by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Can I admit that I tuned out? After a week of tearfully watching the news and reading stories of orphaned children, collapsed schools, amputated limbs, starving babies, and grieving families, my mind needed to escape and so, I tuned out. I watched American Idol instead of CNN, and The Daily Show over the Nightly News. Last weekend I turned on the TV but quickly switched from CBS to the Food Network to Comedy Central. It was no use as the telethon for Haiti was everywhere my remote took me. Yes, I had donated and yes, I felt compassion but frankly after a week, somehow things seemed more daunting and hopeless.

Then a few things seeped past my defenses. There were still rescues, unbelievably, after a week, 10 days, and 12 days. The looting we were told was inevitable never really materialized, despite the desperation and lack of a working government. I saw a story on ABC about an Israeli MASH unit set up on a soccer field with a maternity ward and NIC unit that was operating so effectively that babies were being born, healthy, and being named “Israel” by grateful parents.

A few days ago I received a message from an IECA associate member, Maryline Kruger (FL). A native of Haiti herself, it brought an international crisis into our own community. While Maryline’s immediate family survived, she shared with me the desperation many shared and the daily struggle to meet the necessities of life.  Maryline posted her personal message on the IECA TalkList a few days ago. After reading her message I wanted to write one last comment, perhaps a final reminder about what Haiti needs. My thoughts are no more insightful but I felt the need to comment, perhaps thinking of others who, like me, had to tune out for a while.

Needs are still immediate: food, water, and medical care. Nearly 2,000 emergency medical responders remain in Haiti and the U.S. military, as well as U.N. forces, continue to be the sole source of food and water for many.

But I worry about the generation of kids. Perhaps a million are now without parents. Nearly all with a future further challenged by living in tent cities or worse, without nourishment, medicine, communications, and schooling. For me—and nearly all of you I’m sure, it is our emotional connection to children that motivates us in our work and personal lives, and motivates me now to make just one more donation to save the children of Haiti.

I know many have given all they can. I hope others will join Maryline in giving just a few dollars more to the charity of their choice—for the kids, for their survival, for their future.

Now, I promise, back to IECA business.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Based on a request brought by the IECA Special Needs Committee, the Board of Directors met via teleconference last week. Knowing that members overwhelmingly view the TalkList as a valuable benefit (based on the January 2010 member survey), the effort focused on ways to make the TalkList both more valuable but also ensure that several current concerns are addressed.

Concerns focused on just a few specific area: (1) the tendency of some to reveal too much information in  a case study such that client confidentiality could be compromised; (2) the tendency of some to present so little background as to call in to question whether the person making the post is qualified or ‘did their homework’ before asking for assistance; (3) the actions of some in forwarding TalkList postings to individuals outside of IECA (often in schools or programs), a clear violation of the rules that members agree to support.

Board consensus was that the regulations established should be shared with members more frequently. It was felt that often members sign the TalkList agreement but forget expectations, like proper titles. There was discussion about online training that would review what constitutes a good case study posting: one that provides sufficient information but no identifying characteristics, and demonstrates the research done by the consultant prior to the post. It was also felt that members need to be reminded that it is unacceptable to forward postings outside the membership and that doing so is basis for being removed from the TalkList.

There was discussion about the possibility of creating a TalkList mentor group. Their role would be to assist those trying to frame a posting or to contact those who post something considered improper to explain why and provide assistance in changing to a more valuable post.

Many on the Board felt that there were more significant problems of members venturing into advising beyond their expertise. This was judged to be an issue beyond just the TalkList and will be addressed separately.

The Board will continue this work and create a series of proposals. You may share your thoughts in the comments section below this blog, or send your comments to IECA board president Diane Geller at dianegeller@gmail.com or to me at msklarow@iecaonline.com.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Registration for our Spring 2010 Conference will be opening soon and details of the scores of speakers, breakouts, seminars, and more will be posted on our Web site. I do want to share a little information about one of our featured speakers. Dr. Peter Jensen is a member of the Canadian Olympic team, soon to travel to Vancouver to help the host country’s athletes. Jensen won’t be on the snow or ice, however. His role is to get into the heads of the athletes, providing them with the mental preparation needed by elite athletes to improve personal performance. Author of The Inside Edge, Jensen has been advisor to athletes for many years, including the last six Olympics Games.

Jensen will be joining us at our Toronto Conference just weeks after the 2010 Olympics. But what does such a professional offer to IECA members and school admission staff? His new book, Igniting the Third Factor gives us the answer.

