EM:POC Summit Program Descriptions
Step into a vibrant tapestry of experiences with the "Colors of Our Journey" Mosaic Activity. As enrollment management professionals of color, we each bring a unique palette of experiences, challenges, and triumphs to our roles. This activity invites you to contribute a piece of your journey to a collective mosaic. Whether it's a symbol, word, or phrase, your contribution will join others in painting a vivid picture of our shared and individual paths. By the end, we'll have a masterpiece that not only celebrates our diverse experiences but also underscores our unified commitment to inclusivity and excellence in education.
Learning Objectives
- Celebrate Diversity: Recognize and appreciate the diverse range of experiences that professionals of color bring to independent schools. Understand that each individual's journey, while unique, contributes to the broader narrative of inclusivity in education.
- Build Community: Foster a sense of camaraderie and collective identity among participants. Through shared storytelling and artistic expression, participants will feel more connected to their peers and the larger mission of the conference.
- Encourage Self-reflection: Provide an opportunity for participants to reflect on their personal and professional journeys. By contemplating and articulating their experiences, participants can gain deeper insights into their roles and motivations.
- Promote Open Dialogue: Create a safe and inclusive environment for participants to share their experiences, both positive and negative. This open dialogue can pave the way for collaborative problem-solving and support throughout the conference.
- Visualize Collective Strength: By the end of the activity, the completed mosaic will stand as a visual testament to the collective strength, resilience, and richness of the experiences of enrollment management professionals of color.
Delve deep into the diverse tapestry of experiences of enrollment management professionals of color in independent schools with our "Two Truths and a Myth" activity. Each participant is invited to share three stories from their journey: two genuine experiences that have shaped their path and one fictional tale. Can you distinguish between fact and fiction? Challenge your perceptions, connect over shared realities, and discover the untold narratives of your peers. This engaging activity not only fosters camaraderie and understanding among attendees but also highlights the multifaceted nature of our experiences in independent education. Join us in celebrating the truth, unraveling the myths, and deepening our bonds as professionals dedicated to inclusivity and excellence.
Learning Objectives:
- Enhanced Understanding: Foster a deeper appreciation of the varied experiences of enrollment management professionals of color in independent schools. By sharing personal anecdotes, participants can gain insights into the challenges and triumphs faced by their peers.
- Empathy Building: Cultivate a sense of empathy and solidarity among participants. Listening to personal stories helps individuals connect on a more profound level and understand the emotions and motivations of their colleagues.
- Encourage Open Dialogue: Promote an environment where professionals feel safe and empowered to share their experiences, both positive and negative. This activity aims to create a platform where open dialogue is encouraged, and personal stories can be shared without judgment.
- Highlight Diversity of Experience: Showcase the diverse range of experiences that professionals of color encounter in independent schools. This activity will demonstrate that while there may be shared challenges, each individual’s journey is unique.
- Strengthen Team Bonding: Through shared storytelling and guessing, participants can bond over common experiences and challenges, leading to stronger interpersonal relationships and team cohesion.
This comprehensive workshop is meticulously crafted for enhancing engagement with targeted segments that you are trying to matriculate in your school – students of color, athletes, performing artists, full-pay families, or a particular gender to name some common targets. This strategic approach will revolutionize your marketing and recruiting efforts and improve your success. You will perfect your skills by deeply focusing on the customer’s needs, desires, and challenges allowing you to develop a more effective system for marketing to and recruiting of your targeted segments. This program delves into the art and science of placing potential students and their families at the heart of marketing strategies, ensuring that every communication, interaction, and offering is meticulously aligned with their expectations and requirements and consistent with your mission.
The workshop emphasizes the importance of empathy, active listening, and the strategic use of language to mirror the consumer’s voice, creating marketing messages that are not only heard but felt. By the end of this transformative experience, participants will be equipped with the tools and knowledge to craft marketing campaigns and events that not only attract attention but also inspire action, turning prospects into passionate participants in the educational journey.
Learning Objectives
- Identify Customer Problems: Learn techniques for identifying the specific problems, needs, and preferences of potential customers, including students and their families, using direct engagement and focused questioning.
- Develop Conversion Strategies: Master the art of creating effective conversion paths and upselling strategies tailored to diverse customer segments, enhancing the admission experience and educational program engagement.
- Solve Customer Problems Effectively: Apply problem-solving methodologies to address logistical, feature/benefit, and transformational challenges faced by potential customers, thereby aligning program offerings with customer needs.
- Understand and utilize focused questions to get in tune with customer problems, leveraging the school’s unique offerings as solutions.
- Create Engaging Events and Activities: Design and implement events and activities that address identified customer problems, ensuring a deep and meaningful engagement with the educational institution.
