Many of the episodes on this show focus on traditional, four-year universities, but community colleges have the same responsibilities when it comes to social media, enrollment management, and many other aspects of higher ed. 

This week, we welcome Van Nguyen and Olivia Perry of Schoolcraft College just outside Detroit, to talk about the challenges and the opportunities of working at a community college. We also talk about how the pandemic impacted community college staff and students and chat about plans for commencement and how to pull off ceremonies that honor students and their achievements in a safe way. 

Van Nguyen is the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Schoolcraft College; Olivia Perry is the school’s Marketing and Events Coordinator. 

Links to cool stuff

• Schoolcraft College
• Van Nguyen on LinkedIn
• Olivia Perry on LinkedIn
• QR Codes Kill Kittens by Scott Stratten

Dr. Liz Gross returns to the show to talk with Jenna about what’s happening at Campus Sonar, the company she founded to help organizations throughout higher ed harness the power of social listening. We talk about how social listening has changed during the pandemic, how going to conferences outside higher ed helped Liz see what our industry was lacking, how to run a growing organization that’s entirely remote, and much more.

Liz is a recognized expert, data-driven marketer, and higher education researcher. She specializes in creating entrepreneurial social media strategies in higher education and has a passion for teaching, which she brings to colleges and universities as the founder and CEO of Campus Sonai. She’s also an award-winning speaker; you might have seen her at SXSW, SXSW EDU, the American Marketing Association Symposium, the Carnegie Conference, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, or one of many other conferences inside and outside of higher ed. 

She received a Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service in Higher Education at Cardinal Stritch University, a master’s degree in educational policy and leadership from Marquette University, and a bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communication from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Links to cool stuff

• Campus Sonar
• Liz Gross on Twitter
• Book: Fundamentals of Social Media Strategy
• Campus Sonar job opening: Social Media Data Analyst
• Download the episode transcript

Like a lot of us, Corynn Myers is basically working two jobs right now. She’s serving as the lead on all of the University of Michigan’s COVID-related communications and managing a team that’s part of Michigan’s in-house creative agency. It’s a lot, but she handles it all with poise and made time to talk with us about how thinking like an agency has helped her team thrive and bring big results in enrollment marketing.

We also talk about how Corynn and her family are copying during quarantine and why running is not for everyone, no matter how much we might want it to be right now. Corynn also talk about how working from home has impacted her productivity for better and her diet for worse — something else many of us can relate to right now!

Links to cool stuff

• Corynn on Twitter
• Corynn on LinkedIn

Jenna Spinelle is the communications specialist for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State. She describes herself as a team of one, where she handles digital content and media outreach. She is also host of the Institute’s Democracy Works podcast which is produced in partnership with WPSU Penn State, Pennsylvania’s NPR station. Lougan and Jenna have a great chat about working her work hosting Democracy Works, podcasting and listening to audio books. Also, apologies for Lougan’s audio quality. We’ve had some issues with his microphone and are working to fix it. 

Links to cool stuff: 

• Jenna on LinkedIn
• Jenna on Twitter
• Listen to Democracy Works
• Jenna’s Website

This week, Lougan talks with Brendan Foley, the director of communications for the Morehead-Cain Foundation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Brendan is responsible for creating and implementing a content strategy that supports Morehead-Cain’s many goals. Whether it’s recruiting the brightest students across the globe or inspiring alumni to participate in the Foundation’s first-ever capital campaign, Brendan creates content that encompasses every aspect of student and alumni journeys.

On the show, we discuss Brendan’s work and how he made the jump from award-winning broadcast news producer and journalist to higher education. Brendan’s wife Jenna Hartwell is also an Higher Ed Social alum! Check out Jenna’s episode from October 2018!

Links to cool stuff: 

• Brendan on Twitter
• Brendan on LinkedIn
• Morehead-Cain Foundation

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be university president? This week on the show, Lougan talks with Dr. Martha Saunders, President of the University of West Florida. In her more than three decades in higher education, Dr. Saunders has served in multiple academic and leadership roles and has led UWF a to new heights. Lougan chats with her about how she became a university president, her strategic vision and how the resources in west Florida helped drive the creation of new and innovative programs at UWF. 

Links to cool stuff: 

• Dr. Saunders on Twitter
• Dr. Saunders on LinkedIn
• UWF Innovation Institute
• UWF Center for Cyber Security
• UWF Sea3D Lab

Eric Stoller is the vice president of digital strategy at GeckoEngage. You may know him from his articles on Inside Higher Ed, his speaking engagements and his consulting work around digital engagement. He’s always loved doing marketing and public relations, but never wanted to work for an agency. Eric’s experiences in student development services at University of Illinois Chicago and enrollment management at Oregon State University really cemented interest in the intersection of technology and student success. He’s had an incredible and unique journey through the world of higher education. 

Links to cool stuff

• Eric on Twitter
• Eric on LinkedIn
• GeckoEngage

Amber Owens is the social media manager for Indiana Institute of Technology. Amber graduated in 2016 and like many new graduates drifted around from job to job when someone connected her with the position at Indiana Tech. Her passion is for putting stuff online and watching people’s reactions. We chat about the challenges of social media burn out and growing up and watching social media evolve over the years. When Amber isn’t on social media, she builds Star Wars Droids and travels to conventions with her husband.

Links to cool stuff:

• Amber on Twitter
• Amber on LinkedIn
• Amber and her BB-8

Ravi Jain from Boston College joins us on the show this week! Ravi serves as the Senior Associate Director of Digital Media & Web at Boston College. We talk with Ravi about being selected as an inaugural INBOUND2019 Fellow and his upcoming talk at INBOUND 2019. Ravi tells us more about why he’s become a short form video evangelist and how he uses micro-storytelling to tell the story of the different “cities” at BC. We also discuss why vinyl sounds better and the fun and agony of designing email templates.

Links to cool stuff: 

• Ravi on Twitter
• Ravi on LinkedIn
• INBOUND19

For our second international episode, we sat down with Melissa Mae Cheater, the digital content manager at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. Melissa is also the founder of #PSEWEB (Post Secondary Education Web), a Canadian offshoot of the Higher Education Web Professionals Association here in the US. During the show, we chat about the differences between student life in the US and Canada. Melissa also shares her thoughts on how departments across campus can better work with their communications teams to celebrate success. 

Links to cool stuff: 

• Melissa on Twitter
• Melissa on LinkedIn
• Melissa’s website
• #PSEWEB
• Link Journal article on Melissa’s #heweb18 presentation