><br />When the Admissions Leadership Council, on which I proudly serve, met this fall in Arizona, we were tasked with thinking about what our industry needs. My thought at the time—and it’s been rattling around my head ever since—is that we are not doing much as an industry to nurture, encourage, and raise the next generation of admissions directors. We do well bringing new hires into the fold and there are some opportunities for directors on the other end, but what about the middle?<br /><br />For rookies, TABS offers the summer <a href="http://www.boardingschools.com/for-schools/professional-development/workshops/workshop.aspx?workshopid=1">Admission Academy</a> and SSATB has the Admission Training Institute (ATI) just before their annual meeting in September. For those at the director/dean level, SSATB also offers Senior Symposium. There is also the <a href="http://www.essexinstitute.com/managers.html">Essex Institute for Enrollment Management</a> and the <a href="http://www.thebakergrp.com/thecrowsnestinstitute/index.asp?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=85&ModuleID=24">Crow’s Nest Institute</a>, which are summer programmes aimed at more senior and seasoned professionals.<br /><br />But what about those in the middle, those at the Assistant/Associate Director level? For them to be successful and able to remain yet move up in our profession, they need their own professional development. If we are not careful to support and treasure those we have, they may get their professional development by changing employers and seeing how things are done outside the gates of your own school and under a different dean.<br /><br />It is a common cry among admissions directors that our profession needs professionalizing and that we need to demand/earn the respect (and pay!) our colleagues in development and advancement enjoy. One place to start is to take our own middle managers in the office more seriously and do what we can to make sure that we are raising the profile of the profession one assistant director at a time, both within and without our schools. Rather than shrink away, I would imagine they would welcome more responsibility, trust, and opportunity to spread their wings. <br /><br />It’s a win-win-win. Win #1: you can alleviate someone’s workload (maybe yours!) by entrusting some duties to this person. Win #2: they feel good about being trusted and the opportunities to grow within your operation and may stick around. Win #3: when it’s time for them to move along (into your job or to another school), you have contributed to the next generation of our profession. <br /><br />Win-win-win!Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3396782269857515578.post-73634606899448371672011-12-06T13:02:00.002-05:002012-05-26T15:17:53.102-04:00No (bad) surprises<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My last two posts were rather related—the first time I’d done that. And I’m here to tell you that I think this one is now a third in the series. It is not intentional but it is how I’m thinking these days. I must be doing something right, however, as Admissions Quest picked up my blog and highlighted it during the TABS Conference last week in Boston. Thanks, Admissions Quest!<br />
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I have been writing about denying admission to candidates—either because they are a bad fit for our schools or because there is far more demand than spaces, and difficult choices have to be made. Saying no is rarely easy and never fun, even when it is the right thing. For my whole career, however, being denied admission is something I have tried not to have come as a total surprise. <br />
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Nobody likes bad surprises. Nobody.<br />
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Of course, there is a difference between my effort to convey information and feedback that should lead to no surprises and a family’s willingness or openness to hearing said information. Like when we were children, parents sometimes metaphorically cover their ears and wail nahnahnahnahnah (is that how you spell that??) in order to not hear what you are telling them.<br />
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There are a number of things we can do. First, while nobody likes to be held to cut-offs, we can certainly publish on our websites or in our materials the range that a typical admitted student might have for a GPA or test score. We can be upfront about the number of applications we expect or have historically received relative to the number of spaces available. We can disclose legacy or sibling policies, the role of athletics in decision-making and even where we place our institutional priorities for enrollment.<br />
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We can provide tactful feedback to parents, placement directors or consultants after we have received information or met an applicant that s/he “does not appear to fall within the norms of the typical student” to whom we offer admission. I have gone so far as to contact a family and shared that something I have in front of me indicates that the admissions committee would have a difficult time offering their child admission and give them the opportunity to withdraw from consideration. (And, no, I don’t give a damn about my deny rate that I’m forced to parade in front of those who revel in such petty things. Allowing a family to graciously withdraw and focus their efforts elsewhere is the humane thing to do.) <br />
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As I said before, parents can choose to hear none of this. My experience, however, is that they will have heard it, even if only subconsciously at first. I always put some time and space between an unhappy family who has just received a denial letter and when I will respond to their call or email. That time and space typically allows them to calm down, reflect on the admissions process and information they had, and usually (although not always!) admit to themselves that a denial of admission should not have come as a complete surprise to them.<br />
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Usually.</div>Andrew T. Weller, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02267164211451218383noreply@blogger.com0