EMA's Impossible Questions Podcast

How do enrollment offices offer concierge admission at scale? Maile Uohara and Jenna King join co-hosts Ari Betof and Christian Donovan to discuss how schools experiencing a high volume of admission applications organize a process where applicants and their families are individually assisted and supported through the admissions process so that they feel valued, seen, and known.

How should schools evaluate alternative transcripts? Mike Flanagan, CEO of Mastery Transcript Consortium®, joins co-hosts Ari Betof and Christian Donovan to trace the evolution of the typical American transcript and explore how enrollment professionals can best understand applicants when presented with competency-based, narrative, and other transcripts.

Is the independent school business model broken? How would we know? What are the myths and realities of the independent school business model? Join us as we explore these questions with Jennifer Osland Hillen, Chief Learning Officer, and Elizabeth Dabney, Director of Research and Data Analysis, of the National Business Officers Association (NBOA).

How do you drive strategic change from inside your school (without running out of political capital)? Join us as we explore this question with Victoria Muradi, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Durham Academy (NC) and a member of the EMA's Board of Trustees. 

Are you ready for the next big thing? Will there even be a single next big thing? What have we learned from the last next big thing? That's the topic of our conversation with Jill Goodman who recently wrote a great blog post on this very topic!

How should we involve other adults in an independent school community in conversations about enrollment?  That's the topic of our conversation with Christian Donovan, head of school at Friends School of Baltimore (MD).

As a leader new to a school there is much to learn. You have experience, skill, and a valuable network but there is one thing you may not know: your new market. How do you go about learning about an unfamiliar market? That's the topic of our conversation with Christian Donovan, head of school at Friends School of Baltimore (MD).

How do we build, influence, and impact school culture through the enrollment office? It's a great question submitted by a listener! Join us as we explore the answer to this question with Carney M. Heavey O'Brien, Co-Director of the Roberts Field School (NY).

How do you authentically differentiate your school in a crowded marketplace? It's a complicated question and one many independent schools consider. That's the topic of our conversation with Mark Devey, Head of School at Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, PA.

Are Independent Schools Selling a Product Today's Parents Want? That's the topic of our conversation with Dr. Jennifer Zaccara and Dr. Greg Martin from Vermont Academy.

What is the right level of engagement at the board level with enrollment management? How should the board think about DEI initiatives? These are the topics in this special episode of EMA's Impossible Questions Podcast featuring an excerpt from our popular Learning Pass course Board Reports, Board Presentations, and Managing Up.

It's not always simple to measure your yield from inquiry to application to enroll, but you can do it. How about measuring if you are achieving your school's mission? That's the topic of our conversation with the Executive Director of Maret School's Center for Institutional Research in Independent Schools Eric Heilman. Read his recent article on this topic here.

Have you been asked this question? Have you ever asked it? In this second part of a two-part series, we'll unpack what it's like to be asked this question if you're quite sure the answer is 'no'.

Have you been asked this question? Have you ever asked it? In this first part of a two-part series, we'll unpack what it's like to be asked this question if you think, just maybe, one day, the answer is 'yes.'

It's hard work running a school. On the one hand, you compete for students, teachers, and other resources. On the other hand, you want to collaborate with schools in your region. When should a school collaborate and when should it compete? Featuring Debra Wilson, President of SAIS, and Darryl Ford, Head of School at William Penn Charter School.

The business model of independent schools is unsustainable. We charge a price that is lower than the cost and further discount that price using financial aid. Is financial aid as we know it broken? Featuring Mark Mitchell, vice president at The National Association of Independent Schools.

Join us for a conversation with Jennifer Moss. Jennifer is the author of The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It coming out on September 28. Jennifer is also a Harvard Business Review contributor and nationally syndicated radio columnist. She also sits on the Global Happiness Council—a small group of leading scientists and economists that support the UN's sustainable goals related to global well-being and the Annual Global Happiness Policy Report. Moss has also worked in Silicon Valley, eventually joining Barack Obama's California social team during his historic presidential campaign.

Please join us for a conversation with Dr. Rodney Glasgow. Rodney is an educator, speaker, facilitator, and activist in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. He has been a Chief Diversity Officer, Middle School Head, he founded The Glasgow Group, and he is currently the head of school at Sandy Springs Friends School in Maryland.  Let's say you work in admission and you're sitting with a black applicant. The campus tour is done and you've just concluded the interview and the student has one more question, “Are kids like me welcome here?” What do you say? In this episode, we'll consider ways to answer this critical question.

Independent schools are enduring institutions but they also need to have a clear understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. In this episode, we'll consider ways schools should look at themselves and their futures.

Sometimes the best conversations happen after the podcast recording is over. For the first time, we keep the tape rolling and ask one of the biggest questions of them all: what is the purpose of independent school?

What do you do when you've been asked an impossible question? In this episode, we'll explore frameworks for addressing impossible questions.

We're all looking forward to a time when our work can return to something like normal. But should we simply go back to the way things were? In this episode, we'll consider what we should carry forward with us and what we should leave behind.