In their August/September 2007 issue, PINK magazine published “Climbing the Ivory Tower.” Take initiative and educate yourself about the gender gap in higher education administration, with insights from Rebecca Chopp, president of Colgate University, and Patricia O’Brien, UCLA Dean.

Beginning July 2007, Drew Gilpin Faust began the academic year as Harvard’s first woman president. But women still make up only 23 percent of academic president positions. They are more likely than their male counterparts to have a doctorate yet less likely to have a family. And women are far from parity with men among tenured and tenure-track faculty positions. Meet America’s top women in academia and find out what can be done about the gender gap in education.

Download “Climbing the Ivory Tower” (PDF) by Paige Parvin, courtesy of PINK magazine.

Voted by Amazon.com as one of the best new magazines of 2005, PINK magazine is the premier publication for career women across the continent. Because of Stein’s relationship with PINK, you may subscribe at the special partnership rate of $12 for 12 issues. To receive their free monthly eNewsletter, learn about upcoming conferences, or read articles online, visit www.pinkmagazine.com and discover how successful women are achieving “A beautiful career. A beautiful life.”

Contributed by: Caitee Bloss
Web Project Assistant, Stein Communications

Previous to this issue of The Scoop, we have discussed podcasting in admissions, academics, alumni, and athletics. The last in our series, this fifth installment explores podcasts as a creative method of increasing and utilizing public relations (PR).

PR is a broad topic, as is podcasting. This article focuses on two main applications of podcasting within public relations: the utilitarian element of broadcasting university news and events, and the more emotional element of conveying the personality of the university while also enhancing reputation and extending the brand.

Broadcasting University News. Like blogs and email newsletters, podcasts enable universities to easily broadcast major news and events to a global audience. They are not subject to many of the boundaries and complications faced by print and email campaigns. Three main advantages of podcasting over more traditional news publication include:

• Cost — Podcasting can be done inexpensively. Podcast production costs, including equipment, can be minimal, and hosting plans are available to accommodate higher bandwidth and storage. You can imagine the savings compared to postage or email campaign fees.
• Archives — Once published, listeners can easily browse previous episodes. Software programs, such as iTunes, make this task especially intuitive.
• Convenience — Podcasts are as portable as music. Users don’t have to be sitting at the computer to catch up on the news — they can listen in their car, while they jog, on an iPod, etc.

Utilizing podcasts as another means of news syndication is becoming increasingly popular among universities. Yale University’s Yale Netcast discusses news, events, and major initiatives with university faculty and administration. Duke has a dedicated Office of News and Communications for keeping the news media and others up-to-date on school happenings. Their News & Communications podcast (iTunes link) is a component of this initiative, and covers everything from March Madness to Durham revitalization.

The University of Florida News podcast supplies listeners with regular updates of university news and events. Rather than focusing on just one campus issue or event, each “Update: Weekly” is structured as a summary of recent news.

As we have mentioned in previous articles in this series, a large advantage that podcasts have over traditional media is universal syndication. Because campus content can reach a global audience, individuals not enrolled in the institution can get a taste of the university’s excellence and expertise. By broadcasting such information as recent research, public speakers, and discussions on popular issues, the university expands its reputation as a credible and competitive institution.

Vanderbilt has many podcasts to promote and feature different facets of the school. Their podcast, That’s Vanderbilt, highlights the newest research at both the university and its medical center. In addition, Stellar Conversations, Medical Center Podcast, and The Sounds of Blair feature specific departmental happenings.

The Georgetown University Forum is another great example of a podcast series highlighting current research and faculty initiatives.

Simply put, podcasting is one of many Web 2.0 tools you can use to increase university exposure and recognition. As we’ve shown through this series, podcasts can help you reach many different audiences, such as prospective students, alumni, and sports fans. In addition to just getting your name out there, you can establish your school’s authority on a topic, project a personality, and extend branding initiatives.

