by Mark H. Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

June 30th marks the close of our Fiscal Year and IECA’s 34th serving as the principal voice of the profession of independent educational consulting. We entered the year committed to helping our members thrive, and exploring ways to strengthen the profession, promote the value of the work we do, and enhance the services offered by the Association to students, families, schools, and our member consultants. And while it was a difficult year for some, with many parts of the country suffering a deep economic recession, we have continued to move forward together.

Some of our progress occurred right here as we greatly expanded our efforts in electronic communication and social networking sites. This blog saw more than 200 original posts and over 150 comments. There are readers who come to our blog from our Web site, while others read it on Facebook, and well over 200 subscribers choose to receive it via e-mail. I have spoken to reporters as well as school and program heads, and college vice presidents that mention things they read on our blog. We have 300 followers on Twitter, more than 600 views on our Flickr photostream, 162 IECA members connecting on our LinkedIn group, and 900 fans (and growing) on Facebook. We have worked to assist members to master this new world of communication and will continue and even expand that effort in the coming year.

Of course all this attention to new media is meant to provide two key benefits: increased communication between and among IECA and its publics (consultants, school reps and the general public) but also to encourage more visits to the IECA Web site. In the past year the number of unique visitors increased 14%. More than 28,000 people searched the “find a consultant” feature of the Web site alone. Our goal to connect families to members is working and we intend to increase that effort in the coming year. A central core piece of our mission is to change the public’s sense of educational consulting from “what is a consultant?” to “I need a consultant, and I’ll only look to IECA as the assurance I need of competence.”

This past year we completed two member surveys: one that focused on the field of consulting to help us better understand where things stand, so we can better respond to future needs; and the second one that focused on educational needs of members to help guide our committees and shape future initiatives. A major development came from a survey that we did not conduct. An independent national study showed a far larger percentage of “high achieving students’ than anyone had ever imagined were working with educational consultants (26%). Such widespread use of consultants can have a major impact on the actions of college admission officers and IECA has been reaching out to them in unprecedented ways.

While a number of educational organizations saw membership decline this past year, IECA continued its moderate growth with a 5% increase in members. Our conferences in North Carolina and Toronto were extremely successful as local host committees (made up for the first time with school representatives as well as consultants) worked to raise the academic content (the new Master Classes and Point/Counterpoint sessions, for example), and we also introduced an active Conference Central that included a bookstore (and author book signings), networking cyber-lounge, and much more, designed to increase networking and sharing.

IECA’s signature training programs: the Summer Training Institute continues to ‘sell out’ as does the Transitioning to Private Practice Seminar which IECA runs in partnership with NACAC. The first ever certificate program in independent educational consulting is now being offered by U.C. Irvine in a program jointly designed and taught by the university and IECA and its members. We have been working more closely with our association colleagues at SSATB, NAIS, NATSAP, and more. We manned a booth for the first-time ever at LDA this past year and are committed to extending our efforts into the LD and therapeutic communities in the year ahead. Internally, our new Affinity groups have expanded to involve dozens of members in planning and leadership roles.

The Board of Directors, working with a new Long-Range Plan, found members articulating their priorities for the coming year: educate the public so they are more aware of the role of independent educational consulting, ensure that the public identifies IECA as the ‘gold standard’ of the profession, increase outreach to affiliated professional communities, emphasize ethics, and enhance education. These will form the basis of the work that the IECA office staff, Board, and volunteers will highlight for the Association’s coming 35th year.

The staff feels honored to work on behalf of our members and in promoting this important field. We are excited by what the coming years have in store.

by Mark H. Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consulting Association

I spent the last few days attending the Potomac and Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling (PCACAC) Conference in Dover, Delaware with school counselors, college admission officials, and independent educational consultants from Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, DC, and West Virginia. I heard a couple of themes emerge that deeply impacted me.

Shannon Gundy, director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Maryland, College Park, served on a panel that I chaired, exploring school counselor/consultant relations. Shannon noted that in preparation for her presentation, she asked members of her staff how often they “heard from or worked with” an educational consultant. Their answer: about once a month. That led Shannon to conclude that the University of Maryland doesn’t really have much of a relationship with educational consultants and gets relatively few students applying to the state’s flagship school.

Of course recent independent studies would suggest otherwise. The Lipman Hearne study, aided by the National Research Center for College and University Admissions, showed that 26% of high achieving students—exactly the kind that would explore admission to the University of Maryland—used educational consultants. Yet educational consultants have worked so hard to keep their existence in the background that we may have led to the impression that we are of little consequence, hiding our significance (and growing numbers), and suggesting to colleges that we are an unimportant constituency. In reality, for many colleges we are their greatest source for out-of-region students. Shannon wondered why we didn’t make our numbers better known.

