Thursday, September 6, 2012

Educate Yourself


Bookmark and Share By Helen Vollmer, President, Southwest

 
Education Reform.  Heavy sigh.  We hear a lot about it, but from my experience in querying people about it, the general response is,” yeah, we need it.”  But few can tell you what it is, what’s being done about it and at what cost (both financially and personally).  

This issue of E-volution is all about education from some of our experts in the field.  As we grapple with very real and emerging issues that affect us as a nation and society in general, one thing is certain.  Education is a very complex undertaking. 

In fact, education reform is so complex that it has been a topic of discussion since Plato’s time (The Republic).  Thomas Jefferson advocated ambitious reforms for public schooling, as did Rousseau, Thoreau, Dewey (remember the Dewey Decimal system?), Montessori and Bush (No Child Left Behind).

Clearly, no one has found the silver bullet yet to education reform.  In the meantime, according to an OECD report, the United States which ties for first place with Switzerland in annual spending per student, still lags far behind the schools of other wealthy nations in reading, math and science.

Education topics we all have a stake in include accountability, accessibility, teacher quality, curriculum standards, bilingual education, teacher quality, class sizes, instructional philosophies, academic standards, digital approaches, and mainstreaming students with learning disabilities.  And, oh, yes, did I say funding?

Education should not be a partisan issue but, of course, it is. The debate will rage on.  All we can do is educate ourselves, have a voice and work within our communities to better schools and academic approaches.  As schools and universities gear back up, let’s not forget we can always raise our educational standards for those to come.  We can do better. 


Higher Ed is Coming Apart at the Seams – Or Not


Bookmark and Share By Julia Weede, Senior Vice President, Education, Dallas

The hyper-saturated media world of economic, political and technological news is proving to be a dangerous place for traditional ideas about education this fall.  The 2012-13 school year finds schools and educators facing changes at a speed perhaps never seen before.

Education analysts, commentators and media have echoed several “memes” in the global dialog on education this year. But like all fast-spreading words of common wisdom, the details often get left behind, and it is the details that tell the tale.

Here’s a closer look at four themes we have seen over the last several months:

1. Online classes spell the end of traditional universities.
The Details: Well, yes and no. The reality is a bit more complex. Online college students are, for now, still very different from traditional students. According to a 2012 study by Aslanian Market Research, the average online student in the U.S is 33, female and Caucasian. She has almost two years of college credit, and had to leave school because life got in the way. She has a job and wants a promotion or is worried about the economy. Her online program is from a school within 100 miles of her home. She would prefer to go to classes on campus, but just wants to complete her degree, so she is fitting the program to her reality.

Two-thirds of all online students are currently pursuing degrees from a traditional, non-profit college or university. The next five years will see more traditional universities building out their online offerings. So will traditional universities change? Absolutely. Will they disappear? Most will not – at least not those who can see the value of working with students across a spectrum of their lives and needs for learning.

2. The fact that college costs are rising shows that schools are insensitive to the needs of families.
The Details: The little-understood fact of college costs is that university scholarships are a primary driver of increased costs. Why? Institutional scholarships are simply a discount in tuition. So in order to offer big scholarships, most schools end up increasing tuition.

So why not just cut out scholarships and drastically lower tuition? Most college enrollment people will tell you this would be institutional suicide. Here’s why. Answer honestly: If it was your child and you had a choice between a $40,000 per year education with $15,000 in scholarships, or a $25,000 per year education with no scholarships, which would you choose?

It could be argued that as consumers we get the college pricing system we want. Even in higher education – or maybe especially in higher education – most families equate cost with quality and scholarships with sheer merit. 

3. Liberal arts degrees are a waste of money.
The Details:  A January 2012 study found that college graduates with skills traditionally related to broad liberal arts degrees – critical thinking, analytical reasoning and solid writing skills – were three times less likely to be unemployed than those who didn’t have these skills. This Social Science Research Council data is notable in an economic climate where higher education has been commoditized into a 1:1 investment-vs.-first-job-offer equation.

U.S. Dept. of Labor statistics now show that most college graduates will have 16 jobs over three distinctly different careers; many of these jobs haven’t been created yet. Which job does a student prepare for? There are many paths to success for college graduates, and with the focus on core reasoning, communication and analytical skills, the liberal arts continues to be one of them.

4. Student Debt is Crippling a Generation Burdened by Six-Figure Student Loan Amounts
The Details:  Student loan debt is a serious issue, especially in an economic cycle where graduates face fewer job prospects. Casual observers of recent news might be forgiven for assuming that the average college student is graduating with a calamitous amount of student debt.

