The Application with Allison Turcio

Enrollment teams are being asked to do more than ever before, but many institutions are still operating with structures designed for a very different era of higher education. In this episode, Allison talks with Jack Corby , VP at Stevens Strategy , to explore what happens when enrollment teams outgrow their organizational structure. From data fluency and systems thinking to project management and...

In this episode, Allison sits down with Webb Lewis , Assistant Director, Marketing & Brand Strategy at the University of Mississippi , for a thoughtful conversation about burnout, creativity, purpose, and remembering your why in higher education marketing. They explore what happens when marketing becomes more transactional than transformational, why authentic storytelling matters more than ever, a...

In this episode, Allison talks with Ashley Miller , Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management at Old Dominion University , about the strategy, resilience, and teamwork behind one of ODU’s most successful admitted student events to date. Ashley shares how her team increased their Admitted Student Day attendance to more than 3,300 students and guests while navigating an incredibly difficult...

Financial aid is often treated like a backend function post-enrollment after the student has already decided. But in reality, it shapes everything. In this episode, host Allison talks with Rachel Gordon , VP of Student Financial Aid Services at American University of Antigua College of Medicine , about what happens when financial aid and marketing stop operating in silos and start working together...

What if affordability isn’t just a financial aid strategy, but a positioning strategy? In this episode, we sit down with Nicole Barron , Senior VP of Enrollment Management at Roosevelt University , to unpack the Roosevelt Pledge, a program guaranteeing free tuition for qualifying students. What started as a tuition reset became a clear, compelling promise that now drives nearly 40% of their applic...

AI isn’t just changing how students search for colleges, but changing how they decide. In this episode, we talk with Jason Smith , Founder of OHO Agency , about how generative AI tools like ChatGPT are becoming a new layer of the enrollment funnel. With more than 75% of students now using AI in their college search, institutions risk being evaluated, compared, and even eliminated before a student...

What if the students already on your campus could shape your most powerful stories? Greg Carter , Director of Strategic Enrollment Marketing and Communications at Virginia Tech , joins Allison to share how they built a student-powered storytelling engine that actually moves the needle. In 2022, his team shifted student content from peer chatter to future-student focus, without handing students a s...

Higher ed marketing teams are competing in one of the noisiest environments we’ve ever seen, and traditional tactics often get lost in a “sea of sameness.” So Fordham University tried something different. At the NACAC conference, the team transformed a pizza shop across the street into a fully branded Fordham pop-up experience. With New York style pizza, music, and Fordham branding everywhere, the...

What happens after a student clicks “Request Information”? For most institutions, that’s where marketing’s job ends. For our guest, that’s where it begins. Devin Purgason , Associate VP of Student Experience at Forsyth Technical Community College , explains how rethinking marketing as service transformed enrollment, strengthened persistence, and improved completion. By merging marketing with stude...

Allison is joined by Laura Rudolph , Founder and CEO of Square One Consulting , and Kristin Nichols, CMO at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts , to unpack the “secret language” of higher education. They argue that clarity is not just a best practice, but an act of equity, leveling the playing field for all audiences. From decoding terms like “matriculate” and “bursar” to realizing “graduate” ca...

In this episode, Allison talks with Day Kibilds , VP of Strategy at Ologie , and Bridget Campolettano , Executive Director of Communications - Arts and Sciences at Dartmouth College , about the bold journey mapping project that transformed how Amherst College thinks about access, communication, and enrollment strategy. Day and Bridget break down how they uncovered four personas that reveal the emo...

Allison is joined by Jenny Petty , VP of Industry Relations and Advisory Services at SimpsonScarborough , and Kerri Shook , Owner of ks strategy studio , to discuss rethinking student recruitment and retention by building a fan base. Inspired by Taylor Swift's “Eras” model, UM saw retention climb by 9% since 2018 by focusing on emotional storytelling and experiential branding. They explain how cro...

In this episode, Allison is joined by Jeff Dillon, Founder and CEO of EdTech Connect , to discuss a major research report on higher ed site search. Jeff reveals shocking data, including that 92% of schools ignore "no result" searches, a treasure trove of first-party data. He explains why your current site search is a high-risk area for enrollment and how the rise of AI is changing user expectation...

