In this episode of Filling Seats, we tackle the growing "staff morale crisis" in college admissions offices. What’s driving burnout and dissatisfaction among admissions professionals? Joining us is Teege Mettille, author of The Admissions Counselor Malaise and Director of Enrollment Success at EnrollML. Drawing on years of campus leadership experie…

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Carey Dukes, who brings a wealth of experience from 25 years in supply chain management and a passion for teaching the next generation. After earning his doctorate degree, he joined academia to help students become day-one-ready employees. Dr. Dukes dives into the critical issues of: Student retention within sm…

Host Jonathan Clues discusses the impact of international recruitment and study abroad programs on U.S. higher education with guest Dr. John Neiser, Vice President for International Operations at Fairleigh Dickinson University. They delve into how international recruitment has shifted from being a symbolic effort to a critical revenue source, with …

Our latest episode of “Filling Seats” features StudentBridge CEO Jonathan Clues alongside Vanessa Didyk from ZeeMee and Dave Becker from CampusESP to discuss innovative strategies and technologies to boost enrollment, enhance student experiences, and maintain continuity despite staff changes. Jonathan, Vanessa, and Dave also tackle key questions: H…

In the third installment of our series on the 2023 RNL Trend Report, once again, we peel back layers of data to offer actionable insights on what motivates students to opt in to receive emails, text messages, and telephone calls. From their unique vantage points, Dr. Raquel Bermejo, Associate Vice President of Market Research and Planning for RNL a…

In this episode, we explore the busy summer travel season and the opportunity it presents for visitor services teams. Preparing for these crowds can be key, especially if your institution is located in a high-interest city, like Boston. In 2023, 22% of students visited campuses in a stealth, unannounced visit (Source: Niche). Amber Fitzgerald, dire…

Residence life, mental health, and wellness play a significant role in enrollment marketing and student college search today. In this episode of Filling Seats, StudentBridge CEO Jonathan Clues interviews ed tech innovators Luke Warren and Richard Nichols of Kinetic Software, a leader in student housing and accommodations. The trio compare notes on …

Feeding students’ appetite for omni-channel doesn’t have to be ‘oh my’. RNL’s Raquel Bermejo and StudentBridge CEO Jonathan Clues give a crash course on the multiple sources students use in their college search. Plus, implementing an omni-channel strategy is like composing a symphony, so higher ed marketing maestro Jose Mallabo also stops by to sha…

RNL’s Raquel Bermejo discusses the growth of video as an essential part of an admissions strategy with StudentBridge CEO Jonathan Clues. You’ll hear: Demand for virtual experiences and personalization Key Findings from the 2023 E-Expectations Trend Report How video and personalization drive enrollment and conversion Best practices for creating auth…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Corrie Wilder who is the Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at Washington State University Everett, a small regional campus in the WSU system You'll hear: How they navigate recruitment and marketing as a branch campus of a larger university system Advantages of marketing a small regional school and …

In this episode, you’ll hear from Sarah McMaster who is the Executive Director of Marketing and Enrollment Management at Champlain College Online. You'll hear: Similarities and differences in enrollment marketing strategy for online vs. on-campus programs How they’re capturing prospect email addresses by providing value Areas of improvement and rec…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Alyson Leas who is the Director of Admissions at University of Jamestown, a private Christian liberal arts university in Jamestown, North Dakota. You'll hear: The importance of being present and showcasing value Their unique approach to communicating outcomes that specifically appeals to parents How UJ markets to s…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Alyssa Brant and Kailey MacDonald, two StudentBridge team members who work with our partners to ensure their success. You'll hear them discuss: The biggest challenges they see schools face and top recommendations for success heading into the next enrollment cycle Why authentic content matters and how to achieve it …

In this episode, you’ll hear from Jordan Stevenson who is now the Executive Director of Admissions and New Student Programs at Kennesaw State University, as well as Sara-Jean Gilbert who is the Associate Director of Admission at Illinois College. You'll hear: How they’ve communicated with admits throughout the yield process over the past few enroll…

