by Mark Sklarow, IECA Executive Director

The final afternoon of the 2010 Summer Training Institute was focused on a 3-hour session that was designed to bring together the information attendees gained throughout the week through the process of creating their own personal business plan.  Recognizing that most who enter the field of educational consulting do so with a passion for students and knowledge of counseling, attendees welcomed this final opportunity to examine the small business development aspect of starting a practice.

I shared the teaching for this unit with marketing guru and IECA member Lisa Bleich.  Among the exercises completed, attendees examined their personal reasons for entering the field and crafted mission statements, set goals and specific objectives and examined the external community traits that impact consulting.  Attendees examined the benefits of students using web-based, school-based or corporate-based advising in order to better understand the landscape.  Each completed a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis based on their 4 days of learning.

The business plan also had participants examine traditional and new media marketing techniques, start-up costs for establishing a practice as well as on-going expenses, particularly in the early years while a practice is being built.

While plans were hardly complete at the end of the exercise, the 93 attendees left with the basic components of a business plan in hand, along with a cohort of colleagues from across the country and around the world with whom they shared the institute.  Many anticipate continuing their learning at the upcoming IECA Fall Conference in Ohio.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

We have learned that The Princeton Review will announce, sometime today, new seminars available in person or online covering issues like writing a great college essay, building a college list, how the college application works, and other process-oriented topics. Such a development underscores two truths: there is increased anxiety and confusion over admissions; and most students don’t have many resources—especially in public schools where counselors are overburdened with unfair case loads, increasingly complex problems, and little support for professional development. This deprives students and families of the information they need to both navigate the process and fully explore their choices.

To be clear: we welcome any innovations that bring good, accurate, vital information to students. All should welcome that TPR has found a way to deliver information at a relatively low cost, using new technologies. Students need—and deserve—complete knowledge.

Of course much of this process information—standardized test dates, how to visit college campuses, what makes for a good essay—has been available for many years: scores of books are available at Borders Books on these subjects, Web sites number in the thousands, most college admission offices share that same information, and for many students their school counseling office can provide these details. If TPR has found a way to reach a new population, great! I hope they find a way to make such information available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and much more, as many first generation college families need assistance as well.

The important caveat here is that the college search and application process involves TWO components: the process details as described above, and the knowledge/match piece that is so critical. It is here where we talk about understanding students’ personalities, learning styles, social, educational, and community needs, and knowing enough about hundreds of colleges to assist in identifying appropriate matches. While the basic process information may be able to be disseminated in a group, the knowledge/match requires one-on-one consultation, sufficient time to really understand a student, exploration of essay topics, and evaluative tours of campus after campus. This piece can only be done through exceptional counseling. It is in this area that educational consultants shine.

With limited caseloads, extensive training, educational and professional development, continual travel to visit campuses, and the highest ethical standards, IECA member educational consultants provide families and students with amazing potential to not only understand the process, but also take ownership of it. To not only know what makes for a good essay in general terms, but to spend time with an expert to explore their lives, their interests, their values to discover an essay topic that gives real insight to who they are. And take the time, directed by a consultant, to explore the wide range of educational opportunities to find those that offer the best match. The goal of IECA consultants: a student who thrives, grows socially and academically, and achieves success at college.

As one of the nation’s leading educational associations, we welcome the use of new technologies and new efforts to reach students and families with critical information. IECA and its members will keep our commitment to the highest standards of service both to those who can afford independent consulting services and the thousands served through pro bono efforts, and the IECA Foundation’s initiatives.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Sometime this week the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is expected to formally launch an investigation into gender bias in the nation’s colleges. The charge is that college admission policies favor male applicants. Some colleges will respond to this charge with a hardy “yes, of course we do.”

The year I enrolled in college, males accounted for 57% of the undergraduate population. Today those numbers have reversed with women accounting for nearly 59%, as males are more likely to explore work, enlist in the military, or find themselves incarcerated. To many colleges, there is a benefit to a student body that is more evenly split between the sexes and some fear the results of an imbalance should female populations top the 2/3 mark…a figure not wholly unrealistic in smaller liberal arts colleges. College administrators, and educational consultants, fear that such a campus would become less and less appealing not only to some males, but many female candidates as well.

