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Anthony is passionate about helping individuals change their lives and fulfill their true career potential. He is currently the CEO of Tech Elevator, a demand-driven in-person educational platform designed to support the rapid acquisition of technology skills that can lead to meaningful careers and promotions in tech-related fields. Anthony previously served as President of the Software Craftsmanship Guild, an Ohio-based coding bootcamp. The Guild was acquired by Learning House in April 2015. Anthony previously worked for JumpStart a nationally recognized economic development organization focused on startups. At JumpStart, in partnership with MIT, Anthony founded the Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program, which matched serially successful entrepreneurs and executives with budding technology entrepreneurs in mentoring relationships. Anthony's experience also spans traditional and digital media, working in sports sponsorship, broadcast television and at marketing agencies primarily in the area of sales and business development. He also brings International experience to the table having traveled to over 40 countries; and lived, worked and studied in Australia, Japan, the UK and USA. Over the years, Anthony has been a recipient of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Finalist 2020 (and 2021), Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies and Crain's Forty under 40. Social Media Links: Website: https://www.techelevator.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tech_Elevator Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techelevator/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/techelevator LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/tech-elevator/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/techelevator
Anthony Hughes is the co-founder and CEO of Tech Elevator, a 14 to 30-weeks coding bootcamp that teaches students in-demand tech skills that can lead to meaningful careers in the tech industry. Over 2,300 students have graduated from Tech Elevator, with 90% of whom secured tech positions at companies within 6 months. Furthermore, the average Tech Elevator graduate gets a salary lift of $24,000 as a direct result of the bootcamp. Anthony has been nominated twice for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2020 and 2021). Before starting Tech Elevator, he was the President of the Software Craftsmanship Guild, another fast-paced program that teaches the skills required for a tech career which was acquired by Learning House in April 2015.More Info: TechElevator.comSponsors: Master Your Podcast Course: MasterYourSwagFree Coaching Session: Masterleadership.orgSupport Our Show: Click HereSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/masterleadership. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this HCI Podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Anthony Hughes about how coding bootcamps are helping companies meet the enormous demand for tech talent. See the video here: https://youtu.be/kFX-Ta7MoTE. Anthony Hughes (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonykehughes/) is the CEO and Co-founder of Tech Elevator, a leading software training program designed to support the rapid acquisition of technology skills that can lead to meaningful careers in tech-related fields. Anthony previously served as President of the Software Craftsmanship Guild, a coding bootcamp which was acquired by Learning House in April 2015. One of Crain's 40 Under 40 winners, Anthony previously worked for JumpStart, a nationally recognized economic development organization. At JumpStart, in partnership with MIT, he founded the Burton D. Morgan Mentoring Program, which matched successful entrepreneurs and executives with technology entrepreneurs. To date the program has grown to over 130 volunteers serving over 100 startups who have gone on to raise over $45M in investment capital. Anthony is an avid traveler and has visited over 40 countries; and lived, worked and studied in Australia, Japan, the UK and USA. Please leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts! Check out the Ready for Takeoff podcast at Wix.com/readyfortakeoff. Check out Zapier.com/HCI to explore their business automations! Go to Swag.com/HCI and use promo code HCI10. Check out the HCI Academy: Courses, Micro-Credentials, and Certificates to Upskill and Reskill for the Future of Work! Check out the LinkedIn Alchemizing Human Capital Newsletter. Check out Dr. Westover's book, The Future Leader. Check out Dr. Westover's book, 'Bluer than Indigo' Leadership. Check out Dr. Westover's book, The Alchemy of Truly Remarkable Leadership. Check out the latest issue of the Human Capital Leadership magazine. Ranked #5 Workplace Podcast Ranked #6 Performance Management Podcast Ranked #7 HR Podcast Ranked #12 Talent Management Podcast Ranked in the Top 20 Personal Development and Self-Improvement Podcasts Ranked in the Top 30 Leadership Podcasts Each HCI Podcast episode (Program, ID No. 592296) has been approved for 0.50 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Anthony Hughes is the co-founder and CEO of Tech Elevator, a 14 to 30-weeks coding bootcamp that teaches students in-demand tech skills that can lead to meaningful careers in the tech industry. After reading that 2,300 students have graduated from Tech Elevator, with 90% of whom secured tech positions at companies within 6 months, I felt compelled to find out more about the story behind the company. Anthony has been nominated twice for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2020 and 2021). Before starting Tech Elevator, he was the President of the Software Craftsmanship Guild, another fast-paced program that teaches the skills required for a tech career which Learning House acquired in April 2015. In today's episode of Tech Talks Daily, Anthony shares his story. He discusses how Covid-19 has accelerated the need for a digital workforce and why anyone thinking of joining the tech industry should do it now as the career leap will be worth it. We also talk about how the modern-day coding bootcamps are helping companies meet the enormous demand for tech talent.
