by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Yesterday about a dozen IECA members visited three Ontario, Canada colleges. During those campus visits, one school provided the consultants with their “Recruitment Representative Agreement.” Confusing “consultants” and “agents,” this college assumed IECA members accepted reimbursements in exchange for referring students, guaranteeing a per-head ‘kick-back’ of 12% of the freshman year tuition.

Our members could not escape the irony as I had just blogged about these agency fees yesterday (IECA’s First Conference Held Outside U.S. Reflects Our International Growth), and a copy of that blog made its way around the bus. I have also addressed this issue in recent blogs (University Use of Agents Back in the News with $78 Million Fine; Note to Colleges: An Unethical Practice Domestically is No Less Wrong Internationally).

What I realized yesterday is a simple but unfortunate fact: An agent may refer a student to a college and the college knows it—after all they’ll be receiving a check for thousands of dollars. But there is no guarantee that the student is a good match and no indication that they will last their entire collegiate career at that school. A consultant may recommend a student—or several—to the college, but the college never knows because the consultant’s work is in the background, rarely seen or heard from. Yet the student working with the consultant is more likely to find the college a great match, because success of the student is the only motivator for the consultant.

A consultant considers every option, not just the few schools that agree to pay the finder’s fee. Unfortunately, colleges simply don’t know how many or which students arrived because they worked with an educational consultant.

When colleges think about reaching out to agents they know exactly how many students enrolled. Consultants have seemingly gone out of their way to hide such information; yet the field of consulting has doubled in the last six years and IECA’s membership and our reach has grown dramatically. I have begun to argue that IECA members should do more—perhaps must do more—to ensure colleges know how many students we work with and how many freshmen they welcomed worked with our members. After all, these students examined many options, determined that this specific college was the best match, and are more likely to stay through graduation. Why would we want to hide such information?

It is true that there are some consultants who “package” students, write essays, and hype profiles. But that description does NOT include members of the Independent Educational Consultants Association. And we must work to ensure that colleges know this difference and partner with us. After all, we share one over-arching goal: students that thrive and succeed on campus.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

At the IECA Conference in Toronto

Several times a year I receive letters addressed to the “INTERNATIONAL Educational Consultants Association.” Of course the ‘I’ in our name has stood for “INDEPENDENT” since 1976, and our membership has been overwhelmingly U.S.-based. In fact if I look back at directories a decade ago or more, our international listings were on a single page and comprised mainly of American consultants with second offices in Europe.

Today, as we prepare to open our first conference outside of the United States, our growing influence internationally is unmistakable. Looking at our professional and associate members, we have IECA affiliated consultants not only in North, Central, and South America, but in Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Africa as well.

We have a good representation of educational consultants based in Canada joining us, and conference sponsors include schools in Switzerland, as well as colleges, programs, and universities from the provinces of Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. When we announced plans to meet in Canada, some feared there wouldn’t be any members to form a local host committee, but in fact 18 Canadians joined in planning. Scores of schools, colleges, universities, and therapeutic institutions will be joining us from throughout Canada and the world, in addition to our partners in the States.

As those in the membership committee have learned, international applications to join IECA are up dramatically, with China leading the way, but applicants reaching us from every corner of the globe. In many countries, IECA, consulting, and the ethical guidelines we adhere to are all new concepts as agents receiving per-head finders fees was the norm. Today “good match” and “appropriate placements” are being introduced to concerned parents who are beginning to understand how an independent consultant can benefit them. In a bit of irony, we know the IECA name is already being recognized around the world as educational advisors in small cities across Asia race to add “IECA” to their corporate name, and we work to protect the best known and best respected “brand’ in the field.

Meeting in Toronto, while just an hour from the U.S. Border, is symbolic of IECA’s global reach and indicative of where our future lies.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

We are pleased to announce the addition of one of Canada’s leading experts on emotional intelligence and high performance to the roster of outstanding speakers. Dr. J.P. Pawliw-Fry will address the conference as Wednesday’s keynote speaker. He replaces Peter Jensen who needed to cancel due to illness.