In this episode, we're sharing 8 strategies to prioritize for the next enrollment cycle. You'll also hear from past podcast guests with their perspective. Find out: how to combat the decline in college-bound students and increase in competition what channels you might be using ineffectively or overlooking all the ways personalization can be utilize…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Mary Beth Marks who is the Executive Director of Enrollment Marketing at University of the Pacific, a private university in Northern California. You'll hear her discuss: the importance of marketing to enrollment how they're using paid TikTok ads to build brand awareness what she thinks about using mail and email to…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Laura Rudolph who is the Director of Enrollment Communication at Transylvania University, a private liberal arts university in Lexington, Kentucky. You'll hear her discuss: how they impact enrollment through strategic communication to parents why it's essential to use both data and individual interactions to inform…

Happy Birthday to Filling Seats 🎉 In this episode, you'll hear from Jonathan Clues, CEO and founder of StudentBridge You'll hear him discuss: what the past few years have looked like for StudentBridge what's to come this year and how that has a huge impact for colleges and universities what insight he has for schools to meet enrollment goals this y…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Drew Granucci who is the Associate Director of Admissions at University of Connecticut. You'll hear him discuss: advantages and disadvantages of working at a big-name school the positive impacts the pandemic has had on their in-person and virtual visits how they strategically and successfully use outbound phone cal…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Lindsay Nyquist who is the Director of Marketing & Communications at Fort Lewis College, which is is a small public liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado. You'll hear her discuss: how their remote location plays a role in their in-person and virtual visit strategy how they convey authentic student voices throug…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Claire Lawrence who is the Academic and Admissions Advisor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health. You'll hear her discuss: how organic social content plays a role in their digital strategy their grassroots approach to recruiting public health students the challenges the…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Dr. Christophe Morin who is a neuroscientist, professor of media psychology and CEO of SalesBrain. He has 30+ years of experience in marketing, consumer research, and advertising effectiveness, and his passion is to understand and predict consumer behavior using cutting-edge science. You'll hear him discuss: top mi…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Lauren Mauldin who is the Director of Communications & Marketing at Mercer University School of Law. Mercer is a small private school located in Georgia. You'll hear her discuss: how they convey their small school feel through virtual visits how their strategy is changing to appeal to Gen Z some creative strategies…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Timothy Butterfield who is the Admission Marketing Specialist at Grinnell College. Grinnell is a small private liberal arts college in Iowa. You'll hear him discuss: one of the top ways Grinnell receives quality inquiries some of the unique challenges they face as a highly selective institution the importance of co…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Chris Showalter who is the Lead Video Producer at StudentBridge. You'll hear him discuss: top mistakes schools make when creating video when to use short-form, long-form, self-shot, and professional video where in the enrollment funnel video plays the biggest role _________________ Featured Case Studies ⤵️ 1️⃣ Illi…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Michael Ruiz who is the Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid at Southern Illinois University School of Law. SIU is a mid-sized public university in Carbondale, Illinois. You'll hear him discuss: how they balance the demand for filling seats with the desire for finding the best-fit students how in-person …

In this episode, you'll hear from Jay Collier who is the Director of College Relations at Wayne State College, a small public college in northeast Nebraska. You'll hear him discuss: how Wayne State has increased enrollment and retention through a culture of supporting students why digital is their most effective marketing channel how they were able…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Cassie Montgomery who is the Director of Outreach Services at Amarillo College, which is a community college in the Texas panhandle. You'll hear her discuss: how marketing a community college differs from a four-year institution how she revamped their campus visit experience and how she designed it to meet the need…