Hey there my wise friends, and welcome to episode 44 of Collective Wisdom, which is all about leading with empathy. And as if by magic, there was one of the most beautiful examples of doing just that. This weekend, I was watching one of my favourite TV shows 'Strictly Come Dancing'. 'Strictly' has evolved over the years into something that's more than just a dance competition. Behind all the spray tans and the fabulous costumes. It's really about showing people that if you put in the hard work and face your fears that you're always capable of far more than you often believe. This week, all our hearts were completely won over by Rose Ayling-Ellis and her partner Giovanni Pernice. Rose is the first deaf contestant on the show and has had us all completely in awe with the way that she is nevertheless able to respond to the beat in the music that she can actually feel. So in their dance this week, there was a moment where they cut the music, and we all had just a tiny glimpse into roses world. Not only was the dance itself breathtaking, but it gave us all a chance to experience true empathy. There was no pity here for a woman who can't hear, but instead a whole new level of understanding of what it means to be deaf. It was radical empathy that called my guest today to do the work that she's currently doing in Nepal. Michelle Welsch not only founded a social enterprise, The Learning House, which helps so many young people in Nepal get access to the education that allows them to really lean into their brightest fullest potential as humans, but she's done this without the backing of a team or resources to help her. It's grit and tenacity, empathy, and a beautiful vision of what's possible if you keep going that have been the driving force behind her work. Michelle's positivity and energy are infectious. And I'm just so thrilled she's here to join me to share her story. Michelle Welsch, MSW www.michellewelsch.com - about me www.learninghousenepal.com - my education center in Nepal Tweet me @redheadlefthand Watch Giovanni and Rose on Strictly Come Dancing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QejOzrlovTQ Song ‘Lucky' by Russ Wisdom ‘Leap and the net will appear' and ‘Find your tribe'
In this episode, I discuss the architecture of a “machine learning house”, representing the skills and learnings you can use as foundations to build your data science career. Additional materials: www.superdatascience.com/474
Welcome back to America's leading higher education podcast! In this incredible episode of The EdUp Experience, sponsored by Incubeta, we welcome Michelle Westfort, Chief University Officer, InStride. Listen in as special guest cohosts, Holly Owens, host of EdUp EdTech, and Dr. Stacey Gonzales, host of EdUp Edge K-12, talk with Michelle about the amazing work that is being, and will be, done at InStride. Michelle shares her thoughts and what she likes to call working to learn and learning to work. Tune in to learn what, according to Michelle, higher education institutions are starting to lean more into. Michelle Westfort brings more than 20 years of professional experience in higher education programs and partnerships to InStride. In her current role as Chief University Officer, she oversees the entire Academic Partnerships team and leads the development of InStride's highly curated global network of academic partners, which includes top tier research universities. Prior to joining InStride, Michelle was the Vice President of Business Development for The Learning House (acquired by Wiley) where she was responsible for developing higher education partnerships to build online programs. Previously, she held leadership positions at Pivot Worldwide, building workforce development opportunities for global learners and at Navitas, the Australian based pathway provider responsible for expanding enrollments at US-based public universities from major markets including the Middle East, China and Latin America. Thanks so much for tuning in. Join us again next time for another episode! Contact Us! Connect with the hosts - Elvin Freytes, Elizabeth Leiba, and Dr. Joe Sallustio ● If you want to get involved, leave us a comment or rate us! ● Join the EdUp community at The EdUp Experience! ● Follow us on Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube Thanks for listening! We make education your business!
Roy and LaurieAnn would like to thank Dr. Sheila E for joining us on our LIFT Your Story podcast and sharing her passion for caring and kindness.Sheila tells us about her childhood friend, Karen, who didn't see her color, her hair, or her lips. She just saw Sheila's heart. This propelled Sheila to follow a career as a teacher, then Principal, and now extending her passion to others.Thank you Sheila!You can connect with Sheila at www.sheilaecares.com or by email at sheilasapp15@gmail.comMore about Sheila:Who I AmI am a retired educator and former school leader who still has genuine passion for education, learning, children, families, teachers, and school leadership.What I Have AccomplishedI have worked as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, instructional supervisor, curriculum director, assistant principal, principal, vendor, and motivational speaker.Additionally, I have authored three educational books-"Guide to Best Practices for New School Administrators", "The Learning House", and" Staying the Course", provided workshops and presentations for teachers and parents, served as a guest speaker for churches/civic groups, and participated as a vendor for community and business events. My books are available at ExploringExpression.com, www.amazon.com/author/sesapp202053, www.amazon.com, and www.rowman.com.What I Believe I believe all children have gifts and talents. It is the responsibility of parents and educators to provide nurturing environments that will enable every child to flourish and succeed. Children are our future. In order for us to grow as a society, we must continually protect and develop our most valuable resource-children.My MissionMy mission is two-fold. To use and share my gifts, experiences, and talents to encourage and empower parents to be the first teachers in their children's lives. To assist teachers and school leaders in providing appropriate instruction and learning activities to meet the needs of all students to ensure life success and overall wellness. My Goals1. Helping and empowering parents to have an active viable role in their child's/children's educational journey.2. Assisting teachers, school leaders, and other pertinent instructional personnel with planning, designing, and implementing strategies/interventions to guarantee that all children and youth reach their full potential.#entrepreneurmind #succeeding #entrepreneurspirit #successminded #inspiration #change #education #lifelessons #buzzsprout #podcast #podcasting #Spotify #GooglePodcast #TuneIn #stitcher #ApplePodcast #iHeartRadio #Pandora #PodcastAddict #Podchaser #Deezer #Listennotes #Overcasat #Pocketcast #Castro and #CastPost #iamthatgal #liftyourstory #liftyourstorypodcast #iamthatgal #thatgalwiththatguy
Message from Aaron Elmore on June 14, 2020
Production team:Host : Maria XenidouProducer: Julie-Roxane KrikorianIntroduction Voice: David Bourne Contact us:impactlearningpodcast@gmail.com Music credits:Like Lee performed by The Mini VandalsTransition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks Where to find Michelle Welsch:On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellewelsch/www.learninghousenepal.comwww.khatalife.orgwww.michellewelsch.comwww.projectexponential.com Mentioned in this episodeInterbrand: https://www.interbrand.com/Seth Godin: https://www.sethgodin.com/AltMBA: https://altmba.com/ Listen to this episode and explore:Michelle’s childhood as a street performer (3:02)Fitting-in: the concept of in-groups and out-groups (5:13)Her relationship to learning from childhood to today (7:18)Studying psychology, working as a probation officer and getting a master’s in social work (9:11)Her first career shift: working for a branding agency (17:39)Meeting Seth Godin and becoming a freelancer (18:53)From social work to freelancing: learning to build communities (21:23)From NYC to Nepal on a fundraising trip (25:24)Founding the Learning House Nepal & Khata Life non-profit (28:17)Immersing herself in the community of Nepal (35:00)How she built the team at The Learning House (37:33)The biggest challenge in her work: what’s next? (43:39)If you had unlimited amounts of money? (48:47)The importance of learning how to think before learning skills (52:30)Scarcity mentality and sharing resources (56:36)Maria's key takeaways and call-to-action (1:00:46)
Have you ever felt like you had more to grow and serve? Michelle Welsch had a inspiring life in New York City leading an event series and working with Fortune 500 Companies. In this podcast, you will learn how and why Michelle left NYC to operate a school in Nepal and the Portfolio Career she has designed for herself. In this episode, you will learn:-how change starts with community-how the right community can help you become "someone"-why picking yourself is important-how you can create the Portfolio Career that you want for yourselfResources1) Michelle's website2) Michelle's school, Learning Center3) Project Exponential As always, this episode with time-stamp notes is available on website at www.portfoliocareerpodcast.com
As a home school curriculum supplier to Canadian home educators for over 25 years, Louise has a lot of wisdom and experience to share.