Podcasts as a personal connection. PR podcasts are important on another, non-informative level. Each one reflects the university’s personality and can give the listener more insight into the school atmosphere or attitude. In addition to helping distinguish the university from others around the country, podcasts can contribute to the development of an emotional bond with constituents. Several elements factor in to this personal feel, such as focusing on a specific target audience, welcoming user feedback, and providing frequent episodes. Each element helps listeners better acquaint themselves with your university.

Branding and Exposure through Podcasting Directories. iTunes provides one of the largest podcast directories. Recently, they added a dedicated university division of their iTunes store — iTunes U. iTunes allows schools to create custom sites for their institution to organize and brand their series of podcasts. iTunes U sites are also designed to allow faculty members to contribute their own audio and video content. All schools are eligible to participate on iTunes U, and Apple provides instructions on how to get started.

Three advantages of an iTunes U site include:

• Publicity — With so many individuals already using iTunes for music, video, and other media, your site is exposed to a much larger audience. By enabling users to subscribe to your series (a great feature of iTunes), you are retaining listeners who may never have visited your podcast again. Also, because episodes for subscribed podcasts can be automatically downloaded to the individual’s iTunes, your listeners don’t have to continually check for new releases. Essentially, your iTunes store can help retain first-time visitors and increase the listening rate of existing listeners.
• Personality — Customizing your University iTunes U site allows you to demonstrate your school’s personality, extend your brand, and create a visual and emotional connection with the listener.
• Reputation — Your podcast is listed with some of the best academic podcasts on the web. Having a customized iTunes U site portrays a professional image of your podcast, and being listed in this higher-education-only directory affords you authority and respect.

Although it is the largest, iTunes is not the only academic podcast directory out there. Two other notable web sites are Open Culture and Princeton’s UChannel.

Open Culture organizes podcasts into two categories: General (ordered by university) and University Courses (ordered by subject). A university can appear in both sections, and the University Course list may be very helpful if your podcast is subject-specific. Anyone can recommend a podcast to be indexed.

Princeton’s UChannel emphasizes vodcasts (video podcasts) just as heavily as it does podcasts. Instead of providing links to entire podcast series, the UChannel invites universities to contribute individual episodes. Their goal is to create an online resource for academic media. For this reason, episode contents must be highly academic — lectures, seminars, panels and interviews. While initially focusing on public and international affairs, the channel describes the directory as having “unlimited potential.”

With so many available tools and resources, it is now easier than ever to create university podcasts. Our five-part article series explored podcasting in higher education — a topic covering a myriad of topics and attracting an equally varied audience, all of which are tuning in specifically to your university. Experience the power of this Web 2.0 tool for yourself — with a little time and energy (and a microphone), we think you’ll find that the rewards are worth it.

Contributed by: Ross Lenhart
Senior Vice President, Stein Communications

College Unranked, edited by Lloyd Thacker, a thirty-year veteran of the college admission and college counseling professions and executive director of The Education Conservancy

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
– Albert Einstein

On picking up my paper on a Sunday morning, I came upon an article on the front page about our local public university and its determination to raise its rankings in the coming year for the next edition of U.S. News and World Report to be published in the late summer of 2008. The article informed the local tax paying public that the university was sending its Executive Vice President to Washington to talk with the folks at USN&WR to get a handle on how they might accomplish the task of having their name move up several or many notches on the ranking scale. I am now willing to bet that when the VP returned to campus, he gave a full report on how “we need to do this and we need to do that.” In other words, another cathedral of higher learning will make administrative decisions based on the good offices of an editorial board determined to sell magazines for pure profit — decisions which will cost money and time not necessarily based on the common good for its students and university community. It seems to me that $1,000 in travel expenses to Washington might be better spent — maybe in scholarship money for a deserving student or the purchase of a microscope.

In candor, I do understand my local university’s dilemma. They are caught somewhere in between reality and their desire for positive public perception. How in the world do colleges find themselves in this situation? It’s between a rock and hard place, and it’s pure Catch 22. I suspect that even though many institutions of higher learning have little respect for the rankings, they are caught in the trap of supplying tons of data and traveling to such places as offices in Washington in order to climb up the ladder to be listed with the competition according to the rather faulty gospel of USN&WR. Further, I feel that beneath the surface, colleges may detest this exercise. It doesn’t make sense, considering we’re dealing with an intellectual community. Then why don’t they do something about it? I guess it’s called pure courage.