In his new book, Jensen looks at the techniques parents, counselors, and educators can use to motivate students to succeed. At our conference he will offer solutions on motivation, engagement, self-reliance, and developing adolescent initiative using humor and stories based on his own experiences. The heart of his presentation will be five actions that separate igniters from extinguishers, something every parent and educator needs to know, as well as a wealth of strategies that can immediately be put into action.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

We are excited to announce that many of the innovations that IECA introduced as experiments at the 2009 Fall Conference were so enthusiastically received that we are bringing them back, with a few changes to make them even more valuable.

When IECA gathers in Toronto this May, the Speed Meetings will return at a new point in the schedule, and the popular Master Class and Point/Counterpoint sessions will be held with new topics and presenters.

The Saturday morning Master Class will feature Dr. Efrain Bleiberg, one of the nation’s leading authorities on adolescent personality disorders. Bleiberg is a professor at the Baylor College of Medicine where he serves as chair in psychiatry and developmental psychopathology, as medical director of Professionals in Crisis Program, and vice chair of the Menninger Clinic.

The previous afternoon, a general session will feature an examination of the question, “Are 12-Step Models the Right Approach for Treating Adolescents?” A number of panelists will explore the use of 12-step models and also the view of some that “being an addict” and “never using again” are not appropriate for 16-year olds. As was done in last year’s discussion, the session will allow for participation by programs and consultants in offering opinions and raising questions. There remain openings for panelists. Those interested should contact IECA conference manager Rachel Diamond King at Rachel@IECAonline.com.

The Speed Meetings return, and will be held as a pre-conference event on Wednesday morning, May 12. The schedule change ensures that the Speed Meetings will not compete with other parts of the program and should make for a more successful session, similar to the great success of the traditional boarding school meetings in November. Applications to participate in the Speed Meetings will be sent to programs and schools after they have registered for the conference itself. Based on feedback, therapeutic schools and programs may bring two representatives to the Speed Meetings, with a strong preference for one being a therapeutic, rather than a recruitment, professional.

The Information Swap, Conference Central, networking reception, Foundation Gala, and so much more are scheduled. Make plans now to join us in May. Conference registration will open February 1. A reminder that travel to Canada is simple, but attendees will need a valid passport to return to the States.

The IECA Nominating Committee has completed their lengthy review and deliberations, and are pleased to announce the following slate for the Independent Educational Consultants Association leadership:

Nominated to a Three-Year Term (2010 – 2013)

IECA Board of Directors

James “Bar” Clarke (ME)

Jamie Dickenson (WV)

Alan Haas (CT)

Dodge Johnson (PA) [nominated to second Board term]

Emily A. Snyder (VA)

Nominated to One-Year Term (2010 – 2011)

IECA Board Officers

President
Dodge Johnson (PA)

Vice President for Education
Marilyn G. S. Emerson (NY)

Vice President for Ethics
Alan Haas (CT)

Vice President for Committees
Ann Montgomery (TX)

Secretary/Treasurer
Luisa M. Rabe (PA)

Immediate Past President
Diane Geller (CA)

The February issue of Insights will include biographies on all nominees.

by Dodge Johnson, President-Nominee, IECA (Pennsylvania)

I have to say that Mark and I took on a lot of challenges – and that we had a great time gnawing on them.

Our seminar leaders asked us to set an “audacious” goal. So after looking at the member survey, we said, “Okay, why not reshape the world so that families making educational choices ask not whether they should work with an educational consultant but ask instead which IECA consultant would best meet their needs.” I’m sorry to have to tell you that we didn’t get it all done, But we made a pretty good stab at it.

Fortunately, we have Diane’s momentum to build on and her insistence that we plan our future instead of just letting it happen. So we brainstormed about how we might bring our goal to pass. Here are some of our ideas. Members will no doubt have a lot more.

How we can turn our powerful new social networking tools into a megaphone for IECA?

Could alliances with other groups produce not only new friends but also new benefits? For example, schools value how we match clients. That’s why TABS put on their website a search engine where families looking for a school can choose an IECA consultant.

Could advisory boards drawn from colleges/schools/programs suggest how we might establish relationships they’d most like to have with us, get the most out of visits with them, present candidates in ways they find most helpful?

Could we grow more opportunities for consultants to present themselves and IECA to the world – and offer ways to help them make good presentations even more effective.

I’m discovering how important it is for each of us actively to champion IECA as the “gold standard” while championing ourselves. Because the best way to get the world to ask the right question is already to have planted the right answer in their minds.

