Jan 24th 12 Posted by Brenda Harms

Preparing for Battle Adult Student Conversations on Campus

Okay, so we all know I tend to lean toward the overly dramatic, but really, I’ve been there. I know how hard some of the conversations can be on college campuses surrounding issues on the needs of adult students. What are schools REALLY doing to make sure that adult students do more than register for classes, but actually graduate—or as Dr. Mark Milliron, chancellor of Western Governors University... read more

Dec 29th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

Resolutions for the New Year

I am not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions; they always feel more like wishful thinking than true commitments.  But I know for some of you these resolutions are serious and cause you to alter your behavior (often for the better) as you look to a new calendar year as a bit of a clean slate.  I want to suggest to you a few professional resolutions that you may want to consider as we move into 2012. ... read more

Dec 27th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

Critical Website Content for Adult Students

As many of you will remember from previous Stamats Adult StudentsTALK™ Research, the web is the place where adult students are most likely to go to find out more about your institution. Even before they call you, they check you out online. I know this may strike panic in your heart as many of you have shared with me over the years that you are not at all confident in what your institutional site... read more

Dec 22nd 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

Record-Breaking Registration, but WHY?

For those of us around Stamats involved with the Adult Student Marketing Conference, we had a pretty exciting week that I would like to share with you.  As some of you may be aware, our fourth annual  Adult Student Marketing Conference will be held in Austin, Texas, February 27 –29.  The early-bird registration deadline for this conference was last week and, as any former enrollment professional... read more

Dec 20th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

Leveraging the Holiday Rush

It’s that time of year again and, no, I don’t mean the winter break.  I mean what I refer to as the holiday rush for adults to jump back into higher education.  Certificate programs, degree completion programs, and graduate programs alike tend to have a flurry of activity as time moves forward toward the January start, more commonly known in higher education as second semester.  When do adults... read more

Dec 15th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

Digital Marketing Best Practices on Tour with NERCOMP and Stamats Catchfire

It’s true! The digital world really does bring us together. I am always delighted to see constituents reaching out to colleagues from across campus to leverage their knowledge in a way that will positively impact their institution. Stamats Catchfire is partnering with  the Northeast Regional Computing Program (NERCOMP), an organization historically serving the educational needs of IT professionals,... read more

Nov 14th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

Embrace Discomfort!

Change creates discomfort, and as simple as that may sound it is often our fear of being uncomfortable that keeps us where we are.  Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for those of us who work with adult students in higher education, we do not have the luxury of being comfortable or digging in our heals and holding our ground.  For those colleges and universities that have tried, they have watched... read more

Nov 11th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

2012 Adult Student Marketing Conference

Please plan on joining me at the 2012 Stamats Adult Student Marketing Conference in vibrant, downtown Austin, Texas! Mark your calendar and then jump on the Stamats website to look at the program and take advantage of the early-bird discount for this great event to be held February 27–29. In response to attendee feedback last year, we have placed an extra emphasis on the importance of the digital... read more

Nov 7th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

Student Experience

I attended the 2011 ACHE Conference last week in Orlando and was delighted to hear that the opening keynote focused on managing experience in higher education.  This has long been an interest of mine and I am forever shocked at how little effort most colleges and universities put into even understanding what their students’ experience with their institution is.  Institutions spend so much money... read more

Oct 4th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

The Negative Attitude toward Adult Students

You will have to forgive me this week as I have the distinct sense that I am about to start preaching to the choir, but I just don’t think I can stop myself.  I have just had a most disturbing conversation with a group of higher education professionals about the need to “keep quiet” about the work their school is doing in relation to serving adult students.  In this discussion, which was really... read more