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.

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.

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!

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.

by Mark H. Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

I have spoken and written several times regarding the issue of international recruiters or agents. Such agents are used by colleges to find students overseas, paying the agent a per-head fee once the student enrolls. The practice has long been criticized on several fronts. Such agents typically conceal their business relationship from students and families. They pose as consultants, promising students to help them find a good college match and assist with applications. They never tell the family the truth: that they only refer students to one of the handful of colleges that pay them the bounty they demand. Colleges have begun to discover the downside as well: such students arrive on campus often without the skills necessary to succeed. Because the agent is only paid once a student enrolls, there is too much gamesmanship in the process that ensures students are registered, but all too often flunk out.

In a recent blog I noted that paying agents on a per-head basis is so clearly improper that it is actually illegal for colleges to have such a business relationship domestically. The Higher Education Act contains a provision that bars colleges from providing incentive compensation. While the law has not yet kept up internationally, I suspect it is just a matter of time before such actions are illegal everywhere. Even if not illegal, such methods of filling dorm beds have proven to be illusory as students drop out and return home.

Last week, in a historic decision, the University of Phoenix agreed to settle a case in which admission representatives claimed they were paid based on how many students they enrolled, a violation of the Higher Education Act. The settlement of more than $78 million dollars against the university demonstrates yet again that such behavior is simply wrong. While this was a domestic case, it is a reminder that scores of colleges engage in this same practice internationally. IECA believes strongly that colleges will be better served, and root themselves more firmly on ethical ground, by ending the practice of supporting fee-for-student agents.

Luckily, there are a growing number of independent educational consultants throughout the United States and the world. Affiliating with Independent Educational Consultants Association ensures families—and colleges—that these are educated, ethical professionals who do not accept any payment from colleges or schools, and who pledge to always put the students’ interests first.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Not a single day goes by when I don’t hear from some overseas “agent” offering to ‘represent’ us abroad. On a weekly basis I hear from someone wishing to join the Independent Educational Consultants Association from Asia, Europe or the Middle East who indicate that they are educational consultants but operate “differently.”

That difference makes all the difference.

In almost every case, those claiming to be such atypical consultants are in fact “agents.” They are paid by colleges on a per-head basis for each international student they can feed into the school’s admission funnel. They may tell a parent that they are helping to find a “good match” but in fact that match is limited to the two, three or ten colleges with whom the agent has a contract and they only suggest colleges who pay them a finder’s fee. That is not consulting. Consultants work independently of colleges and make suggestions based solely on the best interest of the student. In fact, accepting a fee from a school, college, camp, or program is grounds for dismissal from IECA. That is how serious a violation of parental trust we consider this.

Frankly, most colleges must agree. I don’t know of any colleges that would pay such a fee for a student referred domestically. Indeed such a scheme would constitute an ethical violation of most any association or organization in the field. Yet many colleges actively engage in this farce across the globe. Many will say they only do so because operating internationally is tougher, that economic realities require such outreach. I remind my colleagues that ethical behavior shines brightest when it is applied to difficult situations, not the easy ones. Do schools really want to communicate to students that ethical lapses are okay, if you have empty beds, or really, really want something badly enough?

Luckily, an increasing number of colleges are rejecting “agents” just as IECA rejects them from membership. Despite our hard line, our international membership has doubled in the last two years and we continue to expand to new countries. What makes this growth all the more exciting is that we can say internationally what we’ve said domestically for over 30 years: that IECA members take no money from schools and programs and their only obligation is to advise families based on the needs of the student.

I look forward to the day when colleges, too, can make the same ethical claims domestically and internationally.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA, from the National Conference in NC

Here we are on the eve of the 2009 Fall Conference. Even before we officially open the gathering at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, we will have completed visits to more than 15 campuses by over 140 consultants, 130 attendees will have taken part in pre-conference seminars on financial aid, LD assessments, and customer service. About 60 participants will have joined in the first-ever IECA speed meetings and several groups, including Strategic Planning, Executive Board and the AICEP Board will have met.

Sound like a lot, considering the conference will not have been officially opened? Well, there’s more: 35 vendors will have been engaging arrivals in “Conference Central”;  Our IECA team will be providing information on a number of new member services and offering one-to-one assistance with social media;  AdmissionsQuest, in coordination with IECA, will have already begun its webcasting, blogging, tweeting, and more. All this after the staff prepared for months, and created what became more than 100 cases (!) of materials to be used in the days to come.

And how about more—all still in pre-conference mode! Some 140 IECA members will have attended an early arrivals dinner at Johnson & Wales University. There, all aspects of the program, from menu design, to food prep, to serving, to demonstration were created by culinary students. Other events, hosted by our Outreach Committee, invited very early arrivals to gather together for meals.

If that sounds exhausting consider that once we open the conference, more than 115 speakers and presenters will take part, including some international leaders in education theory. There will be 275 colleges and schools represented in our Thursday fair and another 215 programs for adolescents in our Friday Swap. New affinity groups representing tech-savvy members and international consultants will join our ever-expanding pool of meetings, gatherings and events.