All this was just brainstorming, of course. The board will decide how we’ll build on our strategic plan and what steps we’ll take to bring us closer to big goals. But I’m excited by the prospect of thinking audaciously.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

“The pace of change in programming within your association must be commensurate with the pace of change in your member’s world.”

This little bit of truth was but one of hundreds of things that IECA President-elect Dodge Johnson and I heard over the last two days. We were attending a symposium for chief elected officers and chief staff officers run by the American Society of Association Executives. Of course the above bit of knowledge comes with further awareness that we live in an era of unprecedented and unpredictable change. Does any IECA member really know what will be the major challenges facing them in their own practice in their own community in the fall of 2013? Yet somehow, we are told, the association must be preparing now for that unknowable reality. The job of officers and staff is to prepare our members for what the future holds and to be sure that we become a significant resource to help our members thrive in whatever challenge arises.

While the times may change and the daily realities of consulting work may change, the basic premise of what makes an association important to its members does not. Associations are about three things: (1) Community (2) Connections (3) Communication. Our commitment has always been for IECA to be the premiere community, widely recognized and respected as bringing together the leaders in the field to share experiences, knowledge, and to understand the changes taking place in admissions, education, and adolescent health. We are well aware that communities of consultants are easier than ever to create: organizations can start up, or gather online, but what IECA guarantees is that those who choose to join in OUR community are also well screened for competence, ethics, and value a commitment to the success of young people.

Over the last year we have tackled the last in that alliterative series—Communication—in new and exciting ways. This blog and social networking have enabled us to assist our members in this new frontier of possibilities. At the same time, we continue to print our newsletter and brochures. We have expanded opportunities for face-to-face networking through our Speed Meetings, and our College Fairs are larger than ever. It is this very diversity—allowing members to share and communicate in varied formats—that demonstrates our great success.

One of the first items shared with our training group was the unique nature of associations, where the primary consumers, owners, and workforce are all the same: the members. Members are indeed the leaders, filling all Board positions. They also serve as the volunteers that steer our committees, outreach to allied professionals, and help spread the word. And unique among all business systems, these same members are the primary consumers: paying dues, paying conference fees, and attending workshops and campus tours.

Of course we were also cautioned not to allow a situation develop in which members feel they are there to be “sold to” rather than “served.” I took this as a great caution and was reminded of the feedback we heard from many, including the Schools Committee to balance IECA’s fiscal needs with our commitment to serving members. It is a message we heard and to which we will respond.

Over the course of our two days, we were asked to identify one “mega” strategic issue that we expect IECA will confront in the coming years. Rather than pull one out of the blue, Dodge and I were able to access the results (so far) of our ongoing member survey of strategic initiatives. There we found our answer. Members overwhelmingly have identified our mega issue: expanding public awareness and hiring of educational consultants in their educational search, with an effort to ensure that IECA members are seen as the “gold standard” in the profession. It is this overriding member concern that will be front and center as IECA looks at what we need to do to ensure our members are prepared to confront the changes that are coming, as they pursue what the field will be like for them personally in the fall of 2013 and beyond.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

I had a brief e-mail exchange last week with Scott Jaschik, editor of Inside Higher Education. He called my attention to the Web site of a consulting firm that was meant to appeal to parents of one ethnic group. Scott was pretty sure that the owner of the site wasn’t an IECA member, and he was certainly correct. To me, everything about that site—and the approach taken by those charlatans—reflected the worst of private consulting.

What they were selling, versus what reputable, ethical consultants—those who are members of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA)—provide to families is the difference between student success and parental failure.

The Web site Scott directed me to, and scores of others like it that I have seen in recent years, speak only to the narrow question of HOW TO GET IN. That is, no discussion of how to choose a school, what benefits come with a large vs. small school, public or private, urban or rural, cut throat or supportive, liberal-minded or conservative, diverse or not, close relationships with teaching staff or large lecture halls. None of that—or hundreds of other criteria—is ever mentioned. What is being sold: how to get into to a very exclusive school.

Whenever I explore such a site (knowing the services of a consultant are being offered to students, but with parents as the customer), I fear for the child. For the parent drawn in by such claims is seeking, I think, some level of prestige that they think they get for themselves when their child enrolls (or all too often is rejected from!). They are asking all the wrong questions: How do “we” get in? What do we have to do? What are the secrets?

Here are the questions I’d rather see parents asking:

What’s the best fit?

Where will my child thrive, mature, grow?

What will best suit her/his learning and motivational style?

Where will they be happy?

Where will my child be successful over the long haul?

