IECA provides many resources to its members to help keep them up-to-date on the latest trends in educational consulting.
Education and Training
- IECA sponsors dozens of in-person college tours annually to over 40 campuses in all parts of the country and have arranged special receptions and events with college presidents and admission deans to improve communication and enhance the relationship between members and colleges. Tours are also coordinated to schools and programs.
- We offer live webinars on a regular basis and offer new members immediate access to over 150 virtual campus tours/information sessions and business training webinars in our online archives—all free to members.
- The IECA Business Training Channel features videos topics that are core to growing your practice and include accounting systems, budgeting, networking, email newsletters, time tracking, project management, and how to use Evernote.
- Members receive a $100 discount at one of our widely respected five-day Summer Training Institutes.
- Attend IECA’s annual conference at $125 less than non-members. IECA conferences features 80 breakout and discussion sessions, hundreds of schools and colleges participating in our consultant fairs, and nationally respected keynoters.
- We share special members-only content in our award-winning, quarterly Insights Journal.
Networking
- Member Network: This online community is a venue for members to connect with colleagues in real time. You can ask or respond to questions, share information with your peers, upload materials into libraries, view recent IECA webinars, and reference a calendar of upcoming members-only events.
- Mentor Match: IECA colleagues support each other through our mentoring program. IECA’s Mentor Match is a networking and career development tool dedicated to providing valuable support and development. As an IECA member, you can take advantage of this program—at no cost—to receive best practices and tips from expert colleagues. It provides opportunities for experienced IECs to help guide the next generation of IECs.
- Regional Groups are organized by members based on geographic location so you can network with IECA members living close to you.
- Affinity Groups are run by members with similar interests in a specific topic so you and your colleagues can network about what’s important to you. Affinity and Regional Groups share a common desire for collegiality, communication, and personal interaction.
Professional Support
Our 11-person national office professional staff serve member needs in ways ranging from providing professionally designed marketing brochures and sample business forms to media support and client advice. We work full-time at media outreach and serve as the public face of educational consulting to the media, schools, colleges, and other professionals.
Referrals
- With nearly 1.4 million hits annually, our website draws over 60,000 unique visitors each month resulting in over 34,000 searches of our membership database.
- IECA’s national office handles phone referral requests from parent and our print directory, updated annually, can be found in most private schools, college admission offices, and is mailed to parents and professionals upon request.
- Members report an increasing number of referrals of full paying clients from these sources and members can customize their descriptions in our online database.
Advocacy
With our lobbyists and Government Relations Committee, we are the only organization advocating directly for the best interests of independent educational consultants.
Discounts on Services for Your Practice
Members can take advantage of many discounts for their practices. Here are a few examples of discounts that IECA offers its members:
- 10% discount on IEC courses at UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and UC Riverside.
- Educational publisher discounts from Hedberg Maps, Wintergreen Orchard House, Princeton Review, and many more.
- Office management services such as Educational Consultant Platform, credit card processing, UPS shipping, and car rentals.