Leadership | The University Advancement Blog

31 May

Beyond the brand: The marketing department of the future

The following is a post that I wrote earlier this semester for Inside Higher Ed’s Call to Action marketing and communications blog. Today, higher education marketing tends to be an end-of-the-pipeline activity, based on raising awareness of and generating interest in programs...
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7 Dec

Total marketing spend: The hard questions

The following is a post that I wrote earlier this semester for Inside Higher Ed’s Call to Action marketing and communications blog. A corporate CMO expects to control her organization’s marketing expenditures. But universities operate differently. On most campuses – and especially...
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25 May

The language of higher ed marketing

The following is a May 2017 post that I wrote for Inside Higher Ed’s Call to Action marketing and communications blog. At the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education this past December, SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher advised marketers to frame...
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4 Apr

The chief connection officer

The following is a March 2017 post that I wrote for Inside Higher Ed’s Call to Action marketing and communications blog. Colleges and universities are organized into functional silos, while our audiences view our institutions holistically. As marketing and communications professionals, we...
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9 Jan

3 takeaways from Originals

This past fall semester I started a book club for marketers on our campus, and our first book was Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Wharton professor Adam Grant. Originals is full of unique insights, such as the creative...
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28 Dec

The rise of the (unit-level) CMO

The following is a December 2015 post that I wrote for Inside Higher Ed’s Call to Action marketing and communications blog. If you accounted for the types of activities that fill each workday, what would be the breakdown of substance...
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5 Jan

More great TED Talks

In a previous post, I shared a list of TED Talks that my team and I watched together over the course of the year. I started this as a way for us to connect and hopefully spur some thought-provoking conversations...
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23 Oct

5 questions with Penn State Sr. VP Rod Kirsch

Rodney Kirsch, Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at Penn State University, is one of the consummate professionals in our field. Many thanks to Rod for participating in the “5 Questions” series. His perspective on the future of...
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18 Oct

5 questions with @HipHopPrez Walter Kimbrough

I had the pleasure of working with Walter Kimbrough, president of Dillard University in New Orleans, earlier this year when he keynoted a CASE Indiana conference. (The next CASE Indiana conference is coming up November 1.) Dr. Kimbrough delivered an...
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11 Oct

From CURRENTS magazine: Taking the lifelong view

The following is an article that I wrote for the September 2013 issue of CURRENTS magazine, published by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Taking the Lifelong View Indiana University East smashed its silos, embraced student affairs, and...
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Rob Zinkan's thoughts and recommended readings on university advancement

Category Archives: Leadership