By Peter Baron, AdmissionsQuest

By Peter Baron, AdmissionsQuest

By Brian Fisher, AdmissionsQuest

Dr. Nido Qubein, President of High Point University, shared his zest for life and his philosophy during Thursday’s conference lunch. Part tent revival, part comedian, part practical philosopher, part story teller, Dr. Qubein affirmed the importance of education and the transformational experiences that schools and educators provide students.

Preaching to the choir he made the case for the responsibility that educators carry and the great affects they have on their students.

Environment. Environment. Environment. He likened students’ abilities to grow and adapt the adaptive abilities of the Koi fish. An environment rich in opportunities, expectation, and support grows the healthiest students.

Focus, expectation, and modeling drive his interactions and decisions for his students. He’s brought student centered learning to his alma mater, High Point University.

I laughed more during Dr. Quebein’s talk than during any keynote I remember. What I write doesn’t do justice to Dr. Qubein’s public speaking.

By Peter Baron, AdmissionsQuest

Erin Avery, Avery Educational Resource, IECA member, talks about what she enjoys about the conference- from conference sessions to the networking opportunities to the quality discussions with schools, colleges, therapeutic programs & vendors.

Ben Kavanaugh, Bucknell University shares the college perspective on IECA Charlotte:

Cyndy McDonald, College Consultant Assistant, shares her impressions of the conference.

Clint Williams, Maine Central Institue, talks about why he values the IECA conference.

Sharon Laney, Three Springs tells us about the networking opportunities and conversations that happen at IECA.

By Brian Fisher, AdmissionsQuest

I spent a few minutes in Barbara Cunningham’s (Summit Preparatory School) Wednesday presentation “Intellectually Gifted Underachievers: The Oxymoron Unraveled.” She’s done nice work in establishing some correlations and common experiences of kids who fit this profile and developing strategies to move them toward fulfilling their potentials.

In a word, these kids require engagement. They want to be actively involved and benefit from strong relationships. They want their thinking to contribute to the future.

Good work always seems to come back to reaching out and connecting.

By Brian Fisher, AdmissionsQuest

Pink, author of A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Rule the Future made the case for faster changes in American educational structures- arguing that we’re missing the future by basing our school educational models on our past.

It’s tough to shift our thinking, basing our educational approaches and philosophies- not on what worked best in the past- but on our best judgments of what will be best for the future.

Past approaches worked for me; it worked for my parents; it should work for tomorrow. We seem to leave the constant of change out of our educational planning.

Arguing that the abilities of the future mater more than the abilities of the past, our educational system needs to begin looking forward- preparing students for future economic and cultural realities.

Making the case that routine tasks, automation have become commodities and will seek the lowest labor costs, what, then, does the future hold for the US economy and educational systems- complexity, premium design, and new products.

Creative engagement based on looking toward the future.

Education, Pink argued, isn’t moving fast enough to build and support the shift away from the routine production based economy. The tools and approaches that worked in past decades aren’t necessarily the best tools for the future.

What worked for parents in the past stands in the way of updating our childrens’ education for the future.

To prepare for the future we must let go of our past-based assumptions- “myth of metrics,” “myth of math, science and engineering,” and move beyond the motivation of “if-then incentives.”

Our best economic and educational future lies in moving our world and educational view from compliance to engagement- not just doing, thinking creatively about your environment and how to do things differently.

Success in a complex world requires engagement.

“Compliance will get you through the day. Engagement will get you through the night.”

By Brian Fisher, AdmissionsQuest

Everyone on campus or in your office conveys messages and sells the school or your services. We all think we practice pretty good customer service. Do we?

Beth Black, Cherokee Creek Boys School, made the case for service in her presentation, “Everything I learned About Marketing, I Learned from a Mouse.”

In schools we assume our customer service is pretty good. But, in my school experiences, we never sat down and worked through constituent/customer service from beginning to end. What does it mean and what do we need to do make sure that we respond as well as possible in every situation?

Bluntly, we never had customer service philosophy or plan. We just assumed that everyone had good sense of customer service- responding to families in the best, most effective way.