But a recent study from FinAid.org shows that only 1.5 percent of all college students graduated with $100,000 or more in student debt. About 90 percent of them had been students in graduate or professional programs.

According to a 2012 College Board study on student debt in 2009-10, there has been a rapid rise in the amount of overall student debt being incurred each year. But as NPR reports, “it turns out that the rise in total student debt is not primarily the result of each student borrowing more money. It’s the result of more students going to college.”

In reality, the average bachelor’s degree debt for grads from public universities was $12,300 in 2009-10. Private school grads took on a total average of $18,300 in student loans.  Even the priciest private schools see total student loan averages equivalent to that of an average car loan – and one could argue that the depreciation is not nearly as steep.

Mitigating Reputational Risk in Higher Education


Bookmark and Share By Andrew Liuzzi, Vice President, Crisis and Issues Management, Chicago

Higher education has confronted a number of high-profile issues and crises in recent years that have altered the academic landscape and sparked a new era of reputational risk to campuses across the United States.  As a working definition, Edelman defines reputational risk as the gap between an organization’s performance/behavior and stakeholder expectations. 

In the wake of scandals at Penn State, Syracuse, Florida A&M and Wisconsin, schools now face intensified scrutiny around the clock and, consequently, their stakeholders expect them to develop a robust capability to manage and mitigate reputational risk.

We believe that it’s crucial for a university to employ the same laser-focus on managing against reputational risk as it traditionally has devoted to other enterprise risks, such as operations (e.g., 2010 shooting at the University of Texas-Austin), financial (e.g., tuition shortfalls) and legal.

Here’s one reason why. Any sensitive issue that now emerges at a major institution will fuel media interest and trigger any number of stakeholder responses. This is especially true when the issue involves high-profile athletics. As such, any school must be prepared for such situations with a robust set of mitigation strategies.

The schools that properly integrate this risk into a broader Enterprise Risk Management strategy will almost certainly gain enhanced protection against destabilizing issues that threaten their core license to operate. Those that do not will likely experience a severe loss of confidence in their institution and erosion in trust that could damage alumni giving, enrollment and a school’s brand equity.

We have found that shortcomings in three key behaviors compel institutions to act to improve or overhaul the management of reputational risk: accountability, decisional analysis and preparedness. Accountability encompasses understanding of who is ultimately responsible for reputation-risk management; preparedness entails development and training against a crisis plan; and decision analytics serves as a foundational element for any risk-mitigation plan.

Crises often are created or greatly exacerbated by an organization's inability to make decisions quickly—this is only enhanced within higher-education as much of a university’s accountability and oversight management is decentralized and handled by school/discipline. While this framework works well given the wide range of components within the university structure, it also poses substantial risk and can raise questions of accountability and unchecked powers.  This usually reflects the highly charged emotional environment that a crisis creates, as well as the lack of tested procedures that channel the emotions and strain of a crisis into action and constructive public engagement.

Brain studies demonstrate that sound strategic decisions rarely emerge in the heat of battle. The military, obviously, doesn't wait for live fire to begin training and preparing their personnel for combat, nor does a school’s football team wait for the season opener to practice. That’s why schools cannot wait for a crisis to erupt before planning for its possibility.  Instead, the university’s officer in charge of risk must structure and employ a reputational risk decision-making process and protocol to facilitate needed information gathering. The officer also must identify and dismantle cultural and operational silos that hinder decision-making. This process will ensure a school’s early engagement to avert crisis.

Edelman favors a sound reputational risk decisional model built of three tenets:
  • Reputational risk-based information gathering and decision-making is an ongoing process.
  • Effective decisions are made on the basis of recurring analysis and strategic insight.
  • Decision-making systems are informed by data and research and organized so that responsibilities are clear.

Just ask any administrator at a university or college who faced an unexpected crisis that damaged the school’s reputation; they will underscore the critical importance of planning ahead.  Their responses, alone, will underscore that such preparation should begin immediately.   

Continuing Education: Taking lessons from the Classroom to the Real World


Bookmark and Share By Amanda Hodge, Intern, Dallas

After arriving at Baylor University in August, 2008, I was among the swarm of freshman who weren’t exactly sure which professional path to take. I always enjoyed writing, studying literature, traveling and working on team projects, but I struggled to determine a career path that would best encompass my talents. After completing introductory mass communications classes and seeking the advice of several professors, I ultimately decided to prepare myself for a career in communications.