I had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Pawliw-Fry a week ago. He brings together a number of personal experiences, academic training, life experiences, and professional accomplishments

that make him ideally suited to open the conference. Having recently moved from Geneva to Toronto, Dr. Pawliw-Fry has just gone through an independent school search with his own daughter and understands well the role of an educational consultant in assuring a great match between a student’s interests and abilities, and a school’s approach to teaching and community. As an international expert on EQ (emotional intelligence), he is able to tie the theory of multiple intelligences to the school and college search and understanding the whole child. EQ has long been a topic of interest to IECA since the author, researcher, and ‘father’ of EQ, Daniel Goleman, spoke at IECA’s 20th Anniversary conference in Boston.

Dr. Pawliw-Fry trained at Harvard Medical School’s Mind Body Medical Institute and at the Stress Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. His many clients include several educational groups, governmental organizations, and Olympic athletes, where he is welcomed as an expert on achieving maximum performance. For his presentation at IECA, he will meld state-of-the art research with real-life inspirational stories to create a thought-provoking talk. Attendees will leave with a custom-designed workbook to ensure the research, lessons, and insights will carry outside of the room.

We always like to hear from previous groups a speaker has addressed in order to ensure great presentations. Consider these comments from some recent presentations given by Dr. Pawliw-Fry:

“Best keynote presentation I have been to in years! Very different than the usual: extremely interesting and powerful—yet highly entertaining. It is not often I hear someone who can really ‘put it together’.”  Ernst & Young

“Dr. Pawliw-Fry is impassioned and enthusiastic.”  Kellogg Graduate School of Management

“J.P. is an inspirational presenter and he infuses passion into his material… He can take complex ideas and simplify them, giving the members of the audience real solutions they can easily implement.”  LANSA, Inc.

Additional information about registering for the IECA conference is available on the IECA Web site.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consutltants Association

In today’s mail I received several professional journals. Glancing through for worthwhile articles I saw a feature story entitled “Tantalizing Toronto: Ontario’s Magnetic Metro Welcomes Groups with Open Arms and Cutting-Edge Venues.” With our conference scheduled to open in less than eight weeks, it seemed perfect timing. I was surprised to learn that of metropolitan Toronto’s five million residents, nearly half were born outside of Canada. While most big cities are seeing persistent population declines, Toronto sees 55,000 new residents arrive each year. It’s a city that must be doing something right.

One thing that makes Toronto an attractive conference location, according to the article, is the arrival of 1,000 flights every day and Amtrak‘s regular service from New York City and Chicago.

Once in town, the Victorian-era distillery District, a thriving artistic, cultural and heritage hub, as well as the Entertainment District, are close to the downtown hotel we’ll call headquarters. Not far: Corso Italia, Greektown, Chinatown, Portugal Village, and more, including 11 museums and the largest live theater scene outside of New York and London.

For more information, visit the Toronto Convention and Visitor’s Association.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

One of the unexpected consequences of holding our first-ever meeting outside of the United States has been the musings of some about whether “consultants are really going to Canada” for the conference, or, in the minds of IECA members, whether schools, colleges, and program representatives are planning to leap the border to take part. On a near daily basis we get e-mails and phone calls asking if “most” of the attendees will be coming from Canada. So with our early bird deadline a little behind us, and now eight weeks prior to the opening of the conference, I wanted to respond to those inquiries.

We completed the early-bird registration with over 550 attendees—a number that will grow steadily over the remaining two months. Among colleges and traditional day and boarding schools, our early registration figures are up as compared to a year ago, with the number of consultants, therapeutic programs, and vendors steady. In fact we are close to having more colleges registered here—at eight weeks still to go—as we had at our San Francisco conference. Our best guess now is for a terrific turnout—but not so crowded that networking and meeting are inhibited in any way.