Production team: Host : Maria Xenidou Producer: Julie-Roxane Krikorian Introduction Voice: David Bourne Contact us: impactlearningpodcast@gmail.com Music credits: Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks Where to find Michelle Welsch: On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellewelsch/ www.learninghousenepal.com www.khatalife.org www.michellewelsch.com www.projectexponential.com Mentioned in this episode Interbrand: https://www.interbrand.com/ Seth Godin: https://www.sethgodin.com/ AltMBA: https://altmba.com/ Listen to this episode and explore: Michelle’s childhood as a street performer (3:02) Fitting-in: the concept of in-groups and out-groups (5:13) Her relationship to learning from childhood to today (7:18) Studying psychology, working as a probation officer and getting a master’s in social work (9:04) Her first career shift: working for a branding agency (17:35) Meeting Seth Godin and becoming a freelancer (19:09) From social work to freelancing: learning to build communities (21:19) From NYC to Nepal on a fundraising trip (25:24) Founding the Learning House Nepal & Khata Life non-profit (28:11) Immersing herself in the community of Nepal (34:52) How she built the team at The Learning House (37:20) The biggest challenge in her work: what’s next? (43:31) If you had unlimited amounts of money? (48:38) The importance of learning how to think before learning skills (52:21) Scarcity mentality and sharing resources (56:26) 35 random acts of kindness (1:00:30)
Teachers need personal professional development. In today’s episode, we’re sharing five real-world examples of teachers who used their summer to improve their classroom and earn professional development credit. From combatting student anxiety, helping special needs students, rewriting a physics curriculum, building student relationships, and reducing stress school-wide -- these teachers use their learning to improve real-world problems. The post and podcast episode are sponsored by Advancement Courses. This episode includes advertorial content as I am interviewing the sponsor of the show. This happens one episode a year during the week of ISTE. www.coolcatteacher.com/e519 5 Examples of Positive, Personal PD for Powerful Teacher Learning - Transcript Vicki: Today we're doing a special episode with Krysia Lazarewicz from Advancement Courses. Now, those of you who have been listening to my podcast for a while, you know, what I think about Advancement Courses, and they have so many incredible offerings, but today we want to talk about five examples of transformative PD. You know, in the summertime, sometimes we teachers have a difficult time figuring out, okay, what am I going to learn, and sometimes the stuff we learn, we feel like, is not relevant to what we're doing in the classroom. So, Krysia, you have some examples for us of relevant, impactful, learning. What's your first one? PD Example #1: Combatting Student Anxiety with a Class in Mindfulness Krysia: Sure, so our first one actually has to do with something that many of our educators are identifying as a big problem, which is student anxiety, and it may not be surprising to any of you, but our students are dealing with so many challenges these days: from safety drills, to weather drills, bomb threats, active shooter lockdowns, things that students don't always know how to process, and so we have a lot of educators who come to us saying: 'What can I do to make this better?' So, this particular story is about a 2nd-grade teacher, who decided that she was going to turn her summer PD into a productive use of time in her classroom and teach herself and her students to use specific mindfulness techniques that could then her students actually turn that anxiety into productive moments of resilience. Course mentioned in example #1: Staying Present: Mindfulness for Better Teaching and Learning (3 Grad Credits) Use the code COOLCAT to get a 20% discount. So, to do this, she created her own five-minute activity that refocuses students. So, thinking about: How do they reset their bodies? How do they focus on mindfulness rather than fear? How do they think about different ways that they can bring attention to what's happening internally, rather than focus on the fear and anxiety that happens outside? The other really cool thing that she did, is she brought parents into this. So, she welcomed parents into the classrooms to help students learn some of these new techniques, to bring some of those ideas home. She presented at Parents' Nights, she presented to other teachers in her building, to then, help spread some of these skills to other students, and what she found was that through doing this, her students were actually better able to manage those drills, but they were also better equipped to make it through other stressful factors like testing week, or in-class assessments, or many of the other social conflicts that we know kids experience on a day-to-day basis. So, this is a great story because it showed how one teacher can really turn some of these disruptive classroom moments into events for learning. Vicki: So, if teachers are struggling with, you know, helping kids calm or the stress, then mindfulness may be a great option? Krysia: Absolutely. Vicki: Okay, so you've given us one example of transformative PD: helping our kids with anxiety and us with anxiety by mindfulness. What's another example? PD Example #2: A PD Care Team for Special Needs Students Krysia: So, another example that really happens when our educators start coming together and collaborating around professional development that they can then bring together the community. This story is about what happens when a community of educators come together to help solve a particular issue that a particular grade level may experience. Course mentioned in Example #2. Strategies for Addressing Student Anxiety (3 Grad Credits) Use the code COOLCAT to get a 20% discount. So, for this one, we had a group of educators who had a classroom of high-needs students, and what they did is they came together in what they called a Care Team to then develop specific plans for each student as they developed through that particular grade. What's so inspiring about this approach is that we actually had a cohort of educators rallying around the specific need that their group of students had. In this cohort, what they did was they focused on developing a strategy to bring all the relevant people into a community around each student. So, they included the principal, the counselor, the occupvational therapist, classroom teachers, parents, special education liaisons: all the different roles that they could bring to help create this formulaic plan, and what came as a result of this particular cohort of teachers taking ownership is that they created a school-wide approach to helping those special students across multiple different contexts within the building. So, again, they practiced relaxation techniques, they changed the daily schedule that they had at the school for their students, they also came up with new ways that they could manage transitions, help students learn to expect change, and help them think of different ways that they could chunk information to better see progress that those students were making, rather than letting those students just see the work left to complete. Vicki: Cool, so this was part of a professional development they did? Krysia: It sure was, and they came together over the summer to do that. Vicki: Well, that's great. Okay, what's our third? PD Example #3 - Rewriting a Physics Curriculum and Building a PLN Krysia: So, we know that educators are very collaborative, but sometimes, teaching can be very isolating. So, this particular story comes from an educator, a high school physics teacher. This teacher took two courses each worth three grad credits: Next Generation Science Standards: A New Framework for Authentic Instruction Integrating Engineering Design With Middle And High School Science Instruction Use the code COOLCAT to get a 20% discount. She moved from a school building, where she was one of many teachers, to where she was the only one. She was given a curriculum to teach that required lecture and required worksheets. It wasn't what she wanted for her classroom. So, she decided that she was going to come and take a few courses so that she could connect directly with other educators across the nation to think about how she wanted to improve and rewrite that curriculum. What I found really inspiring about this is that through taking some of these content-specific courses, she actually connected into a network of educators all across the country; they came together, they rewrote an entire curriculum, they shared resources, and through the use of this PLC, she was actually able to come up with a new curriculum over the summer, which she then was excited and inspired to use. One of the greatest compliments I think we can get is when educators come back year after year to continue to hone and refine what they worked on, and so now we have seen her take courses three summers in a row as she continues to grow and develop the curriculum through the help of that network she created. Vicki: Wow, that's awesome. Okay, what's our fourth? PD Example #4: Building Connections with Students Krysia: So the fourth one is: sometimes, we find that there's just that one student, and I think we all know that one student who we just can't quite seem to reach, and that's actually a motivation for a lot of educators to pick a course. Course mentioned in example #4:Creating Meaningful Relationships and Setting Boundaries with Your Students There's a student. They want a strategy that can help them with that student. Well, this particular educator decided that this year, she wasn't going to have that one student, and so she set about building a proactive plan that she could use to make it much more likely that she would have a connection with each one of her kids. To do this, she created a series of activities at the beginning of the year with the sole purpose of making her students feel known, and what she found was that by doing this, she was able to connect with them very quickly, she was able to connect meaningfully with their parents. She then wrote these informational pieces on cards that she kept throughout the rest of the year, and what she said is that as she found she was running into trouble connecting with those kids, she pulled out the cards, she talked with the student, and said 'Look, these are the things that we said we had in common, these are the things that you said are important to you, let's talk about one of them.' So, by doing that, she was able to then find a way to at least open a conversation with that student. She then was also able to go to other teachers of that child and have a conversation much more specific about what she could do to find an 'in,' and she actually learned that by condensing with those other teachers in that way, the other educators were likely to help her connect with that student. So, it opened up the door to have those courageous conversations with other teachers who may be able to help in cases when you're struggling with an individual student yourself. Vicki: Well, you have to relate before you educate. Krysia: Absolutely, it's important. Vicki: Okay, so you've talked about taking care of students and improving the curriculum and helping kids be mindful. How about teachers taking care of themselves? PD Example #5: Self Care and Reducing Stress At a School Krysia: Which is one of the most important parts of teaching! So, social, emotional learning is gaining momentum for our students, but sometimes we forget that it applies just as much to ourselves, and so in this particular story, one of our students came to us because she actually said that she was 'a negative influence on our students as they endure a physically and mentally worn out teacher trying his or her best to present a substantive lesson,' and that's a direct quote. Course mentioned in example #5 From Burnout to Productivity: Creating a Path to Teacher Wellness So, what she did, is she went through and said 'Well, how am I feeling stress,' and she created a stress journal; she noted and described what those situations were, and what she found is that those stressful situations were things that resonated with other educators in her building. She worked with her principal to have all educators create that stress journal and they found that they actually had control to change many of those pieces that were causing that stress; things like: their meeting schedule, their PD structure, policies around structures for attendance. So, what came out of this was an actual awareness that they could influence change in their building to reduce the overall stress and increase the amount of time educators spent helping students. Vicki: Wow, I love that idea of a stress journal. I think that could be very, very helpful for everyone. So, educators, as you plan your summer, remember to select PD opportunities that are actually going to improve your classroom. We need to have professional development, so let's make it meaningful and relevant and purposeful. Thanks, Krysia! Krysia: Thank you! Krysia Lzarewicz - Bio as Submitted As General Manager of Advancement Courses, Krysia Lazarewicz partners with universities and enables them to deliver practical and relevant graduate-level professional development for K-12 educators. Prior to her current role, Krysia taught middle school math and science, as well as worked in content development for Pearson before moving to Learning House, a Wiley brand, where she supported higher education faculty in developing and delivering high-quality online programs. Twitter: @AdvanceTeaching Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Conversation with Marcos Alonso, the Sr. Director, Head of Enterprise Employee Support Services at The Learning House, a division of Wiley, and he's a subject matter expert on call centers