My major allowed me to take classes concerning writing, public speaking, film and digital media. And while my classroom-based education was extremely valuable, the education I received through real-world internships helped me to better understand the intricacies behind various types of PR that I wouldn’t have learned in class.

Baylor gave me my first taste of the real-world of PR through its unique New York City-based internship program.  After a lengthy application process, hours spent researching possible internships in New York and many chats convincing my parents that their youngest daughter was capable of surviving in the most metropolitan city in the country, I headed to New York City last fall for an internship with the corporate communications department at Madison Square Garden.

This internship through Baylor played a key role in helping prepare me for my internship this summer with the corporate team in Edelman’s Dallas office – my first agency experience. Edelman allowed me to channel the skills I acquired through school and previous internships towards various client projects, while also shedding light on new areas of PR that I had never experienced before. For example, I was called on to quickly learn how to conduct research using industry tools such as Cision and pitch reporters. Through pitching, research and organizational projects, my supervisors gave me the freedom to be creative and encounter a new level of multi-tasking that I wouldn’t have experienced in the classroom.

In seeing each client’s specific media outreach needs and the careful planning required for campaign implementation, I feel better prepared to support clients within various industries. Furthermore, I have seen first-hand the various components of public relations that, when combined and given a strong foundation, create a powerful client message.

There’s no doubt that an internship can help to round out the education we receive in the classroom. Based on my experience, here are five tips for recent graduates who are beginning their ‘agency education.’
  1. Skills Matter: Master tools and resources such as Cision, Google and Microsoft Office so that you can quickly help your team complete research projects and other client deliverables.
  2. Track your Time: Keep thorough track of your billing hours, as the time you spend on projects determines the amount you bill the client.
  3. Pitch with Confidence: When pitching, put yourself in the reporter’s shoes, find relevant ties from your client to their specific beat, and always remain confident even if a reporter rejects your story.  
  4. Look at the big picture: Try to understand the big picture behind your firm’s campaigns, because you will learn much more about the industry and be more invested in your projects.
  5. Nurture relationships: Take the time to build relationships with your teams and clients because it’s as much about relationship building and team work as it is about completing individual tasks.

Truths and Myths About Selling Technology to Educators


Bookmark and Share By Josh Morgan, Vice President, Digital West

I was part of the first generation to have computers in classrooms.  In my sixth grade classroom there was an Apple IIe in the back of the room on a table.  For the most part it was used to play “Oregon Trail.”  I’m sure my teacher wanted to do more with the computer, and knew that she could do more, but there was no one showing her how.  She was just told that she was lucky enough to be one of the first teachers in the district with one of these fantastic new tools.

Flash forward almost twenty years and I was working at Apple as part of the PR team to help market Apple computers to education.  I’m not at Apple any longer, but at Edelman I still always work with at least one education-related client. While working with educators, administrators and technology consultants, I’ve learned a few myths about marketing to education, and a few things that always seem to be true.

Myth:  The Average Superintendent Is Only at Their Job for Two Years
The first myth one often hears when learning about technology in education is that the average tenure of K-12 superintendents is two years, so it’s not necessary to build a relationship at that level.  In reality, the median tenure of a superintendent is usually somewhere around twice that long, and when superintendents move to a new district, many of them take along the friends, partnerships and technology that they made in their previous district.

Myth:  School starts in September
If a company wants to reach teachers, September is not the time to be talking to them.  Many school districts start a new year in August, and most teachers were preparing for the school year in July. 

Truth:  Tie to Standards
The “success” of many teachers and administrators is tied to how their students perform on standardized tests and how well the scores stack up against similar districts. If you want to get the attention of administrators, let them know how your products can help their student s succeed against these metrics.

Truth:  Education is not a “Market”

If you want to turn off teachers immediately, start by explaining how education is “one of the most important markets for our company.”  To teachers, education is not a “market.” It’s what they do, it’s who they are, and they are doing very important work. The moment, you call them a “market,” is the moment they stop listening to you.

Truth:  Recognize Achievement and Say “Thank you”

There are teachers who stand out. The ones who are always looking for new ways to do something. The first ones to try a new technology, or integrate into the curriculum in a new way.  In the business world, this type of initiative can result in a bonus.  That type of financial incentive doesn’t happen in education.  The “bonus,” for innovative teachers is often recognition from their peers, and their ideas being used by others to help students learn.  Seek out the educators who are using your products, say “thank you,” and help them get the recognition they deserve.