I was reminded of a panel at our Summer Training Institute a few years back. There, Corky Surbeck, dean of admission at Goucher College, was asked if he ‘minded’ if a consultant called him to discuss any special circumstances. He surprised everyone in the room when he stated flatly that he wished consultants called more. He noted that consultants—fully qualified and vetted consultants like those in IECA—have an interesting insight that he and his admission staff needed to hear. With students applying to Goucher for all sorts of reasons, he knew one thing: if a student working with a consultant was applying to Goucher, there was a good reason the consultant thought it was a good fit. He and his staff would welcome finding out why.

Consultants have been so wary about being seen publicly that many advise their students, when faced with the questions about “how they heard of the Common Application” or “Did you use an educational consultant in your application,” to leave the question blank—again, diluting the strength of our numbers, our work, and our efforts on behalf of students.

The other comment I have heard replaying in my head came from a twenty-something school counselor attending that session. She noted a strain of unacceptance: That school counselors resist cooperating with consultants, and consultants advise their students not to reveal to the school that they are involved. She found this absurd! “Aren’t we all working for the same goal: serving students?” she asked. When she was told what NACAC and other institutions were like 10-15 years ago when consultants were not well respected, she noted that this was ancient history and it was time we moved on.

Truer words were never spoken. It is time we moved on, taking our seat at the table, reflective of our professionalism and commitment to students. IECA introduced the phrase “good fit” into popular use more than 15 years ago. Our members have visited more campuses, hold a higher percentage of certifications, attend more professional training, and find great matches. It is time that every college, school, and parent know it. It is time for us to assert our knowledge and our leadership.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

A major source of frustration, based on what I hear when I travel, revolves around the strained relationship between independent educational consultants and school-based college counselors. School counselors feel that students working with consultants are often advised to keep that relationship a secret from the school counselor, leaving the advisor confused about a student’s choices and actions. Educational consultants report that school counselors often tell their students, using direct language, not to hire a consultant or face being cut-off from school assistance. School counselors worry about the message being sent when students choose to go outside of the school for advising, and consultants worry about being ‘discovered’ as involved in the process.

This seems surprising, when both the IECA Principles of Good Practice and NACAC’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice call for an honest, cooperative relationship.

Ways to improve this relationship will be brought to two meetings of regional ACACs this spring. One panel, led by Marty O’Connell of Colleges That Change Lives, was presented this past week in Jacksonville, Florida at the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling Conference (SACAC). The session, entitled “Building Bridges Between Colleagues: It’s All About Counseling Students,” included college counselors from both a public and private high school; John Gaines, associate dean, undergraduate admissions at Vanderbilt University; and IECA member Bill Dingledine (South Carolina), representing independent consultants. The title is the same at next week’s meeting of the Potomac and Chesapeake (PCACAC) chapter. I will be given the opportunity to moderate a session that includes two IECA members (Emily Snyder of Virginia and Shelley Levine of Maryland); a public and a private school counselor; and Shannon Gundy, director of undergraduate admissions at University of Maryland.

These efforts underscore an ongoing effort by IECA to reach out to school-based college advisors, find common ground, and enhance cooperation. In many communities such efforts are producing solid results.

It is still shocking to me that there are a few state or regional ACACs where independent educational consultants are mistreated: not allowed to serve as officers, facing obstacles to becoming members, and denied the right to serve on committees. Yet other ACAC groups have IECA members serving on the Board (and in one case, president) and among the most active volunteers.

As we look forward, IECA is exploring ways to find greater cooperation with NACAC and regional groups, particularly as we plan conferences, training programs, and more throughout the country. The IECA College Committee will also be looking for opportunities to improve relationships, and enhance respect and mutual cooperation.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

Early this morning I received the draft of the Strategic Plan meant to carry IECA through 2015. The Task Force charged with writing the plan, chaired by Mary Jane Freeman of North Carolina, began its work about 16 months ago by reviewing the implementation of our previous plan. They discovered that the 2005-2010 plan truly served as the guiding document for both the Board and staff. In their report card they found that of the scores of goals and objectives listed, virtually all had been either “completely” or “substantially” implemented. Such adherence to the plan is what propelled IECA dramatically forward during those five years.

One of the lessons for the membership is that such plans matter. That is, when the Association adopts a path to follow it is a genuine outline of where IECA will go. Now, with the new plan we have a clear idea of what the Association should look like in 2015, and it is an exciting future. And lest anyone think that IECA plans to sit back and enjoy our successes, the new plan, submitted to the Board for review and approval, lists 71 new goals, objectives, and implementation strategies.

