I’m attending  a conference in Florida this week, and despite all the talk of economic gloom & doom, I have a number of reasons for optimism, which bodes well both for consultants and tuition-paying families:

- The stock market is up for the year

- Consumer confidence was up in April & May

- Consumer spending was up 2.2% in the first quarter

- New unemployment filings were down the last several weeks

While the news is clearly not all positive, and remains bleak in certain communities, overall it seems we are slowly turning a corner.

Those who attended my breakouts in San Francisco or Baltimore know that I believe hiring consultants is most closely linked to consumer confidence. In this regard things appear to be heading in the right direction.

The next 12 months may not be great, but we may be at or near the bottom. What are others seeing in their communities?

Posted by Mark Sklarow, IECA Executive Director

Photos of the San Francisco conference have been added to IECA’s Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38031500@N05/

IECA’s 2009 – 2010 board of directors and committee chairs listing has been posted at: http://www.iecaonline.com/board.html

Great conversation with a military school admission director whoÂ
reinforced a message I learned years ago, and which dispels a falseÂ
impression. Military schools are not the place to send a troubled orÂ
defiant teen. Rather they are the place for kids who need structure,Â
organizational skills, time management. Think of the service academyÂ
model of providing clear structure, school uniforms, etc. to provideÂ
what some students need to achieve both academic and personal growth.

Posted by Mark Sklarow, IECA Executive Director

I had the wonderful opportunity to share with Western Boarding School Heads and Directors of Admission about how the field of school consulting has changed in the last 10 years. Among the major changes, here are 10:
1. Increased education and professional training of consultants.
2. A doubling of their number: over 300 IECA Members do school advising (a smaller percentage, but membership growth means more of them).
3. More consultants are out west: just 52 in 1999, today more than 175 IECA Members live in the western states.
4. Transition of consulting from an avocation to a full-time profession that can support a family.
5. Adoption of far stricter rules that prohibit the acceptance of gifts valued over $50 and a prohibition against activities by consultants that seek to influence a school’s admission decision.
6. Growth in international consulting.
7. Closer ties with NAIS, TABS, SSATB.
8. Availability of social networking tools to enhance communications between schools and consultants.
9. Change in the IECA conference format to ensure more face-to-face time between schools and consultants.
10.New standards of excellence that will ensure those doing school advising are well-informed and well-prepared.

Posted by Mark Sklarow, IECA Executive Director

IECA’s international consulting reach has recently spread to include Mexico, India, Germany, Puerto Rico, Ivory Coast as well as more traditional locations in Central and South America, Europe, Middle East and Asia. Our Canadian membership has been increasing as well. At the request of the many international IECA members who attended our San Francisco Conference, we will be establishing a new International affinity group as one of IECA’s recognized groups. Let us know if you’d like to be a part. Thanks to you all!

Posted by Mark Sklarow, IECA Executive Director

Haight-Ashbury reception Friday night
IECA conference attendees enjoyed sporting their tie-dye shirts, peace signs, and tinted glasses for a step back to the Haight-Ashbury days…

 

I neglected to also thank the providers of various goods and services who were also present. It’s a great way for us to learn about ways consultants and service providers can interact for the good of our students. We appreciate you coming as well!

Posted by Becky Grappo, IECA (Oman)

I have a love/hate relationship with Info Swaps. Every time I come to IECA and see hundreds of people and tables with information in the grand ballrooms, I become a bit overwhelmed and uncharacteristically shy. I usually fortify myself with the treats that are set out before diving into the crowd – perhaps the goal of that tantalizing food is to lure other suddenly shy consultants into the room!

So for the last two days, I had to take a deep breath and plunge into the gauntlet and work the room. Though I dreaded it initially, soon I was back in my comfort zone. It’s great to catch up with old friends and contacts from the world of schools, colleges, and programs. I get to follow up on kids I’ve placed, or had apply to college, and am also armed with new “shopping lists” for students I am working with. Not only do I get the chance to reconnect with dear colleagues, but I always walk away with new contacts, new hidden gems I just learned about, and new ideas for a student. I also get to talk through scenarios with school and programs representatives face to face and think through possible solutions with them.

It’s a reminder, too, of how our young and inexperienced students must feel when they go to a college fair and have to put themselves out there. It’s not easy – and only gets slightly easier with experience! But is it worth it? Absolutely!!!

I’d like to thank all those schools, colleges, and programs, too, for coming. I think that many of them must share my feelings, only they are working the opposite side of the table. But if they didn’t come to IECA, and put their organizations or institutions out there, it would be a whole lot harder for us as consultants to learn about them – and that means we would be far less likely to refer students. So thanks for coming!!!

Posted by Becky Grappo, IECA (Oman)

IECA members Whitney Laughlin and Kima Jones gave an excellent presentation today about universities in Canada.  In addition to these fine presenters, representatives from three Canadian universities were on hand to offer their particular institutional perspectives.

Kima offered a list of the Top 4 Reasons to Study in Canada, which she explained in great detail in the presentation and on the handout. The Top 4 Reasons are:

1.  International Recognition
2.  Safety and Standard of Living
3.  Diversity and Multiculturalism
4.  Value

Whitney then offered a number of advantages and disadvantages to Canadian universities over U.S. options.

The advantages:

1.  Canadian post-secondary education is both strong and standardized.
2.  Application deadlines are generally later (but earlier is better).
3.  Canadian universities tend to be more “gay friendly.”
4.  Canadian schools are not as “rah-rah” as in the U.S.
5.  The current economic downturn is hitting Canada less hard.
6.  The majority of Canadian universities are close to the U.S.
7.  Cost of attending a Canadian university is much less than attending a large, state university outside one’s own state.
8.  Student visas (or “study permits”) can be obtained at the airport, as long as all documentation is in place.
9.  Many Canadian universities have outstanding co-op programs.
10.  Canada’s public universities, though large, are very user-friendly.

The disadvantages:

1.  No need-based aid for U.S. students.
2. Canadian universities, with some exceptions, are much less residential in nature.
3.  Canadian universities have not kept pace in faculty hiring, despite growth in student enrollments.
4. There are only 10 private colleges or universities in Canada.

This was a fun and informative session, and will be helpful to me as I look at Canadian universities for some of my clients.

Posted by Mark Montgomery, IECA (Colorado)