ALP: The Admissions Leadership Podcast

Angie Cooksy , Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management at Bradley University (Peoria, Ill.) and host of the podcast Elevating Admission Voices , discusses how she established herself as a regionally-based (in Kenosha, Wis.) admission professional 15 years ago and has steadily climbed the leadership mountain as a remote teammate ever since. Angie offers several great questions that new m...

Is it the Great Resignation? The Great Reckoning? The Great Contemplation? ALP Alumni Adrienne Amador Oddi  (ep. 28), Heath Einstein  (7), Marie Bigham  (4), Rick Clark  (3) and Tony Sarda  (15) join Ken in a lively discussion of the causes, implications and potential remedies for the Great Resignation ... as well as some reconsidered walkout songs. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment The ALP is supp...

It seems fitting to drop the final episode of Season 5 on Ken's last day as Vice President for Enrollment at Lawrence University with the man who brought him to Lawrence 18 years ago: Steve Syverson, Dean of Admission Emeritus at Lawrence University. Steve served as Lawrence's chief enrollment officer for 28 years before handing the reins to Ken in 2011, and the episode is as much a trip...

In what may be the most blooper-reel worthy episode of the ALP so far, Roby Blust, Ken's second boss at Marquette University, demonstrates the importance of fun and humor while doing the noble work of college admissions, as well as how a crashed milk truck helped shape his view of what leadership means. Roby is the inspiration for a piece Ken wrote in 2018:  " Why do we do this? " S...

Ken's first boss in college admission, Ray Brown , joins the show to swap stories about leadership, team development, and baseball. Ray is the chief enrollment officer at St. Joseph's College of Maine, having served previously as dean of admission at TCU and Marquette and director of admission at Lawrence University . Ray also happens to be a human baseball encyclopedia, and shares the t...

Amy Cembor ,  Senior Associate Dean of Admission at Providence College (go Friars !) and former president of New England Association for College Admission Counseling, shares insights about life on the secondary and higher ed sides of the table, resistance against just going after what's next, and a story about an unfortunate mic drop moment in Las Vegas that, were this a video podcast, would...

Jay Jacobs ,  Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at the University of Vermont , shares a journey that starts with love at first sight (not only with college enrollment as a career but with a higher ed partner) and continues with a rapid ascent in the profession built through intentional career steps (College of New Jersey, Colgate, UChicago Booth School, U of Miami) including a life-changing c...

Susana Briscoe-Alba ,  Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Mount St. Mary College in New York and founder of the Grit and Purpose Academy shares a story about the journey from a time in her life of being someone not wanting to be heard to someone setting a course for leaders to create environments where everyone can be made to feel seen, valued, and heard. Special shout out to ALP alumna, Jenn...

Dan Lugo ,  President of Queens University of Charlotte , who started his higher ed career in admissions at Carleton College (his alma mater), presents a master class in leadership with lessons too many to list here, but here's a sample: "If you're going to maximize what you're going to do in life you have to experience failure ... and invite it." Oh ... this episode is fi...

Dr. Michael Marshall ,  Vice President for Enrollment, Marketing and Communication at Bellarmine University, continues the streak of people Ken would love to work with (or for) someday, sharing great advice in bundles of three, like: the 3 Ps and 3 questions an enrollment leader must keep in mind; the 3 things he has kept in mind on his own leadership journey; and the 3 essentials for thriving. Ra...

Nikki Kāhealani Chun , the inaugural Vice President for Enrollment Management at University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, shares the power of "talk story sessions" with her new team, the three essential questions to truly see the people you lead, and geographic agnosticism. Rapid Descent Walkout song :  Respect by Aretha Franklin Best recent read : An article on equitable approaches to stude...

Thom Golden , Founder & CEO of Golden Educational Consulting , shares the story of his journey from college admission work to higher-ed adjacent work to launching his own college consulting firm centered around "whole student scheduling."   The episode focuses on "purposeful unrest," the path not taken, and watershed moments, and includes great insights no matter where arou...