While the plan will soon be available for all members to review, here are some of the major goals and what they would mean for IECA and its members by 2015:

1. We seek to ensure that the public identifies IECA as the foremost association of educational consultants. This means that IECA will undertake serious efforts, including the commitment to resources to become better known to the general public so that families immediately look to see a consultant’s IECA affiliation as evidence of competence, skill, and ethical bearing. This goal includes working to make the IECA Web site is the preferred source of admissions and placement resources.

2. Assert our goal that while no unqualified consultant should ever be allowed to join the Association, that all serious, professional and qualified consultants sense an obligation to join IECA as evidence of achieving professional stature. As part of this goal, the plan calls for an expansion of outreach, mentoring, networking, workshops, and the expansion of our new initiative to develop regional consulting groups.

3. Assist members in maintaining profitable, professional and state-of-the-art practices. Our goal is to not only become better known in the public and continue to drive potential clients to our members, but also to assist members in finding new efficiencies to reduce office costs in time and money, and to help sort through new technological developments.

4. Provide IECA members with tools and opportunities for professional growth and promotion of ethical practices. This includes new efforts at promoting the transition from associate to professional status, continued training efforts through our partnerships with NACAC and others, and introduce new educational opportunities through regional and online offerings.

5. Provide paths for leadership within the Association. IECA has been blessed with staggering numbers of members who volunteer: to serve on committees, to assist at conferences, who volunteer with special events. The plan calls for greater effort to ensure opportunities for all who wish to become leaders in the organization to find the path available to them.

6. Finally, the plan calls for whatever by-laws changes are necessary and whatever staffing changes are required to meet the demands of the Association’s growth and new initiatives. In part the plan recognizes that new program initiatives spurred by active committees, affinity and regional groups will lead to increased demands for staff support.

The picture painted by the strategic initiatives is clear: in 2015 IECA will have asserted its leadership and well-earned reputation of its members through increased public awareness and increased outreach to our professional colleagues. We will be a proactive organization: adding programs, tours, workshops, and national and regional programming, to ensure our members have whatever resources they need to succeed and lead. We have exciting days ahead!

The Strategic Planning Committee members are: Mary Jane Freeman (NC), chair, Nancy Cadwallader (LA), Pearl Glassman (NY), Charotte Klaar (MD), Audrey Ludemann (CT), Bari Norman (FL), with Diane Geller (CA), IECA President

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.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

For several years I have put forth a theory, based on little more than gut feeling. Simply put, it was as more students seek the advice of educational consultants, it will become easier for cash-strapped school districts to cut way back on full-time college counseling within the schools by contracting with educational consultants. Such a move would allow school counselors to concentrate on crisis intervention, academic and behavioral concerns, and “farm out” college counseling to professionals who have the time and expertise to serve students better.

A few days ago, one of the nation’s largest school districts approved a plan to move in that direction. The Dallas Independent School District voted to fund over $2 million for outside college counseling. The school district felt its ratio of one counselor per 385 students left those young people with inadequate counseling. What is remarkable is that so many district have ratios TWICE that number. The counselors who are district employees would continue to have responsibilities including academic advising, class scheduling, emotional and behavioral counseling and the like, but would hand over college advising to outside professionals. The budget allotment provides each high school in the district with $95,000 to contract with outside organizations.

It has long been my view that college advising and personal counseling are very different, requiring different skills and  core knowledge. In many ways this change recognizes that college advisors possess a different set of competencies that will benefits students tremendously. What we at IECA think is essential is that the schools, as they look for outside guidance, only begin working with those who have the knowledge, experience, expertise and ethical guideposts represented by IECA and/or NACAC membership. We’ll be watching closely.

If this works, as measured by both the delivery of services and the economic realities of the school district, and if families are pleased with the results, we can expect to see other school systems explore the same plan, leading us closer to the theory I’ve espoused for the last few years, elevating the profession, enhancing IECA and NACAC’s role and serving students better.

We’ll be watching closely!

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

About 100 educational consultants gathered together for the annual meeting of their “Special Interest Group” during the NACAC Conference. The hour-long lunch meeting was dedicated to a discussion of pro-bono and other community service models, reflecting the near universal commitment educational consultants make to service (a recent survey of members of the Independent Educational Consultants Association showed that more than 90% did some pro-bono work).

Chaired by San Francisco consultant Jane McClure, a panel of five consultants, led by Katelyn Klapper (IECA, MA) provided various models of service, including community-based organizations promoting college access, national organizations assisting under-served communities, no-fee service for foster children, sliding scale fees to serve those struggling financially, and more.

Among those sharing such models were IECA members Leslie Kent (VA), Joan Koven (PA) and Liz Zucker (MA).

