ALP: The Admissions Leadership Podcast

Season Finale: Dr. Joffery Gaymon,  Vice President for Enrollment at Auburn University, shares what it's like (and what it takes) to make the jump to one of the biggest roles at one of the most recognizable institutions in the U.S. She shares the essential and timeless tools to keep in your toolbox, whatever your ambitions may be, as well as how to keep yourself focused and grounded as the work gets tougher. (And there may be ...

Kent Barnds,  Executive Vice President of ExternalRelations: Advancement | Communication | Enrollment | Planning for Augustana College (Rock Island, Ill.), shares how he started as "an accidental admissions person" and become the person with the longest title in the history of the ALP, and what he has learned along the way by becoming a college parent. Great mysteries will be revealed in this episode, including the origin...

Robert Gould, Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management at Augsburg University (Minneapolis), offers a deep dive into an approach to college admission that is turning the process on its head and—in the process—not only fostering a greater sense of belonging for students, but for the admission professionals who work with them.

Could it be an antidote to the Great Resignation?

Notes

• Augsburg Applies to Y...

Allan Mathew, Director of Graduate Admissions at Tufts University, discusses the similarities and differences of graduate and undergrad admissions and what he's learned working at three institutions in very different market positions. He also offers compelling insights into the four themes of his doctoral dissertation, which focused on the experiences of chief enrollment officers of color.

Rapid Descent

• Walkout son...

Heather Daniels, Director of Admissions at Colorado State University, discusses how she's managed to "come home" to every college she has ever worked for ... and discovers that she and Ken have a surprising braided history.

Rapid Descent

• Walkout songs: Believe by Mumford & Sons
• Best recent read/eager to read next: Coherence by Rick Bailey
• Favorite podcast: Up First | Smartless | Wiser Than Me
• Favorite th...

Boyd Bradshaw, the inaugural Vice President for Enrollment Management at Towson University (MD), discusses Towson's new comprehensive and integrated approach to enrollment—from recruitment to graduation—and what it has been like organizing the institution  around that work. We also learn Boyd's secret and surprising skill that he carries with him to this day.

Rapid Descent

• Walkout songs: Eye of the Tiger by S...

In this metaphor-loaded episode, Christopher Gray, Dean of Enrollment at Lasell University, discusses living and learning through a successful launch of a tuition reset, why communities matter to marathoners, and a nifty trick to try in your next meeting.

Rapid Descent

• Walkout songs: Dirt Road Anthem by Jason Aldean
• Best recent read: Extreme You: Step Up. Stand Out. Kick Ass. Repeat. audiobook by Sarah Robb O'Hagan ...

Eric Hoover, Senior Writer at the Chronicle of Higher Education, joins the ALP to discuss his April 5 Chronicle article, A Profession on the Edge: Why enrollment leaders are wearing down, burning out, and leaving jobs they once loved.  He discusses what led to his writing the piece, what surprised him in his discovery, and why things are different now than they were nine years ago when he wrote a similarly provocative piece in Sept...

Season Premiere: Mary Chase, Vice Provost for Enrollment at Creighton University, kicks off the season from her fortress of solitude (which will make sense when you listen), and shares how growing up on a farm, being a college mom, and leaving the first footsteps of the day on a dewy fairway shape her approach to enrollment leadership.

Rapid Descent

• Walkout songs: You Time by Scotty McCreery
• Best recent read: Reality-Bas...

Season Finale: Vern Granger,  Director of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Connecticut AND the Chair of the Board for the National Association for College Admission Counseling shares what it takes to manage two jobs that, in themselves, are more than full-time jobs. We also discuss Vern's World Cup predictions, the finer points of bacon, proper peanut butter choices, and the virtue of the handwritten note. 
<...

Wayne Young, Charisse Williams, Mary Ann Tietjen and Joe Ecklund of Creighton University's interdivisional student success team share some of the secret sauce behind how Creighton built and maintained a 3-point jump in first-year student retention over the past three years. The episode includes a look at Colloquium, a unique human-powered intervention with a 70% success rate retaining students who are preparing to leave the in...

Andy Borst,  Director of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, shares tips on nurturing and managing relationships with the media (with hat-tips to Scott Jaschik and Eric Hoover). Andy also shares his morning routine (itself a pro tip) as well as the origins of his name, which we somehow accidentally trip over early in the episode.

Rapid Descent

• Walkout song:  Know Your Enemy by Green...

Joe Montgomery may be one of the busiest people between enrollment jobs right now: a member of the advisory board to the Partnership for Education Advancement; a consultant through the United Negro College Fund; and now one of the newest members of NACAC's board of directors. Joe reflects on how creating your network with your body of work can sustain you when the headwinds come: "Lean into the headwinds and answers will ...

Tim Fields (Emory University) and Shereem Herndon-Brown (Strategic Admissions Advice)—co-authors of The Black Family's Guide to College Admissions: A Conversation about Education, Parenting and Race, and co-hosts of the podcast, Application to Admission: Understanding the Choices—provide a master class in leveraging complementary experiences, skillsets and mindsets in the collaborative process as they discuss how their groundb...

James Miller,  Assistant Vice Provost and Dean of Admission at Seattle University, reflects on the value of self-reflection in your own decision-making, the power of pausing when you're "in the grip," and why "relaxed is fast, slow is relaxed" and "slow is fast." (Also, there's randomly like 11 minutes of silence after the bumper music ... consider it an invitation for reflection. 😉)

Five women who ascended to leadership roles just before or during the pandemic discuss what it's like to be the first in their roles—first woman, first person of color, first first-generation college student, first transfer students. Get ready for a torrent of great advice from Eva Blanco Masias of Santa Clara University, Jennifer Sandoval-Dancs of Claremont McKenna College, Lisa Keegan of Bucknell University, Melinda Wood of ...

Ineliz Soto-Fuller,  Assistant Vice President of Undergraduate Admissions for Enrollment Management at Seattle Pacific University, discusses how to lead with integrity and authenticity in the midst of challenging circumstances. Turns out that a clear sense of what authenticity looks and sounds like (as well heavy doses of Quirkle and  karaoke) go a long way.

Rapid Descent

• Walkout song:  Roar by Katy Perry and Vivir Mi V...

Angie Cooksy, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management at Bradley University (Peoria, Ill.) and host of the podcast Elevating Admission Voices, discusses how she established herself as a regionally-based (in Kenosha, Wis.) admission professional 15 years ago and has steadily climbed the leadership mountain as a remote teammate ever since. Angie offers several great questions that new middle managers need to know ... and m...