In addition to enjoying the holidays, December is a good time to pause and take stock of the past year. This also is an opportune time to get out the crystal ball to contemplate what might happen in 2019. 2018: The Year in Review There were a number of very nice gifts under the tree this year, but also a lot of lumps of coal. In 2018, we saw four big themes: marketplace dynamics; Washington follies; higher ed governance failures (which includes higher ed’s version of #MeToo); and the Harvard admissions lawsuit. Marketplace Dynamics: The Maturing and Decline of Higher Ed Markets In our previous blog and podcast on M&A activity in higher ed, we discussed the product life cycle and where higher ed stands in relation to this concept. To briefly recap, the product life cycle (PLC) is a marketing tool that is applied to products, but also is relevant when examining market segments or industries. The PLC is made up of four stages: The introduction stage, which is characterized by the organization building brand awareness; The growth stage, which is characterized by strong growth as the organization builds brand preference and increases market share; The maturity stage, which is characterized by diminishing growth as “competition” increases and competitors offer similar “products.” This results in the implementation of multiple marketing strategies, such as cutting prices, rethinking positioning and branding, and market consolidation; and The decline stage, which is characterized by a decline in sales (which may be potentially significant). In many cases, the product (or organization) goes out of business or, as a last result, finds a buyer (leading to a merger or acquisition). Higher ed finds itself straddling the stages of maturity and decline, which is characterized by decreasing enrollment, lack of differentiation in the higher ed marketplace, and an increase in market consolidation and/or college closings. Which brings us to now. Breaking Down the Numbers. Over the last few years (2016-2018), more than 100 colleges haves closed. Many can be directly attributed to the decertification of ACICS by the Obama administration. However, the more relevant reason for many of these closures is the lifecycle and current operating environment of higher education. Over the past few years, 65 for-profits closed and seven merged with other institutions. Some of those mergers were huge (Purdue acquiring Kaplan, Strayer acquiring Capella, National University System acquiring Northcentral). In addition, 14 nonprofit universities closed and five merged while 36 public institutions merged or consolidated. This merger and acquisition activity makes perfect sense given that higher education is in the maturing to declining portions of the lifecycle. Transfer Students and Reducing Costs. We’ve also seen community colleges assume more of a role in reducing the costs of higher ed, as well as in degree completion. State (and other) colleges are beginning to put more emphasis on attracting transfer students. For example, Gov. Jerry Brown (D-Cal) is withholding $50 million from the University of California system until the system increases the acceptance and enrollment of transfer students while also meeting auditor requests to fix accounting issues. Brown’s decision was based on his commitment to a 2-to-1 ratio of freshmen to transfer students. However, several system’s institutions reported a ratio closer to 4-to-1. Privates are also emphasizing outreach to transfer students due to the costs to both the institution and the students. Some privates are renting space at community college, thus giving students an easily available and direct track to a four-year degree. This makes a lot of sense, especially given the current high cost of private education (e.g., one California private is charging $55,000 a year for undergraduate programs, amounts we see at Ivy League schools). Thus, students find more affordable options by first attending a community college and then transferring to a public or private institution. This approach reduces the amount of student loans needed to complete a degree. This type of approach is especially important with students who start college without a clear idea of what they want to study or their pathway to earning their degree and end up dropping out due to cost. This accounts for why we are seeing so many post-traditional students in higher education; they initially started college without understanding what they wanted to study and now are returning to complete their degrees. Having this community college low-cost option that transfers coursework to four-year colleges and university makes good sense because it minimizes the student’s time to completion and cost. College Closures and Rejuvenation. We continue to see higher education closures. While higher education leaders may point to the resurrection of Sweet Briar, those types of reemergence are few and far between. Sweet Briar was an interesting case. Although the school had a substantial endowment (unlike most schools), those funds were legally earmarked for specific things and could not be used for operating funds. This is an interesting (and possibly unique) situation and will make a great case study for future grad students who want to study the process of bringing a school back from the dead. Department of Education and Washington The second theme for 2018 is all about Washington, D.C. Frankly, there are so many things, it’s hard to know where to start. ACICS. ACICS is (in)famous for its accreditation of Corinthian and ITT, both of which folded, leaving 100s of 1000s of students stranded. Not surprisingly, ACICS was decertified by the Obama administration in 2016. At its height, ACICS accredited 200+ universities, but in the time between 2016 (when ACICS lost its accreditation) and now, most of the institutions accredited by ACICS have moved to other accrediting bodies. However, the Trump Administration has other ideas on accreditation. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos reinstated ACICS’ accreditation authority this year in a process that had many missteps. However, the most egregious was that the department’s senior official who made the case for ACICS’ reinstatement is a former lobbyist who worked with for-profit universities, a clear conflict of interest. In her justification for reinstatement, the former lobbyist, Diane Auer Jones, said the Department of Education determined that ACICS was in compliance on 19 of the 21 applicable criteria. Equally as important, she stated that ACICS was likely in compliance with these criteria when President Obama’s Education Secretary John King, Jr. removed ACICS’ accreditation certification. According to the Education Department, ACICS is still “out of compliance” with federal standards in the remaining two areas but has been given another 12 months to come back into compliance. The carnage from ACICS’ original accreditation still continues. Just this month, the Education Corporation of America (ECA), which was once accredited by ACICS and oversaw Virginia College, shuttered its doors, leaving 20,000 students up a creek without a paddle. In fairness to ACICS, they removed Virginia College’s accreditation, but only after the college attempted to get accreditation from another accreditor and failed miserably. Gainful Employment and Borrower Defense. Changes in gainful employment and borrower defense also emerged in 2018. In relation to the former, the Education Department missed the filing deadline for the gainful employment rule so these changes cannot come into play until mid-2020. Furthermore, the Social Security Administration -- which provides the earnings data needed to calculate gainful employment -- decided not to renew the information-sharing agreement that expired in May. Because of this, the Education Department will not have the data they need to calculate earnings data. So, in essence, gainful employment is dead for now. Borrower defense is another area on which Washington gets raspberries. Regulations