Stephanie Sabga, a Denver-based consultant shared her experiences, doing a wonderful job synthesizing the difficulties in effective volunteer outreach—and providing terrific ideas on how to overcome these difficulties.

Leaving the room at its conclusion, IECA Foundation Chair Steve Antonoff (IECA, CO) commented on how much he wished all attendees at NACAC could have seen the presentation and learned of the commitment consultants make to service.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

From the NACAC Conference in Baltimore

I’ve discovered today what happens when 100 IECA Members (loyal, enthusiastic members) along with another 100 alumni of IECA training programs (Summer Training Institute and Transitioning Workshop) come together at a NACAC conference. They create an amazing buzz about IECA, growth in the field and the association, and enhance the opportunity to share information about the Association and our mission with others.

That level of enthusiasm tells just a little about the feel of the NACAC conference so far.

Coming off of Thursday’s lunch, where more than 375 people jammed our annual gathering for members and college admission reps, much discussion has focused on IECA’s high membership standards and ethical guidelines, including a prohibition against actions and statement designed to prey on family and student anxieties.

Late Thursday, standing in the IECA booth (for those in Baltimore join us at booth #1005) there was a steady stream of college and university representatives coming by to thank us. Yes, for some to thank us for lunch, but for many more it was to thank us for setting high standards and assuring that our IECA members are knowledgeable, ethical, and student-centered. These folks were ENTHUSIASTIC about working with consultants who understand that it’s about a great match and long-term success and not simply about “getting in.” We look forward to seeing them at a future conference, hosting a tour, or connecting on our Facebook page.

Our members will also appreciate hearing that many companies have come by wanting to talk to us about offering products and services to IECA members. We’ll be following up in the coming weeks and look forward to offering our members new benefits.

Finally, a special congratulations to the two raffle drawing winners at our lunch. The individuals each won a gift card to Starbucks, and the schools they work for each receive a free registration (including meals and hotel) at an upcoming IECA conference.  The winners:

Joanne Lynch, assistant dean of admission at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, RI and Lynn Boehne, director of admission services at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

From the NACAC National Conference in Baltimore

I am writing today from an amazing, overflow crowd jammed into the ballroom at the Marriott at the Inner Harbor. This annual lunch of IECA member independent educational consultants and admission directors and deans from the nation’s colleges is—by far—the largest gathering we’ve ever seen. This great turnout, some 300 college representatives and 70 IECA Members has grown by 40% in just the past two years.

In large part, this growth reflects the increased acceptance and support for educational consulting among admission professionals. Many colleges have shared their commitment to working with IECA members, as students referred to them know more about the school, possess good reasons to support the quality of the match, which all increases the likelihood of student success. One director of admission at a large Midwestern state university told me he values IECA consultants who help to attract appropriate students from communities beyond their usual feeder areas.

What these college reps shared based on personal observations is borne out by facts. Students who work with IECA consultants spend more time exploring possibilities and know more about the colleges they apply to. They are more likely to attend colleges out-of-state and are more likely to remain in a college through graduation.

IECA President Diane Geller and College Committee Chair Emily Snyder took the opportunity offered by the large crowd to emphasize IECA’s leadership in promoting strict ethics that include ensuring that students remain in control of their own search and application process, that consultants do not re-write essays or ‘package’ students and that IECA rules stress the role of consultants to ease, not prey on, parent anxieties.

Today was a great day of sharing, cooperation, and support all in the name of providing great counseling and opportunities for students in their search for college success.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

I’m blogging today from the back row of a pre-conference workshop in Baltimore, part of the NACAC Conference.  No, I’m not ignoring the speaker, I’m one of the faculty for the all-day training.  This sold-out workshop is on transitioning from work as a school-based college counselor or a college admission official to working as an educational consultant.

The attendees are a terrific group of professionals who are intent to absorb as much as possible.  They quickly caught on to the four pillars of consulting: (1) knowledge (of students, of colleges, of the process); (2) counseling (advising students and managing families); (3) personal & ethics matters; and (4) small business skills. While most of those in the room know colleges, the process, or counseling skills, they had real questions about being an entrepreneur in an ethical and successful way. This is the focus of this afternoon’s sessions.

For MANY entering the field, they come with a passion for students and genuine belief in the importance of finding a good match between student and college.They fear that by charging families, or selling themselves and their services, it violates their commitment to serve students.

During the workshop we emphasize the simple truth that everyone who does college advising is paid: by tuition-paying parents at a private school, by school district salary or, in the case of educational consultants, directly by client families. Serving students well: through hard work, commitment to excellence and staying current while putting the needs of students first does not conflict with providing for oneself and one’s family.

It’s that balance that serves as a challenge to all consultants and an emphasis that drives IECA: how to be a GREAT counselor, a good businessperson, and ethical throughout.