What often makes this worse—and this was certainly true of the ad I was directed to last week: the admission process at elite schools was portrayed in an almost secretive, sinister light. The consultants promised that they knew the secrets, the language, the keys to use to fool the admission staff into accepting their child. How absurd! In this specific instance parents were warned that discrimination against their child’s ethnic group was rampant and only by using their secrets and their tricks could their child get in.

Once and for all let’s say what is the truth: admission staff members are hard-working, dedicated professionals seeking to create a freshman class reflective of the school’s overall mission and strategy in as fair a way as they can. They accept students who are the strongest candidates within that framework based on what they have achieved and their potential—both personally and what they’ll bring to campus. A good consultant succeeds when s/he understands a college, appreciate its strengths and weaknesses, and can pair this to what a student needs to thrive, succeed, and be happy.

The choice for parents is clear when they explore a consultant’s Web site or interview them by phone in order to determine if they are honest, capable, knowledgeable, and have your child—and your family’s—best interests at heart. What is the central focus of their “pitch”? The success of your child over the next four or five years at a school where he or she will grow and learn and mature—or just getting in? And which is it you really want for your child?

Or to be more stark, parents can ask themselves the following question: “Which is my priority: my child getting in, at all costs even to a school where they may not be happy or well-suited but will bring honor to me?” Or:  “Finding a great match where my child will shine and succeed?” And let’s again note: these firms promising to use smoke and mirrors are full of nonsense: they have no ability to “get your child in,” and despite their claims, no proven track record. Jacques Steinberg of the New York Times looked at the claims made by many of these companies and found them full of lies, distortions, and false claims. That’s why none of them can gain membership to a group like IECA.

I’m proud to represent the organization that has talked about and promoted the importance of the “match” for more than 20 years. We have fought the notion of tricks, gimmicks, and packaging of students. IECA believes that success is measured not by the thickness of the envelope but by the richness of the school experience. I hope you agree.

by Lisa Temkin (Illinois), IECA Member

I just thought some of you might be interested in hearing about a liberal arts presentation that Jill Burstein and I organized as a marketing event for our consulting practices.

We have three admissions people from three different liberal arts schools in the Midwest coming to speak on liberal arts curriculum—the flexibility, opportunities, how it’s different from the traditional university paradigm, what type of student it’s a fit for, etc.

Lake Forest College has generously offered a small auditorium and we’ll provide coffee, snacks and a variety of hand-outs. Just in case you know someone that might be interested the details are:

Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.
Lake Forest College, Hotchkiss Hall, Meyer Auditorium
Lake Forest, IL

Speakers are Diane Kanney from Lake Forest College, Tony Bankston from Illinois Wesleyan University, and Mary Karen Villenes from The College of Wooster.

Should be very interesting; they are all dynamic speakers. If you have any questions about how we put this event together e-mail either Jill (collegefinderjb@aol.com) or myself (Lisa@GloEduCon.com).

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Here we are just six days into the New Year, and I’m already focusing on what the consulting field will look like at the mid-point of the new decade. More specifically, I wonder how consultants’ work will be different, what their challenges will be, and what the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) will be doing to ensure consultants’ success.

This wonder is not mere mental exercise. It is essential that IECA always look forward, peer around the bend, examine what’s off in the distance, if we are committed—as we are—to remaining (1) the most recognized and important association in the field of educational advising and (2) an essential part of every great consultant’s arsenal.

The process for planning for 2015 officially kicks off this week in two key ways. Every IECA member received an invitation to take part in a survey coordinated by the Strategic Planning Committee. This survey comes after nine months of work by the committee has been completed, including a review of the successes and failures of recent years and the creation of a report card on the 2005 Strategic Plan. With more than 700 active members, we hope for a major response to the survey. If you are an IECA member, please get started as soon as possible and share your thoughts, opinions, concerns, and more. We have been blessed in the past with survey responses way beyond what other associations report. We hope for another such response now.

This Sunday, Dodge Johnson (PA), president-elect designee, and I will depart for a training symposium designed to prepare for the next several years and strategically beyond. We will be attending a Symposium for Chief Staff Officers and Chief Volunteer Board Officers, sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives. This intense program will give not only time but also professional training to ensure IECA is well positioned to take on new initiatives and tackle whatever comes along in this new decade. Our goal is stronger leadership to further strengthen a great association.

As we begin turning our attention to what IECA is to become, please e-mail, blog, text, and communicate in other ways to share your thoughts. Complete the survey, in the coming days (check your e-mail for the link), and make a pledge to commit yourself to IECA as a volunteer or active participant.