put in place by the Obama administration protected students whose colleges (e.g., Corinthian and ITT) closed, leaving them with degrees that were considered worthless. However, the Ed Department under Secretary DeVos rejected the vast majority of the claims. It took Congressional pressure to turn the process around, and although the process has gotten better, it still not where it needs to be. I think we can expect to see some new regulations coming out of Washington over the next year in this area. Title IX and Sexual Abuse. The Education Department put out their draft ruling on new Title IX guidance in November and, overall, colleges are not happy. The revisions make major changes to the standard that, in many cases, are as clear as mud and/or will discourage victims from coming forward. New Title IX Guidance. The first of the changes narrows the definition of sexual assault. The old standard was “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature,” and the new standard is “unwelcome sexual conduct; or unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the recipient’s education program or activity.” The Ed Department justified this by saying it is in line with the Supreme Court guidance, but survivors’ advocates have come out forcefully and said that this new definition will put survivors’ education at risk. The second major change is the standard by which sexual assault is adjudicated. Previously, the standard was that the assault was “likely to have happened.” However, the new guidance provides for a higher standard, i.e., “preponderance of evidence,” the same standard that is used in civil suits. This is lower than “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the standard which is used in criminal trials, but it still creates a higher burden on the victim to prove that the incident happened. In its guidance, the Ed Dept stated that institutions can use either standard, but this potentially opens the institution up to lawsuits, e.g., institutions may face a lawsuit by the accused if they use the lower standard or the victim if the institution uses the higher standard. The third major change has to do with holding universities responsible. Under the previous guidance, universities and colleges could be held responsible if they “knew about or reasonably should have known” about an incident. However, under the new guidelines, the institution must have “actual knowledge” of the incident in order to be held responsible; this requires the victim to make a formal complaint through official channels. Telling a professor or resident adviser isn’t sufficient – it must be reported to someone who can do something about it, such as a school official who is involved in enforcement. Additionally, schools can only be held responsible for incidents that happen on school property or at school-sponsored events, not at private, off-campus residences. Thus, if a fraternity house is located off-campus and an assault takes place there (as was the allegation in the Judge Kavanaugh – Christine Blasey Ford incident), the institution cannot be held liable, even if they have knowledge that these events have taken place in the past. Lastly, the accused will have the chance to cross-examine the victim under the new guidance, and many feel this will discourage victims from coming forward and reporting incidents. Whenever you get into sexual assault or similar types of accusations, the resolution process must be more than he said/she said. However, that is what it could come down to because of the cross-examination requirement. Many victims’ advocates and lawyers are concerned that we will revert to a previous time when a woman who accused a man of sexual assault would ultimately be the one on trial because of her dress or behaviors or whatever. MSU and Sexual Assault / Harassment in Education. A subset of this area brings to light the #MeToo movement in higher ed, especially in the aftermath of the Supreme Court hearings with Justice Kavanaugh. It took a tremendous amount of courage for Christine Blasey Ford to bring up what happened to her after so many years and in such a public venue. Sadly, look at what ultimately happened – the good ol’ boys network derailed the investigation before it was able to go through to a conclusion. We also are seeing the fallout from the Michigan State sexual assault case. MSU’s former president has been brought up on felony charges for lying to the police, and the institution’s undergraduate applications have fallen by almost 8.5 percent in the wake of the scandal. Not only is this situation tarnishing MSU’s reputation, it is hitting them in the pocketbook. And maybe that's what has to happen for people to change. Higher Ed Governance Failures and the Role of the Board We are seeing a failure in the governance process in many higher ed schools. Three cases fall into this area at the following institutions: Penn State, Michigan State, and the University of Maryland. We must ask ourselves in all these situations, “Where were the Board of Directors/Regents/Trustees?” In the Penn State scandal, some Regents were brought up on criminal charges. We haven't seen that yet in the Michigan State scandal, but I believe we will. MSU’s interim president has not done a great job in reaching out to the victims – it has been pretty nasty in many respects, but one must ask where are their Board of Regents? Same with the University of Maryland football coach after the player died – the board directed the university president to retain the football coach, but the president refused (rightly so). From all appearances, the majority of boards and Regents do not understand what their role is. Regents at state schools generally are political appointees, and it is considered to be a feather in one’s cap to be appointed to a Board of Regents/Trustees for a state university. However, just because one is a political appointee to a board doesn’t remove their fiduciary duties as a board member. More training needs to be done to ensure Regents understand their duties as well as how governance has changed over the years. This also goes for boards of private universities. The vast majority of these types of higher ed boards are made up of “friends of the president” or other large donors. This is especially egregious with many Christian colleges, whose boards are made up of religious affiliates or ecumenical personnel who have no experience sitting on the board of a multimillion-dollar organization and/or an understanding of higher ed. Fallout from the Harvard Admissions Lawsuit The Harvard lawsuit, in which a group of Asian Americans sued the university over its admissions policies, ultimately will impact a majority of higher ed institutions. Even though Harvard says that they are following the guidance from the Supreme Court, they get sued. Same with UCLA – they have been sued as well. Although a ruling is still forthcoming on the Harvard case, I think there will be ripple effects and we haven’t seen the end of this. Predictions for 2019 While much of the crystal ball’s foretelling for 2019 is cloudy, there are some clear indications of what lies in the future. An Acceleration of Consolidation and Closures First, we will see an acceleration of consolidations and closures in higher ed. For example, just in the last couple weeks, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch ratings both have declared a negative outlook for the higher ed sector for 2019. This is huge. We have a marketplace that is saturated. In these types of markets, smarter institutions focus on economies of scale (mergers), as well as positioning and differentiation (why is my university and/or degree different)? Carnegie Mellon and MIT have done this very well. This is one way to combat saturation, but not a lot of schools understand marketing positioning and differentiation. Consolidation (mergers) occurs for one of three reasons. Acquisition of a new technology; Market expansion and/or growth; or Eliminate competition and/or create market efficiencies. Consolidation will continue to accelerate. One need not look any further than what is happening with Pennsylvania’s 21 state universities. These institutions are vying for a smaller number of students graduating from high school, so are closing multiple campuses and realigning programs to eliminate duplication. This impacts the towns in which they are located since they are the major employers, and any change they make in consolidating degrees and/or reorganizing the system affects jobs, creating a ripple effect. Closures will also increase, but we think there will be far more consolidation rather than outright closings. The trend will continue toward the mega universities -- the merger of Strayer and Capella or Purdue and Kaplan -- or more shared services between universities. We will start to see far more of this with the privates as they struggle to survive. The biggest challenge is going to be for the smaller universities that don’t have strong endowments. What are they going to do? Most of these universities rely solely on tuition and/or state and federal funding to keep their doors open. They have limited research dollars coming in as compared to the Tier 1/R1 institutions. Right now, the closure rate is below 1%, but it will accelerate. The one wildcard in this is a potential recession, which could result in people going back to school to gain new skills and earn a different degree. Maybe that will help universities. The other trend that we have not talked about is how many people are disparaging higher ed, saying a college degree is not worth the money that you pay for it. This is going to hurt higher ed and its ability to bring in more students. This too may lead to more mergers and closures. Changing the Higher Ed Business Model The business model for higher ed must change. We don’t see rapid transformational change in the next year. However, there will be many changes in the next five years that people will realize was part of a changing higher ed landscape as they look in the rearview mirror. Neg Reg 2019 and its Implications. The upcoming negotiated rulemaking process by the Ed Department focusing on accreditation and innovation could be very impactful, especially with its focus on credit hours and online education. Credit Hours. Moving away from credit hours as a measure of learning could be one of those breakthrough transformations that could spur the changing of higher ed’s business model. Once the Ed Department makes these changes, we will begin to see more institutions using CBE and giving credit for previous learning and life experiences. If you take a look at the three colleges that have done very well using these models (Western Governors who is the poster child for CBE, Capella, and Southern New Hampshire), they have seen tremendous growth while reducing the cost to students. This is a win-win and I think we’ll see more of this. Online Education. Although online education is an area that is beginning to get saturated because of for-profits, we will see far more privates and state schools moving into this area, as well as continued consolidations with online providers (OPMs), such as Learning House. Because so many OPMs exist, some of the smaller colleges will be able to expand into this area at a reasonably low-cost investment, and more for-profits will be acquisition targets. We will start seeing institutions embrace the opportunity to share online courses. This too will require changes from the Neg Reg process with respect to accreditation, but once these types of changes come out, we will start seeing sharing of courses and services as we have not seen in the education industry. Negotiations with Faculty. We will begin to see higher ed leaders toughen their stance with faculty. Market saturation with institutions and programs has resulted in price discounting, sometimes at a rate of more than 60%. This is not sustainable. According to Inside Higher Ed’s 2018 Annual Survey of Chief Business Officers (CFOs), 48% of respondents strongly agree or agree that their college tuition discount rate is unsustainable. This is up from 34% in 2017. Furthermore, two-thirds of CFOs at the privates say the same thing. This is huge. Institutions must start cutting programs that are not “profitable,” but in doing this, they must deal with faculty. Unfortunately, faculty look at programmatic cuts through the lens of job security instead of what graduates need to be attractive in the job market. When faculty start to do this, there will be security and jobs for nearly all. Faculty Promotion and Tenure. We will start seeing changes in how faculty are promoted and assessed. Currently, faculty are promoted and assessed by their publication records. Going forward, we’ll see less reliance on citations and publications and more on teaching. Additionally, faculty hiring and tenure will change. We will start seeing a review of tenured faculty every 5 to 10 years, instead of having a job for life. I don’t see tenure going away anytime soon – it is too institutionalized – but employment for life will become a thing of the past in five years. Knowing Who Your Customers Are and What They Need. Many higher ed leaders have locked themselves in the ivory tower for too long, and it's time they understood what students need to be taught and what industry needs to be successful. Texas A&M is another really good example of this. They talk with stakeholder groups on a regular basis, including just completing a values survey. The institutional leaders currently are engaging in what they call Aggie 2030 to understand the future of higher education as a whole and where Texas A&M is going. This is the type of strategic planning that universities need to be doing with their alumni, stakeholders and the people who hire their graduates. Student Enrollment and Impact on Marketing Research and Spending. Another trend involves students making enrollment decisions based on their own proximity to a college. This is important for universities to realize and understand. Unless you are a R1 or major university, your students are more than likely going to come from a limited geographical pool. This has implications as to how and where you spend marketing dollars, but unfortunately, many institutions are wasting marketing dollars. As much as institutions would like to draw from a larger geographical area, institutions must put a greater emphasis on doing market research to understand where their students live and then spend the marketing dollars to get more students from that area. As the saying goes, fish where the fish are, because it's a waste of money otherwise. Harvard Lawsuit and Admissions. The Harvard