Eric Hoover , Senior Writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education , shares  stories about how his stories have come to be, why empathy is his North Star, and why writing about college admission is like writing about the meaning of life. We discuss some of his stories, including: A University in Texas Promised Full Scholarships to Dozens of Nepalese Students. Months Later, It Revoked the Offer . (A...

Alexander Clark , Founder & CEO of Technolutions (the folks behind Slate), shares the origin story of the CRM that changed the higher ed landscape, as well as the things he has learned along a journey that started with his first entrepreneurial venture ... in fifth grade. Bonus fun: learn about the freedom and flexibility of halcyon days. This episode is brought to you by RHB , which has been...

Liz Gross , Founder & CEO of Campus Sonar , and the author of The Higher Ed Social Listening Handbook and Fundamentals of Social Media Strategy: A Guide for College Campuses , kicks off Season 5 of The ALP with an episode loaded with great advice about leadership and entrepreneurship, including the importance of a clear work philosophy, learning organizations, compensation strategies, and equi...

Ronné Turner , Vice Provost of Admissions & Financial Aid at Washington University of St. Louis and president of the College Board, speaks about the power of collaboration, and what happens when you put smart people together, use data, and put students at the center of your work. Shoutouts abound in this episode, including to Jane Brown, Sharon Alston, Linda Clement, Philomena Mantella, Lori W...

Stefanie Niles , Vice President for Enrollment and Communications at Ohio Wesleyan University and past- past president of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, shares wisdom about how we choose to make time for the things we make priorities in our lives ... also, this episode continues our streak of podcast puppers (this time it's Dexter and Titan). Rapid Descent Walkout...

Janet Marling , Executive Director of the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students and Associate Professor of Education at the University of North Georgia , offers a masterclass in practical ways of being a transfer champion at your institution. Learn about three essential leadership qualities ... and the power of a Chiweenie. Learn how to make your college's website transfer fri...

Joan Liu , University Advisor at United World College of Southeast Asia in Singapore, joins Ken to share her multi-continental leadership journey, including the powerful story of how she and her colleagues in the Nepal Justice League helped find college homes for dozens of Nepalese students whose scholarships were revoked by the University of Texas at Tyler in mid April, 2018.  Learn more about Jo...

Joy St. John , Dean of Admission & Financial Aid at Wellesley College , joins Ken for a conversation that could also have been featured on Guy Raz's "How I Built This" when she describes how she and her colleagues essentially built an admission office from scratch. Get out whatever you write your notes with, because Joy drops great advice all through the episode. Rapid Descent W...

Peaches Valdes , Dean of Admission at Hamilton College , joins Ken for a conversation that spans everything from taking the path less taken and the importance of having a board of mentors, to the magic of super soft stationery and storytelling without notes. Much hilarity ensues. Alternative episode title: "Paths, Pearls, Pickups, Pens, and Paper."  Rapid Descent Walkout song :  Tilted ,...

You can hear it in my giddy voice when I start the intro for this episode, where Nancy Beane , recently retired associate director of college counseling at The Westminster Schools, and former NACAC president, reflects on her career and all the people who have inspired and lifted her along the way. Come for the inspiration, stay for the history lesson. Shout-outs ... consider it Nancy's thank...

Gil Villaneuva , Associate Vice President and Dean of Admission at the University of Richmond and former board chair of The Common Application , joins Ken to discuss horror movies, dogs, and maybe a few things (OK, more than a few things) about higher ed leadership, including the joy of working for ambitious institutions ... also SPAM and fried rice. Shout-outs Nancy Tessier his former boss at Uni...

DJ Menifee , Vice President for Enrollment at Susquehanna University and member of NACAC's board of directors, shares the stories about his rapid ascent to higher ed leadership ... and, perhaps just as important, deconstructs the construction of a perfect PBJ with Ken. This quote from DJ (borrowed from Kobe Bryant): "If you want to be the best, you've got to sacrifice something.&quo...

Adrienne Amador Oddi , Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, shares her story, which may overlap with many other ALP alumni, but is very much her own. Learn how a swimmer's mindset is perfectly adaptable to leadership in admissions & financial aid. Also math. This quote from Adrienne Amador Oddi: "We take the steps to build community. And when we...