So are they all Canadians? Hardly. We are excited by the many Canadian institutions that are joining us. Among the first-time attendees are 14 colleges from five Canadian provinces, from Nova Scotia to British Columbia (and many who have joined us in the past). Between these new schools, unaffiliated consultants, and incredible presenters on topics from innovative teaching to adolescent brain theory and EQ, our Canadian participants will add tremendously to the New Perspectives many seek at IECA Conferences. Yet for every Canadian college participating, two U.S. colleges are registered. Among summer, gap year, and traditional boarding schools, 95% are U.S.-based, and among the 230 therapeutic school and program participants already signed up, all but a handful are from the States. Among consultants, we have registrants from Canada, Africa, Asia, and South America, but the overwhelming number, more than 90% are American.

If you have not yet decided about attending, please explore the conference schedule, our list of breakouts, and presenters (all of this information can be found on our Web site). We have a number of exciting new events planned in Conference Central and throughout the conference. We look forward to seeing you in Toronto this spring!

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

Sixteen years ago, my first day with IECA was at the start of the spring conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. I believe there were fewer than 250 attendees, including some 80 IECA members. There was no NATSAP back then, Small Boarding School Conferences were intimate events, and The Association of Boarding Schools, just separating from NAIS, was years away from hosting its own conference. Today with more school conferences, therapeutic conferences, college conferences, plus LDA, CHADD, and more, I contemplated the role of IECA gatherings. I wondered if we are we simply duplicating efforts, and more importantly, whether IECA makes a significant contribution to the welfare of students.

To be sure the IECA conferences have grown. Upwards of 1,200 people have attended our conferences, including as many as 300 consultants. There has been a surge in college participation, while attendance from schools and special purpose programs grew rapidly in the first half of the decade and has stabilized. Even as the economy turned sour and where other associations reported 25 to 30 to even 35% percent drops in attendance, IECA has exceeded expectations with only minor declines. As a friend of mine, the director of another educational association, said to me recently, “The rest of us feel lucky to be hanging on…IECA is doing great and YOU’RE the one wondering how to change, improve, and redesign conferences? People come because there’s value to attending.” But again I wonder, with so many other choices out there, what IS the value? What makes IECA conferences unique and valued?

I recently asked a representative of Wintergreen Orchard House, a veteran of trade shows from coast-to-coast, about our conference. “The IECA Conference is a must-attend,” she told me. “It goes on my calendar first.” When I asked why, I was told “No where else can I meet people across disciplines: those in college placements, boarding school administrators, LD experts…it allows me to connect with all of the communities we want to reach.”

I asked an IECA member who has been around for years, someone who I’ll see at NACAC or other regional gathering from time to time. Her view was that IECA conferences provide something no one else does: a holistic view of adolescents. “We see teens as far more than a commodity to be placed or a potential student at a small private college. We know that to understand placement you need to understand the entire child: hopes, fears, learning style, anxieties, traits, and flaws. No where else do I get workshops on so wide a range of topics.”

While attending NATSAP last month I sat down and spoke with the head of a small emotional growth boarding school. He indicated that a few events each year are “musts.” This includes the two IECA conferences, because “…no where else can I speak to educational consultants who directly deal with students and families who are desperate and emotionally spent, and need a real professional to help them through a crisis; and then, turn around and talk to wilderness programs that could feed into my school, then traditional schools that we may feed into, and even colleges who want to understand better who we serve. Where else could I find that?”

And one more: a dean of admission from a college who jokingly told me many years ago that he would “never” tell his admission colleagues about IECA because it was one of the best kept secrets: “The last thing I want is more colleges to come. No where else do I get this wonderful opportunity to talk about my school with professionals who are MUCH more likely to work with students considering private colleges and MUCH more likely to explore colleges out of state. Why would I want my competitors to know about IECA?”