- Brainstorm and Prioritize Customer Problems: Conduct effective brainstorming sessions to list customer problems related to both the admission experience and the educational program, highlighting the most relevant issues to address in marketing campaigns.
- Use Consumer Language in Marketing: Learn how to capture and utilize the language and emotions of consumers in marketing materials, ensuring resonant and effective communication.
Dive into the intricate world of enrollment management work, where the art of balancing relationships is as crucial as managing numbers. “Mastering the Maze: Strategies for Dynamic Enrollment Leadership” is not just a workshop; it’s an immersive journey designed to unravel the complexities of organizational dynamics within educational settings. Engage in a thought-provoking exploration of how to adeptly maneuver through the multifaceted interactions with peers, superiors, and subordinates, while also addressing the nuanced power dynamics that emerge in diverse environments. Whether these interactions occur within the tight-knit fabric of your community, crossing paths with friends in various professional tiers, or navigating conversations with white colleagues amidst varying power structures, this session is tailored to empower you with transformative strategies and techniques.
Learning Objectives:
- Uncover Hidden Challenges: Delve deep into the common yet often overlooked challenges of working with supervisors, colleagues, and direct reports in the nuanced sphere of enrollment management.
- Decode Organizational Dynamics: Elevate your understanding of the underlying dynamics within educational institutions, fostering a strategic mindset for maneuvering through complex organizational structures.
- Forge Effective Relationships: Learn cutting-edge strategies for cultivating robust relationships upwards, sideways, and downwards, transforming every interaction into an opportunity for growth and collaboration.
- Navigate Power Dynamics: Equip yourself with essential techniques for skillfully navigating the intricacies of hierarchical and interpersonal challenges, with a special focus on the subtleties of engaging with diverse colleagues within power frameworks.
- Enhance Collaborative Synergy: Develop the skills necessary to encourage synergy and collaboration across departments, breaking down silos to create a more cohesive and inclusive educational ecosystem.
Imagine a session where the veil is lifted on the secrets of the job search process, tailored specifically for professionals of color in the realm of enrollment management.
“Unlocking the Code: Strategies for Charting Your Career Search” is an exclusive workshop designed to empower you with groundbreaking strategies and insights from the front lines of career advancement. Join the team from Strategenius, a search and recruitment firm renowned for its commitment to diversity and success in placing talented professionals of color within independent schools navigating majority white cultures. This session is your golden ticket to insider knowledge on everything from resume crafting to acing interviews, with a critical lens on equity and bias opportunities and challenges. Learn how to shine in a competitive landscape, transform challenges into stepping stones, and ultimately, unlock the door to career opportunities you’ve dreamed of.
Learning Objectives:
- Master the Job Search: Uncover effective strategies to navigate the job search process, whether aiming for career advancement internally or exploring new horizons.
- Resume Optimization: Transform your resume into a powerful tool that captures attention and showcases your unique strengths and achievements.
- Interview Excellence: Boost your confidence and skill in interviews, learning how to present yourself as the ideal candidate with authenticity and impact.
- Confront Bias Head-On: Gain insights into identifying and overcoming bias in the search process, equipping you with the tools to navigate these challenges with poise.
- Stand Out from the Crowd: Learn the nuanced tactics that differentiate you from other candidates, ensuring you leave a memorable impression on potential employers.
Dive deeper into your professional journey with “Unlocking the Code: Strategies for Charting Your Career Search – Part II.” This exclusive segment offers a unique, personalized one-on-one session with the expert career advisors from Strategenius, dedicated to unfolding the blueprint of your career aspirations. Tailored to enrich your journey regardless of where you stand on your career path, this 30-minute consultation is designed to illuminate your future prospects, whether you’re eyeing advancements next year or envisioning your trajectory many years ahead.
You embark on this journey together by delving into the essence of your motivation, inspiration, and engagement in the workplace. Moving forward, we’ll collect detailed preferences regarding your ideal positions, school environments, geographical desires, and salary expectations. The cornerstone of your session will involve a meticulous review of your application materials, including your resume and cover letter. Here, you’ll receive bespoke advice on strategic positioning and enhancements to elevate your candidacy for the roles you’re passionate about pursuing.
To facilitate a fruitful session, we request the submission of your updated resume and cover letter beforehand. We’ll schedule this pivotal meeting at your convenience within 6 months of the conference, setting the stage for a transformative career journey ahead.
Learning Objectives:
- Deep Personal Insight: Gain a profound understanding of your personal motivators, inspirations, and what keeps you engaged in your career.
- Strategic Career Planning: Acquire tailored advice to navigate your career path, including selecting the right types of positions and institutions that align with your aspirations.
- Material Optimization: Receive specialized guidance on refining your resume and cover letter to better position yourself for the opportunities you desire.