lawsuit has the potential going all the way to the Supreme Court, and who knows how that will be decided with the current makeup of the Court. Cost Containment. We also will start to see far more cost containment as institutions no longer have the same level of disposable income. I think we will also start seeing the salaries of chief executives start to come down, especially as transparency hits the budgeting process. Higher Ed Funding. Cities and states will begin to fund college for students. The City of Chicago recently announced a new program where students will receive scholarships to cover costs of associate degrees that will be set up through DePaul University. And in another example, Starbucks is funding college for their people. We will start to see more of this as an employee benefit, but also as a way for businesses to invest in and retain quality employees. International Students. International students attending U.S. universities will continue to be an issue so long as the Trump administration continues to mess with immigration. This will continue to impact U.S. institutions as international students pay full tuition and universities use those funds to keep their bottom lines in the green. This is especially true with Chinese students. Because of trade wars and increased emphasis on background checks, we will see fewer Chinese students enrolling in the nation’s higher education institutions. HBCUs. I think the other one to look at HBCUs. I think there could be some really good things to come out of the HBCUs over the next few years. I've no idea what it is, but the crystal ball says to keep an eye on them. Wrapping Up So long as the Trump administration is in office, we will continue to see turbulence coming out of the Department of Education and the rest of the government. One thing is for sure: it will not be boring! Merry Christmas / happy Hanukkah, and wishing all the very best for 2019. Bullet Points Looking Back – The Highlights from 2018 Higher ed finds itself in the maturity to declining stages as characterized by declining enrollments, lack of differentiation in the higher ed marketplace, and an increase in market consolidation (M&A activity) and/or college closings. Over the last few years, 2016-2018, more than 100 colleges haves closed. Many can be directly attributed to ACICS being decertified by the Obama administration, but more relevant is where education is in the lifecycle and current operating environment. State (and other) colleges are beginning to put more of an emphasis on attracting transfer students. Privates are also getting into this space due to costs to both them and their students. Some privates are co-locating at community colleges, renting space from them, and this gives their students a direct track to a four-year degree. ACICS was decertified by the Obama administration in 2016, but Secretary DeVos reinstated its accreditation authority this year. There were many missteps with this whole process, but the most egregious of these was because of a conflict of interest (or appearance thereof) of the department senior official who made the case for ACICS’ reinstatement. Gainful employment is essentially dead for two reasons: The Education Department missed the filing deadline for the gainful employment rule so the changes that they want to make to gainful employment cannot come into play until mid-2020. Because of an inter-agency dispute over data sharing, the Ed Dept cannot get the data it needs to calculate gainful employment, thus essentially killing gainful employment. The Ed Department in November put out their draft ruling on new Title IX guidance. Overall, colleges and victims’ advocates are not happy with the changes. There are four major changes: The narrowing of the definition of sexual assault. Suggesting a higher standard for adjudication be used, i.e., “preponderance of evidence,” the same standard that is used in civil suits. Lessening the culpability of institutions and narrowing the reporting requirements. Giving the accused the right to cross-examine the victim. There is a failure in the governance process in many higher ed schools as exemplified by the Michigan State University sexual abuse scandal, and the death of a University of Maryland football player and the retaining of the football coach. More training needs to be done to ensure Regents understand their duties, and how governance has changed over the years. Looking Forward – Predictions for 2019 We will see an acceleration of mergers, consolidations and closures in higher ed. The 2019 Neg Reg process will begin a transformation of higher ed and its business model. Online education will continue its growth over the next 2-3 years. Much of this will be spurred by consolidation and strategic alliances with online providers. We will begin to see faculty promotion and tenure processes changing as a result of the need for universities to cull programs that are not financially viable. Market research will increasingly take root in higher ed, as institutions need to make smarter use of their marketing dollars by determining where their true prospective students are. Cost containment will continue to accelerate in higher ed, especially in privates where discounting has been the norm. This will find its way to the C suite and we will start to see a reduction of presidential salaries, especially at privates. We will start seeing more “interesting” ways for education to be funded. Part of this will come out of the Neg Reg process, but more city, state, and private entities will invest in their residents’ and employees’ futures. Links to Articles, Apps, or websites mentioned during the interview: Product Lifecycle: http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/product/lifecycle/ National University System: https://nu.edu Department of Education: https://www.ed.gov/ Neg Reg 2019 Process: www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2018/index.html Your Social Media Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com
Steve Huey bought The Learning House, a company that creates online courses on behalf of colleges, for $2.7MM in 2007 because he saw the opportunity to professionalize the sales and account management of the business. Five years later, Huey sold the business to Weld North, a private equity company for $27.5 MM earning his shareholders an 8 to 1 return. In this episode, you’ll hear Huey’s advice on: how to raise a $4MM angel round in 7 days an inexpensive way to figure out what your business is worth buying a business with little of your own money down Handling a buyer who drops their offer after signing an LOI Differentiating between an earning out an escrow
Michelle Welsch - a social worker turned entrepreneur - quit her life in New York City and moved to Nepal to work on various projects that support leadership and educational opportunities within the country. What started as a fundrasing project evolved into her conseptualzing, fundraising and building the Learning House - a combination coffee house and tutoring center that provices a vibrant environment to foster educational growth and community in the region. We talk about the cultural differences between teh US and Nepal and how they have led to Michelle living a life that is more focused on gratitude and simply being. Featured song: Be Lucky by the Who