Through a series of essays by knowledgeable and respected college and university admissions officers, secondary counselors, and college presidents (see listing below), College Unranked provides much food for thought regarding the aforementioned question. It is a call for courage. I suspect that College Unranked may be the seed that has started a ground swell. And it hasn’t taken long. I met the editor of College Unranked and also the leader and founder of this movement six years ago at a National Association of College Admission Counselors annual conference. I remember thinking that this idealist was on his way to flail at windmills. Recent history has proven how wrong I was. Lloyd Thacker and his Educational Conservancy are here for the common good. What they are doing is admirable. They are slowly moving our attention to affirm educational values in college admissions. Recently, he was a definite influence at the 2007 NACAC conference in Austin. And you can’t pick up a Chronicle of Higher Education today without reading his name or seeing a quote. He’s our professional conscience, and he’s here to stay. College Unranked leaves us with a listing of recommendations of what we can do to alleviate institutions like my local university who is caught in this trap. Thacker and his band of professionals and allies remind us at every step, “Education is a process, not a product. Students are learners, not customers.” And, more importantly, “Students’ thoughts, ideas, and passions are worthy to be engaged and handled with utmost care.”

In College Unranked, the only exception I would make is that marketing the educational process is held in a rather unfavorable light. As a person involved in educational marketing, it is obvious that I have to take serious issue with this idea. Darn right I would. If I didn’t always hold an altruistic view of my work of providing students with straightforward and honest information so that they can make an informed decision regarding a college choice, then I wouldn’t be in this business. I might instead opt for Madison Avenue in order to glorify soap. I love the educational process and, for some forty years, have helped colleges tell their stories… even telling them in ways that fit into the very chapters found in College Unranked. There are many of us in college marketing who have made a career of doing just that. I would admonish Mr. Thacker to reach out and communicate with us who have always put the student first in our work. Collectively, we would have much to share for the common good. And, yes, he might be surprised.

College Unranked is a very responsible document. It is a book written by knowledgeable professionals who raise meaningful concerns regarding the very important life-changing decisions of young people. If I were in charge of training professionals coming into college or secondary school admission counseling, this book would top my list of required reading. A few older pros might benefit as well. No, Lloyd Thacker, you are no longer flailing at windmills. Keep reminding us of our responsibilities and the real importance of the work that we do. You had the courage to take on a national magazine and raise issues that needed to be addressed, and maybe your courage will continue to be infectious. I hope so.

Contributors to College Unranked:
Lloyd Thacker, Executive Director of The Educational Conservancy
Kim Stafford, Director, Northwest Writing Institute, Lewis & Clark College
William M. Shain, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Vanderbilt University (now at Bowdoin)
William Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Harvard College
Marlyn McGrath Lewis, Director of Admissions, Harvard College
Charles Ducey, Director of the Bureau of Study Counsel, Harvard University
Bruce J. Poch, Vice President and Dean of Admissions, Pomona College
Mark Speyer, Director of College Counseling, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School
James M. Sumner, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, Grinnell College
Paul Marthers, Dean of Admission, Reed College
Sean Callaway, Director of College Placement and Internships, Pace University Center for Urban Education
Richard H. Hersh, Former President, Trinity College
Karl M. Furstenberg, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Dartmouth College
William Adams, President, Colby College
Ted O’Neill, Dean of Admission, University of Chicago
Michael Beseda, Vice Provost for Enrollment, Saint Mary’s College of California
Sid Dalby, Associate Director of Admission, Smith College
Colin S. Diver, President, Reed College
Robert J. Massa, Vice President for Enrollment, Student Life and College Relations, Dickinson College
Harold Wingood, Dean of Admission, Clark University
Matt Fissinger, Dean of Admission, Loyola Marymount University
Craig J. Franz, FSC, President, St. Mary’s College of California
Philip Ballinger, Ph.D., Director of Admissions, University of Washington