Black took participants through the eye opening exercise of customer service from the customer’s perspective and the ways in which organizations can define and build systems and philosophies that keep the customer at the fore of every employee’s action.

The bottom line, “Quality service lives in the hearts and minds of the staff.”

Schools tend to become wrapped in their routines and daily events. Consultants with solo practices or small shops sometimes forget about a clean parking lot or warm entryway. We let our external connections slip.

Customer service basics weigh heavily in the equation; returning phone calls and returning e-mail matter more than ever.

The best anecdote of the meeting- the school maintenance man who greeted campus visitors and was equipped to provide an introduction to campus. The family- purposefully visiting this campus unannounced- appreciated the warm greeting. Their student enrolled.

Why customer service here and now? It’s a topic/concept that we often let slip in education. Education sells itself right? Not necessarily.

By Brian Fisher, AdmissionsQuest

A new conference approach has enhanced the way educational consultants & schools exchange information. Hello Speed Meetings. Nice to meet you.

The speed meeting approach gives admission officers and educational consultants a quick, defined time to exchange substantive information. It could be a new introduction. It could be catching up on what’s new.

This new approach represents a purposeful exchange. Schools & consultants agreed that it’s an excellent modification to the conference format.

By Peter Baron, AdmissionsQuest

Enjoy this set of photos from the opening day of the conference. You can check out the originals by visiting the IECA’s Flickr pool:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

By Peter Baron, AdmissionsQuest

This afternoon I attended “School Showcase: The Carolinas and the South.” It reminded people that Southern boarding schools offer a series of programs & approaches across the educational spectrum.

Representatives from 14 schools of all types- from all-boys boarding to military to single gender to co-ed boarding/day- highlighted a series of opportunities & characteristics that help define their institutions and make them special.

Some highlights from the session:

American Hebrew Academy (co-ed, boarding/day) offers a dual curriculum- both Jewish & secular studies.

Asheville School (coed, boarding/day) remains purposely small (fewer than 300 students) and focused on boarding education. Arch Montgomery, Asheville Head said, “we are a boarding community. Not a day school with a boarding program.”

Blue Ridge School (all-boys, boarding) offers a Tuition Lock program. If you pay your first year tuition by August 1, you lock that rate for the entire time you’re enrolled at the school.

Learned that Breneau Academy (all-girls, boarding/day) is part of Breneau College in Georgia. Academy students use the College’s facilities and take college-level course while in school. New this year, students can earn an Associates degree from the college along with their high school diploma at no additional cost.

Christ School (all-boys, boarding/day) outside of Asheville, NC, is a place that helps boys become a more mature expression of what they’re intending to be.

Chatham Hall (all-girls, boarding/day) is an ideal place for girls who are ready to step out of their comfort zone and embrace new & different experiences.

Darlington School (coed, boarding/day) offers two competitive sports academies- soccer & tennis. Both provide high-level training & competition.

Since the 1950s, Fork Union Military Academy (all-boys, military, boarding/day) has offered the One Subject Plan- five 7 1/2 week semesters during which students focus on one primary academic course.

McCallie School’s (all-boys, boarding/day) commitment to character development covers five areas: Honor Code; Spiritual Emphasis; Public Speaking; Resident Advisor Program; & Voluntary Community Service (85% participation rate).

St. Mary’s School’s (all-girls, boarding/day) My Achievement Plan ensures that students have the same advisor all four years; each student, her parents & teacher participate in the design of the plan; each plan is custom tailored; & students meet daily with their advisors.

Salem Academy’s (all-girls, boarding/day) January Term program includes three components. School Trip for the upper schoolers; On Campus program for the 9th & 10th graders; and internship opportunities.

Virginia Episcopal School (coed, boarding/day) emphasizes community. School-wide discussion about issues that affect the community & the world are a regular part of school life.

The Webb School (co-ed, boarding/day) is the oldest coed boarding program in the South.

Woodberry Forest School offers a Nolan Fellowship that funds independent student research projects.