- Future-Ready Strategies: Develop a clear, actionable roadmap for your career that is adaptable and relevant for both your immediate and long-term ambitions.
- Personalized Advice: Benefit from the undivided attention of seasoned career experts, ensuring advice that is directly applicable to your unique situation and goals.
This course focuses on the development and implementation of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals. The course will delve into the art of crafting effective strategies and operational plans, emphasizing the use of key performance indicators (KPIs) in the admissions cycle. Participants will engage in practical exercises to model the creation of SMART goals, analyzing weekly tracked data to uncover valuable insights. This dynamic session provides a roadmap for setting realistic benchmarks, evaluating the effectiveness of various touchpoints and events, and making informed decisions about future strategies. Essential questions, such as defining success criteria and identifying necessary changes for improved outcomes, will be explored in depth. Participants will leave equipped with the tools and knowledge to set strategic goals and make data-driven decisions for the upcoming enrollment cycle or their individual recruitment goals.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the Fundamentals of SMART Goals: Gain a comprehensive understanding of SMART goals and their role in successful strategy formulation and implementation in enrollment management.
- Develop Skills in Data Analysis and Insight Capture: Learn how to effectively analyze enrollment data, capture key insights, and use this information to guide strategic decision-making.
- Create Actionable and Realistic Strategic Goals: Apply knowledge of SMART goals to develop actionable and realistic objectives for the upcoming enrollment cycle.
- Evaluate and Adjust Enrollment Strategies: Develop the ability to critically assess current enrollment strategies, identifying areas for improvement and adjustment.
- Define Success in Enrollment Management: Explore various metrics and benchmarks to effectively define and measure success in the context of enrollment management.
This dynamic course is focused on the crucial role of the admissions committee in shaping a diverse and vibrant student body. Participants will delve into the intricacies of assembling and reorienting an effective admissions committee and understanding its pivotal role in the admissions process. The session will facilitate a rich brainstorming experience, exploring who should be part of this influential team, the committee’s core purpose, and the strategies for selecting members who bring diversity, expertise, and a shared vision for excellence.
Central to the course is the emphasis on orientation and ongoing training of committee members. Participants will gain insights into the essential content for effective committee orientation, with a particular focus on embracing and anchoring decision-making processes with data-driven insights. The course shines a spotlight on best practices in application evaluation, equipping attendees with techniques to recognize and mitigate biases, thereby fostering a fair, equitable, and transparent review process.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the Role and Importance of the Admissions Committee: Grasp the significance of the admissions committee in shaping the student body and its impact on the school’s diversity and academic excellence.
- Develop Strategies for Committee Formation and Member Selection: Learn how to identify and select committee members who contribute diversity, experience, and a commitment to the school’s vision.
- Master Techniques to Mitigate Biases: Gain expertise in recognizing and reducing biases in the admissions process, ensuring fairness and inclusivity.
- Enhance Skills in Data-Driven Evaluation: Acquire the ability to integrate data analytics into application reviews for more informed and effective decision-making.
- Foster Effective Team Collaboration and Development: Explore methods to cultivate a collaborative and continuously evolving admissions committee.
By now, enrollment management professionals understand that the pictures you show and the words you use matter. But are you confident you are really doing all you can to provide the most welcoming and inclusive experience in your promotional materials, interview questions, events and even the swag you offer your community?
The primary focus of exemplary school marketing and strategic communication is to make every right-fit student and family feel as though they have a place in your institutions. That means meeting families where they are and stripping away some of the exclusionary language and other communications practices that may be alienating to those who don't come from your "traditional" applicant pools. It also means letting families know where we stand in your equity work, in ways that they can understand and embrace.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how to analyze your website and materials for exclusionary language or images
- Examine your social media with an eye towards making it more inclusive
- Create interview questions yield answers that reveal whether the applicant family is aligned with the school's DEIB philosophy
- Ensure your onboarding process is inclusive for all admitted families
Career success comes down to more than just producing consistent results for your school. You can't keep your head down and count on a senior leader tapping you for the next role. Whether you are just starting out or a seasoned pro, there are always steps that you can take to get noticed, build a bigger network, recruit mentors and sponsors (and no, they aren't the same), and create a personal brand that isn't just tied to your current institution. Amping up your leadership skills will make the work that you do for your school more productive and effective and the time to start is now.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand what attributes make a good leader and how to acquire them.
- Understand why strategic professional development is crucial to success as a leader.
- Learn how to network with purpose in a way that is sustainable and reciprocal.
- Learn how to create a mentor or sponsor relationship.
- Learn how to use presentations, writing and social media to boost your public professional and enhance your leadership skills.
- Learn how to get out of your comfort zone (and your own way) and embrace a leadership role.