What then does IECA offer? First of all, the unique crowd that assembles: colleges, traditional boarding schools, gap year programs, emotional growth schools, therapeutic programs, and summer opportunities—all who believe in a holistic view of the student. Also, a schedule of workshops that range from NCAA rules to Asperger’s, and from learning communities to parent advocates. And we have worked in recent years to strengthen the academic offerings, even while expanding opportunities for networking in both formal and informal settings. As I look toward Toronto, I can say with confidence that “No Where Else” will such a gathering be possible.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

Last night came the inevitable battle between the two world powerhouses in women’s hockey: USA vs. Canada. The two teams have dominated the sport for many years, and the impending contest at the Olympics resulted in a pressure cooker building for years leading up to the contest. One game, winner takes gold. Imagine trying to motivate the players, or more exactly, ensure that they peak on the right day at the right time without allowing the stress, pressure, and anxiety to take over.

Peter Jensen

Now you understand the role that Dr. Peter Jensen plays for the Canadians. As founder and director of Performance Coaching, Jensen is the sports psychology trainer for the Canadian women’s hockey team, and has been the sports psychologist for 40 Olympic medal winners. In recent years Jensen has taken his techniques and applied them to real life, instructing leaders in business and education, and parents, in how to “ignite” the kind of passion and commitment in others that Olympians have.

We are pleased to announce that fresh off his Olympic success, Dr. Jensen, author of Igniting the Third Factor, will serve as keynote speaker at the opening session of the IECA conference. He will focus on five actions that all of us can take to motivate students to succeed.

Early Bird registration ends today, so if you haven’t registered be sure to do so today. For more information, go to our conference page.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

Based on overwhelmingly positive feedback from consultants and school representatives, we are pleased to announce that the Speed Meetings test-run in 2009 will return as part of IECA’s upcoming Spring Conference, although a few key changes will make them even more valuable. Two sets of Speed Meetings have been planned: one for traditional boarding schools and the other for special purpose and therapeutic schools and programs. They will run simultaneously on Wednesday morning, May 12, just prior to the opening of the conference.

The Speed Meetings are designed to have a maximum of 40 consultants in each session, with a similar number of schools or programs. The event features a series of eight-minute private one-on-one meetings to give the consultant a feel for a school’s philosophy, approach, and unique offerings. The cost to schools is just $175, a very cost-effective way to get quiet networking time with more than 15 consultants. The $35 fee charged to consultants is refunded after they complete their full slate of “appointments.”

A few other changes are based on feedback. We’ve increased the time of the meetings from six to eight minutes, and schools may now have two representatives present. We urge only one of these to be an admissions representative with the other being an administrator, counselor, or other school professional.

Here are a few comments we heard after the trial Speed Meetings run in Charlotte:

from Dana Harbert, Eagle Hill: “Eagle Hill School participated in the consultant speed conferencing. I am grateful that we as a school were chosen for this venue. I think six minutes for conferencing proved to be a decent amount of time to start discussions (and in some cases to finish the discussions). I want to stress, however, that these speed conferencing sessions should always be in addition to the swap on Thursday morning. This was my eleventh IECA conference and it was by far the best.”

from Andrew Weller, Ridley College: Thanks for selecting Ridley College for the first of the speed meetings—it was great. You asked for feedback and I only have one thing really: It would have been great to have at my table a list not just of all the consultant attendees but a list of the ones I was seeing—in order. On the whole, I heard very positive comments from folks and imagine you did as well. Most people in the room were disappointed when it ended! That said, the one criticism I heard from others was that six minutes was not long enough. I respectfully disagree. I think these meetings function best when the goal is to assess whether or not the conversation needs to continue outside the scope of the event (meet later, visit someone in their office, have them to campus, etc.). I imagine those unhappy with the short time probably did not have a good game plan or were expecting too much in just a short time. My singular goal for each meeting was to simply determine if there was mutual interest in continuing the conversation—and the time allotted was sufficient for that.

from Maryline Deschamps Kruger, educational consultant: I had my doubts about the speed meeting format, but after participating in the therapeutic program Speed Meetings I’d like to report that I was pleasantly surprised. I found them extremely informative and believe that the information I gathered will prove to be helpful to my consulting practice. Thank you IECA!

