Questions, Answers, Actions, and Results
In today’s disrupted higher education environment, colleges and universities need to build a long-term and transformational revenue stream. Now is time to lean into growing your graduate and online populations, but with a better business model.
RNL’s Graduate and Online Innovation Summit will:
- Address the new realities of enrollment management.
- Tap into new and next digital marketing.
- Share the latest strategies to achieve long-term institutional sustainability.
Join us for this one-day virtual online and graduate enrollment summit. You’ll learn directly from experienced college and university leaders who are leveraging data-informed strategies to drive higher enrollment through omnichannel engagement.
Graduate and Online Summit Fee
Only $99 per person
Bring a team to spark discussion and create momentum for implementing new strategies.
Who should attend?
- President or Chancellor
- Chief Enrollment Officer/Vice President for Enrollment
- Provost or Chief Academic Officer
- Chief Fiscal Officer
- Chief Marketing Officer
Summit Agenda
Agenda is subject to change
10:00 – 11:00 a.m. CT
Welcome and Opening Discussion
Introduction and Welcome
- Aaron Mahl, Senior Vice President, Graduate and Online Partnerships, RNL
- Todd Abbott, Senior Vice President, Partnerships, RNL
What are the most pressing questions you need answered during the Summit? When you register, you will be asked what question is most important to you and your institution related to graduate and/or online expansion. We will open the day by highlighting the most common themes – and will close the day with an expert panel that will answer as many as possible.
Opening Discussion: Scaling for Growth
- Susan Aldridge, Former President, Drexel University Online and University Maryland University College
- Dawn Hiles, Chief Business Development Officer, RNL
The higher education landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. In this session, we will talk with Susan Aldridge about the tactics, strategies – and leadership – that are needed to effectively scale for growth. Over the course of her career, Susan has led expansion efforts at multiple institutions, most recently Drexel University Online and University of Maryland Global Campus. Among the topics we will discuss are:
- How to determine if your campus is ready for growth
- How to make the case for growth and build buy in
- How many programs should you launch at one time
- How to determine what to do yourself and what to “farm out”
- How to make all of this scalable
Susan Aldridge, was president of both University of Maryland Global Campus and Drexel University Online and led periods of dramatic growth at both institutions.
11:00 – 11:15 a.m. CT
Break
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CT
How To Grow Your Online Footprint: OPMs, Options, and Alternatives (Choose between 3 breakout sessions)
All the indicators say that online enrollment has become fundamental to a growth strategy. Now what? With tight resources, many institutions think that an OPM revenue share is their only option. But when you look at the real dollars and cents, you’re likely better off in the long run to own your own success. How do you do this? How do you make the case for investment? How do you make it happen? In this session, attendees will choose one of the following conversations:
Selective Institutions
- Josh Kim, Director of Online Programs and Strategy, Dartmouth College
- Eddie Maloney, Executive Director, Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, Georgetown University
- Charles Ramos, Vice President, Graduate and Online Enrollment Management, RNL
Josh Kim and Eddie Maloney talk with Charles Ramos about the unique opportunities and challenges that select privates contend with as they contemplate the expansion of online programming.
Public Institutions
- Godfrey Gibbison, Dean, California State University San Marcos
- Suzana Diaz Rosencrans, Assistant Vice Provost for Online Programs, The University of Texas at San Antonio
- Nate Mouttet, Vice President Graduate and Online Solutions, RNL
Godfrey Gibbison and Suzana Diaz Rosencrans talk with Nate Mouttet about the unique regulatory, institutional culture, and operational issues that public institutions must navigate as they grow online
Private Institutions
- Chris Domes, President, Neumann University
- Holly Tapper, Vice President Graduate and Online Solutions, RNL
Chris Domes talks with Holly Tapper about how to best capitalize on the opportunities as well as address the challenges that mid-sized private institution confront when building online programming.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CT
Lunch & Innovation Sessions
- Building & Maintaining Excellent Online Courses
- Engaging with your “online only” Alumni
- The Importance of Collecting Online & Graduate Student Feedback
- Avoiding Pitfalls in Digital Marketing
- Developing an Online Student Success Plan
- Three Stats That Indicate the Transformation of Higher Ed
- Building a Better Funnel Through Persona-Based Lead Generation
- Why Successful Enrollment Managers Value Strategic Enrollment Plans
- Winning the Enrollment Battle by Measuring What Matters
- What a Real Enrollment Partner Should Do for You
- “Engaging With” Instead of “Communicating At” Prospective Students
- Slow Kills: Why Speed-to-Lead Is Critical to Enrollment Health
- Search Engine FAILs: Avoiding Common SEO Pitfalls
- Making the Smartest Choice on Program Prioritization by Using Market Data
1:00 – 1:45 p.m. CT
Integrated Marketing is the Key: The Pendulum Swings Again
- Diana Ebanks, Digital Marketing Director, Rice Online
- Erin Minsart, Vice President of Integrated Media, RNL
- Bob Stewart, Vice President Graduate and Online Solutions, RNL
You’ve built buy-in. You’ve got the right programs. You’ve determined how to scale and own your programs. Now its time to market and enroll students. What are the “most dos”? What is coming around the corner? How do you avoid the pitfalls? Higher education marketing is an ever-moving target and this session will discuss how to make every marketing dollar get its highest ROI.
While digital marketing boomed during the pandemic, a litany of circumstances has pushed marketers to rethink their strategies and tactics. More sophisticated SEO, moving digital marketing dollars to traditional resources (used in new and innovative ways), and levering the relationships that you have are just a few of the latest paradigm shifts.
1:45 – 2:30 p.m. CT
Leveraging Market Data to Inform Program Choice
- Rachel Carlton, Dean, William Kellett School, Lakeland University
- Scott Jeffe, Vice President Research, Graduate and Online, RNL
You know you need to go online. You know you need to invest strategically. You don’t have the time or the resources to wait for in-depth research. How do you choose or prioritize your programs? While everyone has access to the secondary research available from IPEDS, the US Labor Department, and various other sources, the way these data are being leveraged is spotty at best. In this session we will discuss how to effectively use these resources (it’s all about comparisons) in a timely, cost-efficient manner that brings clarity to your plans.
2:30 – 3:00 p.m. CT
Answering Your Questions Live
- Aaron Mahl, Senior Vice President, Graduate and Online Partnerships, RNL
- Todd Abbott, Senior Vice President, Partnerships, RNL
When you register for the event, you will be asked to write in the question you most need answered by the event. This will not only influence the development of content throughout the Summit, but it will also provide the basis for our closing session. All of our speakers will join us and answer as many of your questions as we can get through – and if we don’t get to yours, we will follow up after the event!
3:00 p.m. CT
Adjournment
Graduate and Online Summit Fee
Only $99 per person
Bring a team to spark discussion and create momentum for implementing new strategies.