Well over 1,100 attendees will take part in the conference and we hope each leaves with a personal sense that it was of great value to them. Putting on such a conference takes enormous effort, starting with our North and South Carolina members who served on the local host committee, our Board and Committee leaders who jumped in to help plan and execute, the consultants and schools who decided to take a chance on the Speeds Meetings or showcases, and the hundreds who signed up to be part of our first end-of-conference Master Class.

Yet much of the effort falls on the IECA staff. Most national organizations would have a staff of 4 – 8 working exclusively on such a conference. For us, it’s everyone in every department joining in to make it work. IECA has the best staff of any small association in the country. They work together to accomplish far more than organizations three or four times the size. Those in NC this week will see what they’ve accomplished. Be sure to thank them!

Have a great conference!

by Becky Grappo, IECA Member, United Arab Emirates

Blogging from Abu Dhabi, along the shores of the Arabian (or Persian) Gulf

I’m taking a break while waiting for my next appointment, and asked myself where I could go to chill out, work on my computer, get a quick bite to eat, and feel at home? Starbucks! I drove up and down the gridded, modern streets of Abu Dhabi until I found the reliable green logo that welcomed me “home.” I’m now enjoying wireless on my laptop with my Etisalat (Emirati phone company) USB modem, have had my sandwich and Frappuccino, and am listening to American Oldies on the music system (right now it’s playing “You Talk Too Much” which is an old song that reminded me of someone I knew!). Life is good!

But that’s about all that was familiar today. It started with an early departure from Dubai and a straight shot, one hour drive down highway E11. I finally found the general location of my 9:30 appointment with an American educational NGO operating here in the region. The American director came out of her office to retrieve me from the sea of cars in the parking lot of the local college, as I was close but not really there. I described my location, and we agreed to find each other under the shade of the date trees outside the mosque located in the parking lot. Ten minutes later when we still hadn’t connected, we realized that saying “under the dates by the mosque” was like saying “by Dunkin’ Donuts on a street corner in Boston”! They’re everywhere!

After a successful meeting with the NGO, I needed to find the location of the next meeting. My American counterpart generously offered for me to follow her, and good thing, for I never would have found this school tucked away on side streets with no street names I could discern. I was thrilled to find parking under a shade tree and set off to enter the school. Only the front entrance again deluded me—I wandered around an entire huge city block looking for the entrance, all while walking in the 100 degree in heat in shoes that weren’t made for walking! I was not quite as cheerful once I made my way inside…the heat just zapped me.

But once inside, my meeting with this local international school that offers an American curriculum was delightful. I found the headmistress of the school to be warm, friendly, engaging, and obviously passionately committed to her students. She used the word “love” in relationship to her students multiple times. Her main advisor is her daughter, who earned her Ph.D. in education at Boston University, and I found her to be very attuned to the latest best practices in education. The third person I met with was the special education teacher, trained in Lebanon, who was also very committed to her students. We discussed a student I am working with, and we all agreed on the plan of action. We also discussed professional collaboration, and I pointed to the IECA materials that I had presented to them about “Working with Students with Learning Disabilities” as well as the brochure about IECA’s Principles of Good Practice. I told them of my personal belief about the importance of collaboration, pointing out—with pride—my association with a group of collaborative professionals in the U.S.

I left satisfied that I had made new allies.

Next up: a meeting with parents of a struggling teen. Just as in the U.S., a difficult conversation awaits me regarding a serious situation. I think I might need another cup of ‘joe’ before I venture back out into the heat—both metaphorically and literally.

Just another day in the life of an IECA consultant…

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

We are looking forward to hosting two outstanding Canadian Universities at the IECA office on Tuesday evening. Starting at 5:00 p.m., the University of Toronto and University of British Columbia will share insights about their schools and about college study in Canada. The event is open to Washington, DC area educational consultants. If you wish to attend, contact UT’s Janet Hurd at janet.hurd@utoronto.ca

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

I have noted, on several occasions in the last few months, that IECA’s membership—and the numbers of educational consultants—is growing quickly. As this growth occurs, families will increasingly look toward IECA membership as the truest test of whether a consultant has the knowledge, skills and ethical guideposts to be of service to their children.

As I look more deeply into the growth of the profession it’s clear we are expanding our presence in more states and communities domestically, and seeing a significant growth in the field internationally, with new professional and associate members from South America to Africa. However, we continue to see much of the growth in major metropolitan areas, affording us a great opportunity to begin to explore establishing IECA REGIONAL GROUPS. Without the need to be formally developed, I see these regional groups as a way for members to share information, develop support networks, and bring in speakers: admission representatives, psychologists, media specialists and others. I can easily see such groups developing in cities from Boston to Atlanta to Seattle and LA where a dozen or more IECA members—and even non-members—could gather periodically to visit campuses, explore community service, host seminars and reach out to the community.

IECA wants to help make this happen. We can provide members interested in starting regional groups (and let’s remember several, like Tri-state have existed for years) with contact information for IECA professional, associate, student, and non-member consultants; contact information for schools and colleges, with possible speakers, and much more. Interested in starting a regional group? Let us know. Post something on our Facebook Page, recruit other interested folks through our TalkList. There’s much we can be doing in communities across the country in educating consultants—and consumers—alike.