Brain Waves Blog

Over the past year, I’ve noticed an emerging trend in conversations about leadership in higher education. More and more people are saying something I never expected to hear so often:

As an industry, higher ed is often slow to change. But in the current landscape, change is critical to long-term sustainability. A strong strategic plan gives you flexibility to evolve as needed to meet current market and audience needs. 

Social intelligence is market research that uses online conversation data to answer key business questions. The internet is an always on focus group that allows you to better understand markets, audiences, brands, or organizations. In higher ed, social intelligence can inform organizational strategy, enrollment, alumni engagement, advancement, academic planning, and reputation and brand strategy. 

I’m going to be vulnerable in this post. This is intentional; you haven’t stumbled across a mistakenly published diary entry. Our educational institutions serve humans with a myriad of feelings, challenges, and experiences. This is mine, and I hope it helps you understand others’.

We don’t need another study proclaiming that public trust in colleges and universities is at an all-time low in our country. The conclusions are predictable, and so is the response; a defense of higher education as it always has been, often putting the blame on the public who just doesn’t get why it’s so important. Defending, rather than listening to understand, is doing more harm than good.

If, like me, you’ve launched new programs from the C-suite, you’ll know that the path to success is extremely challenging. Navigating the potential risks requires careful planning and consideration in a market where data sources are limited and frequently out of date.