In this episode, you’ll hear from two team members at Washington University in St. Louis Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences -- Andrew Richards, Director of Admissions & Recruitment and Kyla Evans, Recruitment and Communications Coordinator. You'll hear them discuss: how they compete against other nationally known institutions how they utiliz…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Stephen Woodward who is the Marketing & Communications Manager in the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy at East Tennessee State University. You'll hear him talk about: what the state of enrollment marketing is for pharmacy schools and what the future might bring what it's like being a department of one how they're di…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Lauren Findley and Noelle Stovall who are the Director and Associate Director of Admissions at Jacksonville State University. Jacksonville State is a public institution in Alabama. You'll hear them discuss: the working relationship between them and their relationship with university leadership how they differentiat…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Mark Forehand who is Interim Vice President of Enrollment at Kennesaw State University. You'll hear him talk about: how Kennesaw State nearly doubled its total student body enrollment in a decade the importance of video to Kennesaw's online presence and how they create video without straining resources what channel…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Chelsea Holley who is the Director of Admissions at Spelman College. You'll hear her talk about: what shaping enrollment looks like for a truly unique institution like Spelman how social media has played a huge role in showcasing Spelman online and how they've done it with a small team what strategies she's using t…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Ben Congleton who is the CEO of Olark, which provides live chat for university websites. You'll hear him talk about: the importance of live chat, and what its benefits are over texting how different universities have utilized chat and what their successes have been how universities can manage live chat, even with a…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Hillary Kane who is the Chief Communications & Marketing Officer at a private law school in California. You'll hear her talk about: the most effective channels for different types of programs and audiences what prospective law students are looking for during their search what the future might look like for virtual …

In this episode, you’ll hear from Bob Johnson who has been a consultant in higher ed since 2006 helping schools develop strong marketing communication strategies. You'll hear him talk about: the top mistakes colleges and universities make on the website homepage critical information that could be missing from your school's academic program pages wh…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Megan Moloney who is the Vice President for Marketing and Communications at Transylvania University. You'll hear her talk about: the collaborative, working relationship between university marketing and enrollment marketing what channels are most effective at different stages of the funnel how she uses her backgroun…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Jeremy Tiers who oversees Admissions Services at Tudor Collegiate Stratgies, which provides Advanced Recruiting and Training Strategies. You'll hear him talk about: why inconsistency and outdated tactics are the holding back enrollment marketers how enrollment leaders can create a better culture to retain staff wha…

In this episode, you’ll hear from LaNelda Rolley who is the CMO at Nevada State College. You'll hear her talk about: the most effective channels for her school, which aren't print or email how she's using targeted social ads for different populations what growth has looked like for her school 🎓 Learn more about StudentBridge 💻 Schedule a meeting wi…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Kevin Renton who is a Principal at eCity Interactive, a digital design and marketing agency based in Philadelphia. You'll hear him talk about: the different forms of personalization and how to best attain it an agency view of enrollment marketing how COVID has forever changed this industry (for the better!) _______…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Tyler Peterson, Executive Director of Admissions & Financial Assistance at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and current president of SACAC. You'll hear him talk about: how to engage employees through the great resignation his perspective on what schools are doing well (and not so well!) what to expect at the…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Judith Stockmon who is the Assistant Dean for Graduate Enrollment at American University College of Arts and Sciences. You'll hear her talk about: how an on-going collection of data guides their ability to recruit how her private sector experience shaped her view on enrollment as a consumer product now how analyzin…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Dr. Kerr Ramsay who is the Senior Vice President of Enrollment at High Point University, a private university in North Carolina. You'll hear him talk about: how High Point is using print and email differently why enrollment marketing gets a bad rap what the future for enrollment might look like _________________ Fe…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Mariah Hughes who is the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Eastern Maine Community College. You'll hear us talk about: the importance of brand management and marketing at a two-year institution how Mariah gets it done as a one-person marketing operation how EMCC strives for access in its programs and of…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Kylie Hall who is the Assistant Director of Admissions Communications at Georgia Southern University, a large public institution with three campuses in Georgia. Kylie and I discuss: how Georgia Southern has grown enrollment during the pandemic by utilizing surveying in the yield process her view on collaboration be…

In this episode, you’ll hear from Jonathan Clues who is the CEO and founder of StudentBridge. We talk about: why Jonathan chose to work in higher education after being a professional racecar driver what he believes the future of higher education and enrollment marketing are his vision for how virtual experiences can complement existing in-person an…

New episodes release each month Learn what’s working to grow, shape, and sustain enrollment at colleges and universities, directly from fellow enrollment marketers, thought leaders, and edtech innovators. At StudentBridge, our goal is for every student to find the perfect fit and every school to fill every seat. We’ve been around for more than a de…