From Brian Fisher, AdmissionsQuest: 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.

(from an anonymous source in conference evaluation:) Overall, this was the best IECA conference I have attended in six years. It was so well attended, and I enjoyed all the opportunities to network. The speed conferencing was spectacular. I thought six minutes would be too little time. It was fine though. Probably ten minutes would be perfect.

(another evaluation comment) I participated in the Speed Meetings. These were GREAT! Made the IECA conference more valuable than any I have attended in years. The time flew by for me and the use of breaks during the morning was helpful and sufficient. I do hope more consultants sign up next year. I feel as though the information from Rachel about what to bring and what to prepare was helpful and accurate. I felt really ready for my meetings and the time with the consultants was really valuable. Only change (aside from two to three more minutes) I would suggest is making it longer so we can meet with more consultants!

Schools will be given the opportunity to apply to participate in the Speed Meetings AFTER they complete their conference registration. For consultants, the registration for Speed Meetings is part of the conference registration process. Those who may have already registered for the conference but wish to add participation in the Speed Meeting, may access their online registration by following the directions on their confirmation e-mail.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

Our spring conference registration opened less than a week ago, and registration is already approaching 250. Early bird discounts end THIS FRIDAY (February 26), so if you are planning to attend our gathering in Toronto (May 12-15), get your registration completed right away. Full details on the conference are posted on the IECA Web site (http://www.iecaonline.com/conferences.html) and additional information, including details on all breakout sessions, will be added to the site in the next few days.

I have gotten a few questions and welcome this opportunity to clarify:

“I really don’t work with Canadian schools or universities (or ‘We don’t really get any students from Canada’). So maybe there won’t be as much for me at this conference.” Hold on!  Just because we are meeting in Canada for the first time doesn’t mean our focus is shifting. Of the first 225 registrants, just 15 are Canadian consultants, schools, or universities. The other 210 are from the U.S. What we expect is full participation by our IECA members from across the U.S. with a bit of an uptick in non-U.S. participation, reflecting how much easier it is for consultants in Asia, South America, and Europe to travel to Canada. We expect all of the schools, colleges, and programs that typically attend IECA conferences to be joining us in Toronto, but with the added bonus of greater participation by Canadian institutions. Remember, school, program, and college representatives from Nova Scotia to Vancouver helped us plan the conference!

“There’s so much going on before and after the conference, I’m still trying to figure out what to do, so I can’t register yet.” Wait a minute! We don’t want you to lose out on the early bird discount. Register for the conference now and get your discount. You can always sign back on using our Web-based registration system and modify your registration. That way you won’t miss the discount. We know there’s a lot going on: pre-conference activities include IECA tours of Ontario universities; special tours of Ontario boarding school and gap year programs; the popular Speed Meetings—actually two of them: one for traditional boarding schools and the other for therapeutic programs; and a pre-conference workshop on LD issues as well as one on Web-based marketing. Whew!! Post-conference activities include TWO different college tours: one of universities in upstate New York and the other in Nova Scotia. There’s a school tour in Nova Scotia as well.

“I just got a conference/tour price list via e-mail and it looks like the prices really went up.” NO! That was an e-mail from some other association! Don’t be confused. The cost of our three-day college tours (pre- or post-conference) is still just $95—not the $200 the other group charges. Our conference fee for members, including meals and special events and even including a pre-conference workshop, is unchanged at $395 ($370 early bird)—not the $595 the other group just e-mailed for their conference and pre-conference registration. IECA works hard to keep our costs as low as possible (with thanks to our conference sponsors). As proof: our membership dues have not changed in 30 years! Finally, even non-members can save a bundle. Our conference and pre-conference workshop full registration for non-member consultants is $530—not the $745 others are charging, according to that e-mail. Of course, cost is just part of the story. We are confident that everyone will get a great deal out of participating in the IECA conference: amazing speakers, great educational sessions, and lots of opportunities for networking.

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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.

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