Contributed by: Caitee Bloss
Web Project Assistant, Stein Communications

November 11 – 17 was American Education Week. Originally created in 1921 by the National Education Association (NEA), this annual event aims to celebrate public education and honor individuals who are making a difference in ensuring that every child receives a quality education. Weeklong events are intended to raise awareness, deepen the involvement of the community at a local level, and urge individuals to do their part in improving public schools. Each day of the week had a different theme, as outlined in the NEA schedule. This year’s theme was Great Public Schools: A Basic Right and Our Responsibility.

Whether your university is public or private, there are several reasons to celebrate American Education Week. We encourage you to plan events throughout the year, in addition to the week itself.

Reach out to your alumni. Take advantage of any opportunity to recognize your graduates who have made a difference in public education — those who majored in education, went on to serve through Teach for America, and other alumni who are leaders in the community.

Educate future leaders. As an institution of higher education, your university is educating and preparing future classroom teachers. Consider hosting events on campus to explain the school’s approach to teaching and improving public schools. Prospective students will benefit from learning about the reality of the public school environment and what their roles might be.

Raise political awareness. The quest to provide every child with a quality education has no doubt sparked many political arguments. Endless possibilities exist for speakers (including your political science professors) and student groups to address this topic.

We encourage you to continue the spirit of American Education Week throughout the year and help raise awareness to improve the climate of both public and private education in the United States. For your convenience, the NEA provides several resources, including an online toolkit, background information, and a weeklong schedule.

Making the most of your agency-client relationship

Please join Stein consultant J.D. Fite and Admissions Director Jim Tucker from St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School as they share tips on how to get the best results from the Agency-Client relationship at the 2007 TABS Conference in Boston, MA.

Their presentation, entitled Dare 2 B DiFFerent – Trusting an Agency to Market Your School, will be Friday, November 30, from 2:45 – 4:00 p.m. in Salon 1.

Universities connecting to students via Web 2.0

Like many universities across the nation, when it came time to revamp their admissions web site, Lipscomb University in Nashville chose to add more interactive features for prospective students. The new web site features a scholarship calculator, student journals, and customized admissions information; in addition, students who are admitted to the university may also take advantage of The Quad, Lipscomb’s private, online, social-networking community. Students have the opportunity to meet one another online, find a roommate, and search for other students with similar interests. Lipscomb’s online community was recently featured in The Tennessean, along with Belmont University’s Belmont Buddies community. Stein is very excited to be the provider of both online communities, with The Quad running our CommunityYou product and Belmont Buddies using the precursor to CommunityYou. If you would like more information about CommunityYou or would like to schedule a demo, please contact Lee Thrash at lthrash@steincommunications.com or 404.494.4399.

Our friend Bill

It is particularly noteworthy to us when our clients and friends are elevated to high places. As a regular exhibitor and supporter (since 1968) of the National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC), we were extremely pleased to learn of the election of Bill McClintick as the president of this worthwhile national organization. Bill is the director of college counseling at The Mercersburg Academy, an extremely valued and long-time Stein client. Bill’s reputation as a straight shooter and above board practitioner in the admissions and college counseling field previously earned him the highly respected position of vice president for admission practices of NACAC prior to his election as president. He is experienced on both sides of the desk, having held admissions positions at both Hartwick and Kalamazoo Colleges prior to arriving at Mercersburg. We wish Bill well during the coming year, and congratulate him for the distinction he has brought not only to himself but to Mercersburg as well.

Seeking qualified candidates for sales position

Stein is seeking qualified candidates for a sales/consulting position. If you are interested in learning more about the position, please contact Jenny Brower at 404.494.4393 or jbrower@steincommunications.com.

Comments or suggestions for future issues?

We would love to hear from you: If you have a news story you’d like to share with other education professionals or ideas for future issues, contact Ross Lenhart at 843.235.6907, or Meg Gwaltney at 404.494.4403 or mgwaltney@steincommunications.com.