Are you still trying to out-volume your enrollment problems? More apps, more emails, more FAFSAs? What if the real solution isn’t more noise, but sharper signals? In this episode, Geoff Baird , Founder and CEO of Enroll ML , joins Allison to pull back the curtain on higher ed’s “Category 5 collision” and explains why the old playbook of chasing volume is broken. You’ll hear how application surges...

What if your university’s marketing felt as irresistible as a Spotify playlist? That’s exactly what Lauran Hundshamer , VP of Enrollment and Marketing at St. Catherine University , is building. Instead of relying on tired “apply now” email blasts, her team is delivering personalized portals, layered communications, and behavior-driven outreach that moves students to act. The payoff is clear: campu...

In this final installment of The Application AMA miniseries, Allison Turcio confronts three unavoidable realities shaping the future of higher ed marketing. But rather than offering recycled takes, this episode delivers three powerful reframes that challenge conventional thinking and offer clarity amidst the chaos. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Allison Turcio https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisontu...

In part 2 of her AMA Mini Series, Allison Turcio dives into the transformative role that AI and social media are playing in the college search process. The conversation centers on a big shift: AI tools and platforms like TikTok and YouTube have become the first stop for many students researching colleges—not your homepage. This episode breaks down what that means for your enrollment marketing stra...

In this special bonus episode from the AMA Mini-Series , hosted by Allison Turcio , she dives into one of the most pressing—and often overlooked—topics in higher education: retention . As Allison shares, we can’t out-recruit poor retention. This episode unpacks why student persistence isn't just a student services issue—it’s a marketing, messaging, and promise-keeping priority. You’ll walk away wi...

In this episode of The Application, Allison sits down with Jennifer Lonchar , Co-founder of AmbioEdu , to demystify performance TV. Jennifer explains how this new approach to streaming ads moves beyond brand awareness to become a measurable, personalized, and highly effective tool for driving enrollment outcomes. She shares actionable insights on how to use hyper-specific targeting, from high scho...

What happens when storytelling stops being a side project and becomes the main event? In this episode, we talk with Kelly Peiffer , VP of Communications and Advancement at Manor College , to explore how stories drive not only connection but measurable enrollment results. Kelly shares how her team turned storytelling into the centerpiece of their marketing strategy, tracking its impact on applicati...

Every email, text, and touchpoint with a prospective student matters. Get it right, and you move them closer to enrollment. Get it wrong, and you may lose them to another institution. In this episode, we sit down with Lisa Starkey-Wood , Sr. Director of Digital Strategy at Stamats . She breaks down the must-dos of prospect nurturing: from mapping communication by stage and student type, to deliver...

When a prospective student lands on your website, what do they really want to find? It might not be what you think. In this episode, Grant De Roo , Founder and Principal at ADV Market Research & Consulting and Jarrett Smith , Senior VP of Strategy at Echo Delta share results from surveying over 1,000 prospective students about the top tasks students want to accomplish online. From cost clarity to...

Campus social media is at its best when it feels alive. It should feel like walking the quad, chatting with students, and catching those unexpected moments that make a place unforgettable. In this episode, we talk with Eve Gaciarz , Associate Director of Social Media at Yale School of Management , and Kayla Ooms , Digital and Social Media Specialist at Purdue University Northwest , about keeping f...

In the final installment of The Admissions Travel Season Playbook , Allison Turcio addresses a critical question: what do you do with everything you’ve learned on the road? Too often, valuable insights from conversations with students and counselors stay locked in notebooks, heads, or voice memos. This episode shows you how to use AI to capture those takeaways and turn them into action. - - - - Co...

In this episode, Allison and Dallin Palmer , Co-Founder of HALDA , discuss the shift in enrollment marketing from an institution-centric approach to a relationship-first mindset. Dallin unpacks the SHIFTS Framework, a powerful roadmap for building authentic connections with prospective students. The conversation covers key pillars of the framework, including how to listen effectively (Survey), pro...