While the federal investigation may focus on a wider cross-section of schools, anti-discrimination laws apply only to public universities, as private schools have enjoyed the right to discriminate based on gender—a law that has allowed some institutions to remain single-sex. The investigators are likely to explore the grade point averages, test scores, and other details between admitted and rejected males and females.

Most colleges, public and private, will argue that they view all candidates as a whole: not only grades and scores, but personal and community-based experiences also. So, too, I suspect, they will note that colleges believe their students and their institutions are best served with a diverse student body. That said, when evaluating candidates for admission, schools likely look at a number of factors beyond scores and grades to ensure such diversity: race, religion, the state where the candidate was raised and educated, areas of interest and passion—and gender.

The Supreme Court, looking at the role of race in admissions, determined that colleges had the right to consider race among other factors, as colleges sought a diverse student body. In the case of the white student who brought the case claiming discrimination, the courts saw that providing some benefit to underrepresented minorities was an acceptable practice. Such actions, said the court, were designed in part to create a dynamic and diverse student body which benefited all students.

The question now is whether male undergraduates have become, in essence, an underrepresented minority deserving of some benefit in college admission. For me the more critical question is whether colleges retain the right to seek as diverse a student population as it wants, and does this extend to the right to favor some characteristics over others in order to achieve that aim. It is not, of course, as simple as it seems. For we should have no doubt that some small number of colleges, given permission to discriminate among applicants based on social characteristics, would do so for less noble purposes than a diverse student body.

For the time being I support colleges—and this from the father of two girls—because I do ascribe to the belief that all students benefit when the entering freshman class has students both urban and rural, American and foreign, Christian and not, female and male.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

A new national study by Education Trust reports the surprising figure that only 57% of college freshmen (in 1999, the class studied) nationwide has achieved their undergraduate degree within six years. That figure includes students who transferred and graduated elsewhere. Worse still were the numbers for low-income and underrepresented minorities whose six-year graduation rate was just 45%. If ever there was a number that begs for innovation on campus—and for better advising upfront—this is it.

The report also showed that community colleges may not be the answer. There, fewer than 24% of low-income and minority students completed their associates degree within four years.

Clearly we are failing these students. Whether it is not providing the tools they need academically, not enveloping them in the school community, or lack of support systems in place once they arrive, such figures speak clearly and alarmingly of a broken system.

In the field of educational consulting we know one thing: a student is more likely to succeed when there is a great match made between the students needs, interests, and abilities, and the institutions best suited to help them thrive. That’s what great counseling is all about and what the Independent Educational Consultants Association stands for.

Many have believed that the failure to graduate was directly related to the student’s ability to afford tuition. That is,  a low-income or minority student has a more difficult time sustaining the cost of a college education over four, five or six years. However the study looked at those receiving Pell grants. Looking at two-year institutions, even those with grants completed their program at a rate of 32%—the same rate as other students.

Many have heard me say that we must end this focus on where “students get in,” which dominates the media and shift our focus to “where students thrive, succeed, and graduate.”

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by Emily Snyder, IECA Professional Member (Virginia), and Chair of IECA’s College Committee

For those of you who follow national development of educational issues, I returned home from the IECA Conference to hear Al Sharpton, Newt Gingrich, and Arnie Duncan come together with David Gregory on NBC’s Sunday morning “Meet the Press” to discuss forming a coalition to address what they all believe is a need for national curriculum standards. The implications of such a movement — which we have actually been headed towards for some time — on education from pre-K through college and beyond are enormous. My belief is that any resulting legislation will require us to alter how we work with students and families, regardless of our specialties, in ways that we have not even begun to fathom.

Part of our role as consultants is being aware of what’s on the educational horizon so that we can appropriately guide the students and families we work with as they make expensive and long term educational decisions. That’s why it will be more important for us than ever before to support IECA sponsoring workshops and sessions on controversial legislation that impacts any and all of us — like the Friday afternoon session where members from CAFETY and therapeutic boarding schools came together to discuss their views with consultants.

While there wasn’t much time to do more than touch the surface of the issue and its implications, Mark Sklarow as the moderator, the panelists, and the comments from the audience all served a purpose — IECA created a public dialogue where both sides of the issue were aired and information was shared; a forum I would encourage all of us to support as the nature of our work continues to evolve.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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